Sennheiser Sponsors Nashville’s Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum
Jun 29, 2006 10:01 AM
Sennheiser Electronic Corporation is the official sponsor of the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum, which celebrates the essential contributions made by generations of talented musicians in all genres of music. The company has outfitted the complex with a new Turbosound Aspect TA-500 speaker system together, with a broad selection of Neumann and Sennheiser microphones for the performance space. In addition, Turbosound TCS Contractor Series ceiling speakers and an Australian Monitor multi-zone paging system for the screening theater and exhibit areas were included in the install.
The multi-million dollar Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum is the brainchild of Nashville songwriter Joe Chambers, who also owns a chain of guitar stores in the area. The 30,000 sq. ft. complex, located in downtown Nashville close by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Gaylord Entertainment Center and Ryman Auditorium, includes a 5,000 sq. ft performance hall, a 1,100 sq. ft. screening theater, music instruction rooms and a state-of-the-art recording studio.
The performance hall features a Turbosound Aspect series speaker system comprising four of the new TA-500 three-way, full-range enclosures and four Turbosound TSB-118 subwoofers, with four TCS-30 two-way speakers for front fill. Stage monitors include six TFM-212 dual 12-inch and two TXD-15M single 15-inch floor wedges. The speaker systems are driven via Turbosound LMS-D26 2 x 6-way (for mains) and LMS-D24 2 x 4-way (for monitors) processors through the manufacturer’s T-25 and T-45 amplifiers.
Renowned audio engineer TC Furlong of Lake Forest, Illinois-based, professional audio company, TC Furlong Inc. provided system design and supervised the installation of the Sennheiser manufactured and distributed equipment. Furlong, who also provided system alignment of the new TA-500s, was additionally on-hand to personally mix the opening celebrations. “That was the inaugural performance for the TA-500s in the United States. They performed very well and sounded terrific,” Furlong comments.
The performance hall offers a full complement of Neumann and Sennheiser microphones. “I put together a typical input list and that’s what we went with,” says Furlong. The hall has three Neumann KMS 105 MT vocal mics, a wide selection of Sennheiser evolution mics (835, 901, 902, 904, 905, 906, 908B, 912, 914, 935 and 945 models). In addition there are six channels of EW345 G2 super-cardioid handheld wireless microphones with alternate MMD 935 capsules and two channels of EW322 G2 wireless ME4 cardioid lavaliers.
The video theater utilizes a pair of Turbosound TCS-081C compact full-range two-way speakers for playback. Ten Turbosound TCS-C50T flush-mount ceiling speakers, powered by Australian Monitor AMIS 480P four-channel 70V amplifiers provide playback in the exhibit areas. “They’re not mounted in the ceiling. We made a platform and dropped them in each of the areas,” explains Furlong. An Australian Monitor DigiPage facilitates multi-zone paging.
Noted Jeff Alexander, Sennheiser’s vice president of sales and marketing, professional products, “”The opportunity for SEC to be the official sponsor of the Musicians Hall of Fame is exciting on several levels. First of all, it’s about time musicians were recognized for their contributions to the music industry. There are museums dedicated to rock n’ roll, country, classical, folk and world music, songwriters and entertainers, but this is first museum to showcase the merits of musicians. It was so natural for SEC to want to sponsor the performance space with the gear musicians use and respect.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony, held June 9th, was followed by a two-hour Super Jam that included Vince Gill, Felix Cavaliere, The Original Funk Brothers (Eddie Willis, Uriel Jones, Joe Messina and Bob Babbitt), Will Lee, Danny Seraphine, David Hungate, Brent Mason, Garry Tallent, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns and numerous others. “I was mixing front-of-house, a feed for video and six monitor mixes from the same console,” reports Furlong. “Fortunately, Bob Bloomfield was on hand to wrangle the stage, which was crucial to the success of the night.”
The museum’s exhibits will showcase instruments and artifacts of many of the most respected, talented and influential musicians of our time. Chambers has collected artifacts from rock, soul and pop history, making equal space for Detroit, Memphis, Los Angeles and New York. Chambers also plans to begin a school of music with donated instruments and professional instructors that will be aimed at helping under-privileged, school-age children receive free lessons.
