Miami Marvels
September/October 2014
ADORE
Dressed in soft, luxurious, deep red furnishings, Adore nightclub in Miami Beach takes inspiration from a "forgotten cathedral's fall from grace" and offers guests an experience of sensuality and intrigue. With more of a lounge feel to it compared to some of the other nightclubs in the area, the 12,000 sq ft space is well equipped on the technology front and includes a Funktion One sound system, lighting and video design from Steve Lieberman of SJ Lighting and a three-dimensional LED sphere hanging above the dancefloor acting as the main technological attraction. A floor-to-ceiling LED display on stage showcases video imagery and effects that are fully integrated into the control systems of the club, all of this works to create a seamless flow with the music and atmosphere.
Adore, which is owned and operated by Cy Waites, previously one half of the operation behind Las Vegas nightclubs XS and Tryst, aims through Adore, to recreate the same level of VIP service and class associated with the high-end Vegas nightlife spots. Since his move away from XS and Tryst, Cy had been looking for a club opportunity when he found himself in Miami and, as it turns out, the perfect space on Collins Avenue. Having worked with Funktion One's US distributor Sound Investment on previous projects, Cy knew that this was once again, going to be a suitable system for the space. Sound Investment's Roly Aspuru picks up the story: "There was an existing relationship there with Cy because of the work we did for him in Las Vegas," he said. "I was involved with Adore from quite early on, working with Daniel (Agne) who was the main designer for this project - he set the foundations and then I worked out all the tweaks necessary to fit in with the construction requirements and what the real life envi
"Cy was a demanding client in that he wanted the best system possible - end of," continued Roly. "He always wanted more and even if we thought we had put ‘enough' in, it wasn't enough for him. He pushed everything to the next level, the fact that someone has the courage to keep pushing the boundaries is commendable and Adore is testament to that ‘top line' getting pushed further and a new standard being set for amazing sound."
Unlike most nightclub systems, the PA at Adore is a two point system, Roly explained: "In most cases we'll work to a four point system and then a surrounding system but in the case of Adore the room didn't require another two loudspeakers on the rear side of the room. This brought down the level of reflections that we had to compete against and kept everything as linear as possible - putting the focus on the DJ."
Funktion One is used throughout the venue and powered by Full Fat Audio; the main dancefloor system is made up of six R3SH EVO loudspeakers, four of which are split evenly left and right of the DJ booth, these take care of the mids and highs and work together with two N315 triple 15-inch driver loudspeakers - again, one left and right of the DJ booth. There are fi ve BR221 dual 21-inch bass reflex subwoofers installed and everything is powered by four Full Fat Audio amplifi ers - two FFA-6000's and two FFA-100000's. The DJ booth is the main focus of the room at Adore and two Funktion One PSM318 point-source fl oor standing DJ monitors are featured - each with three 18-inch loudspeakers and powered by one Full Fat Audio FFA-4004 four-channel amplifi er and two Full Fat Audio FFA-6000 two-channel amplifi ers. The Funktion One DJ monitors are used with a Pioneer DJ set-up, which consists of fi ve CDJ-2000 multimedia players, one DJM-900 Nexus mixer, one Allen & Heath Xone:92 four-channel DJ mixer and two Rane Serato Scratch Line software systems.
"What's unique about the system is that it's designed as a studio rig," said Roly. "We have a Burl Audio B2 Bomber DAC digital / analogue converter, so we have our analogue signal coming from the mixer going to the Burl, that then digitises all the information. This then gets sent to the distribution system and goes into a Cranesong; then it goes analogue into a loop to a pair of Pultec tube EQs and then a pair of retro amplify limiters - then it goes back into the Cranesong HEDD 192 signal processor and through the distribution system. It really is an exciting process and a great loop. We've given in-house DJs the ‘more power' button, which gets pressed whenever the headline act comes on and activates the loop - the room just explodes with warmth."
For the VIP area two Funktion One AX88 active loudspeakers are used along with two F221 folded horn subwoofers, powered by one Full Fat Audio FFA-6004 four-channel amplifi er and one Full Fat Audio FFA-10000 two-channel amplifier.
Underneath the balcony, taking care of the rear of the room, there are 10 Funktion One F1201 12-inch mid / high loudspeakers, which are powered by two Full Fat Audio FFA-6000 amplifi ers; there are also two Funktion One BR218 subwoofers and then three Funktion One F118 Mk2 loudspeakers, which are powered by two Full Fat Audio FFA-10000 amplifiers.
On the upper balcony there are a further four Funktion One R3SH EVO loudspeakers and a further two Funktion One N315 loudspeakers, which are powered by a FFA-6004 amplifi er and a FFA-10000 amplifi er. "The size of the room, the balconies, stairs and furnishings and so on all work to dampen the room," continued Roly. "I think we have the right amount of refl ection with the right amount of absorption so acoustically we've nailed it in my opinion. It was refreshing to work with a design team that understood our acoustic concerns in the beginning and incorporated them into their design and made it happen for us."
