The Last Ship is a musical written by Sting and Lorne Campbell. The show returned to Northern Stage in Newcastle, UK in March 2018. 

Sound designer Sebastian Frost used d&b Soundscape’s two optional software modules: En-Scene a sound object positioning tool, and En-Space which allows designers to add room emulation of reverberation signatures particular to any given space, real or imagined. 

Said Frost: “I went to hear a demo in Hall 14 at d&b HQ in Backnang about a year ago. The experience was inspirational because the biggest thing you want from any system is that it doesn’t tie you down or restrict you in anyway. Currently there is a great deal of chatter in audio circles about creating immersive experiences or 3D sound environments, that’s not what’s happening here… What I heard was much more than simple panning or delay of sound; you were not just placing sound objects in specific places. This was a more scientific approach… this was the creation of a sound field within which the creative possibilities appear unrestricted.”

Northern Stage’s production manager Chris Durant added: “Here we have six d&b V10P across the proscenium, each laid horizontal with the horn rotated to present the 110 degrees wide dispersion. Six Y10P are down the room on the delay line, and there are twelve front fills. The Y-SUBs are all tucked away up on a bridge above the audience. We would normally struggle here with loudspeaker positions with relationship to lighting positions and sightlines, and in this case, we have scenic projection to consider which only makes that harder. But instead nothing intrudes. At most there are the E6 front fills across the stage, but that’s it.”