CLIENT
People Creative
LOCATION
Jebel Hafeet National Park, Al Ain, UAE
YEAR
2024
PROJECT TYPE
Live Event / National Day Ceremony
Scope
Immersive audio system and show control design
Services Provided
- →Immersive audio system design
- →FOH and orchestra mix
- →Replay system design
- →Comms integration
- →System engineering
- →Onsite delivery and technical support
The Brief
To design an immersive audio and show control system for the UAE’s 53rd National Day celebration, a landmark live event staged in the dramatic natural landscape of Jebel Hafeet National Park. The brief required an engaging and natural audio experience that integrated a full-scale live orchestra with immersive sound design elements across a very wide audience area.
The Challenge
This year’s National Day show brought a fresh set of audio challenges, not least due to the sheer scale and unusual geometry of the venue. The audience sat in a grandstand spanning up to 75 metres in width. The musical programme featured a 98-piece orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra joined by Emirati soloists, strings and percussionists, situated right at the downstage edge, just two metres from the front row. This close proximity meant the audience could hear the orchestra both naturally and through reinforcement, a delicate balance to manage across the sound design.
Our Approach
From concept through to delivery, we worked closely with People Creative, WonderWorks, Musicom and the creative team, including lighting designer Bruno Poet, to develop a system that was both technically robust and artistically aligned. The design required us to seamlessly integrate live, acoustic and immersive elements across multiple layers of loudspeakers, while preserving spatial coherence for every audience member.
We deployed a carefully timed combination of three main audio sources: a distributed nearfield system, a spatial L-ISA scene system, and the acoustic energy of the orchestra itself. These were all aligned in the time domain, preserving a natural musical feel throughout the audience zone while offering spatial depth and pinpoint localisation.
Technical Highlights:
Audio Design
Primary system: 600 L-Acoustics 5XT speakers, 64 Syva Low, and 16 KS28 subwoofers evenly distributed across the grandstand, precisely time-aligned to the conductor position to provide a nearfield stereo source for every listener.
Scene system: Seven L-Acoustics L2 arrays, each a single L2 element, embedded within the mountainous set architecture. These created a concave L-ISA zone for spatial imaging, supplemented by a central cluster of ten KS28 subwoofers.
Rear effects: Six Kiva II arrays on the back wall of the grandstand and a row of 72 X4i speakers for leadership seating coverage where direct line of sight was blocked.
Extension system: Two side extension arrays each of 6 KARA II flown on lighting towers to bridge between the scene system and the rear surrounds.
Orchestra rehearsal: A full replica of the control and monitoring system was deployed in a 1:1 rehearsal space to pre-prepare stems and monitor mixes.
Dual DiGiCo Quantum 7 consoles for FOH in a mirrored dual-redundant setup
Separate dual-engine Quantum 7 for the orchestra mix
Dual-redundant Optocore and AVB networks for signal distribution
Show Control Design
Dual-redundant Ovation replay systems for music playback and timecode control
L-Acoustics L-ISA II processors for spatial control
Multiple DirectOut Prodigy.MP devices for MADI routing, AVB conversion, and system redundancy
The Results
The result was a cohesive, enveloping sound experience that felt intimate and cinematic, even in a vast outdoor space. Audience members could enjoy the natural timbre of the orchestra up close, supported by a subtle but powerful reinforcement system that added spatial dimension without ever becoming distracting. The contrast between the nearfield system, immersive scene elements and the orchestra’s own acoustic presence provided real clarity and emotional resonance.
The system’s ability to draw audience attention with pinpoint sound localisation added narrative power to the production, while preserving the overall sense of a unified sound field.
Acknowledgements
Our Client
People Creative
Auditoria Team
Sound Design: Scott Willsallen, Ethan Curry
FOH Mix: Richard Sharratt
Systems Engineering: Martin Dineley
Replay Operators: Simon Sayer, Federico Rizzi
Orchestra Mix: Simon Fox
Engineering
WonderWorks
Audio Supplier
Clair Global UAE
Music
Musicom & Polyphonia
Related Projects
