As people outside the professional audio industry have more and more experiences
with great-quality sound reinforcement systems, their tolerance for muddy,
inarticulate systems diminishes. Evidence that expectations have reached new
heights comes from Japan, where Morimoto Naniwa Sound Projects Co., Ltd. of
Tokyo has designed numerous professional-grade sound reinforcement systems for
schools. The latest is Wakasugi Nursery School in Nichinan-City, Miyazaki
Prefecture. To give the school great sound that would be easy for the staff to
operate, Masaki Morimoto, co-owner of Morimoto Naniwa Sound Projects, specified
an Ashly Audio ne24.24M processor with an Ashly FR-16 remote fader controller for
adjusting input and output levels along with Ashly’s intuitive iPad control for scene
selection.

Wakasugi Nursery School’s sound reinforcement system is principally for a recital
area that can seat two hundred people in the school’s brand new building, but it also
covers its classrooms and common areas. “Parents are paying attention, and a
nursery school with more professional facilities – including its recital area – can
attract more students,’ explained Morimoto. “The school asked for a system that
would have great musical sound and intelligibility, and yet would be very simple for
the non-technical staff to operate.’Zenzo Akado, an architect with lots of experience
with early education facilities, designed the new building, and Yamagiwa Design
Company installed the system specified by Morimoto.

Inputs to the system include two wireless microphones, two wired microphones, and
a CD player with an auxiliary input. An Ashly Audio ne24.24M processor with its
modular I/O count configured for eight inputs and twelve outputs handles all of the
input conditioning, routing logic, delays, and loudspeaker processing. Zones include
the recital hall, the lobby, the entrance, and each of several classrooms.
ElectroVoice CPS amplifiers power a diverse complement of loudspeakers
manufactured by On Point Audio, OneSystems, and – for the recital hall – custom
SSL0920A loudspeakers developed by Morimoto Naniwa Sound Projects. In addition,
the Ashly ne24.24M provides a record output so that the nursery school staff can
easily make high-quality recordings of performances for parents and promotional
materials.

Easy end-user control was paramount to the success of the sound system at
Wakasugi Nursery School, and Morimoto went into the project knowing that Ashly’s
user-control systems would capably meet that requirement. For control of individual
input and output volumes, he gave the staff an Ashly FR-16 fader remote, which
gives them sixteen faders and mutes that Morimoto custom configured in a way that
would be clear to the staff. In addition, he gave them Ashly’s easy-to-use iPad app,
which reconfigures the entire system for several different pre-programmed
“scenes’ to match with the school’s different plans.