Easy does it
Feb 1, 2000 12:00 PM, Joyce Jorgenson
The YMCA is an organization that rapidly took on global proportions, one whose strong presence was felt through two world wars and can trace a fellowship with the armed forces back as far as the American Civil War. As an early advocate of family development and growth, it also had immeasurable impact on the lives of countless young men and women, offering them a place where they could find meaning and self worth while discovering the virtues of fair play.
The YMCA, or simply the "Y" as it is known to millions, also gave us the game of basketball in the winter of 1891 when it was invented by Canadian James Naismith while serving as director of physical education at the YMCA Training School at Springfield College in Massachusetts. In pursuit of a game that could be played indoors - one in which physical contact and running with the ball were strictly prohibited - Naismith hung wooden peach baskets on the walls at either end of the gym, high enough above the players' heads to discourage them from tackling for the ball. The rest is basketball history: Within a year, the game was being played at YMCAs throughout the United States and Canada, and by 1897, Yale and Pennsylvania played the first men's intercollegiate game.
A shining example of the YMCA's commitment to community service and physical fitness is the new Durham Regional YMCA facility in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, which opened in November. The building features a modern, spacious design individualized by the Toronto-based architectural firm of Moriyama and Teshima. Many of the activities going on inside the new 60,000 ft superscript 2 (5,600 m superscript 2) facility can be viewed by strolling the huge natural-lit hall that flows from the lobby entrance into the major program areas. As described by the award-winning architects whose recent projects include the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh and the Canadian Embassies in Tokyo and Berlin, the Durham design promotes social interaction, increases the level of energy and excitement and encourages members to sample a variety of YMCA programs.
The Durham YMCA offers a wide range of fitness programs, including aerobics, dancercise, weight training, indoor rock climbing, volleyball, basketball and swimming lessons for everyone from infants to seniors. To facilitate these activities, there is an indoor recreational pool, sports gymnasium, running track and dance studio. To accommodate administrative needs, a large media-equipped multi-purpose room is at hand for YMCA corporate meetings, staff training and other gatherings. A children's center is also an integral part of the building that is highly visible from all common-area corridors.
Audiospec, Mississauga, Ontario, lent its A-V design and installation skills to the Durham YMCA project. According to the firm's president and chief systems designer, Devy Breda, his company is responsible for the A-V systems that have gone into many of the Greater Toronto YMCA branch facilities since 1987.
"The YMCA has always been receptive to new technologies," he said. "We were commissioned to do the Durham project not long after finishing a YMCA northwest of Toronto in Brampton. The Brampton design uses a combination of several Biamp Advantage SPM522D programmable stereo preamp/mixers for localized control that are integrated with an AMX control system. The Durham project is an expansion of this concept, adding Biamp's MSP22 and MSP11 audio processors and a 70 V distributed system with a unique emergency call system. Our goal was to incorporate the best technologies available in a great sounding system that would be easy to operate for end users with little or no technical aptitude."
Illustrating the flexibility the AMX and Biamp partnership brought to the Audiospec design is the Durham YMCA's pool audio system, which provides music playback for aquatics along with mic and line-level input for general instruction purposes. Using this portion of the design as a template, Breda applied variations of the pool system's mixer/preamp, DSP and power amp sections to the gym, dance studio and video-equipped multi-purpose room, taking into account each room's functionality and acoustical requirements.
Accessible at the pool deck is a wall-mounted Biamp WMC522D keypad remote that controls the SPM522D mixer, allowing control of the master level up and down and playback source selection consisting of a Denon DN-T620 CD/cassette tape player or Denon TU280RM AM-FM tuner. The SPM522D accepts a maximum of five stereo inputs, two mic/line-level inputs and two independent stereo outputs, each with its own program selection, mic/line assignments, level adjustments and memory presets.
