At Cairo Festival City Mall in Egypt, a Meyer Sound system adds dramatic musical impact to the “Dancing Fountain” outdoor show. Based around MICA® line array loudspeakers with 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements, the system delivers concert-like clarity, punch, and open dimensionality to the striking water and light spectacle.
“It’s quite astonishing what the music adds to the shows through the Meyer Sound system,” says Nick Stephens of Hong Kong-based Nexus Technologies, who served as principal consultant for audio and control systems on the project. “The dramatic theatrical effect I was hoping to achieve works remarkably well. One fountain program uses Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and it comes across with the feel of a live performance.”
Stephens notes that deployment of point-source arrays was somewhat risky in this application, where distributed approaches are more commonly used to control audio levels. “I wanted the audio to grab people’s attention, to turn their heads toward the show,” he explains. “Using the large arrays was a concern with all the glass-fronted buildings, but the Meyer Sound design program allowed me to make it work effectively. I had a vision as to how the sound could be an integral part of the experience, and Meyer Sound helped me achieve that vision.”
Two towers each hold identical, back-to-back main systems of six MICA and nine JM-1P arrayable loudspeakers per side, supported by six 1100-LFC elements. The MICA loudspeakers cover viewing areas of up to 80 meters away on the far side of the fountain, while the JM-1P loudspeakers cover an adjacent semi-circular amphitheatre. Six UPJunior-XP VariO™ loudspeakers provide amphitheatre surround sound, four UPQ-1P loudspeakers provide fill, 15 UPA-2P loudspeakers cover the fountain bridge, and a Galileo® loudspeaker management system with two Galileo 616 processors provides drive and alignment. The system was supplied and installed by Cairo-based Modern Touch Entertainment, with project supervision by Magued Makram.
Located on the western city edge, Cairo Festival City is a multi-use residential, commercial, and retail development, managed by Al-Futtaim Real Estate. The fountain show was created by Fluidity Design Consultants of Los Angeles, with overall show technology contracted to C & A Consulting Engineers of the UK. Nexus Technologies was subcontracted to provide audio design and programming of the AMX control system.