
Christmas Under The Stars is a Stellar Success with L-Acoustics posted: 12/01/2021
Rehearsing on the Kara/SB28 rig at North Phoenix
Christ's Church of the Valley's annual holiday spectacular spread out across its ten Phoenix-area campuses this December, and Clearwing Productions deployed 210 L-Acoustics loudspeakers with P1 and M1 for maximum consistency across all locations
January 2021 - Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV), a non-denominational Christian church located in and around Phoenix, likes to do things in a big way. Founded in 1982, CCV was able to raise over $1 million in a single day back in 1996 to purchase 50 acres in the northwest suburb of Peoria where it would build its main 3,000-seat campus, the first of what are now ten worship locations, and soon to be an even dozen in 2021.
Soundcheck for Christmas Under The Stars at CCV's Peoria campus where Clearwing flew four L-Acoustics Kara arrays over KS28 subs
When it came to its annual Christmastime event for 2020, the church wasn't about to let COVID-19 permanently halt the production. Instead, it produced Christmas Under The Stars outdoors and safely spaced at all of its campuses over six nights during the holiday. Enjoyed by an estimated 50,000 people, each campus had fantastic sound thanks to the deployment of an astounding 210 L-Acoustics loudspeaker enclosures and components provided by the Phoenix office of Clearwing Productions.
It was pretty incredible, recalls Clearwing Audio Engineer/Designer Joe Spitzer, who is also a certified and accomplished L-Acoustics K System Engineer (KSE). We approached this as we would a music festival with ten separate stages. L-Acoustics had the perfect mix of speakers and technologies to let us design and build PA systems that were exactly matched to each location's acoustical and coverage needs, as well as make sure we had consistent sound quality across all ten sites. Plus, it was consistent with the sound the church is used to hearing because they have L-Acoustics Kara or Kiva II systems in more than half of their campuses. So the system performance was very familiar to their own engineers.
The main Peoria campus had the largest single system, consisting of a flown PA using seven Kara boxes per side for the main arrays and six more per hang for the side arrays. Six SB28 subs provided low end, and the whole system was powered by four LA-RAK II amplified controllers, each containing three LA12X amplifiers.
Another view of the Peoria site's setup
The other nine campuses had combinations of six Kara or eight Kiva II speakers per side, most stacked atop a pair of either SB28 or KS28 subs, while two locations had six-Kara hangs flown per side. One location, an auditorium with a wide, fan-shaped seating area, utilized two A15 Wide and two A15 Focus enclosures per side. In all, Clearwing's technicians deployed a sum of 74 Kara, 48 Kiva II, ten X8, six X15 HiQ, six ARCS II, four A15 Focus, four A15 Wide, eight 12XT, and two Syva, paired with a total of 28 SB28, 16 KS28, and four KS21 subs, plus 25 amplified controller racks.
CCV's Scottsdale location utilized a ground-stacked setup of ARCS II enclosures atop SB28 subs
But there was far more to this sprawling project than speakers and amplifiers-the right digital tools from L-Acoustics and a good logistical plan were also critical. Spitzer explains, We wanted to achieve the same tonality and low-frequency contours that they get indoors in all of the outdoor locations. Spitzer supervised his installation crews over five days as they set up systems in each location, then stepped in for the final tunings and calibration. For that, he utilized L-Acoustics Soundvision acoustic prediction software paired with the M1 calibration suite bundled with LA Network Manager on a P1 processor. Together, these platforms created a seamless workflow that began with systems design and extended through tuning and critical listening, providing maximum consistency in system performance across all sites night after night.
One particular application of the LA Network Manager control and monitoring software that was heavily used for Christmas Under The Stars was the Autoclimate feature, which allows for the simultaneous adjustment of air-compensation filters based on measured temperature and humidity conditions. The band would do its soundcheck during the day, but by the time the show was to go on, the temperature had dropped, and there was more moisture in the air, he says. The change in humidity, in particular, accentuates high frequencies, and Autoclimate allowed us to automatically compensate for changing air conditions, dialing high frequencies back as needed. It is an awesome capability to have for a set of shows like this.
The church agreed. Production Director Blair Drake was impressed by how consistent the sound quality was between the various outdoor performance locations and how closely it matched what the audience members hear inside the churches. The Soundvision modeling was extremely accurate-what the software predicted was very true to the end result, says Drake, who mixed FOH sound at the Peoria campus in addition to overseeing all of the audio crews at the other event locations. It's one of the many reasons we've been using L-Acoustics for so long.
Pre-show soundcheck at the Verrado site using A15/KS21
He adds that all of CCV's new locations in the last six years have had Kara and Kiva II PA systems installed, and the pending new locations for 2021, in Phoenix suburbs of Laveen and Queen Creek, will have L-Acoustics A Series sound systems. Clearwing did a fantastic job on this project, making it work under very challenging conditions, he says. But L-Acoustics gave us the right tools to make it all happen.
About L-Acoustics
Founded in 1984 near Paris, France, L-Acou
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Ikegami USA will launch a refinement to the UHK-X700 and UHK-X750 3-CMOS -in. UHD cameras in the UNICAM XE series plus two new 7-in. viewfinders at NAB 2026 in...
