Category: Martin Audio

The long-standing relationship between Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK Group) and the major week-long Hungarian Sziget Festival, resumed this year after the two-year hiatus.

This six-day event on the Danube—situated on the remote Hajógyári Island (Óbudai-sziget), north of Budapest—draws between 500,000-600,000 visitors, and always pulls a major list of global superstars across its stages. This year was no exception, with Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys, Stromae, Kings of Leon, Lewis Capaldi, Tame Impala, Nina Kravitz and Sam Fender among the many familiar faces.

As befits one of Europe’s largest musical and cultural festivals, the technical infrastructure was first class. This included Martin Audio’s multi award-winning MLA loudspeaker array, which has been a regular and reassuring sight for audiences and visiting sound crews alike on main stage since 2015.

According to Robin Conway, Solotech Senior Technical Advisor, the main stage sound design continues to evolve as the production team strives for increased perfection, once again working alongside Hungarian audio crew chief and system designer, Marci Mezei, and local Martin Audio partners, BG Event.

They were fortunate to be able to benefit once again from the huge experience of Mezei, who has been involved with Sziget since 2001, initially starting on the smallest Pesti Est stage, before working up to main stage since 2004. And he ensured the partnership with Solotech once again produced a slick outcome.

BG Event provided auxiliary support for an inventory which included nearly 200 enclosures deployed on main stage alone, along with rigging, cabling, racks, chain hoists and motor control. BG also provided additional Merlin network management systems (and distro) to support their MLA family boxes.

The main PA comprised 17 MLA per side, with a single MLD Downfill at the base of each hang. Sidefills were an equally symmetrical 15 MLA (plus single MLD Downfill) on each flank—all underpinned by 42 MLX subwoofers (in 14 x 3-high cardioid stacks). Frontfills consisted of six MLA Compact (set on alternative sub stacks) and infill wing coverage was provided by 12 MLA Compact, set in 4 x 3 high stacks.

FOH delays comprised four further MLA Compact (left and right) while four additional delay positions were set further down the field, each populated by hangs of either eight or nine MLA (with an MLD Downfill in all cases), and a pair of MLX to handle the low frequencies. This provided an aggregated cabinet count of 182 units servicing main stage.

In addition, Solotech provided all system drive and control, complete stage systems, console and RF.

Ironically, while Solotech has now perfected the onsite design over the years—and getting inventory on and off the island is a well-drilled procedure—the challenges they faced were mostly logistical in a post-Brexit, post-Covid world, as Robin Conway explained.

“It was always going to be a challenge working in Europe post Brexit and the pandemic, with inflated costs of shipping, carnet etc,” he said. “However the production team were confident in our ability to deliver the festival audio and to deal with any additions. We have a great relationship and hope it will continue beyond 2022.”

MLA again found favour with many of the visiting sound engineers. According to Marci Mezei, many commented directly to him about the quality of the PA and the enjoyable experience it gave them—including Sigrid’s FOH sound man Jan Halsvik and Dua Lipa’s Will Nicholson, while techs from Tame Impala and Stromae voiced similar approval.

Of course Sziget is only one of three major Hungarian festivals serviced by Solotech and BG Event, with Volt and Balaton Festivals, managed by the same production team, taking place earlier in the summer. “The relationship works well and we’re able to limit our shipping to a single Artic trailer from the UK for these shows,” states Conway. “The system rolls from Volt to Balaton and then returns home before re-prep for Sziget later in the summer.”

Solotech personnel supporting Marci Mezei and his team included Mark Cleator (FOH and system) and Kevan Snuggs (monitors and stage). Meanwhile, Marci Mezei commended his own crew, consisting of BG Event’s Gabor Bacskay Mazsi, who looked after system and FOH duties, and Robert Szentesi and Aleksandar Aleksandrovic who were at the stage end.

In addition to main stage, other stages equipped with Martin Audio systems provided by BG Event, included the Samsung Colosseum and TicketSwap Party Arena`.

On the former, this included 12 MLA Compact in two hangs of six, MLA Mini, 16 WSX subs and 10 MLA Compact at the delay position. For DJ monitoring they supplied four XE500 and a pair of Blackline S18+. Artists appearing included Ben Klock, Denis Sulta & Mella Dee, Eelke Kleij, Paula Temple, Honey Dijon, John Talabot, Joris Voorn, Kölsch, La Fleur, Matador, Seth Troxle, Sasha, Zioner and Joone.

For the Party Arena, where Steve Aoki was among a cast of headline DJs, they provided 18 W8L Longbow, in two hangs of nine enclosures, six W8LM, 30 SX218 subwoofers, 12 CDD-Live12 and eight WPS with iKon amps. Delay 1 featured a further 10 W8L Longbow and the second delay point was populated by 12 W8LC. Four XE500 featured among the DJ monitors.

