Author: ContentAdmin

Martin Audio, a global leader in professional audio, is proud to announce the appointment of Simon Honywill as its new Market Development Manager for Live Sound, Production, and Immersive Audio Markets. With an extensive career spanning over two decades in sound engineering, Simon’s transition into this strategic role is set to propel Martin Audio into new markets while further solidifying its leadership in live sound and immersive audio technology.

Honywill’s appointment follows a long and successful association with Martin Audio. His contributions to sound engineering across major global events, particularly in the UK festival scene, have earned him a stellar reputation. “I’m utterly thrilled about this new role,” he said. “After years of working as a sound engineer, I’ve been looking for a way to bring my expertise to a broader market and make a bigger impact. This role with Martin Audio offers me exactly that opportunity. I’ve always admired the company’s innovation, and now I have the chance to be part of shaping its future.”

As Market Development Manager, Honywill will spearhead efforts to expand Martin Audio’s presence in the live sound and immersive audio markets. His new responsibilities will involve working globally, with a particular focus on Europe and the Middle East, fostering stronger relationships with both existing and prospective clients. His travels are set to begin with key industry events, including Pro Lab’s Open Day in Dubai and the LEaT.con trade fair in Hamburg.

Having been a vocal advocate for Martin Audio throughout his career, Honywill’s passion for high-quality sound has consistently aligned with the company’s commitment to audio excellence. “Martin Audio makes the best loudspeakers on the planet,” he confidently stated. “I’ve used every system under the sun over the years, and I keep returning to Martin Audio for its unmatched musicality and advanced technology. Our optimised systems are leagues ahead of the competition, and I’m excited to help the industry recognise that.”

I’m proud to be part of this new chapter.

In addition to his technical expertise, Honywill brings a deep understanding of the psychology of the industry, making him an ideal ambassador for Martin Audio. “Too often, people make decisions based on what others tell them, rather than experiencing products for themselves. I want to change that by encouraging more direct engagement with our systems, which I truly believe are the best on the market.”

One of the highlights of Honywill’s career is his long-standing involvement with theGlastonbury Festival. His deep connection with the event will continue in his new role, where he remains actively involved in sound design and implementation. “I’ll still be working with Glastonbury, particularly on Block 9, which could see some exciting changes in the near future,” he noted. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to integrate Martin Audio’s latest technologies into one of the world’s biggest festivals.”

Alongside his ongoing festival work, Honywill will continue to support major sound installations, helping Martin Audio maintain its dominance in the festival sound market. “I’ve spent years working on festival systems, including the Pyramid and West Holts stages at Glastonbury. These setups are already at the forefront of sound engineering, but I’m eager to push the boundaries even further, especially as new technologies become available.”

A key objective in his new role is to ensure Martin Audio’s products meet the highest standards of sound quality while addressing the practical needs of sound engineers and clients. “In the past, my feedback to R&D has been sporadic,” Honywill admitted. “Now, I’m looking forward to a more structured involvement in product development, taking new products into the field, testing them in real-world conditions, and providing invaluable feedback to the R&D team.”

Honywill’s industry insights and expertise will be instrumental in refining and enhancing Martin Audio’s product offerings. “I’ve always believed that the best audio products are those that emotionally connect with the audience. If I can help foster that emotional connection through superior sound quality, then I’ll know I’ve succeeded in this role.”

His appointment comes at a dynamic time for Martin Audio, as the company has made significant progress with the recent addition of other industry veterans to its leadership team. “There’s a lot of momentum within Martin Audio right now,” Honywill said. “With the product line-up being the strongest it’s ever been and people like Brad Berridge joining the team, it’s clear the company is heading in the right direction. I’m proud to be part of this new chapter.”

With his extensive experience, technical expertise, and dedication to sound quality, Simon Honywill is perfectly positioned to help Martin Audio expand its market share and deliver world-class audio systems for live and immersive experiences.

UK: Production company, RG Jones Sound Engineering, needed to pull out all the stops when RG Live and Merlin Entertainment staged a mixed programme of four back-to-back concerts within the beautiful mediaeval setting of Warwick Castle. It was the perfect ‘picnic on the lawn’ scenario, and an occasion which challenged their award-winning Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array to the maximum.

Opening with ‘The Music of Hans Zimmer vs John Williams’—an epic showdown between the legendary film composers—the programme journeyed via Ministry of Sound Classical to McFly, before soaring further into the atmosphere with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds as a finale. As a bonus for the audience, joining Gallagher were legendary Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr and The Waeve, featuring Blur’s Graham Coxon and ex-Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall.

All played out through Martin Audio’s flagship PA, which broke new ground when it was launched in 2010, and like a fine wine continues to get better with age. And for this type of event there are no more capable hands than RG Jones’ ‘Mr. Classical Spectacular’ maestro Simon Honywill, who has extensive experiencing of getting every last drop from the PA. He and Anthony Inglis, who conducted the London Concert Orchestra on the opening night concert, were reunited, having first worked together 33 years ago, while the lineage of RG Live can be traced back to Raymond Gubbay, for whom RG Jones (and Honywill in particular) have also enjoyed a working relationship extending over several decades. The same goes for their long association with production manager, Dick Tee.

Honywill co-managed the sound system design along with Martin Audio’s product support engineer, Ben Tucker (who doubled asde factosystem tech). The main PA comprised 16 MLA elements on each hang, underpinned with 24 MLX subwoofers, which were reconfigurable. The subs themselves started off in a broadside cardioid array but reverted to a staggered end fire configuration, since Noel Gallagher didn’t want subs placed in front of the stage. “But this also meant it was actually quieter on stage,” noted Honywill.

Everything was spot on.

The site itself was very long and narrow—260 metres from front to back, with a significant rise. To compensate for this and ensure system optimisation, the main hangs were complemented with eight L/R MLA Compact providing outfills, four further MLA Compact enclosures, stacked left and right, for infills, with a pair of TORUS T1230 as lipfills.

Delays were set at around 95-100 metres—slightly staggered and comprising two hangs of 12 Martin Audio WPL. These were boosted by another two hangs of staggered speakers, each comprising eight WPL.

This was the RG Jones’ team’s first visit to Warwick Castle. And although the venue is well accustomed to staging concerts, production levels have rarely been on this scale. RG Jones also had to be mindful that the Castle is situated right in the town centre. Therefore exacting offsite thresholds were set at 75dB(C) at one-minute Leq.

“These levels are generally unheard of, and we worried [the performances] were going to be quiet,” said Honywill. “But in actual fact it was absolutely fine.” This was due to careful tuning of the system and working some magic on the delays. We used the control technology to its full extent, particularly the ‘Hard Avoid’ [function] to make sure the system dropped off properly where it needed to. And that worked really well—in fact everyone was delighted.”

The other challenge facing RG Jones was that with diverse acts coming in each day, scheduling was tight, minimising the time they were actually able to run the system up. They were also needing to work around the Castle’s normal visitor attractions, with school trips and so on … “that whole mediaeval vibe, jousting and falconry, plague burials and witch hanging”, as Honywill puts it.

As with most concerts with a classical bent, the event culminated in a firework finale, which book-ended the spectacular in the time-honoured fashion.

In summary, Simon Honywill described the four-day event as a complete success. “I imagine we will see a lot more concerts featuring a mixed bag of artists in the future.

“Overall it was a great working environment in a really gorgeous setting. Everything was spot on … apart from the plague burials and witch hanging, of course.”

Photography by Sophie Hoult.