River Dance

By Ryan Abeling, 4.14.2008

New York City's Hudson Terrace club features four zones for audio that are controlled by three Biamp Nexia SP units (below), and an LED video screen mounted to the ceiling.

NEW YORK, NY-Hudson Terrace is the newest event space in midtown Manhattan to open its doors. After a long construction process, the club has officially opened and has been greatly received by visitors.

Steve Petrik, project manager for D&A, the integrator on the project, explained the client's needs for the space. "The client wanted a space that could function as a night club and an event space for high-end weddings and similar events. The ability to reconfigure the setup, like from a live performance to a DJ event, all while routing multiple sources throughout the venue, was very important. It needed to be easily accessible for the managers to do it compared to having a full-time tech there."

The client also wanted the gear to be very natural to the environment. "One of the design goals was to have the installed equipment look like it was supposed to be there, not that the space was designed and then the AV was installed where it needed to be," Petrik said. "This is one of the advantages of having the architect and systems designer in the same company. All of the installed lighting is recessed as to minimize the sight lines."

The club is split onto four zones: the main floor, the patio, and then two sides of a rooftop terrace that overlooks the Hudson River. "One of the interesting things was configuring the system so they had the flexibility they needed to route everything to one of four zones in the venue," Petrik noted.

D&A installed three Biamp Nexia SP units to accomplish this, and using Biamp's daVinci software allowed Petrik to set up a user interface on a wireless tablet PC so the managers are able to route the audio anywhere they need it. "This made the system very easy to use," he continued. "It gave them what they need compared to giving them a lot of parameters they didn't."

Another big draw for the club is the unusual mounting choice for its LED video screen. While screens are typically mounted horizontally, making them parallel to the floor, the Hudson Terrace has its video screen up on the ceiling. "It's made of 18 Chauvet DV wall HD panels divided in two screens," Petrik explained. "The video aspect of these type of installs is playing a bigger roll nowadays. Doing the LED screen gives them another option, instead of traditional projections."

The choice to use LED screens also lead to decisions in lighting, as Petrik explained. "We used a lot of LED lights throughout the club, actually. I see it becoming an important part now. You don't have to worry about bulbs or people touching them and burning their hands, and they're very low power consumption, which saves money."

The sound system was designed with quality in mind, as Petrik noted. "Over the last few installs we've done, I've come to really like the Biamp and daVinci software. It allows you to configure whatever you need to, and the software interface makes life very easy. The loudspeakers are by Danley, a company I really believe in. The quality you get with their products is amazing. There's very little EQing you're doing out of the box, just a little room correction, which saves a lot of time. The sound is so clear that it allows patrons to stay longer and not tax their ears. The TH-112 is a sub that I prefer because it goes a little lower and is slightly smaller so it was is easier to hide under the stairs."