Photo by: Bürgerhaus-Kai Loges
Bürgerhaus Backnang is a multi-purpose venue which stages events for up to 1,100 people, including a series of jazz concerts popular throughout south-west Germany. The recent completion of a new Yamaha mixing system means that it can now handle the biggest visiting productions.
The town of Backnang is about 30km (19 miles) north east of Stuttgart and has a population of around 40,000. The Bürgerhaus is a regional focal point for both culture and business in the community, featuring performance spaces, conference rooms and a restaurant. At the heart of the venue is the 700 sq metres Walter-Baumgaertner-Saal ballroom, which includes a 150 sq metres stage, hydraulic orchestra pit and seating for up to 740 people. The ballroom hosts concerts, musicals, theatre, dance, corporate events, exhibitions and trade fairs.
This year the ageing analogue mixing system was replaced with a Yamaha QL5 and Dante-equipped Tio1608-D i/o unit, with the recent addition of a Rio3224-D i/o unit completing the upgrade.
“We needed a high quality, flexible digital system, which would be suitable for all of the diverse events that we stage,” said Bürgerhaus Backnang Sound Engineer, David Morcher. “Most of the technical riders for the jazz performers request a Yamaha console and, when we looked into it, we found a QL system would give us everything we needed.”
The QL5 and Tio1608-D were supplied and installed by local Yamaha dealer PA-Shop Donald Auchter. Used to mix both front of house and monitors, the addition of the Rio3224-D has expanded the system’s capabilities to handle all the inputs and outputs needed for full jazz and other orchestras.
“The Rio3224-D can be moved anywhere on the stage, meaning we have complete flexibility for bigger shows,” said David. “Another advantage of the system is that the StageMix iPad app allows us to operate the console from anywhere in the auditorium and on stage. The system is easy to use, very stable and means we can deliver consistently high quality, professional productions for all performers and audiences.”
