Funktion One's VERO at Electrobeach

The 2018 Electrobeach event, which took place from 12th to 14th July, was both bold and innovative in choosing to use Funktion-One systems. Held in the port city of Barcarès, in the south of France, Electrobeach is the country’s largest electronic music festival. Over three days each year, it brings together more than 100 DJs and welcomes about 100,000 people!

To meet the needs of an event of this size, Funktion-One specialists from France and the rest of Europe came together to work on the festival after having won a very competitive bid for tenders.

This decisive move, which called for discipline and determination, meant putting together a very strong team. Indeed, since this festival is organised by a local municipality, it involved a European call for tender, thus putting together an extremely complex dossier according to very strict rules. The specifications drawn up by Electrobeach covered 4 stages. On the main stage, it was necessary to provide a system capable of producing a homogeneous result over 120 metres, in an area surrounded by residential buildings. For the other three stages, the sound diffusion/distribution had to cover an area of 40m x 40m… The VERO system lent itself perfectly to the main stage and the EVO systems were ideally suited to the needs of the other three. For the main stage, however, we were in direct competition with well-known brands, all hoping to win this contract, in the knowledge that their industry standard equipment is usually chosen for this type of large-scale event.

 A European call for tenders, complex and precise

Patrice Burle, founder of Concept Group, nevertheless took the initiative to respond to the call for tenders with Funktion One systems. He had heard much about them and his colleagues’ enthusiasm and conviction prompted his decision. It was his company, therefore, that drafted this proposal and, as project manager, took the lead during its development. At Solution One, our role was to coordinate production, in particular in setting up subcontracts with two key partners: the well-known Remote, which is very successful in Paris, and Think! AV from the Netherlands. Indeed, Think! AV had already invested in VERO and was able to bring with it all its experience and success using this mega-system at renowned festivals, such as Dekmantel, DigiTL and Welcome to the Future!

We also provided significant support for the technical study. Our challenge was to demonstrate, step by step, that our systems could work as effectively as those of other brands already well established in the market. We are aware, nevertheless, that there is currently a tradition of high-performance systems, advanced in their design and implementation and managed by people at the top of the profession, but who all use line-source systems, whereas Funktion One uses other principles such as GES (Geometric Energy Summing), which is completely different. It was therefore necessary to put forward convincing arguments to compete with some of the very biggest players in the audio industry.

Convincing customers with a new system: a challenge overcome!

The VERO simulation software made this easier for us by enabling us to provide all the necessary details about the system’s performance and spectrum, with a 3D visualisation and a detailed frequency analysis…. This allowed us to demonstrate that we could achieve the necessary rendition over large ranges such as those defined in the specifications. There were other deciding factors too, in particular the simplicity of the system: indeed, the solution we proposed was much less onerous to set up than traditional systems, making the installation less expensive yet the result just as convincing as what Electrobeach had obtained in the past with much more complex systems! Our proposal allowed us not only to use fewer trucks to transport the equipment, less workload, less weight and less handling, but also reduced the noise impact on the neighbourhood, thanks to better directivity, and improved comfort on site, in particular by reducing noise backstage. In the end, it was these technical arguments that enabled us to win the contract against our competitors. All that remained was for us to prove ourselves on the ground!

Playing: the moment of truth!

Many sound engineers were in fact quite sceptical about our unconventional proposal. We have succeeded in breaking old habits and overcoming prejudices, with a very large-scale system using a technique other than line source systems… Patrice Burle, of Concept Group, explains in regard to this that some producers had even given some fiercely negative feedback when they received the technical notes, when the call for tenders had been won but before deciding to work with our system. Fortunately, he explains: “The technical director didn’t give up, the brand didn’t give up…. and everyone left with a smile on their face! Not to mention the comments of the public who approved of the sound! The result spoke for itself. As for us, we knew that you had the right backup.” In the end, it was by using the system that the fears expressed by some people, who thought, for example, that sound would not reach the far end of the area, were allayed. They were able to see that the listening quality and performance were superb despite the simplicity of the set-up… Everyone was won over, not just on the main stage!

“Custom made” systems for each stage

The other three stages, equipped with EVO systems, were perfectly designed for each setting and the sound was perfect, whether techno, hardcore or clubbing… It must be said that our systems are highly appreciated in the world of electronic music thanks to their exceptional dynamics over the entire spectrum and their very specific listening comfort, these being the two distinctive points in what Funktion One offers. We were able to achieve excellent performance over large ranges with relatively few EVO speakers while providing high dynamic performance because our systems offer a kick, a punch, which allows the crowd to enjoy a fully sensorial experience. Funktion One’s speciality, after all, is to immerse the audience in the sound, to convey the timbre, the sensitivity, and to reproduce the full body and transients of the sound.

In conclusion, Solution One is, more than ever before, ready to assist service providers with large-scale bids such as this for Electrobeach. We know how to work as a team, provide detailed predictions, offer new sound experiences and produce convincing proposals and very complex dossiers!