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Thorpe park lighting and sound kit


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Hi everyone

 

just a random thing but just interested.

 

The last time I went to thorpe park (where ever you go u notice the tech kit!) they had loads of CCT sils, 1kw fresnels and lots of par64s and all there sound was through bose 802s

 

just wondering if they still have this kit in use!

 

has anyone been there recently or worked there?

 

Thanks

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Not sure about lighting, but a friend of mine is the main sound contractor for the park. Yes they do use Bose speakers - mainly because they are made of plastic and therefore are not going to rot outdoors! The main bulk of the budget is spent on the signal distribution and complex programming to make the right sounds in the right areas of the ride queues etc. The cabling infrastructure in the park is immense! Plus the fact 802 are good for just throwing sound everywhere if that is what you want!!!
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The last time I went to thorpe park ...all there sound was through bose 802s

 

just wondering if they still have this kit in use!

 

I've recently been to Thorpe Park, and their company's love affair with bose is still in full effect :-(.

 

I read an article on it recently and for me the interesting thing is the audio is distributed around the park by the parks shared Ethernet network. The system acts like a giant matrix switch and has enabled them to move away from distributed audio sources and to do remote monitoring of the amps.

 

Pretty cool stuff.

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Thanks guys, thats interesting about the sound stuff!!

anyone know about their lighting for their shows, what they're currently using?

 

To my knowledge they don't do any shows in house any more. The old theatre is a 3D cinema now, and the Dome with a selection of par cans is not used for shows. Even the arena isn't used any more. Last decent show there was Faithless a few years ago.

 

All brought in for the horror mazes (believe I'm correct in saying that, read in L&SI I think....)

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If you read L&SI, there was an article back in December 2008 about show control on an attraction called 'The Asylum'. Pretty good read if you interested in how attractions are automated.

 

That was it. Sure I've still got it knocking around somewhere in the venue. Probably the last copy I had time to properly browse! :rolleyes:

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The old theatre is a 3D cinema now, and the Dome with a selection of par cans is not used for shows. Even the arena isn't used any more. Last decent show there was Faithless a few years ago.

 

So they dont have the palladium theatre anymore! that was a nice little theatre! Thorpe park used to have loads of shows, especially before tussauds bought it.

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There are no longer any large theatrical shows put on but there are smaller bits and pieces which make use of permanent stages and LX rigs. As far as I know, these are put on only in the entrance dome where the LX is made up of a few cans and what look like 1/2Ks of some sort and a pair of Robe250 spots all off a truss.

 

This year, and I think for several years now, there was a show in the arena which was a motorbike stunt show. No LX, but PA all supplied by the company who came in and did the bikes bit of it.

 

As for fright nights, the LSI article is correct and up-to-date with what is in which maze. There are 4 mazes each with a different type of rig and control system verging from the simple switch it all on and leave it through to a really neat MIDI solution interfacing with a Soundman server and a HogPC and one maze even has signs of a pulsar replay unit programmed presumably by a masterpiece or something similar!

 

HTH

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  • 7 months later...
I read an article on it

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I went to Thorpe Park yesterday and noticed Bose speakers everywhere I looked. I spent most of my queuing time trying to figure out how it was all done: did each ride control booth have its own amps and audio source? Was there a mammoth amp room somewhere with amps for the entire park? etc

 

You wouldn't still happen to know where that article was would you? I understand it was a while ago!

 

Thanks,

Charlie

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I read an article on it

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I went to Thorpe Park yesterday and noticed Bose speakers everywhere I looked. I spent most of my queuing time trying to figure out how it was all done: did each ride control booth have its own amps and audio source? Was there a mammoth amp room somewhere with amps for the entire park? etc

 

You wouldn't still happen to know where that article was would you? I understand it was a while ago!

 

Thanks,

Charlie

 

http://www.lsionline.co.uk/ does back issues.

 

This direct link *might* work http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.u...LYR8GdQtJo=.pdf

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Theme parks are generally "segmented". When I worked at Alton Towers, the amps for "Cloud Cuckoo Land" were in the Theater with me, and park sound for that area was my responsibility. Each area generally has its own "team of staff which operates the rides etc in said area. E.G. Rita at Alton Towers (one of my favorite rides) was just across from the Theater and the team that worked on Rita and the surrounding area were called "Team Rita". It enables staff to have the same people in their area most of the time. So as they are the same people, they know who to contact should park sound in their area go down, or should there be a problem with any lights installed by the Entertainment dept in that area also.

 

Theme park technician work is different, but I would highly recommend it as it is an experience I will never forget and I gained a lot from it!

 

Thanks,

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Theme parks are generally "segmented". When I worked at Alton Towers, the amps for "Cloud Cuckoo Land" were in the Theater with me, and park sound for that area was my responsibility. Each area generally has its own "team of staff which operates the rides etc in said area. E.G. Rita at Alton Towers (one of my favorite rides) was just across from the Theater .................
Maybe this should be in pet hates, but it REALLY annoys me when maybe the ONE thing that EVERYONE here should know precisely how to spell is THEATRE...!

 

It is NOT (in the UK) a theater!!!!

:) :** laughs out loud **: :D

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