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So successful was the inaugural Iron Blossom Festival, in Richmond VA, that the organisers have already confirmed that it will be repeated next year.

Contributing to this success was the exemplary sound quality provided across the two stages by Soundworks of Virginia, and featuring Martin Audio’s market-leading Wavefront Precision optimised line arrays. This ensured a first-class experience for headliners, Hozier, Noah Kahan, and Lord Huron—and the rest of the artistes performing.

The Bon Secours Training Center provided the venue for the Festival, organised in a joint venture by Charlottesville’s Starr Hill Presents, Virginia Beach’s IMGoing and Richmond’s Haymaker Productions.

Working in conjunction with Haymaker Productions owner, Tom Beals Soundworks chose Martin Audio’s large-format WPL for main stage and WPC for the second stage—run in 2-box resolution from Martin Audio’s matched iKON multi-channel amplifiers. This design was perfected by the company’s Grant Howard and Bryan Hargrave in the belief that an event of this nature deserved the best system components available.

The exact deployment on main stage comprised 14 WPL elements per side, with 16 SXH218 subwoofers, in cardioid array, with four WPS frontfills and a pair of delay towers, each with eight WPC enclosures— flown at a trim height of 22ft, and each set at around 220ft from the stage. For the subsidiary stage they flew 12 of the smaller footprint WPC elements per side, with eight SXH218 in cardioid array, and four WPS as front fills.

“WE HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS OF ALL THREE OF OUR WP SYSTEMS”.

Steve Payne, CEO, Soundworks of Virginia

This provided even coverage for around 14,000 people (over the two days) spread across around 400ft x 400ft of open field, with unrestricted noise levels.

Lucca Summer Festival is one of Italy’s most highly anticipated live music events, which takes place annually in the city’s famous Piazza Napoleone.

This year Robbie Williams returned to the Bel Paese to light up one of the most historic cities in the Tuscan region. He performed to an audience of over 20,000 people on the Festival’s final evening, closing a season which again brought to the location major names in contemporary rock and pop, including Blur, The Chemical Brothers, Norah Jones, Placebo, KISS, Simply Red and Sigur Ros.

Martin Audio partner, Amandla Productions, has been a reference rental company for theLucca Summer Festivalfor many years, and again provided technical management, including a full audio and lighting package.

System engineer, Tommaso Bandecchi, and Amandla CEO, David Lapini, recognised the challenges in meeting the ever-changing requirements of different sound engineers.

For audio they again turned to the “never disappointing” experience of a Martin Audio flagship PA. Bandecchi reports that 28 MLA enclosures were used for the main hangs (14 per side), with 24 MLA Compact for the outfills (12 per side). Meanwhile, 28 MLX were used for the sub array, 24 WPS for the frontfill and 20 MLA for delays divided into two groups of ten.

The management of the signals in the two main areas was entrusted to Martin Audio’s dedicated Merlin digital matrix processors via AES, as well as remote control via the redundant VU-NET protocol.

“There are many surprising aspects of the MLA system,” Bandecchi observes. “The integration of the system with the WPS allowed control of the entire system via the VU-NET software. This allowed us to obtain great precision and control even using part of the MLA family optimisation system, and to have great flexibility and scalability even in the fills.”

Furthermore, he added, by virtue of the particular amplification and DSP management system, MLA guaranteed great flexibility in obtaining the required frequency response.

In conclusion, Amandla Productions can reflect on an excellent technical outcome—both for the calibration and configuration of the PA system. Robbie Williams’ sound engineer and tech team also reported their complete satisfaction with the set-up of the PA, pinpointing the perfect audio and excellent sound distribution across the site.

Described as a “powerhouse of music and visual arts”, the four-day Hungarian INOTA Festival was a joint initiative between the European Capital of Culture (this year Veszprém-Balaton) and the electronic music scene of Budapest (Electronic Beats)—thanks to a collaboration between promoter collective NVC and video and 3D projection company Centrum Production. The objective was to establish Hungary’s largest audio-visual festival, focusing not only on top music acts but also light installations, pixel mapping and unique visual works.

