Sheyenne High School Theatre

West Fargo, North Dakota

Bid/Specification project designed by MBN Engineering with value added options designed by Tricorne Audio, Inc.  As with many bid/specification jobs the design happens 1-2 years before the actual construction and with a project the size of the Sheyenne Fine Arts addition, it was almost 3 years from the design to project installation.  The initial design was a Left-Center-Right theatre system, digital mixing and a complement of wireless microphones.

Solution: There is no real solution per say in this project. However, the upgrades are impressive. The original digital mixer was replaced by a pair of Allen & Heath GLD 122 surfaces. This allows the 32 channels of Sennheiser wireless to be controlled from one surface while the other surface controls the orchestra pit inputs, sound effects and other misc. inputs. This configuration allows more students to be involved, faster learning as there is more opportunity for hands on teaching and a better overall mix as the number of required layers is reduced.  Also, the use of remote mix racks reduced the size of the patch bay and the reduced the necessary amount of copper, saving cost and installation time. The main speakers were upgraded as well to EAW QX series (which were not available at the time of the original design). These high output, compact, coaxial speakers provides excellent sound quality, improved off axis response and increased coverage for the tech booth/balcony compared to the original design. The overall system design, installation and final product set a new benchmark for high school theatre audio in the tri-state area.