There are then nine Funktion One F118 Mk2 folded-horn bass loudspeakers distributed throughout the upper level of Adore, powered by two FFA-10000 amplifi ers. Continuing in the upper balcony space four Funktion One Resolution 1.5TT loudspeakers feature, these are designed for mid sized venues with low ceiling heights. The Resolution 1.5TT can be neatly installed tight against a ceiling providing good coverage due to the built-in downward angle of the devices. There are also a further 10 F1201 12-inch mid / high loudspeakers, which are powered by three FFA-6004 amplifiers.
Processing and control of all the audio at Adore is taken care of by a custom made processing network, comprising two Funktion One XO4A digital system controllers, BSS Soundweb London analogue and digital input / output cards and three BSS Soundweb London BLU-10WHT touchscreen controls.
The lighting and video system at Adore works in conjunction with the audio and the main focal point as mentioned, is a 6ft wide, spherical LED video feature hanging over the dancefloor, with a 4mm video wall running the length of the DJ booth.
Commenting on the design, Steve Lieberman told mondo*dr: "We created concentric rings around the LED sphere and broke it up into different pieces so it created this optical illusion of a vortex in the ceiling by using Color Kinetics iCove QLX LED fi xtures to highlight the space. We used this for hanging lighting positions together with the iCove, wherever we had a light fi xture that we wanted to place, we would delete the iCove, it created this really dynamic effect of a radial pattern which I feel helps keep the crowd fl owing around the room, especially when you have things moving 360º and there's no corners in the room - visually, it helps a crowd fl ow through the space.
"Another thing I tried to do at Adore was avoid using truss and typical production commodities," continued Steve. "The last thing I want is for people to come to a venue and see all the truss and arrays in there. So we coloured the piping black so it disappears, but then lit up all the edging so that it brings the venue alive - good thing is, you don't see any of the mechanics." Steve also made use of the supporting beams throughout Adore by having the cove detail cut into the corner of every column at a 90º apex, then, in there he put the iCove so it actually travels up, left, right, back and forth along the column and then into the ceiling - all mapped with a Madrix system. There are a total of 1,086 Color Kinetics iCove QLX LED fi xtures used throughout Adore for architectural highlighting.
Elation was the lighting manufacturer of choice for Adore and there are 10 Platinum Spot 5R Pro moving heads; 27 Rayzor Q12 moving heads; and 12 Platinum Beam 5R Extreme moving heads hung throughout the venue. As well as this, there are six Elation Proton LED strobe lights, 10 Event Bars, which each feature four moving heads; and nine CuePix Strip lighting bars all controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA2 Light console.
Concluding, Steve said: "Adore presented a whole host of challenges - it's an asymmetrical room so we had to fi nd a central point. It made sense to put the centrepiece directly inline with the DJ booth and then we spaced it to a place that felt natural - from there I made the concentric plans that went out into the space. Any place where there was a column we broke that line and fitted into the architecture. Ceilings had got a little lower and floors a little higher compared to the original architect plans so we lost about a foot of space and had to redesign a few elements or remove kit completely, but this couldn't be anticipated until we got on site.
"I always want to create a visual experience but I also want to create a distraction, so you enjoy the environment you're in. I never want a design to look like an afterthought - it should be a seamless environment and installation, that's my goal with any venue."
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
SOUND
10 x Funktion One R3SH EVO loudspeaker; 4 x Funktion One Res 1.5TT loudspeaker; 4 x Funktion One N315 loudspeaker; 2 x Funktion One AX88 loudspeaker; 12 x Funktion One F118 Mk2 loudspeaker; 20 x Funktion One F1201 loudspeaker; 5 x Funktion One BR221 subwoofer; 2 x Funktion One BR218 subwoofer; 2 x Funktion One F221 subwoofer; 6 x Full Fat Audio FFA-6000 amplifier; 8 x Full Fat Audio FFA-10000 amplifier; 5 x Full Fat Audio FFA-6004 amplifier; 1 x Burl Audio B2 Bomber DAC converter; 1 x Cranesong Hedd 192 signal processor; 2 x Pultec tube equaliser; 2 x Retro 176 tube compressor; 2 x Funktion One PSM318 DJ monitor; 5 x Pioneer CDJ-2000 multimedia player; 1 x Pioneer DJM-900 Nexus mixer; 1 x Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer; 2 x Rane Serato Scratch Live software system; 2 x Funktion One XO4A digital system controller; 3 x BSS Soundweb London BLU10 networked remote control
LIGHTING
10 x Elation Platinum Spot 5R Pro moving head; 27 x Elation Rayzor Q12 moving head; 12 x Elation Platinum Beam 5R Extreme moving head; 6 x Elation Proton LED strobe lighting fixture; 10 x Elation Event Bar lighting fixture; 9 x Elation CuePix Strip RGB; 120 x Philips Color Kinetics iCove lighting batten; 1,086 x Philips Color Kinetics iCove QLX LED fixture; 1 x MA Lighting grandMA2 Light console; 1 x Cybernet iOneH6 PC with madrix software