Cold Spring, NY (September 14, 2020)—Architectural acoustic consulting and design firm WSDG may have designed famous recording studios, conference centers, museums and more around the world, but now it can add a new item to the list—a COVID-19 summer drive-in movie theater.
The Magazzino Italian Art museum in Cold Spring, NY, has held its ‘Cinema In Piazza’ Summer Film Screenings in its outdoor courtyard since it first opened in 2017, and decided to keep that going despite the pandemic. Since WSDG aided the museum in optimizing the courtyard a few years ago for screenings, the company was brought in again to figure out how to bring the same sound quality to screenings in the museum’s parking lot.
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The series showcases both classic and contemporary Italian films, and has become a cornerstone of the museum’s warm weather offerings. “Magazzino is an important asset to the Hudson Valley arts community,” explained WSDG founding partner John Storyk, “We’ve always been fortunate to have them as friends and neighbors, and it’s been our privilege to help facilitate these programs.”
Once the museum’s 23-foot rear-projection screen had been installed in the gallery parking lot, WSDG employed an FM radio broadcast system based around a Midas M32R LIVE 40-channel Digital Mixer to feed the audio to the attendee’s vehicles, thus allowing them to stay safely in their cars while still enjoying the full cinematic experience. Some QSC loudspeakers were also employed as well.
In the rare instance that attendees didn’t have access to a car stereo, the museum also provided sanitized portable radios and headphones. The implementation was an immediate success. “We had thirty cars at the first event and the quality of the audio from the FM feeds was excellent,” WSDG project manager Pietro Gennenzi said. “Everyone was able to enjoy the show.”
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