Ruckus! Brings the American Revolution to Life at Boston’s Old South Meeting House
Interior at Old South Meeting House
Inside Boston’s historic Old South Meeting House, visitors can step directly into the debates, defiance, and upheaval that helped ignite the American Revolution through Ruckus!, an experiential exhibit from Revolutionary Spaces. Combining dynamic multichannel experiential sound, lighting, and projected animations throughout the historic space, the experience places visitors at the center of the story, surrounding them with the voices and actions of the people who helped shape a pivotal moment in American history.
From the floorboards to the balconies, Ruckus! uses the architecture of Old South Meeting House as part of the storytelling. Projected animations bring revolutionaries, determined citizens, and unlikely troublemakers into the story, while recorded voices, sound effects, and music bring the narrative to life.
With so many visual and storytelling elements working simultaneously, the audio system needed to provide clear, consistent coverage throughout the historic building without competing with the architecture. Electrosonic worked with 1 SOUND to develop a system that could deliver presence and intimacy throughout the audience seating while remaining visually discreet within the space.
Audio Designed for a Historic Space
Working within a historic building presented unique considerations for loudspeaker placement and mounting. The system needed to provide wide coverage and sufficient throw while preserving the visual character of Old South Meeting House.
Electrosonic utilized 1 SOUND Tower cardioid line array columns to address these requirements. The Tower system provides the necessary throw and wide dispersion for the space while maintaining a discreet footprint. A combination of mains, delays, and fills helps create consistent coverage and a sense of presence throughout the seating areas.
The main system uses Tower LCC84 loudspeakers, with Tower LCC44 loudspeakers providing side fills. Flush-mounted Level L35 loudspeakers are deployed as surround fills throughout the room and toward the back, while C4 loudspeakers provide additional coverage for the balcony.
For low-frequency reinforcement, SUB28 subwoofers are positioned at the front left and right of the space, adding depth to the music and sound effects that accompany the projections and storytelling.
Designed to Support the Story
Ruckus! relies on a combination of projected animation, lighting, recorded voices, sound effects, and music to tell its story. The audio system therefore needed to do more than provide background sound. It needed to make sure every element of the multichannel immersive soundtrack could be heard clearly throughout the space and accurately to the designed creative storytelling, while being unobstrusive to the visual content.
The distributed multichannel design approach maintains consistency from the main floor through the surrounding seating areas and balconies, supporting the experience wherever visitors are positioned.
The result is an audio system that guides the audience’s attention and provides the clarity and presence required for the experience while allowing the historic architecture to remain central to the experience.
"Solving sound for a space like ours--a space that needs to maintain its architectural and historical integrity, and that is not designed for modern sound--is a tall order. 1 SOUND worked with us to craft a state-of-the-art, multi-channel system that sounds absolutely incredible and is practically invisible. With our old system, there were parts of the building where you'd struggle to hear someone speaking clearly because of the reverberation. Now, every seat is a good seat, whether it's for our new immersive show, a forum, a theater production, or a concert. 1 SOUND completely transformed the audio experience in our historic site." - Matthew Wilding, Senior Director of Interpretation & Future Projects, Revolutionary Spaces
Discreet Integration, Custom Matched
Because Old South Meeting House is itself part of the visitor experience, the appearance of the technology was an important consideration. Loudspeakers needed to integrate naturally into the historic surroundings rather than becoming visual focal points. Through the 1 SOUND Custom Shop, 1 SOUND worked with Electrosonic and the client to identify an exact color match for the space. The custom finish allows the loudspeakers to blend more naturally into the environment while maintaining the performance required for the exhibit.
Ruckus! demonstrates how carefully designed audio can become an essential part of experiential storytelling. At Old South Meeting House, sound works alongside projection and lighting to place visitors inside a pivotal chapter of American history, while a discreet, distributed system helps ensure the story reaches every part of the space.
Photo Credit: RLMG
Products Used: Tower LCC84, Tower LCC44, Level L35, Cannon C4, SUB28
Installation By: Electrosonic, www.electrosonic.com
