Day: June 26, 2023

Due to the spread of the coronavirus, many outdoor festivals have been forced to be canceled or prohibited from speaking out in recent years.

In the past, there were various restrictions such as limiting the number of people and requiring masks to be worn. However, this year, all regulations have been lifted, and large-scale rock festivals have returned to scene.. Voice production including audience chorus and call-and-response became possible.

There are many residential areas and commercial facilities in the neighborhood of Chiba City Soga Sports Park.. This year, when the restrictions of the audience has been lifted, a higher SPL is required. At a venue where it is necessary to place emphasis on noise control, we needed to create a system that was different from the conventional system.

Therefore, a system that followed the “ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2022”, which was a great success last year, was used.

Each of the two main stages have eight MLAs at the front. In addition to this, 7 MLA towers were installed at 4 locations each, for a total of 8 locations. Normally, this delay tower is installed on both sides of the audience area, but it is installed only on one side, making it possible to minimize sound leakage outside the venue.

We interviewed Mr. Shuzo Fujii, Chairman of MSI JAPAN, who was in charge of the JAPAN JAM system.

“We had to control sound leakage to the outside of the venue to an unprecedented level, but the results were easy to obtain. Inside the audience area and outside it was a completely different space. It was amazing how much sound pressure and quality was provided that it didn’t leak out.I felt that this outdoor festival was a moment that once again proved the high level of MLA’s controllability.”

This year, MLA will play an active role at three venues: SKY STAGE, SUNSET STAGE, and BUZZ STAGE. Enjoyed Golden Week.

*JAPAN JAM 2023 was held on April 30, 2023/May 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. Unfortunately, the SUNSET STAGE was canceled on the final day due to strong winds, but all five days were held without incident.

Over the years, Soundworks of Virginia has built a reputation for providing advanced sound production for national tours passing through the state. As one of the first live sound production companies in the world to acquire Martin Audio’s large format WPL line array at the beginning of 2019, their early adoption has paid handsome dividends.

Recently they provided sound production for R&B vocal group, Boyz II Men, when the group visited the Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion, a 6,500-cap outdoor amphitheatre in Portsmouth, VA.

It was a venue familiar to the Soundworks team and while load-in and rigging protocols are straightforward there are acoustic challenges to be met, since the venue deploys a tent-like material to cover the first 3,000 seats nearest the stage. Bryan Hargrave, Soundworks’ engineer and system tech for the show commented, “Since we did not have serious noise abatement issues to address, I used the Hard Avoid feature available in [Martin Audio’s proprietary] DISPLAY software to prevent reflections and interaction with the tent cover.

This makes a very positive impact on the sound quality and is appreciated by both band engineer and audience alike.”

Bobby Scherberger is the venue production manager and since Martin Audio was listed on the band’s rider, once he had cleared the WPL rig with the Boyz II Men production team he contacted Soundworks. “We have worked with Bobby for many years and at numerous different venues. He is aware of Soundworks’ equipment and has total confidence in our experience and capability. It’s fair to say he has become a fan of Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision,” suggested Soundworks president Grant Howard.

“WITH WPL WE BID IN TOTAL CONFIDENCE ON EVERYTHING THAT COMES OUR WAY. WE KNOW THAT WE CAN COMPETE NECK AND NECK WITH ANYTHING OUT THERE. IT’S A GREAT FEELING.”

Boyz II Men’s trio of vocalists, fronting a full backing band, required 56 channel inputs from the stage. And while it was the band production team’s first experience with WPL, according to Bryan Hargrave “it was definitely a two thumbs up situation all around.”