The Biamp SPM522D mixer feeds a Biamp MSP11, a one-in/one-out DSP processor with parametric and graphic EQs and built-in leveling. This goes to a QSC CX302V Contractor series power amp and on to five Sound Advance indoor/outdoor BT82 flat-panel loudspeakers mounted in bulkheads aimed down at the pool.
Breda said, "The BT82s provide high sonic quality and are built specifically to contend with the high levels of moisture and humidity in the poolside environment."
Breda added that the sound reinforcement system used in the dance studio - a small, enclosed space with wall-to-wall mirrors and hardwood floors - is a different matter entirely. "The control system here is practically identical with that of the pool's, but we installed a Martin loudspeaker system to achieve a very dynamic studio-quality sound. Low-end response is buttressed by a pair of Martin EM26 loudspeakers and an EM150 subwoofer, all powered by a QSC USA Series 900 amplifier."
In the gym, Audiospec's Biamp SPM522D setup combines with a Biamp MSP22 processor to handle the additional DSP input/output requirements. The design also called for a second Biamp WMC522D remote keypad, allowing YMCA staff to conveniently access the system controls from either end of the room. Instead of using a single AW100 audio panel as seen in the pool and dance studio, two more were added in the gym to insure ample microphone/line-level and playback source inputs. Two RDL MX3s add a bit more flexibility to the overall scheme, used here prior to the SPM522D as submixers and connections between the three audio panels.
To accommodate the acoustical requirements of the gym's high ceilings, Audiospec selected and installed eight Altec-Lansing 920-8B ceiling loudspeakers with corresponding AEG (Arnscott Electronics Group) A70-32 transformers, Lowell DX1512 backboxes, and Lowell FW-12 grilles.
Breda said, "These speakers provide high-quality music and voice reproduction in the gymnasium for traditional basketball as well as aerobics, dancercise and other recreational activities."
Similar in size to a large classroom, Durham YMCA's multi-purpose room is equipped to deliver superior speech intelligibility and high-resolution video. System integration within this environment revolves around an AMX Axcent 3 controller and wireless AMX Viewpoint color touchscreen. A Sanyo PLC5600N LCD projector, Draper Unimount LCD projector lift, Envoy 150 inch (3.8 m) diagonal electric screen and Altinex VA6854WM computer video interface panel for PowerPoint presentations all fall under the control of the AMX touchscreen, as do all lighting, window coverings and audio functions. The room has superb sound coverage provided by 12 Tannoy CMS6TDC loudspeakers used with Tannoy TEQ518 backboxes and Tannoy TRG grilles. QSC CX302V Contractor series power amps deliver the necessary power.
A Pro Co AVP-1 audio panel extends mic/line-level input options above and beyond the room's standard mic and playback sources, which consist of a Telex UR 700L UHF wireless mic, Denon DN-T620 CD/cassette player and JVC HR-S3500U S-VHSVCR. As needed, the YMCA staff can check out a wireless mic at the reception desk and simply plug it into one of the multi-purpose room's audio panels via a local XLR input. Using either the AMX Viewpoint touchscreen or the Biamp WMC522 wall-mount remote, the user can then select the audio and bring the volume up or down.
The pool, gym, dance studio and multi-purpose room systems are easily configured with the help of a main AMX AXF-M/S control system and AMX EL+ touchscreen at the reception desk. Once a zone page is selected on the AMX EL+ touchscreen, and the announcement is made through the paging mic (TOA PM660U), the signal is sent to both the audio input and the mute control input of the paged subsystem, which automatically mutes all other inputs in that room, allowing a paging override.
"The Biamp SPM522D programmable mixer is at the heart of each subsystem," said Breda, "and lends an enormous amount of logic and flexibility to the design by providing a page bus and a remote override into the system without having to create any magic interface boxes. Thus, the selective paging in the pool area, gym, dance studio and multi-purpose room is very straightforward for the YMCA staff."