Located a short distance from Lake Balaton in Várpalota, the venue was the thermal power plant of Inota—the largest industrial investment in Hungary back in the 1950s, with its three unique cooling towers. Closed since 2001, and set on a 225,000 sq.m facility, the INOTA Festival brought the staggering 6,000 sq.m Turbine Hall back to life, along with the Boiler Room and Community Centre.

Entrusted with providing full technical implementation, including sound, lights and staging in three of the prime locations, was Martin Audio partner, BG Event. They specified Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker arrays on the Power Plant main stage, as well as the Turbine Hall, with an MLA Mini solution in the Heating Room.

Providing coverage across the (approx.) 50m x 20m Power Plant Area were hangs of nine MLA, with an MLD Downfill at the base. This was underpinned by 16 MLX subwoofers in castellated cardioid array and six MLA Compact for frontfill. Martin Audio’s powerful XE500 wedges were provided for personal monitoring.

The Turbine Hall saw a similar hang configuration for the main PA, but with 16 MLX subs in castellated cardioid array, and two MLA Compact for frontfills. DJ booths were provided in the form of four WPS on a single SX218 sub, per side.

Finally the Heating Room was equipped with a four-set MLA Mini rig, with four CDD-LIVE 12 for fills and eight SX218 providing the LF extension in quad setup.

These spaces featured a myriad of over 100 artistes and performers, including DJ Seinfeld, Extrawelt, Daniel Avery, Overmono, Lebanon Hanover and Ellen Allien.

Reviewing the challenges faced, BG Event’s Balázs Szentiványi, stated: “In the Turbine Hall, we were projecting 50m, and ‘Hard Avoid’ was programmed in the software to taper down at the end of the hall, so that an already difficult venue—full of columns and walls—would not echo. Once the room was full of people, we managed to achieve an SPL of 102-103dB LAEQ5 almost without reflection, and due to the sub arrangement without any cancellation or acoustic excitation on the stage where there were multiple turntables.”

Since the Turbine Hall was situated directly behind main stage, BG Event placed the entire stage area only in Hard Avoid, to achieve complete silence at this location. “With this solution a very dynamic soundscape was created,” Balázs continued. “For example we were able to make the harp soft and also the female singers.” Conversely, with Nils Frahm headlining on the outside stage, the production company needed to pay particular attention to reflections and feedback on stage. “With MLA and a cardioid MLX system, we were able to achieve a result we would probably not have been able to with systems of other manufacturers.”

As far as sound control went, a good outcome was achieved all round. “At the two large locations, we were able to maintain constant coverage and a sound pressure of 98-100dB(A), while at the external measurement points, we were able to keep within the maximum limit of 55dB(A). By complying with those thresholds we did not disturb the tranquillity of the people living in the area!”

“In fact overall we only received positive feedback,” Balázs confirmed, after the event. “Everyone really liked the sound setup, and several international performers praised our work on the spot. They were extremely satisfied with the sound system, as were the organisers, who said they received nothing but positive feedback.”

BG Event’s technical support team were as follows:

Miklós Ábrahám, monitor tech (Power Plant Area stage)

Daniel Kerezsi, stage tech (Power Plant Area stage)

Roland Nagy, stage tech (Power Plant Area stage)

Tamas Patko, stage tech (Power Plant Area stage)

David Rikk, FOH tech Turbine Hall

Andras Vancsay, stage tech Turbine Hall

Kristóf Neuverth, Power Plant Area stage FOH, festival system tech

Photo Credit:

Bence Szemerey – Photo: 1-4

Rudolf Karancsi – Photo: 5-7

Noise complaints have hit the headlines throughout the 2023 festival season, threatening the future of some events. How can festivals deliver a great time without disturbing their neighbours?

The summer of 2023 has seen some festivals making headlines for all the wrong reasons. While there have been plenty of wonderful experiences for audiences up and down the UK, there have been a few high-profile examples where local residents have suffered from uncontrolled audio spreading for miles from the festival site.

Festival sound levels are monitored like never before with noise management plans established before the event is granted a licence and inspectors on the ground ensuring that sound levels stay within the approved range. These can lead to lower SPLs on site in a bid to avoid excessive sound spill into the surrounding areas. While this can work well for the neighbours, it can also lead to disappointing experiences for the artists and audience at the festival.

