Los Angeles, CA (April 19, 2018)—While the music club Zebulon first opened in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY, the venue was recently transplanted to Los Angeles, setting up shop in Atwater Village. While getting the new site together, the facility’s owners brought in Rat Sound Systems to design and install an L-Acoustics-based audio system.
“Zebulon’s owners group is made up of three guys that have been in the club business for years,” says Rat’s Adam Figueroa. “They are very discerning about sound quality and came to us specifically looking for an L-Acoustics rig to attract a higher level of artists to the space.”
Yoshi Wada (right) and Tashi Wada (center) in concert at Zebulon with the venue’s X12 stage wedges and LA4X amplified controllers in view
An empty-room view of Zebulon, which recently moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles’ Frogtown neighborhood
Key to the system, however, was that it had to be multifaceted, like the space itself; while it hosts eclectic performances at night, it doubles as a restaurant and bar during daylight hours. “They needed to be able to have background music in zones during the day, but then be able to very easily and cleanly become a live venue at night,” notes Rat Sound general manager Paul Freudenberg.
For performances, Zebulon’s new audio setup is based on L-Acoustics’ Arcs WiFo system with two Arcs Wide and one ARCS Focus per side. A pair of SB18i’s are flown behind each array for low frequency support, while a four-mix monitor system using X12 wedges is found onstage.
Accommodating the restaurant’s daytime needs, a zoned system covering the bar and lounge using compact 5XT and X8 coaxial enclosures. The stage and zones are powered by five L-Acoustics LA4X amplified controllers housed in a rack onstage.
Adding to the challenges of the space is that the stage is in a corner of the room, and the roof has an arc to it. While normally that might lead to stage-stacked subs, the stage space is at a premium, so they had to be flown instead. “It required a pretty creative rigging job,” says Freudenberg. “The nature of the space meant big collaboration with the structural engineer, and there was really just a great synergy between everyone from the owners to L-Acoustics to Rat as the installer.”
“The beauty of ARCS WiFo is that they are truly touring grade enclosures made from the very best components available,” Freudenberg shares. “They’re incredibly tight sounding and precise, but still light enough to be hung even in architecturally challenging spaces. All of that certainly plays into the overall sonic experience.”
The end result is a house system that Matt Littlejohn, the venue’s audio supervisor and FOH engineer, is pleased to work with daily: “The artists that perform here, as well as the owners and guests, are all thrilled with the sound. I know that people are happy to see a small venue that takes audio very seriously, and that has made the space a place that people want to play.”
Zebulon • http://zebulon.la
Rat Sound Systems • www.ratsound.com
L-Acoustics • www.l-acoustics.com
