Six years after installing a Meyer Sound system in its Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College in Oakland, Calif. has again turned to Meyer Sound to add a UPQ-1P loudspeaker system. The new addition works seamlessly with the hall’s existing Meyer Sound equipment to support an array of experimental and electronic music performances and recording sessions for the college’s Center for Contemporary Music (CCM).
“Meyer Sound speakers are refined and silky in the high end, and I don’t know of any better sounding speaker for this room than UPQ-1Ps,” states Les Stuck, technical director for CCM. “You can hear each speaker clearly from every seat, thanks to Meyer Sound’s outstanding design team and the MAPP XT™ system design tool. That combination of excellent sound quality, a great design team, and design software makes all the difference. I wouldn’t go with any other speaker company.”
The expanded system consists of two UPQ-1P loudspeakers hung under two flown 600-HP subwoofers. Two UPJunior-XP VariO™ loudspeakers provide down fill, and three HMS-12 surround loudspeakers are mounted to the walls and ceiling in the center of the hall for surround effects. Rear support consists of the original UPA-1P loudspeakers and USW-1P subwoofers from the hall’s 2009 renovation.
Mills College’s new system had to meet the needs of CCM’s experimental composers. “Our students use sound in all kinds of unconventional ways,” Stuck explains. “Instead of surrounds, we have independent points where we can pan sound. For example, we have an overhead HMS-12 directly above the mixing station to get a convincing effect of sound coming from above. With this upgrade, composers can pan, spread sounds apart, and experiment with unusual effects.”
Mixing is done on a Yamaha M7CL digital console with an Ethernet-connected stage box. Systems integrator Advanced Systems Group of Emeryville, Calif. helped develop the system, which was installed by Spider Ranch Productions of South San Francisco.