Over the last decade we have witnessed the rise of an alternative option. When Martin Audio released MLA in 2010, the manufacturer created new possibilities for sound field optimisation. The multi-award winning system has helped the manufacturer to lead the field of optimised audio with further formats of MLA released and subsequently joined by Wavefront Precision that extended the flexibility of the optimisation process through scalable resolution.

Martin Audio’s optimisation relies on a patented algorithm that allows for multiple goals to be set by the user, while systematically calculating the necessary parameters to closely match those goals. By understanding the venue and the user goals of the system, DISPLAY software starts by analysing every possible combination of inter-cabinet angles of the array, checks the result using the computer model of the arrays and compares it to the desired response.

Building on this, a second stage also uses numerical optimisation, but also addresses the EQ, FIR, gain and phase parameters available in the DSP of the system, to achieve the desired response set by the system designer. The unique digital algorithm examines thousands of batches of possible results, gradually honing all parameters until it reaches a result which is as close as possible to the specifications that the system designer has requested. “Our analysis has shown that competitor optimisation solutions are unable to get to the granularity of desired outcome, so in like for like situations Martin Audio will deliver a more exacting solution”, said Dom Harter, Managing Director.

It is this solution that has allowed system techs and FOH engineers to overcome some of the challenges that they face with noise restrictions. With an optimised sound system covering a defined area, it is possible to have higher SPLs for the audience area while also experiencing significant reductions outside that space. It is this level of control that has led to festivals like BST in London’s Hyde Park being given a new lease of life after once being considered “unworkable”.

For the 2023 edition of American Express presents BST Hyde Park,the 9-day festival saw acts like Pink, Guns N’ Roses, Take That, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Billy Joel headlining on the main stage. With the Royal Park’s central London location surrounded by hotels, offices and residential properties, there is a challenging offsite level of 75dB (LAeq5) which the festival must adhere to. Thanks to the optimisation available with the MLA system used for the festival, the performers were able to entertain their audiences in the way they wanted to and the number of complaints reduced.

“Ipersonally walk the site—particularly when the headline act comes on stage—to satisfy myself that we are achieving the best sound coverage possible, and I have no doubt that we delivered an amazing audio experiencefor our audiences,” says Dave Grindle, venue director and co-CEO of BST management company, LS Events. “Given that we’re working in an urban environment which is surrounded by densely populated residential areas, the numbers of complaints have been remarkably low. The tech teams work hard to achieve a balance of an incredible experience for the fans while remaining within the licence conditions and minimising the impact on our neighbours.”

It was a similar experience for the organisers of Japan Jam, a rock festival held at Chiba City’s Soga Sports Park over Japan’s Golden Week holidays. As with BST, the venue is surrounded by heavily populated residential and commercial areas so emphasis needed to be placed on tight noise control, to prevent sound from escaping into the adjoining neighbourhood.

“We had to control sound escape outside the venue to an unprecedented level, but [with Martin Audio’s DISPLAY optimisation software] the results were easy to obtain,” recalls MSI Japan chairman, Shuzo Fujii, who was in charge of the Japan Jam system. “Inside the audience field the audio experience was completely different to outside the perimeter. It was amazing how much sound pressure and quality was provided to avoid it leaking out. I felt that this outdoor festival was a moment that once again proved the high level of MLA’s controllability.”

It’s not only with festivals in densely populated areas where optimisation plays a useful role. For festivals with multiple stages an optimised system helps organisers to avoid spillage between performance areas so that audiences can focus on the act they want to see. Perhaps the best example of this comes from Glastonbury where MLA and Wavefront Precision arrays are used across a variety of stages.

“The technology behind Martin Audio MLA and Wavefront Precision allows us to deliver a full range intimate experience at 350m from the pyramid stage and yet within 50m of the edge of the arena, we can reduce the levels up to 15dB and even lower beyond,” explains Simon Honywill, audio consultant for Glastonbury. “The accuracy of this system is unmatched; it’s like stepping through an invisible door as the sound rapidly fades around you.”

With over a decade of festival experience behind it, optimisation is a trusted and proven method of avoiding noise complaints while also keeping FOH engineers, artists, promoters and audiences happy. When you combine this technology with the undeniable audio quality of Martin Audio you will ultimately achieve a successful and profitable festival.

