The return of Jovanotti to live concerts with the PalaJova tour maintains the high production standards of the famous performer. It included a sound system comprised of GSL and XSL loudspeakers from the SL-Series by d&b audiotechnik, which, in the hands of veteran sound engineer Pino ‘Pinaxa’ Pischetola, delivered a pleasant, uniform and powerful sound.
The d&b audiotechnik GSL system provided the quality, power and control demanded by Italian star Jovanotti for his PalaJova tour.
Like many of Jovanotti’s previous shows, PalaJova was a technically sophisticated production with high production values in every detail. The sound solution chosen by expert system designer Antonio Paoluzi and live sound engineer Pino ‘Pinaxa’ Pischetola had to meet demanding requirements. Pinaxa explains that the request came directly from Jovanotti himself, who wanted the sound to be "powerful, with enough volume to make the audience’s ears vibrate".
 |
 |
For Paoluzi, who has many years of experience on major tours and festivals in Italy and internationally, it was the first time using GSL on such a long tour.
Thanks to the many tools provided by the manufacturer, the final result was excellent. The virtual project was created with ArrayCalc and matched almost perfectly with what we experienced on site, which greatly simplified setup and adjustments, commented Paoluzi.
Although the system configuration varied slightly depending on the size and height of the different venues (all of them indoors), the main setup always consisted of Rigging + Lateral. At full deployment, it included 16 GSL for the main left and right clusters (with four GSL12 in 120° dispersion for downfill), plus 12 GSL per side as side fills and 10 XSL rigs per side as delays for specific parts of the show. For low frequencies, 20 SL-SUBs were set up in an arc in double stacks on the ground across the entire 24m wide stage front, while 10 d&b Y10P point source loudspeakers provided front fill, positioned above the subwoofer clusters.
What could have been a fairly standard system arrangement was complicated by one of the show’s most striking scenic features: moving capsules equipped with "electrified flowers" which, while creating a spectacular effect, sometimes obstructed the sound of the main PA system. "When the flowers come between the main cluster and the audience, there’s little magic you can do; inevitably the sound suffers", explained Paoluzi.
To address this situation, the only viable solution was to use two additional fill clusters, ensuring a complete sound both for Pinaxa at FoH and for the audience sections blocked by the flowers.
The situation changed in each venue, because the position of these moving structures and flowers varied in every arena. I have to say that, together with Josh (Giorgio ‘Josh’ Geromin, the show’s lighting designer), we always tried to find the perfect compromise while respecting the stage dynamics and the needs of the show, added Paoluzi.
 |
 |
Paoluzi’s experience was decisive in achieving the sound result which, even in the most challenging venues, left both the audience and professionals involved fully satisfied.
"One of the features of this system that I liked the most is that it sounds perfect right away, with a powerful sound that generally appeals to everyone", he said.
Paoluzi also praised the controlled directivity of the SL-Series cabinets, and explained: "This series is also very suitable for use in indoor venues, because it is very well controlled at the back".
For Pischetola, d&b audio systems were nothing new, as he has been using them since the Q-Series era.
Lorenzo specifically asked me for a design with a powerful sound that would make the audience’s ears vibrate and, in this context, GSL can deliver all of that effortlessly. GSL provides a very uniform, big and powerful sound, which makes mixing much easier for me, at least in the way I like to mix, he commented about GSL.
