Macy's Brasil Campaign Kicks Off With RCF Loudspeakers

Macy's recently kicked off its tribute to Brasil with in-store celebrations at key locations across the county. The purpose of the "Brasil: A Magical Journey" campaign is to celebrate and bring awareness to the culture and history of Brasil and its people through clothing lines, home furnishings, jewelr,y and more.

The Center City, Philadelphia store was one of the day-long kick-off locations. Throughout the day, shoppers were provided with an assortment of live music and dance performances in various locations throughout the store.

Philadelphia based Mitta Sound was tasked with providing sound systems for each of the events. A long-time RCF user, owner Terrence McDuffy utilized a variety of RCF loudspeakers to handle the diverse sound requirements of the day.

The Macy's store in Philadelphia features a large, open atrium, which was the focal point of the in-store campaign kick-off. Alo Brasil, a full, 11-piece band -- drum, bass, percussion, guitar, trombone, trumpet, two dancers, two back-up vocalists and the lead singer -- performed throughout the day playing an eclectic mix of Brazilian music.

"Because the stage was located in an open atrium -- which was five stories high -- it was important to be able to steer the beam to cover the first floor and eliminate potential reverberation in the atrium," explains McDuffy. "We set up the system to throw 75-100 feet to cover the first floor of the store and it worked extremely well."

McDuffy specified a left-right RCF TTL11A active column array system for the main stage.

Each stack consisted of a TTL11A-H HF module loaded with a 2.5" neodymium compression driver with 1.5" exit throat and a TTL11A-B bass frequency module equipped with four 8-inch neodymium woofers with 2.5" voice coil. The TTS26-A subwoofer, featuring two high-power 15" neodymium woofers, added the extra bass to drive the low end of the system.

The overall effect was a high-definition live sound system ideal for Brazilian music, the company says. McDuffy also provided eight stage monitors -- four RCF TT25-SMA and four dBTechnologies M12-4 -- for the onstage performers.

Although the main action was occurring in the atrium, there was additional entertainment taking place throughout the store. Mitta Sound provided small sound systems for these events as well.

The children's department had a 20-person dance troupe performing, while the women's and men's departments offered their shoppers DJ music. Once again McDuffy turned to his RCF inventory to provide solutions. "I put a pair of the TT08 on sticks in both the children's and women's departments," he explains. "Those boxes are our workhorses -- we use them for everything and they never disappoint. The DJs were very impressed."

The compact TT08 is loaded with a 90 x 60 horn, 8" neodymium driver and 2.5" copper voice coil. With a maximum SPL of 125dB, the pairs were more than sufficient for the DJ music and the dance troupe in both locations.

Although similar to the women's department, the DJ in the men's department was required to cover a much larger area, which led McDuffy to use a pair of RCF TT25A loudspeakers -- again on sticks --to disperse the sound to a larger area.

"We placed the TT25As in the balcony that overlooked the men's department to cover the entire area," McDuffy continues. "It sounded fantastic and the folks at Macy's were extremely pleased."

TT25A is a full range, versatile two-way active loudspeaker system. The high frequency section is a constant directivity CMD horn loaded to a 1.5" neodymium compression driver with a 3" diaphragm assembly for smooth, controlled dispersion. The low frequency transducer is a 15" neodymium woofer with a 4" voice coil.

"It was a very exciting day at Macy's - being one of the anchor stores for the launch of this campaign was a very big deal," McDuffy concludes. "The RCF gear never disappoints. All of the performances throughout the day were extremely well received and sounded terrific."