Stated BG Event’s Szentiványi Balázs, “The Party Arena was once again a success this year and we received so much positive feedback. The old Longbow system was ideal for the electronic music genre, and the cabinets’ large format, and the additional speakers deployed, really did their job.”

One of the latest exhibitions to burst onto South Korea’s burgeoning immersive art scene features soundscapes relayed by Martin Audio’s Adorn range. Caroline Moss gets lost in the experience

With a frequent presence at the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm, where they service a number of stages, SWG Events also provide technical support for Pilton Party.

Although lesser known, it occupies the same site as the popular John Peel Stage—and features equally prominent headliners.

This year it was the turn of Elbow, supported by Easy Life to take the stage at Pilton Party 2022, where the same PA system that graced the Pyramid stage this year—Martin Audio’s WPL Wavefront Precision line array—was in position again, and Pyramid production manager Emma Reynolds-Taylor repeated her role.

Both bands had turned in stunning performances on Pyramid stage this year, and Pilton Party saw a reprise. Besides that, SWG Events provided sound reinforcement for Easy Life when they played the BBC Music Introducing stage at Glastonbury in 2019.

The confidence the company now has in specifying WPL is borne out by SWG head of audio, Simon Purse’s comment: “We have now done so many shows this summer with WPL that sound engineers have built confidence playing through it, and have got used to the workflow.”

On either side of the stage SWG flew 12 WPL elements, which they ran in 2-box resolution from their iKON iK42 amplifiers. Providing front fills were eight of their W8LM Mini line arrays, while 12 of their powerful Martin Audio SXH218 (2×18”) subs were designed in a monoblock across the front. And for good measure they also provided eight of their new Martin Audio XE500 stage monitors for reference sound.

Appraising the performance of the SXH218 Simon Purse said, “The sub response was brilliant … you could really feel it from the kick drum, and we achieved 100dBa at FOH, with no complaints.”

So powerful was the main system that no delays were required to boost sound at the back. “The field itself extended to 110m and WPL comfortably threw to the 90 metres necessary for the audience coverage area,” he confirmed.

Elbow FOH engineer, Danny Evans, also registered a positive experience aboard the Martin Audio PA. “There was plenty of headroom, with impressive clarity, and the coverage was good with consistent level and even tonality around the whole audience area. This allowed me to focus on, and enjoy mixing Elbow’s show.”

Emma Reynolds-Taylor added her own endorsement. “When we were going over the specs with our supplier, SWG, to sign off on all the tech, I was happy to see they proposed this audio system, as we’re always really pleased with the results on Pyramid. We have a vast variety of acts, of all stages of their career, at Pilton Party, and the for all acts throughout the day was exceptional.”

Summarising his own experience of the event, Simon Purse said, “This was our last green field site of the year, and it was great to go out on a high.”

FOH on systems and support bands was freelancer Dan Wooles, while the stage team was headed by Joe Bailey (monitor engineer) and responsible for patch was Fraser Wilks—both from SWG.

Heavily supported by the local City Council, Brighton & Hove Pride—a celebration of Brighton’s LGBTQ+ community, annually attracts crowds of around 250,000 people to the seaside resort.

While the origins of the event date back to 1973 Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK Group) has provided main stage sound reinforcement for the last three events. Having supplied PA and control for headliners Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue, following a break for COVID they were back in the 63-acre Preston Park site for the 2022 edition which featured Christina Aguilera and Paloma Faith as headliners on the Saturday and Sunday respectively.

After deploying Martin Audio’s award-winning MLA loudspeaker array for Britney Spears back in 2018, the enforced break caused by the pandemic had enabled the British manufacturer to move the ground-breaking control technology further still, now enabling the production company to deploy the new Wavefront Precision (WPL system) that proved such a hit this summer at the UK’s two predominant Glastonbury and BST Hyde Park festivals.

Working alongside production manager Dean Parker, at Wilde Ones International Events, their sound design was based around main hangs of 18 WPL per side, with a stage right side hang of six of the smaller WPC, and a larger drop of 12 WPC elements stage left.

Maintaining continuity with Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision family, filling the sound at the front of the stage were eight WPS, while providing the all-important low frequency extension were 20 of Martin Audio’s ultra-powerful 2×18” SXHF218 subwoofers, designed in a castellated cardioid broadside array across the front of the stage.

Stage monitoring comprised further Martin Audio systems in the shape of 16 x LE1500 floor wedges, four SXHF218 and six TORUS T1215 constant curvature arrays.

Now 11 years old, Chris Evans’ popular CarFests show no signs of running out of gas, as some 50,000 people again took to Laverstoke Park Farm near Overton, Hampshire—owned by 1979 Formula One World Champion, Jody Scheckter—for CarFest South. Inaugurated by Evans back in 2011, the event raises funds for Children in Need.

