Sound designers for Lennon and Sweet Charity have chosen to use Vortex amplifiers from the German manufacturer CAMCO, the first time they have been specified for Broadway productions in NYC.
The British sound designer Bobby Aitken is using CAMCO units provided by Masque Sound for the new musical production Lennon, which featured more than 20 Vortex 6 amplifiers on its pre-Broadway run at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. The musical is due to open in New York in early July. Written and directed by Don Scardino, the musical tells the story of John Lennon's life in his own words and 27 of his songs, with an ensemble of 10 performers and a 10-piece onstage band.
Aitken specified CAMCO's powerful Vortex 6 amplifiers before, for We Will Rock You in Las Vegas, and on some productions of the international hit Mamma Mia!. "The product sounds good, and has a good power-to-weight ratio," says Aitken, explaining his choice. "Above all, the Vortex is reliable."
PRG Audio has added nine CAMCO Vortex 6 amps to its rental inventory, installing them on Broadway for the 1960s classic musical-comedy Sweet Charity starring Christina Applegate.
When sound designer for the show, Peter Hylenski, was looking for an alternative to the theatre staples of Yamaha, Crest and Crown amplifiers, Masque Sound introduced him to CAMCO products. "When I heard these amplifiers with Masque's V-DOSC rig, they sounded pretty astounding," says Hylenski. "They have great clarity and detail, the low end is so tight and responsive, and the high end is crisp and clean. There's no smearing of the image at all; they respond like a hi-fi amplifier."
The system for Sweet Charity is using Meyer MSL 2A loudspeakers powered by 7x Vortex 6 amplifiers, and two Martin double-15 subs powered by two Vortex amps. "The subs sound amazing, there's so much energy in them just from using a single amp channel to run each double-15." Out front, there's a Cadac J-type console with the new Cadac mike pre-amps. Hylenski, who is also a studio sound engineer, applies a studio sound philosophy to his theatre sound designs. "This show has very detailed orchestrations. The pit is full of studio microphones, and we're really going for studio-quality sound. The CAMCOs fit appropriately into a high-quality signal path."
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