COMPLETED PROJECTS - OCTAVE

Sound design and installation specialists CP Sound has completed a classy JBL installation at Octave – Covent Garden’s newest live Jazz Bar and restaurant.

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CP’s Colin Pattenden – renowned throughout the industry for a superlative quality pair of ears - was asked to handle all Octave’s audio elements, after completing many other successful projects for owners Glendola Leisure. The intimate, buzzy new venue consists of one large area with bar, divided into several different level zones - either raised or sunken - complete with two separate areas for live performance. All of this produced an interesting set of acoustic conundrums, together with the low ceilings and languishing, cosy vibe. The Stage B position is the favoured one for performances – an expediently sized area with just enough room to get a duo onstage, adjacent to the resident piano.

Colin’s sound proposal was produced bearing in mind the brief that they wanted to be able to stage simple live acts with mic inputs, and also wanted a background music system with full zone control for the rest of the time. A big JBL fan, he specified a pair of JBL Control 29 AVs to act as PA speakers for each of the two stage areas. Outputting a sturdy 250 Watts each, they take on a dual role as they can also be utilised to boost the background music in these main areas, when additional kick is required. The areas round the main bar are either raised or sunken, and the room is split three sonic zones – Zone 1 for stages A & B, Zone 2 for the Bar and Zone 3 for the raised areas. Zone 4 is the toilets.

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Area 1 is behind the stage A and features four JBL Control 25T speakers which double up as stage monitors. The next area is larger and features seven JBL Control 25Ts (with 100 volt line transformers). Stage B is raised and has a pair of JBL Control 25Ts which again double up as stage monitors to compliment its 29Avs. In the far corner is another area with four Control 25Ts. A further six Control 25Ts are positioned in the areas around the bar and they also work in conjunction with the Control 29 PA speakers. The toilets are fed by JBL Control 24CTs in the entrance, supported by white Control 23s in both boys and girls. The zoning is routed via a Cloud Z4 Zoner, and all the Control 25Ts have 30 Watts going to them via wide bandwidth 100 Volt line transformers.

The live PA elements were also designed and engineered with plenty of headroom in mind. Colin Pattenden himself mixed sound for the opening night, starring Rhian Benson, and found he only used two thirds of the power of the Control 29s. He’s extremely happy with the quality and spread of the sound For mixing/processing there’s a Cloud DM-1 with 2 XLR ins and a Cloud LM1 with 1 XLR and 2 photo ins. This caters for musicians and duos coming in with a variety of sources (CD, DVD, drum machine, cassette, DAT, etc) and three mics in either stage position. CP Sound also supplied three AKG D88OM mics, chosen for their very good value and quality, complete with stands. For background music, they supplied a Rolec hard drive system, now a standard CP Sound installation product. Amplification is all RSE, another robust CP ‘house’ brand favoured in all their installations. The major challenge of the project, says Colin, was the familiar one of working alongside the builders – as all trades piled in to get the project ready on time to meet the opening date.

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