Muziekclub Wintercircus
Under the central square of the newly renovated Wintercircus is a brand new concert hall with a 500 standing capacity: Muziekclub Wintercircus. This hall, which is located 100 meters from De Vooruit, will be operated by vzw Muziekclub Wintercircus, managed by VIERNULVIER and Democrazy. The management of the other spaces in the Wintercircus is in the hands of a consortium called TENT (Together for Entrepreneurship, Networking and Technology).
Programme
Some patience is required before the room opens: at the moment the room is still bare and work is being done on the room furnishing: purchase, installation and testing of the technical equipment (sound, light and image projection). In addition, a bar, counters, artists' boxes and lockers must also be provided.
In the meantime, two series of pilot events are being organized. From 16 to 25 November '23 and from 22 to 31 March '24, a series of concerts and nightlife events are planned. After these ten-day pilot projects, adjustments are made. A full annual program will be presented at the latest in the autumn of '24.
Immersive sound
An 'immersive sound system' differs radically from a "regular" stereo PA system, in which the sound of the various sound sources on stage is sent through the mixing console to two sets of speakers to the left and right of the stage. With the regular system, the sound is optimal and perfectly balanced in only a small part of the room. Moreover, this so-called 'sweet spot' is usually located where the sound engineer is.
In an "immersive" system, the mix is distributed over a much larger number of speakers in a circle around the audience. By manipulating the gain and high frequencies of the various sound sources and adding delays to the sound in some speakers, the system allows each listener to define and locate a sound source. This can be on stage or elsewhere in the room. This experience is the same for just about every spectator. In other words, almost every concertgoer is in the sweet spot.
In that sense, immersive sound technology goes much further than a 'surround system', as it is already used in cinemas, for example.
360° projection
The experience only becomes really immersive if you are surrounded by images in addition to sound. The round shape of the room also comes in handy here. Thanks to an ingenious system with motorized projection screens around the room and a cluster of beamers in the middle of the room, it is possible to completely circle the audience with a video projection. Think of a nightlife event where the DJ stands in the middle of the room, surrounded by the audience and 360° visuals: VR without glasses.
VIERNULVIER and Democrazy have been organizing concerts and nightlife events together for many years. And after more than 10 years of being involved in numerous plans, technical iterations and financial exercises, Democrazy and VIERNULVIER - united in the non-profit organization Muziekclub Wintercircus - will now also realize this new Ghent music club together. Democrazy and VIERNULVIER signed a 25-year cooperation agreement with TENT, operator of the Ghent Winter Circus.
With the start-up of Muziekclub Wintercircus, Democrazy has completed a long search for a permanent place. After years of touring Ghent, the Winter Circus will be the place where they can realize a large part of their program.
Muziekclub Wintercircus is less than 100 m from De Vooruit, the permanent home of Arts Center VIERNULVIER, which makes calling on the experienced team of VIERNULVIER a matter of course.
Because there is still so much work to be done, we currently have no insight into the modalities of room rental. There is no point in asking questions or emailing us, since we can't answer this yet. Questions for room rental can be asked from the end of 2023, after the first test events.
Muziekclub Wintercircus
Miriam Makebaplein 2
9000 Gent
De ingang van Muziekclub Wintercircus bevindt zich op verdieping -1 onder het Miriam Makebaplein.