Garrison Sound System
The developers of the Garrison Pub in Sylvia Park, needed a DJ and Music nightclub sound and lighting system for their venue that was flexible enough to meet the diverse demands of a unique space and easy to operate.
By day, the Garrison is a bustling family oriented dining space with a comfortable vibe. By night it is a popular spot for the 20-30 something crowd with a “sports bar” feel, a DJ and dance floor and a bar serving drinks and meals. The building itself is quite large and challenging with high ceilings and angled spaces – getting quality sound to all corners and at the right volumes was important. Providing a lighting system for the dance floor, controlling the LED lights behind the bar glassware shelving and integrating with plasma screens were also in the specification.
The ongoing popularity of any restaurant or bar is not as much to do with the price of the fare as it is to do with the atmosphere and the comfortable vibe. Studies have proven that sound quality plays a significant role in determining the comfort of a venue – it also influences the time people spend there.
A cheap set of speakers rattling and buzzing at full volume will make customers subconsciously uneasy. And lighting is just as important as the sound.
When it came to designing the sound and lighting solution, it was a case of providing a high-quality look and feel, meeting all the requirements. But at the same time, it was kept as subtle as possible so that it could cater for a night time scenario but not overwhelm the daytime diners.
To achieve the multi-zone requirement, we broke the bar down into five independent zones controlled via a matrix and Crestron control equipment. The audio and visual systems in each zone are independently controlled. This means, for example, one zone may be screening a sports event sound and video from a SKY feed while a DJ is providing live music in another area. The technology behind the scenes is complex, however, the user interface is simple to operate, intuitive and very user friendly.
All the sound and lighting can be controlled from a single, portable Crestron touch screen. To provide the specified quality and sound pressure level around the venue, the system utilises powerful DAS Audio speakers, with sub-woofers positioned in specially designed, discreet enclosures. The Crestron front end not only provides the control over the audio and video switching matrices, but the entire front of house lighting as well. It enables the user to recall, edit and save desired audio, video and lighting setups.
For the dance floor, the four moving heads use a separate program and controller, called Sunlite which is based on a PC and controls the lights via a USB interface. The light show can be driven by the DJ, or it can run from presets that change the scenes and colours of the dance floor and ceiling. This system also controls the LED lighting behind the bar and can be programmed with unlimited preset functions or driven in real-time by the DJ or bar staff…
