Glyndebourne Opera begins season accompanied by SSL

La implementación de la consola de mezclas Solid State Logic Live L550 Plus abre las puertas a la instalación integral de sistemas de grabación, transmisión, sonorización y comunicación para la producción.

The Ópera de Glyndebourne, que ha acogido un festival anual de verano con producciones de clase mundial desde 1934, ha lanzado su temporada 2025 con tecnologías de audio renovadas. Una pieza clave del nuevo sistema de audio es la consola de mezclas Solid State Logic Live L550 Plus, junto con dos mesas L100 Plus and four cajas de escenario with capacity for up to 112 entries.

El proyecto de actualización brindó la oportunidad de obtener una visión integral de los sistemas instalados de grabación, transmisión, sonorización y comunicaciones de producción, states Jonathan Moss, director de sonido y vídeo de Glyndebourne Productions.

La ópera, with capacity for 1.200 personas y construida en 1994 para reemplazar la anterior, ya contaba con una infraestructura de red, por lo que la compatibilidad con Dante era un requisito clave para cualquier componente de audio.

“No nos interesa comprar nada que no esté basado en red”, enfatiza Moss. “Todo se reduce a cómo funcionan juntos”.

El sistema SSL Live, recientemente implementado, se ha integrado a través de Dante tanto con el sistema de wireless microphones como con la red de comunicaciones de producción, sentando las bases para un entorno de audio más flexible y con visión de futuro.

Conectividad con control flexible

Los sistemas de mezcla SSL en Glyndebourne aprovechan la avanzada infraestructura de red del recinto. La consola L550 Plus ofrece potentes capacidades de procesamiento, ya sea operada directamente desde la superficie de la consola, remotamente a través de una de las consolas L100 Plus o mediante un Live Remote Tile conectado a un PC con Solsa (aplicación de configuración SSL on/offline) en modo remoto. “Esto es un teatro de ópera”, señala Moss. “No hay puesto de mezclador en la sala de sonido. Nuestro puesto de control está en un lateral del escenario, un piso más arriba”.

El recinto está equipado con tres cajas de escenario SB 32.32 ubicadas en la sala de racks, con cables de conexión distribuidos por todo el edificio. “Una caja de escenario gestiona todo lo que necesitamos en el festival”, añasde Moss. “Pero rara vez usamos más de 32 entradas en el escenario principal. The second is a spare for any last minute needs, and the third goes in the pit during recording. We also have a SB 16.8 in the recording room”.

Glyndebourne's demanding schedule includes daily rehearsals, a full summer festival, a concert season, opera in autumn and international productions on tour.

“Normally, We rehearse in the morning with all the technical support: scenography, lighting and sound. Then, we change for the afternoon performance. For the change to take place, we have 40 o 50 personas”.

SSL Live: a powerful combination

During the rehearsals, one of Glyndebourne's L100 Plus consoles is placed in the stalls. Chosen for its compact size and lightweight design, is ideal for this application.

“It is one of the lightest options on the market”, said Moss. “We use it as a remote surface: You only need mains power and a single cable. No audio passes through it. It is basically a programming table, since the L550 Plus is always in control”.

A second L100 Plus is located in a small editing room, where audio staff can adjust presentation files or resolve mixing issues. After each public presentation, a new team arrives during the night to prepare for the full technical rehearsal the next morning.

On rare occasions, a production requires live mixing from the room. “for that, we use a Live Remote Tile with a Solsa setup. It is located in a small side room of the auditorium with a window that opens. Normally we don't have anyone present during the entire show, only for some entries”.

Glyndebourne Productions evaluated several console options before choosing SSL Live and were ultimately drawn to its powerful input automation..

Not only is it a solid sound table, but essential for the ecosystem. An example is the integration of the stage director's communications system with the venue's main microphone., allowing you to head to the stage with the push of a button. Another is the use of GPIO triggers to control foldback muting directly from the mixer.. “These types of functions make the table more than just a mixer: They integrate it into a fully integrated ecosystem”, explica Moss.

Glyndebourne Productions manages its own in-house recordings for marketing purposes and collaborates with Classic FM to distribute its sessions online.The Organ Room Sessions’ the Glyndebourne.

Looking to the future, the team plans to record the performances using a System T SSL setup, which includes the Tempest Control App (TCA), a Tempest TE2 motor and a mosaic of desktop faders. All of this integrated into the venue's Dante network.

“The fact that we activate actions through the network, how to start a recording from a remote location, means that we do not need someone to be physically present in the recording room at all times”, concludes Moss. “That level of flexibility is incredibly valuable to us in the long term.”. T-System configuration is also future-proof: If larger productions require greater control, a large format surface can be added without replacing the existing TCA package”.