Claudio Baglioni is an Italian pop singer-songwriter and musician whose success spans over several decades as his melodic and highly-dramatic love ballads are part of Italy's musical and national subculture. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of his storied career, Baglioni has set out on a national arena tour selling out shows from Rome to Turin, along the way impressing audiences with solid performances and outstanding audio in the form of a Firenze-KH7 touring system. 

THE TEAM

Rental company: Agorà 

FOH: Maurizio Nicotra 

Monitor engineer: Remo Scafati 

PA manager: Edoardo Michelori 

Sound designer/engineer: Daniele Tramontani 

Live sound product specialist: Klaus Hausherr 

Product specialist: Danilo Amato 

THE CHALLENGE

Given the artist’s penchant for a central stage setup, rental company Agorà had the difficult task of equipping the Al Centro tour with the best sound system that allowed for an impeccable mix in a 360° configuration as well as one that was as less invasive as possible to not obstruct the audience’s view in the four-corner setup. The choice of loudspeaker began with Baglioni’s requirement for a small footprint. With a compact design that allows sound to exit instantaneously without resonance yet generates a significant amount of sound pressure in the low and low-mid range resulting in a better impulse response and maximum clarity and definition, K-array became the benchmark straightaway.

THE SOLUTION

360° Main PA: 8 clusters x 5 Firenze-KH7 (two per corner) 

enter fill: 4 clusters x 2 Firenze-KH7 

Subwoofers: 4 suspended lines x 6 Firenze-KS7 in electronic arc configuration 

Side front fill: 8 line arrays x 2 Kayman-KY102 

Center front fill: 4 line arrays x 1 Kayman-KY102 

THE SET UP ADVANTAGES

Hyper-cardioid dispersion pattern: In the low end, the KH7 shows a hyper cardioid dispersion pattern in the horizontal plane thanks to its Slim Array Technology, minimizing the amount of energy sent to the center of the stage keeping it clear of noise pollution for the performers. 

Super low-profile: Compact frame that is perfect for a 360° configuration 

Lightweight: Each cluster is less than 300 kg, including amplification and processing 

Easy to mount: Produces remarkably quick setup times. Together with lighting and video technicians, Agorà is able to have the system ready in just over 6 hours, while the dismantling is done in under three hours. 

Flown straight: “Compared to traditional PAs, a significant advantage in using the KH7 is the fact that it can be flown straight and we don’t have to set up angles from the ground,” says Michelori. “In fact, as soon as we see a motor point ready, we attack the system without having to ask anything from anyone.” 

Flexibility: At the artist's request, the front fill had to be flexible due to different spacing at the various venues. This Kayman setup gives the front fill a wide opening angle and by arranging the three column systems, the entire side is covered. The decision to suspend the subwoofers was necessary to free the stage from barriers. The team was concerned that raising the drivers would result in a loss of power but because the system doesn’t lack power, all apprehensions were quickly subsided. “The lower end is extremely complex to manage, just as much as the high-end frequencies,” says Tramontani. We created a ring of 24 subs whose angles have been delayed, forming a circle. Looking from within on the stage though, the graph of the dispersion behaves as if it were a flower with the petals with the maximum cancellation right at the center of the stage.” 

THE RESULTS

Despite all the delicate challenges the tour presented, the artist’s outstanding performances ascertained that combination of K-array’s unique loudspeakers and innovative technology with Agora’s professionalism was the perfect solution. The Firenze system is effective and capable of reproducing a high intelligibility along with a well-calibrated and homogeneous sound. Thanks to the system’s Electronic Beam Steering technology, the team was able to achieve a uniform coverage usually within +-3dB, even in the biggest arenas where the distance from the stage to the last seat is more than 50 m.