RG JONES DELIVERS QUALITY SOUND FOR INVICTUS GAMES

When it came to providing a complete multi-disciplinary, multi-zoned audio system for all the sporting events of The Invictus Games, CSM Events turned to regular partner and audio specialist RG Jones Sound Engineering Ltd.

Staged at multiple venues across London's Olympic Park In September and comprising of nine sports, The Invictus Games was championed by Prince Harry, and established to send a positive message about life beyond disability. The games saw over 400 wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women from 13 Nations compete in front of both a live and BBC TV Audience.

RG Jones' was tasked to ensure that every sporting venue was comprehensively covered for sound reinforcement. Each space had to be able to convey high quality live commentary and music playback, supply required live feeds for the BBC Broadcast, and integrate into the communications system.

RG Jones Director Andrew Williamson and Project Manager Owen Relfe took charge of the project and between them oversaw the design and provision of each venue's PA system. 'When staging an event like The Invictus Games we focus on delivering a visually and technically unobtrusive system that enables easy communication between all stakeholders,' explains Andy

Andrew specified Martin Audio W8LM arrays in most of the venues, as clarity and the ability to achieve focused delivery was key. 'The PA system of choice has to be tuneable as each venue is acoustically unique,' he explains. 'The Martin Audio W8LM cabinets are ideal for these applications as they are versatile, scalable and a very natural sounding mini line array components that can be flown or ground stacked.'

Sports Technology Manager for Invictus Games Jim Lambert, has worked with RG Jones on numerous events in the past and adds: 'This was no mean feat as we were working across a number of very different venues, distanced quite far apart including: 'The Copper Box Arena', 'London Aquatic Centre', 'Lee Valley Velo Park','Lee Valley Athletics Centre' and 'Here East'. All are acoustically unique. Some are inside and others are open air. They all vary in size and capacity. With the open air sites we have restrictions on noise beyond the boundaries. This demands careful zoning of the P.A. The team from RG Jones is particularly adept at this and have always been impressed with how they understand and accommodate our brief.'

For each venue RG Jones provided a multi zoned public address system alongside emergency control paging systems. 'It's essential that all technical equipment is as invisible as possible,' explains Lambert. 'The system has to overcome adverse venue acoustic and provide clear and even coverage. While the broadcast cameras don't want to see lots of speakers or cables everyone still needs to be able to hear clearly wherever they are in the room. I aim to work with a team that I know I can rely on. For me, RG Jones has always put together well-designed, intuitive systems that work first time and keeps on working. So long as they continue to do that, then I will continue to work with them.'