FIFA Confederations Cup closing ceremony audio mixed on a DiGiCo SD8

Regarded by many observers as a ‘dry run’ for Brazil hosting next year’s World Cup, the home team emerged victorious on the pitch, beating current World and European champions Spain 3-0 in the tournament final.

Held at Rio’s Maracana Stadium, prior to the final’s kick off, the closing ceremony demonstrated the city’s well-founded reputation for a colourful party. Loudness Sound Rental & Services was tasked with supplying the audio system for the ceremony, choosing a DiGiCo SD8, plus an L-Acoustics PA and Shure wireless microphones and IEMs.

“A big challenge for us was the project only being confirmed very close to the date for getting the system in and setting it up,” says Loudness Sound Rental & Services’ Fernanda Lemos. “The sound quality and reliability of the SD8 were major reasons for choosing it, of course, but in these circumstances its fast setup and user-friendliness were very important.”

Operated by experienced DiGiCo user Celson Prado, the SD8 was used to mix live audio for the stadium audience, as well as sending feeds to FIFA-appointed host broadcaster HBS.

In total, 18 inputs were required – playback from one DJ and live vocals from a number of singers – with 36 outputs feeding the L-Acoustics PA, the stadium’s installed PA (used as delays for the main system), artist IEMs, sidefills, HBS broadcast and communication with the ceremony’s choreographers.

“Although it was a fairly straightforward set-up, it was a really technical challenge as we only had a short time to study the venue and to integrate our system into it,” says Lemos. “We had to get the ideal sound image, whilst abiding by FIFA’s rules about speaker positions, SPL levels and other issues.

“The SD8’s flexibility helped a lot as the various feeds had to be so different, depending on where they were being sent. We had separate sends for many parts of the stadium in order to get the best results, and it ended up being a very large design.”