The May 2008 screening of the Tolkien movie classic, “ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring” at the acclaimed Washington, D.C. area venue, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, marked the debut of the major theatrical show produced by Columbia Artists Music (in partnership with composer Howard Shore and New Line Cinema). The production, which is slated to tour in the coming year, showcased the film projected onto oversized screens while Shore’s musical score was orchestrated live by the Filene Center Orchestra, the City Choir of Washington and the World Children's Choir, plus 2 vocal soloists and a 'hobbit band', consisting of acoustic instruments.

Not only was this the first major theatrical production in the U.S. to employ the DiGiCo SD7 digital console, but marked the debut of Wolf Trap’s newly installed SD7 at FOH.

Veteran FOH engineer/tour manager, Paul Bevan (under contract with Columbia), mixed the show on the SD7 with no prior hands-on time, and was fervent in his praise for DiGiCo’s groundbreaking technology.

“The console had only been delivered a couple of days before,” Bevan recalls, “and it was my, and the venue's, first show on the console. This is a great story about SD7’s use on such a complex and unusual show on its first outing—and the fact that it was so easy to use, that, with no previous experience, I managed to mix a full orchestra, 2 choruses, 2 vocal soloists and a band of unusual instruments—65 inputs in total—with no soundcheck (just a 3-hour rehearsal to dial it all in). The fact that the show received an absolute rave review for the sound in the Washington Post (we know that most purists hate it when orchestras are amplified), speaks volumes. I have been a fan of DiGiCo consoles for a while and despite the enforced rapid learning curve, I loved using this new console. It sounds amazing.”

PHOTOS: Live from Wolf Trap’s May 2008 screening of the Tolkien movie classic, “ The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring”; FOH Engineer Paul Bevan with Group One CEO, Jack Kelly and the new SD7.

Image Caption L-R:
Paul Bevan - FOH Engineer/Tour Manager & Jack Kelly - President Group One Limited

About the DiGiCo SD7:
DiGiCo’s SD7 is the first live console to use next generation of FPGA called Super FPGA for audio processing (not the usual DSP platform other console manufacturers use). DiGiCo was the first company to use Analog Devices SHARC DSP in its consoles and are also the first to use the next generation called Tiger SHARCS, which are purely used for Control and Effects.



The SD7 is the most powerful live performance console with a totally flexible bussing structure with an incredible 128 busses possible, 256 processing paths, plus a 32 x 32 Matrix, 32 x 32 band graphics EQ and a
plethora of internal effects. The SD7 is the only console where not only the engine fits inside the work surface (as in the D5) but also has a redundant engine as well.  

About DiGiCo
DiGiCo is a UK-based manufacturer of some of the world’s most popular, successful and ground-breaking digital mixing consoles for the live, theatre, broadcast and post production industries and is exclusively distributed in the U.S. by Group One Ltd. of Farmingdale, New York. For more information, go to: www.digico.org

Press Contacts:
Dave Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: webby@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digiconsoles.com

Diane Gershuny
DGPR
Tel: 562-366-8869
Email: dgershuny123@gmail.com