A
compact Allen & Heath SQ-6 console was on mixing duty for one of the
world’s most remote festivals.
The annual Qooqqut festival brings music and culture to an isolated shore in the Nuuk fjord complex, cradled by the dramatic mountains of western Greenland. Organised by Greenland’s cultural centre, Katuaq, this year’s festival was held on August 14th and 15th. With no roads, no phone signal and no Internet onsite, Qooqqut 2020 offered a rare opportunity to step outside the everyday world and experience a diverse programme of music, workshops and traditional sports. Tickets were capped at an intimate 250 for each day and the event was planned in close cooperation with the authorities to ensure compliance with Covid 19 guidelines.
Katuaq’s
sound technician, Angunnguaq Larsen, mixed FoH for the event from a 48 channel
SQ-6 console, with an iPad running the SQ MixPad app providing him with a
portable solution for controlling all the artists’ monitors. An SQ Dante card
in the console enabled the FoH / monitor split as well as providing multitrack
recording capability. A pair of portable DX168 I/O expanders were placed
onstage, connecting to the SQ-6 over the plug ‘n play SLink protocol.
The
SQ-6 proved the ideal heart of the system, as Angunnguaq elaborates, “The main
reasons we chose to bring our SQ were the audio quality and the size. For this festival you can’t just put the
equipment in a truck and drive to the site – everything has to be carried in by
hand. I really like the sound quality and the headroom you get from SQ. I also
appreciate the DEEP processing models in the compressor pack, and the onboard
FX provide depth when you need it. With a busy programme and short setup times,
the mixer’s ease of use and fast workflows are also really important. You can
do pretty much anything with SQ.”
When
it is not running FoH by the fjord, the SQ-6 is part of the AV system at Katuaq
in Nuuk, mixing performances and conferences in the centre’s 508-capacity main
hall and two smaller event spaces.
