C3 carries out installation at popular Brighton venue
Popular independently-owned Brighton venue, The Haunt, has carried out a major upgrade, installing a Soundcraft Vi1 digital console and highly specified PA system. Situated opposite Brighton Pier, the converted cinema, which operated most recently as the Kuku Club, wanted to extend its scope from pure playback facilities to become a genuine 350-capacity circuit venue.
The technical team opted for the versatility of a Soundcraft Vi1 digital console, purchased from dealers Crystal Pro Audio and installed by experienced local production and installation company, C3 Productions. Run by John Crawley and John Castrillon, C3 Productions was chosen for the fit-out, based on their extensive experience with high profile events, including Great Escape, the Brighton Festival, Gay Pride, Brighton Fashion Week, and Brighton and Sussex Universities' Freshers’ Balls.
Through these events, Soundcraft has proved to be a popular brand for C3, who run MH3, GB4 and GB8 analogue consoles in their rental inventory.
On the install front, the company has also carried out a number of prestigious venue fit-outs, including the Digital nightclub, where they specified a Soundcraft MH2 analogue console. As for The Haunt, there had been no technical infrastructure until C3 Productions took over. “It was purely used by DJs,” confirmed the company’s Operations Manager, George Ridal.
Photo above: The Haunt's house engineers Zoe Martin (left) and Vicky Elston.
“We wanted to offer the venue something superior to other mid-range, small format digital desks. It also needed to be a product aimed at visiting engineers and be something they would recognise.” Although The Haunt’s new management was offered a choice of desk brands, C3 made it clear that their recommendation lay in the Soundcraft Vi1, with its inbuilt Lexicon FX. At the same time the venue also invested in expertise, with technical manager Andy Goodwin arriving at the club to work alongside live manager, Ade Dovey, while the installation was overseen by The Haunt’s new general manager, Rory Knapp.
“Increasingly Soundcraft Vi desks are appearing on technical riders, so it made perfect sense,” said Goodwin. “I have shown a lot of engineers over it, and everyone loves it.”
At the same time the venue has two excellent house engineers in the female partnership of Zoe Martin and Vicky Elston. Both have worked extensively on the Soundcraft Vi platform while on tour — the former with Esben and the Witch, the latter with Exit Ten. And both tours have exposed them to many of the venues’ in-house Soundcraft Vi desks. Zoe Martin agreed that the Vi1 was the logical choice. “Because I do a lot of touring, and have worked on the bigger Vi desks, I got into it straight away.
“If you look at the surface you can see what’s going on without having to scroll through pages and pages — you can see exactly what’s in front of you. It has great functionality — and if you want to use external FX it’s easy to patch in and easy to save and upload a file. It makes such a difference when engineers turn up here and see it’s a Soundcraft desk installed.”
George Ridal is equally delighted with the overall sonic quality, generated by both the console and the new house PA system. “With a balcony above the main floor, we wanted to make sure the spec was top quality, with a clear distribution of sound. This is core to everything we do, and you can certainly hear that quality on the Vi1, which also looks cool.”
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