SSE London
Sound Installation at Proud Gallery's New Home
Proud Bar & Gallery has moved to a new home in Stables Market in Camdem – moving from the Gin House to the old Horse Hospital in Chalk Farm Road. This provided the opportunity for SSE London to provide an extensive new audio installation.
The combined gallery and music venue was forced to give up its Gin House residency when the short-term lease reached its conclusion. But the man behind the Gallery Alex Proud was determined to remain in Camden and set his sights on a new home in Stables Market.
“When it became clear that the old Gin House was going to be redeveloped, there was only one place for us. We had to fight tooth and nail to get it, but we did. Initially in 2001, I wasn’t fully aware of the importance of setting up in Camden but we’re used to it now, there was a bit of luck involved.”
The old Horse Hospital that
treated the barge horses of by-gone days is now at the centre of Camden’s social and creative hub. It has been redeveloped by Alex Proud and opened as Proud Camden Bar & Gallery on April 3 with The Enemy headlining the live bill.ROCK N ROLL PHOTOGRAPHY
From its inception, Proud’s exhibitions had been rock’n’roll related, which brought natural crossovers into the world of music, usually in the form of one-off performances. Proud wanted to create a space dedicated to both art and music.
In 2006, Alex Proud’s ambition was realised when he hooked up with promoter, Vince Power, to create At Proud, the licensed, musical arm of Proud Camden and it is this combined interest that has now moved to the Horse Hospital.
The new 800-capacity venue is set out in three indoor rooms —the Main-Live Room, the South Gallery-Acoustic Room, and the Stable Room — plus an outside area that can accommodate a further 200 people, totalling 10,000ft2.
LIVE MUSIC
The dedication to music is conveyed in Alex Proud’s decision to hire SSE London to carry out the full audio installation — their commitment to the job and workmanship, clearly impressed him:
“They are probably the best if you’re not an audio geek, which I’m not, because they can really make you look like one! I have bands coming up to me thinking I’m a genius, when it’s SSE that have done the work.
“We were working on an incredibly tight budget and I’ve been blown away, which is nice to say because amid the stress, relationships can become fractured but they worked tirelessly and didn’t charge me extra for it.”
SSE London had installed the sound system at Proud's original Gin House premises - Featured here:
>SSE London Proud to be associated with the Arts
THE MAIN - LIVE ROOMThe ‘gig room’ system installed
by SSE London features a Nexo Geo S12 line array, comprising of eight S1230 loudspeakers, two Nexo PS15 infills, and four of the very latest Nexo RS15 subs. At FOH, a 40-channel (plus eight stereo channels) Midas Verona V480 console handles all of the mixing duties, including sending four mixes to eight SSE MB4 stage monitors — all of which are powered by Camco amplifiers.Outboard devices include Klark Teknik Helix and Square One EQs, dbx 1066 compressors, Drawmer DS201 gates, a t.c. electronic D2 delay, Yamaha SPX990s and a Lexicon PCM91. A full complement of Shure, AKG and Sennheiser microphones and stands were also supplied as part of the ‘gig’ package.
THE SOUTH GALLERY– ACOUSTIC ROOM
SSE London has installed a
Yamaha-amplified system featuring six Turbosound TQ440 speakers and an optional pair of EV SB1 subs to accommodate DJs and bands. For live shows, a mobile live rack can be plugged in and provides a Behringer MX3242 16-channel console with effects and inserts — rack units include a BSS Opal DPR 422 dual compressor and 522 dual gate, plus a Yamaha SPX 990 reverb. DJs can be set up using the latest Pioneer and Allen & Heath DJ products or by dialling into a feed from the Main Room.THE STABLE AND STALLS
Intricate design elements are
mirrored by the technology install. While two EV ZX1i speakers are positioned in the bar for ambient coverage, each stall area is kitted out with a plasma screen and its own PA system, made up of two Vieta Do5 mid-highs and a Do80 sub. Customers can either listen to the background music from the bar area or plug in their own MP3s, incorporating an innovative use of the latest products from Vieta Systems. BSS Soundweb zone control is at the core of the venue’s audio hub.
“It was Vieta’s compact amplifiers and very new MP3 pre-amp
that inspired us to look at the concept of a personalised audio system in this area,” explained Emma Barwell, SSE’s London-based operations director.
that inspired us to look at the concept of a personalised audio system in this area,” explained Emma Barwell, SSE’s London-based operations director. The amplifiers and MP3 pre-amp from Vieta are designed to mount on to a DIN rail, enabling SSE to build individual ‘amp racks’ for each stall, which are fitted under the seat.
Proud Camden Bar & Gallery has embraced its surroundings, offering an arts venue that is both diverse and high profile, and in doing these things, stayed true to the area, something that Alex Proud was keen achieve.
