PK Sound & Logic Systems Optimize Sound Coverage for Bass Canyon

St. Louis-based Logic Systems Sound & Lighting utilized a wide array of PK Sound solutions for the annual Bass Canyon EDM festival, three days of non-stop bass music featuring Excision and friends at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of PK Sound in North America.

“This was our fourth year deploying a large PK Sound system on stages 1 and 2 at the Gorge,” says Logic Systems’ Project Manager Bobby Autry.  “Once we got involved with PK, our relationship with Excision Presents began to develop, which led to Logic supporting their major festivals throughout the country.”

On the Main Stage, Logic Systems deployed 18 Trinity Black robotically-controlled line source modules over three T10 downfills per side as the main hangs; 16 flown T218 intelligent subwoofers per side; eight Trinity Black over two T10s per side as the mid-delay fills; 10 T10s per side as outfills; 12 T10s as front fills; 52 G218 high-powered subs for the sub wall; and eight T10s per hang across three delay towers. In total, 202 PK Sound modules were deployed for the Main Stage system.

“The Gorge is a very challenging venue from a coverage standpoint,” notes Logic Systems’ A1 Ben Schulte.  “The vertical changes from the floor up through the lawn are inconsistent, and the audience area isn’t symmetrical from left to right either.  PK’s ability to control vertical and horizontal dispersion remotely while the arrays are in the air is a game changer that ensures the best possible listening experience for the audience.  Aside from the control of the physical coverage on the top boxes, the PK subs absolutely stomp.  At an EDM festival like Bass Canyon, that is a non-negotiable for an audience that’s especially critical of the audio experience.”  

Logic Systems’ Sales Manager Andrew Beer explains that “at most of our large-scale deployments, the sound system has multiple main hangs across the stages which span hundreds of feet across.  Add in outfills, under-balconies, VIP areas, delays, et cetera, and that is a lot of energy going into the audience area.  But PK Sound allows us to have far more control to get granular on blending coverage between all of these overlapping systems with vertical and asymmetrical horizontal waveguide control.”  

Beer also points out that “controlling audio bleed from our stage into surrounding stages or the neighboring community is a consideration when deploying these systems.  Festival promoters want to keep good relations with the communities where their festivals are held, and PK .dynamics modeling software helps set us up for success in controlling the energy.  Festivals are dynamic environments and the audience areas from stage to stage change depending on where the hottest artist might be performing.  We can contour our system based on the current needs in real time.” 

According to Beer, the PK Sound gear’s performance at Bass Canyon was “outstanding.”  Based on this and prior experience with the equipment, Beer feels “the PK system is absolutely a tool we will continue to use moving forward.  

“While we do a lot of EDM events, we are also using PK on other things, including country music tours, hip-hop and R&B festivals, rock festivals, and corporate events.  I’m excited to see the growth of PK Sound in our industry and the new offerings being developed.”