| On February 28, 2002, the AES Singapore
Section with 34 attendees was privileged to tour the latest addition in
Singapore, the University Cultural Center. The Center was officially opened
on September 5th, 2000 and is the latest venue for high-quality events that
reflected both the rich cultural heritage of Singapore and the best in
international arts and entertainment. Innovative performers and producers
benefited from the state-of-the-art facilities and the center has played
host to performances by professional and non-professional, classical or
contemporary music, world music or jazz, dance or drama, literature or the
visual arts encompassing both the East and West.
Mr. Robert Soo, our current chairman, gave the opening
speech and introduced the ‘custodian’ of the center, Mr Edmund Choo. Mr.
Edmund Choo gave a general overview of the center and its full utilization
capability. He also explains on how he and their team solved some very
unique, comical and desperate situations. During the sound check our recent
National Day Speech, they noticed that there was a low ‘humming’ noise
generated from the speakers. This low ‘hum’ noise was found to come from the
high ceiling exhaust fan and was picked up by the rostrum microphone. They
realized that the rear movable panels acts like a ‘sound collector’ and
directed the sound into the microphone. After moving the rostrum forward by
about 250mm the ‘humming’ noise disappeared. On another occasion, there was
an insect flying around the stage causing distress to everybody. They
decided to install insect traps at strategic locations in the hall so as not
to cause disturbances to the coming important event. The ‘intruder insect’
was caught just before our Senior Minister’s Speech.
Mr. Edmund Choo went on to introduce the main highlight of
the tour, that is, the main hall. He said the architect got his inspiration
from the grand concert halls of Europe. The Hall comprises a total of 1,700
seats including 10 spaces for wheelchair bound audiences. Two raked tiers
circle seat view provides a degree of intimacy unusual in a hall of this
size. Despite its large capacity, no seat is further than 40 meters from the
stage, facilitating an all-embracing relationship between audiences and the
performers making it a grand setting for concerts and theatrical
presentations as well as formal ceremonies of the University. Level 1 have
the flexibility of locating the mixer right in the midst of the audiences
thereby providing the sound engineer the complete freedom of mixing. Four
methods of seating arrangements could be provided. Two with the sound
cockpit in the midst of the audience and the other two the sound control in
the room located on the second tier. More seats could be added to the
orchestra pit area when not in use. The entire orchestra pit is height
adjustable to the conductor’s preferences.
The ceiling and sidewall shaping provides strong and early
lateral sound which is directed into the seating areas. Modifying the hall
format by acoustical curtains that are provided on the side and rear walls
could further make acoustical changes in the hall. The ability to change the
acoustical qualities provides true versatility for different requirements.
Standing on the stage, we were told of two large reflector
panels ability to be brought right down to the stage floor by simple rope
and pulley mechanisms. These panels help to enhance and propagate the sound
directly to the audience. Complementing the adjustable ceiling reflectors
are 11 movable ‘wall panels 2 meter width rising to about 6 meter high. We
were told that these panels although they are on wheels and counter-balance
weights, are very heavy and require strong personnel to move them. A very
interesting feature for last minute cable laying is that there are two
assessment vent holes from the stage directly to the control rooms. This is
a very innovative idea as there are always special requirements for
additional cables that are required for different performances.
Our next tour eye-opener was a four-floor climb to the
catwalk area above the ceiling of the hall. There, we were given a first
hand look into the rigging points for the speaker system, the location of
the front-of-house lighting system and the four high powered follow
spotlights. Each of the three cluster speakers could be raised or lowered by
two electric jigs. The clusters were very well balanced that only two wire
cables were needed. We notice that the catwalks and operating areas were
very spacious. This gave a sense of confidence while standing four floors
up. Sound propagation above the reflector ceilings could be further
controlled by opening or closing specially designed heavy curtain.
Our tour ended at the control rooms where all the
electronic equipment was located. One equipment caught my eye, that is they
have an infra-red camera located in the hall. This very useful device is
used to locate the artistes while the stage lights are dimmed.
We were brought back to the hall and our chairman Mr.
Robert Soo presented two AES appreciation plaques, one to Mr. Edmund Choo
for his forthrightness in introducing the Center and the other to the Center
itself. We had a photograph taking session of the whole attendees and
concluded the tour with hand- clapping appreciation to Mr. Edmund Choo.
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