From the AMX EL+ touchscreen, staff can select any one of three background music sources (JVC XLMC-222BK multi-disc CD player, Denon TU-280R AM-FM tuner and Denon DN-770R dual CD/cassette player) and control volume. Zone paging and music playback to the children's center, changing rooms and common-area corridors are facilitated by 77 AEG model MS4D loudspeakers strategically placed throughout the building. Again, the 70 V distribution uses Lowell backboxes and grilles, models DX104 and WB-4, respectively.
Audiospec used the AMX to control Durham YMCA's emergency call system via a network of 25 Camden mushroom-style panic buttons and Edwards 6821 audio alert units, which are wall-mounted in strategic areas of the facility. Each device is wired back through the AMX control system. When a latch is pushed, DC voltage is applied to the zone alert, resulting in a high-pitched steady tone that is sounded in the immediate area and at the reception desk. At the same time, a closure is removed back at the AMX as the priority signal. The zone alert overrides all other paging and playback functions throughout the facility and pinpoints the zone alert graphically on the AMX touchscreen so that staff can immediately respond to the emergency. Breda commented that although this is an untraditional use of the AMX system, thanks to its versatility, it allowed his staff to program the system to receive and control the emergency call signals and create the zone alert messages seen on the touchscreen display. Thus, the AMX El+ touchscreen has accomplished two functions - it controls the main audio, the background music and page selection, and it acts as an emergency panic enunciator.
The pool equipment rack is located in the pool office, and the multi-purpose room, gym and reception area racks are each housed in separate control rooms adjacent to their respective areas in Middle Atlantic ERK series racks. The dance studio Middle Atlantic DWR series rack is wall-mounted in the room.
Breda said, "The products used in this application were chosen based upon their past history of performance and dependability; The QSC Contractors series amps are well-respected and have proved to be reliable. We've used AMX and Biamp extensively. Both have the quality, versatility and professional good looks that are welcomed in any modern facility such as this."
Breda also noted that when you look at the equipment racks, there are no knobs on the Biamp mixers, nor on the MSP11 or MSP22 DSP units - only on/off buttons and LED indicators. He said, "The QSC CX amplifiers have attenuators on the front, but we capped them off. Given the lack of traditional front-panel controls found within the systems, the operator needs only to be concerned with the simplest functions. In this case, that's loading up the media (CD, cassette or VHS tape) or plugging in a wireless microphone. We used the Denon units consistently in all systems so that people can go from one room to the next without having to re-learn the operation of the playback sources."
Prior to the opening of the Durham facility, Audiospec conducted a small training session to familiarize the YMCA staff and volunteers with the AMX touchscreens, all of which are equipped with easily recognizable icons.
Breda is currently representing Canada at the regional council level of the NSCA, of which Audiospec has been a member since 1988. Having founded Audiospec in 1987, Breda runs day-to-day business with the aid of brother and Audiospec accountant Rudy Breda. Dave Colter, vice president of operations, complements the management team.
Preferring the title "chief firefighter" to that of founder or president, Breda liked to point out that the company's success is attributable to Audiospec's collective team of experts: "We all have specific titles, but we all do our part to make sure everything runs smoothly. The key to any project is coordinating its logistics at the onset."
Management acumen played a significant role in the successful outcome of the Durham YMCA project in particular. Breda said, "All newly constructed buildings fall under specific code requirements, one of which states that Division 16 of the local electrical union be responsible for all rough-in work, including installation of audiovisual emergency call cabling and loudspeaker backboxes. Our job was to furnish all wiring schematics and conduit riser diagrams to the union crew to ensure extreme accuracy, which involved regularly scheduled meetings and working closely with them as well as with the electrical systems designer, Toronto-based Crossey Engineering Ltd."
Overseeing the Durham A-V systems installation was Audiospec's Dave Colter (project manager), assisted by Ed Segren (technical support director), Darrell Colter, John Paul ("JP") Warren, Randy Holland and Dave MacKellar (technical installers), and Bill Taylor (AMX programmer). Begun in May of 1999, the project was completed in November.
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