Yamaha CL Premium Rack and Familiarity Key Factor for Willow Creek Youth Event

Press release by Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems

Yamaha CL5 at FOHHeld in late January 2013 at the Pheasant Run Convention Center in St. Charles, Illinois, Willow Creek Community Church hosted Blast 13 a youth group retreat for approximately 1,400, produced by the Willow Creek Student Impact Ministry, with audio support provided by TC Furlong (Chicago).

One Yamaha CL5 digital audio console accompanied by two Rio3224-D input/output racks were used at front of house with a CL1 selected for monitor mixing along with two ProPlex Gigabit switches for network redundancy. “Network redundancy was important because of the high-profile nature of the event,” states Chris Wintz, Rental Manager, TC Furlong. “The crew at Willow Creek likes to have backup/redundant systems whenever possible.”

”Since the CL5 was already specified as the front of house console after the Willow Creek team attended a demo, and challenged with keeping the monitor mix area to a small footprint yet needing a system with ample mix buses, the CL1 was a one-stop solution,” says Wintz. “In the 13 years with have collaborated with the Willow Creek team on the Blast retreats, this was one of the most streamlined solutions we’ve put together.”

“We decided on the CL system for a number of reasons,” states Nathan Miller, Systems Designer/Engineer, Miller Audio Services (Chicago), audio contractor for the event (assisted by systems engineer Matt Satorius). “One factor was the ability to use the Premium Rack Portico plug-ins. We used the Portico 5033 EQ and 5043 Compression on the lead vocals at both front of house and monitors. We also used the U-76 plug-in at front of house across the drum bus as well as the Opt-2A plug-in to add a mastered sound to the IEM mix busses at monitors. The other major factor was the overall efficiency of the setup and strike. Switching to a digital snake really helped make the overall load in/load out easier. Not only were the FOH/MON runs much cleaner, but the split was much cleaner and easier to troubleshoot.”

Miller said the CL5s were easy to operate by event engineers Stephen Kendeigh and Ryan Pribyl due to console familiarity since the pair use Yamaha consoles for regular youth services. “Blast 2013 represented a major step forward not only in our audio system architecture, but in the overall sound quality of the event,” states Troy Bartholomew, Technical Director for the ministry who oversaw all of the production for the event. “Nathan’s choice of the CL Series streamlined our setup while giving us more features and flexibility than we have had in past events. Also, Ryan and Stephen’s ability to utilize the fantastic new features really elevated the audio experience for all of our students. Throughout the weekend, I received a lot of positive feedback from industry veterans, audio contractors, and Willow production staff who were able to come in and listen to the system.”

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In addition to the CL consoles and stageboxes at Blast , TC Furlong provided:

  • Meyer Sound M’elodie, 700-HP, UPA-1P, UPJunior, and UPM-1P loudspeakers, with Galileo 616 processing
  • Shure UHF-R wireless microphones
  • Sennheiser and Shure wired and wireless in-ear monitors
  • Clearcom intercom
  • Microphones from Shure, Audix, and DPA
  • And much more

If you need help with your next event, or would like to learn more about the CL Series or any of the items mentioned above, please contact our Rental Team at 847.367.9588 or rentals@tcfurlong.com.