ABOUT THE CLIENT
ABOUT THE CLIENTClub Kyo is one of Singapore's underground night clubs, space where elemental music meets visionary art. the art of escapism honed to its finest.
Source: Kyo Official Website
CLUB KYO GETS UPDATED – VERSION 2.0 CRANKS UP THE WATTS WITH EAW AND POWERSOFT
Singapore – Club Kyo, a basement club located within the financial district, at Cecil Street, recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary with a refreshed approach. Standing on its own, it can be best described as a “destination venue”, as guests come for the sole purpose of patronising the club, unlike Boat Quay or Clarke Quay where a number of venues are literally beside each other, enabling one to venue hop. This means the owners of Club kyo, Singapore-based lifestyle group, Limited Edition Concepts Pte Ltd (LEC), had to ensure that guests form an indelible impression of the space, the ambience, the staff and other guests.
Adjusting and transforming spaces, especially entertainment venues, is a given. Especially since patron profiles change, tastes change and sometimes you just need to update to keep up with changing demands. That is what Club Kyo has done.
What’s Changed?
Club Kyo operates four days a week from Wednesdays to Saturdays.
Version 1.0, had dining options in the evenings with the venue transforming into a dance club as the sun went down. Version 2.0 sees the venue eliminating the food portion and dedicating early evenings to bar patrons while the later part of the operations sees the club metamorphosing into a full-fledged dance venue. Godwin Pereira, Co-Founder of LEC, commented, “Effectually we have changed the efficiency of the place to cater to more traffic.”
Design wise, the change is subtle. The original bar, which is 29 metres, is three sided thus enabling staff to serve guests with ease. The Bar back design has been changed to give various liquor brands more prominence. There are also now rows of high tables facing the DJ booth for guests to stand and place their drinks. The tables also include space below for guests to place their bags. A simple gesture but one which is very much appreciated, especially by the ladies. There is an unpolished industrial look to the space which fits in nicely with its basement location. With the elimination of the dining aspect, the club is now able to accommodate up to 400 patrons.
One key and noticeable change is the DJ booth, which has been shifted but still maintains it whopping 7.8m in length. The booth now accommodates the operator for the visuals (a new element), the lighting operator, as well as the DJ. Godwin, ranked as one of the top DJs in Singapore and who still loves to spin once in a while, maintained the desktop set-up complete with a movable table top to accommodate the consoles. “The idea is to make it easy to plug and play the gears for the DJ.”
Making the Count
The shift in focus also meant that the Club had to crank up its sound. “In effect we have boosted the sound from 34,000 watts to 62,000 watts now,” said Godwin.
Godwin decided to continue to keep faith with systems integrator and supplier, Electronics and Engineering Pte Ltd who offer EAW and Powersoft solutions. “We have basically complemented the sound system with more power. The EAW speakers and the Powersoft amplifiers have served us well and we knew that the solutions would help us achieve our objectives with ease. The increase in speakers and amplifiers enable us to have a lot more headroom, so that we do not need to drive the system full throttle. What this does is enable us to crank up the audio at the dance floor area but still maintain an even coverage across the space that allows for patrons to communicate without screaming at the top of their lungs.”
The dance floor now vibrates to the tune of 4 x additional EAW SB1001 subwoofers, making a total of 8 x subwoofers. The original 4 x ceiling-suspended 12-inch EAW QX596i three-way loudspeakers are now complemented with 2 x EAW QX396 full range loudspeakers. All the speakers and subs are driven with additional Powersoft DIGIAM M20D, DIGAM K6 and DIGAM K8 amplifiers complementing those that were already installed.
As part of the upgrade, the 2 x EAW UX3600 digital system processors from the previous installation have been replaced by 3 x EAW UX8800 processors to accommodate the additional outputs.
The DJ Booth now features 2 new units of EAW MW15, Micro-Wedge Stage monitors and 2 new EAW SB184Z single 18-inch subwoofers driven by Powersoft Digam K3 amplifiers. “The micro-wedges to be honest are delivering way beyond what I had expected,” said Godwin. “When I first saw them I was not convinced that they will be able to deliver but I have become a believer now. I like the volume but more importantly, I like the clarity. It offers the DJs a clear view of what is happening.”
Godwin added, “This booth is not for amateurs. You need to be 100% focused on what you are doing. We’ve even had international guest DJs who felt slightly intimated by the sheer power and size of the booth. To put it bluntly, you need to be at a top level to handle the systems here.”
The rest of the space maintains what was already installed, which is 10 units of the EAW JF10 two-way speakers, reinforced with 6 x 15-inch EAW SB150P subwoofers, driven by 2 x Powersoft DIGAM M20D and 1 x DIGAM K2, and 1 x DIGAM M50Q amplifier.
Godwin reinforces the fact that this ensures even distribution and the same dB whether you are in the standing space or seated. In addition, there are now a number of Samsung displays installed on one side of the wall that enables the venue to display announcements, offer graphics and visuals to stimulate the environment.
The Response
According to Godwin the changes have been well received. “On average, guests stay 3 to 4 hours. Thus, it is important that the sound system does what it is meant to do but at the same time it should not create hearing fatigue for the guests as this would ruin their experience.”
“I believe we have created more of a dance club environment with the dance floor providing the ultimate experience for our guests.”
Photo Credit: Club Kyo