07/04/2026
The NAB Leadership Foundation and NAB PILOT will host a career mixer for technology students at NAB Show 2026 on April 18, 5-6:30 p.m., North Hall, Room N225/22...
07/04/2026
Audinate Group Limited and Futuresource Consulting have published results from a...
07/04/2026
Eluvio has announced the commercial availability of its Content Fabric Bucharest...
07/04/2026
Eluvio has unveiled a new architecture for video AI and an updated Eluvio Video Intelligence Editor (EVIE) ahead of NAB Show 2026. Eluvio AI runs analysis and i...
07/04/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has announced a deal with Sky New Zealand...
07/04/2026
The NBA and Enjoy Basketball, the digital media company co-founded by YouTube cr...
07/04/2026
The 4,000-sq.-ft. space in Frisco, TX, has produced live and packaged programmin...
07/04/2026
What began as a referee training tool is evolving into a powerful production ass...
07/04/2026
Manifold Technologies will announce at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C.1808) that its manifold CLOUD platform will be available as a deployable application within NEP Pl...
07/04/2026
Shaquille O'Neal, Authentic Brands Group, and TNT Sports, in partnership wit...
07/04/2026
Telos Alliance will debut the Omnia XII, a new FM/HD/DAB audio processor, at NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas.
Built on a 2RU hardware platform, Omnia XII features a...
07/04/2026
Amazon Web Services (AWS) will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth W1701), with demonstrations, speaking sessions, and int...
07/04/2026
Synamedia will demonstrate AI by Quortex at NAB Show 2026, a framework that applies AI capabilities to video workflows on demand rather than continuously. The s...
07/04/2026
TVNewsCheck will present its 15th annual Women in Technology Awards on Tuesday, April 21, at 5 p.m. PT at NAB Show, in the Media and Entertainment Theater (W146...
07/04/2026
Akta will demonstrate its AI video platform at NAB Show 2026, highlighting new capabilities in media processing and vertical video formatting alongside its exis...
07/04/2026
ESPN and Disney have announced the launch of ESPN on Disney in Europe and select Asia-Pacific markets, bringing the offering to 53 countries and territories a...
07/04/2026
LOS ANGELES, CA, April 7, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the fellows selected for the 2026 Native Lab, the signature initiative of the ...
07/04/2026
Starting today, Prompted Playlist is expanding beyond music to now include podca...
07/04/2026
Launched alongside piano promotion
The latest instalment in VSL's Synchron Series line-up captures the sound of a faithful copy of a Fran ois tienne Bl...
07/04/2026
Flagship sampling pad gets an update
Roland's flagship sampling pad has just received a major update that kits it out with an array of new features and ...
07/04/2026
Popular compact wireless system upgraded
Sound Devices have recently introduced a new and improved version of their compact wireless transmitter bodypacks, ...
07/04/2026
The November 2025 YEP Newsletter highlights a recent YEP Coffee Chat, offering members the chance to connect with industry professionals in an informal setting ...
07/04/2026
The December 2025 YEP Newsletter includes a Spotlight on Emily Vail, showcasing her career journey and work in the industry, alongside Mentorship Reflections by...
07/04/2026
Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) telescope operated...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Catgut Sound Owner and Production Sound Mixer Chris Welcker, CAS, has built a career at the intersection of music and film. A former musician and composer, Welc...
07/04/2026
SDVI Corporation today announced the next generation of its Rally media supply chain management platform, introducing a redesigned orchestration engine that rep...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's leading streaming television channels, at NAB 2026 will be launching new Studio services to help content ow...
07/04/2026
Ikegami USA has chosen NAB 2026 in Las Vegas as the launch platform for new additions to its range of broadcast-quality television production equipment. These w...
07/04/2026
April 19, 2026, Las Vegas Kiloview, an innovative provider of AV-over-IP technologies, will showcase its latest broadcast IP solutions at NAB 2026, presenting...
07/04/2026
Bitmovin has announced support for Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) across its playback products using HLS interstitials, enabling more advanced ad-supported s...
07/04/2026
Synamedia is unveiling AI by Quortex at The NAB show, a just-in-time AI plugin framework that applies intelligence only when needed across video processing, dis...
07/04/2026
Cuez will showcase four additions to its cloud-based newsroom, rundown and automation platform at NAB Show 2026 (April 18 22, Las Vegas, Booth N1867):
Cuez ...
07/04/2026
CueScript to Showcase Innovations at NAB that Add Mobility Options, Ease Editing...
07/04/2026
Barix Extends Transport Options for Multi-Engine IP Encoder
Brie Clayton April 7, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB, Barix adds SRT and RIST support to Mult...
07/04/2026
Elite Media Technologies Selects Interra Systems' BATON File-Based QC Soluti...
07/04/2026
Tightrope Media Systems to Debut Cablecast LiveBridge for Simultaneous Streaming...
07/04/2026
Cuez Brings Four New Innovations to NAB 2026: From Story-Centric Newsroom to Ope...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...