TRUCRU ADDS TIMAX SPARKLE TO ITS MARTIN AUDIO AUDIOSCAPE AT EDEN PROJECT’S CHRISTMAS LIGHT EXPERIENCE
Supplying a cinematic stereo soundtrack using Martin Audio loudspeakers throughout the Rainforest biome for four consecutive seasons at Cornwall’s Eden Project Christmas Light Experience, Redruth-based TruCru added extra sparkle this year with the simple addition of TiMax panLab.
For this year’s event, which transforms the world-famous biomes of the attraction into a vivid illuminated canvas, TruCru delivered an elevated and more engaging audience experience in the Mediterranean biome’s Citrus Grove – home to the event’s showcase feature – lifting the experience with a unique and magical spatialised audioscape.
The update in scope was triggered by attendance at the Focusrite Group’s Audio Reproduction Open Days, by Tru Cru as a Martin Audio rental partner.
It’s made immersive sound achievable where budgets simply didn’t allow it before.”
TruCru project manager, Toby Bodman, explained, “I’d always imagined a spatial element for the Citrus show, but the cost and scale of traditional immersive processors made it unachievable. Hearing TiMax panLab in action changed everything. Suddenly, an immersive system was not only creatively compelling but entirely viable within Eden’s budget.”
With the idea pitched successfully to the Eden Project, TruCru worked with the TiMax team to redesign the available rental inventory for a spatial delivery. The loudspeaker layout combined multiple layers of Martin Audio FlexPoint loudspeakers – FP12s flown at height, with more FP12’s positioned wide-left and right, concealed within planting, with further speakers positioned around the audience zone. Additional FP8 ceiling points were integrated where biome load limits allowed, ensuring vertical energy and a sense of expansiveness across the space.
The results exceeded expectations and Bodman notes, “The presence and width from just two overhead points was impressive. TiMax panLab helped us maximise the effectiveness of every position. The elevation layers gave us a genuinely spacious, enveloping image.”
With Eden already expressing interest in returning to the format next year, the success of the project has positioned spatial audio as a new and useful creative tool for future programmes. Bodman expands, “It’s made immersive sound achievable where budgets simply didn’t allow it before.”
As TruCru’s first experience delivering a spatial environment, the success of the event hinged upon the simplicity of the system. “TiMax told us it could be programmed in minutes, and I can honestly say that’s true,” Bodman confirmed. “TiMax panLab’s interface is incredibly intuitive. It just made sense. Dropping sources into position was simple, and the whole deployment was far easier than we expected.”
For this year’s show pre-mixed 7.1.4 stems provided by the content creator were used to keep things simple. Going forward, however, the team is already planning to expand automation and movement directly from TiMax panLab.
As plans for next winter’s edition begin, TiMax PanLab is set to remain a key creative tool for audio at the Eden Project, with plans to elevate their audience experience without escalating complexity.