FBT Goes to the Rodeo
When Dave Bartholomew says it’s not his first time at the rodeo, he really means it. In fact, after renting a system to the Isanti County Firefighter’s PRCA Rodeo last year and installing one this year, he’s now become their “go-to guy” for sound engineering. An event that’s attended by over 5,000 people annually, it’s one of the largest annual rodeos in the Midwest. Bartholomew, the Sales Manager and Project Manager of Allied Productions & Sales, says the importance of clear, quality sound is crucial, and that he’s chosen FBT to meet the challenges of this unique venue.
“The three-day rodeo takes place in a large oval-shaped arena, which presents a few challenges,” said Bartholomew. “For one thing when supporting an announcer, intelligibility is the most important factor. Second, there’s a covered ‘preferred seating’ area along one of the longer sides and the rest of the area is wide open with bleacher seats. The speakers needed to be raised high enough above the covered area to reach the rest of the arena to make sure the sound would be evenly dispersed and to not overpower the 70-volt speaker sound system that delivers sound to the attendees under the covering. We had some metal smiths who are associated with the rodeo custom build a system with extended poles and yokes to raise four all-weather FBT Shadow 112CTs – each a 12 inch full-range coax – up above. To be strategic, we also added two Subline 15As to round out the system. FBT was a deliberate part of that strategy, because their boxes are crystal clear when people are speaking, but they’re also very musical, very well tuned. We needed a speaker that would sound equally great when covering both the announcer and the music that’s often played as part of the event.”
“I also have to tell you,” he added, “I think FBT has been making plastic speakers longer than just about anybody else. Usually plastic boxes don’t usually resonate like wood does, they’ll even howl at certain frequency ranges. That’s just not the case with these speakers, though. There’s something about FBT’s internal design. The sound is absolutely incredible. You just have to hear it to believe it.”
The Shadows are also rated for all-weather use, rounding out the 30-year audio veteran’s reasons for choosing the brand.
Allied Productions & Sales was originally one of Bartholomew’s clients before they hired him to spearhead the sales and installation portion of their business 12 years ago. The company has grown since then, adding video and lighting divisions to their already successful audio and production services, and moving to a larger, newer facility in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. They’re now a leading player in both production and installation work in the Twin Cities area. In addition to being responsible for all Microsoft store grand openings in the U.S. and Canada, they’re also responsible for providing audio to the Minnesota State Fair, annually, which is the second largest state fair in the country. Bartholomew has developed expertise with various niche groups including houses of worship and live music venues. He also co-designs installations for military bases around the world, in addition to systems that support live performances for our troops.
The opera house was built in 1855, abandoned in 1962 and, from 1996 until April, was operating at a fraction of its capacity –utilizing just a center hall art gallery and small performance space on the first floor. Fundraising efforts raised the $8.5 million necessary for renovations, including state historic preservation funds, which supported pulling up and reinforcing the original wood floor with steel before relaying it; supporting the truss, roof and foundation; and cleaning up thirty years’ worth of evidence that pigeons had taken up a tenancy in the rafters. Next steps included fully modernizing the electricity and plumbing, no small feat when considering that maintaining the integrity of the building and its overall structure was a requirement by historical preservation standards.
Carter added, “Because the room is such a challenge, architecturally, we were really concerned that we’d never be able to tame it. As soon as we turned the system on, though, I was immediately impressed by its reach and how subtle and true the sound is. This new system allows us to project the sound to every seat in the house, and regardless of where you’re sitting it’s clean, crisp and clear. You can hear and appreciate every nuance – all of the details of a performance; it’s a pleasant concert experience now. We’ve only been open a short time, but the system has really exceeded our expectations. I have no doubt that it will continue to do everything we ask it to going forward.”
The Mannings led the fundraising and were joined by numerous generous donors from the Newman community, whose assistance was greatly appreciated. In addition to aesthetic improvements, the practicality of a new sound system was evident.
“This particular event – the Catholic Men’s Fellowship – is something we do annually, but this was the first time I’d brought FBT to the job. When one of my audio engineers, who happens to be the A1 for the Pittsburgh Penquins, saw that I was going to use two stacks of four boxes in a room that was 200 feet by 120 feet he was doubtful,” said Dwinga, “but only until he raised the fader 30 percent of the way, and then he was really impressed. I mean, that’s a big room and we needed to support a full worship band with drums, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, sax and flute – We’re talking about the full range of tones that you could possibly get in a live scenario. We had two stacks of four FBT Muse 210LAs, two of their dual sublines and two more each of their outfills and two small center fills. Not only did we cover the room accurately – the sound was just mind-blowing. As good as the speakers sound with music, they’re at home with the spoken word. They have one of the smoothest midrange responses I’ve ever heard.” 
The Liberty is a popular venue with bands making their way from Texas to Albuquerque on their tours, but it’s also a rental space for private events. With this in mind, Pennell has always had to be mindful of the need for a versatile system. From day to day, staging is resized or removed altogether to accommodate the varying events booked at the venue, which has a standing capacity of 500 people. They currently have their own Mitus 206 line array, but Pennell supplements with additional boxes, as needed. 
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