d&b audiotechnik powers Greenbelt Harvest Picnic festival

The organiser of Greenbelt Harvest Picnic festival has spoken highly of the d&b audiotechnik V-Series system used for the 2012 event.

As well as being a live music event, Harvest Picnic is also put on to deliver a strong message of sustainability and environmental common sense – local farmers sold their produce across the grounds – but music industry veteran and Harvest Picnic organiser Jean-Paul Gauthier understood that if the festival was to be a success, the audio setup was a crucial factor.

"d&b audiotechnik is a superior sound system and is always a top pick on artist tech riders," explained Gauthier. "This year, we were pleased to be given the chance to try the new V-Series and again we had great success." Last year, Harvest Picnic used d&b Q-Series loudspeakers for the show.

"The V-Series excelled straight out of the box," reported Chris James, lead audio and systems technician from Apex Sound & Light, which supplied the system. "Literally hang, enter delays, and go."

Apex had already seen the V-Series in use earlier in the summer, and James knew the system would exceed the already high expectations from Harvest Picnic 2011. He was particularly impressed at how easily the system integrated into the Q-Series’ footprint.

"The V-Series did everything you would expect from a big format line array, except that it’s not a big format line array," James added. "It is a 75-pound medium format, three-way passive loudspeaker system. When you consider the performance of the system, the amount of electrical power consumed was minimal – a significant consideration for Greenbelt – but then in our experience all d&b systems have this characteristic. All of our expectations were exceeded."

Gauthier continued: "The V-Series is an exciting system. It approaches the capability of the larger J-Series, but it’s more compact. Easy in, easy out, which not only makes the crew happy but the labor bills low. Happy crew, successful show.

"There was no distortion in the sound. It was clear, crisp, and could be heard well from everywhere on the festival grounds, from the lake to the produce stands. All of the audience feedback from this year agrees the sound was excellent again."

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