For further reading: https://martin-audio.com/case-studies/festivals

Photo Credit-

Lee Perry: Photo 1-2 (Glastonbury 2023)

Awais Butt: Photo 3 (BST Hyde Park 2023)

Gus Stewart: Photo 4 (BST Hyde Park 2023)

Photo 5-6 (Japan Jam 2023)

Martin Audio’s Mexican rental partner, Audio Teck Pro, recently deployed a large WPL and MLA deployment to provide comprehensive coverage throughout the 10,500-cap multipurpose venue.

Audio Teck Pro systems engineer Raúl Román, explained how the supreme multi-cellular control of Martin Audio once again helped overcome the challenges—particularly in this case of heat and humidity—to deliver a supreme and consummate audio performance.

“In our experience it is a great advantage to have Martin Audio equipment in our inventory as the brand is frequently requested on artists’ riders, and the systems always respond well. Other brands we have used do not achieve the same results, especially in the treble; this is very important because with other equipment, the treble starts to fall away at a distance of about 50 or 60 meters whereas with Martin Audio it reaches a distance of 100 meters comfortably without problems—which is a great advantage.”

“IN OUR EXPERIENCE IT IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE TO HAVE MARTIN AUDIO EQUIPMENT IN OUR INVENTORY AS THE BRAND IS FREQUENTLY REQUESTED ON ARTISTS’ RIDERS, AND THE SYSTEMS ALWAYS RESPOND WELL”,.

Raúl Román, System Engineer, Audio Teck Pro

He says this is corroborated by the Smaart software readings where the treble part, measures 16,000Hz, unlike other brands, which are 12,000Hz max. “With Martin Audio, everything sounds coherent, very clear and transparent, and at the same level, and thisis what distinguishes from others,” Raúl Román continues. “And as far as the subwoofers are concerned, there is no comparison; they outperform other brands with depth and tone that other subs do not have.”

Soundworks of Virginia returned to the familiar 100-acre Maymont Park site in Richmond, VA to help stage the Richmond Jazz and Music Festival, an event for which they have provided sound reinforcement since 2017.

Working for promoter JMI (Johnson Marketing Inc) they fielded their flagship Martin Audio WPL optimised line array on the main stage, deploying hangs of 12 WPL elements on each wing. These were underpinned by 12 SXH218 in cardioid formation—a move largely designed to prevent the stage from vibrating—with a delay tower of eight smaller WPS elements, set around 275ft back and with four WPS deployed along the stage lip as frontfills. Monitors comprised four WPS loudspeakers atop a pair of SXC118 subs, mounted both stage left and right for sidefills, plus 12 of Soundworks’ own SW2 proprietary wedges.

Soundworks also equipped the second stage with 12 WPC per side with eight SXH218 subs in a centre cluster. Monitor provision again consisted of four WPS enclosures above a pair of SXC118 on each wing for sidefills plus 12 of Martin Audio’s powerful XE500 wedges.

Run from iKON multi-channel amplifiers in 2-box resolution, this provided the perfect setting for an all-star line-up headed by Chaka Khan to showcase their art.

“THE MARTIN AUDIO SYSTEMS COVER ALL THE BASES. THERE’S NO AREA OF THE AUDIENCE THAT ISN’T PROPERLY COVERED. EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCE DELIVERED!”

Mike Ferguson, Production Manager, Richmond Jazz and Music Festival

Yet although Soundworks’ tech team has worked this site many times in the past, there is still work to be done in advance, and it is far from a case of simply applying existing site measurements, as founder and CEO, Steve Payne, explains.

“Maymont shows use a temporary stage—typically a Stageline SL320—and there are several different locations used within the park for concerts. Additionally, the stage is never placed in exactly the same spot each time which means the spatial definition of the audience area varies each time. We have found that the more accurate the audience area definition is the more accurate the results we achieve … and for that reason, in order to get the best results possible we opt to measure each time.”

He continued, “We go in once the stage is set in place and do our laser measurements. Then we use Martin Audio DISPLAY software to predict and optimise coverage.” Any time alignment adjustments are then carried out in a Lake LM44 processor.