The event is a regular client of Martin Audio partner SWG Events, the south-west-based production company, who provided a full sound and light package. This included their market leading Martin Audio WPL line array, which provided sound reinforcement for a broad range of artists. These included Kaiser Chiefs, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Tom Odell, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Faithless Soundsystem, James Blunt, Judge Jules, Bob Marley Revival and Rick Parfitt Jnr, Paloma Faith and Steps.

The fast-moving performance area is built around three differently configured stages—flanking a DJ stage occupied by Chris Evans himself—all set in a line.

SWG Events have traditionally deployed their W8LC but this year that older Martin Audio system was redeployed to delay duties—in two hangs of eight—as their new Wavefront Precision (WPL) took pride of place. The two main hangs of 12 WPL were driven in 2-box resolution from iKON iK42 process controlled amplifiers, as were a stage right out hang of 12 WPL. An additional six-per-side WPC provided infills between the stages, while across the front, 20 Martin Audio SXH218 subwoofers were set in a broadside array to provide LF extension.

Further to that, four stacks of two W8LC were deployed for front fill on the larger of the stages with an additional 16 W8LM for front fill across the lip of the smaller two. Finally, 32 XE500 Martin Audio stage wedges were placed across the two main performance stages.

With two stages constantly flip-flopping this was a high energy show—as SWG’s Simon Purse, who had overall responsibility for the audio, explained. And with many of the acts bringing their own sound engineers and control the FOH position was well populated with mixing desks.

SWG put out an experienced crew, with Ryan Bass and Adam Andrews at FOH, providing mixing duties where necessary, while Matt Pope and Olly Hayward patrolled the stage. Overall project manager was Ian Williams.

Although the two-day festival was prone to sudden weather changes, the PA coped admirably and the sound crew were able to achieve levels up to 98dBa at FOH, while observing the offsite threshold of 65dB. These were set by noise consultant Simon Joynes of Joynes Nash Acoustic Consulting.

Stated Simon Purse, “We do a lot of work with Joynes Nash; they are familiar with MLA [the precursor of Wavefront Precision] and realise it’s a useful tool for councils when it comes to environmental noise on sensitive sites.”

He added that since SWG Events acquired WPL at the beginning of the summer the system has never been in the warehouse. “It’s absolutely proved its worth and has been out nearly every weekend since we purchased it. We are now able to appease local councils as well as satisfying guest sound engineers.”

Summarising CarFest, he said, “The site is challenging because it is so large, and having all stages running more or less simultaneously and sharing the same PA, certainly keeps everyone engaged. But we pulled it off … WPL worked really well, and we will certainly use it again here.”

Simon Joynes agreed. “This system deployment continues to deliver benefits in offsite noise control, measured against comparable events,” noted the consultant.

Photography by Filiz Moore.

Sue Su reports from the China Flower Expo in Shanghai, which has spent several months operating as a Covid field hospital

The Covid 19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the music industry in recent years, not least being on the international festival circuit, where many established events were forced to close.

Rock in Japan, the country’s largest festival was no exception, and suffered the same hiatus in 2020 and 2021. However, this year, it was finally ready to make its return and it did so in very different fashion. The five-day event was reborn as an urban style festival in a new location, having moved to the Soga Sports Park in the attractive coastal resort of Chiba from its previous home of Hitachinaka.

However, the change of location had been a major concern for those managing and promoting the shows. For Soga Sports Park is located near residences and in a densely populated shopping area—hardly ideal for holding a loud rock show. Additionally, it was the first time that a festival had taken place here. The potential of noise pollution problems caused huge headaches for the production team.

“We had to adopt a completely different the approach,” stated Shuzo Fujii, president of MSI Japan, the sound production company. “Up until now, we have always focused on how far we could throw our MLA loudspeaker array, but this time we had to think in an opposite direction.”

THE RESULT WAS A MAJOR SUCCESS, NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE UNIQUE DISTRIBUTION DESIGN BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE CONTROLLABILITY OF MLA SYSTEM. ONCE AGAIN, I WAS ABLE TO APPRECIATE THE WONDERFUL CAPABILITY OF THIS LOUDSPEAKER.

Visitors attending the plethora of county and horticultural fairs that take place during the UK’s outdoor season, deserve the same quality of audio as hardened music fans revelling at the UK’s premier festivals.

BSB Sound owner Martin Bickley, whose company specialises in providing PA for all manner of outdoor shows, was looking for a fresh approach to deliver first class audio for the annual Shrewsbury Flower Show as the previous design of public address system was no longer suitable due to the mounting bases for the loudspeaker masts becoming unsafe. He therefore approached a long-term associate, Robin Dibble, who also happens to be one of the Martin Audio product support team.

The show is one of the country’s premier events of its kind, attracting top exhibitors from all over the UK to the site on the banks of the Severn. After a site visit to investigate the event and its requirements, Dibble specified two hangs of Martin Audio’s WPL array cabinets to be flown from towers, with a spaced broadside array of SXH subwoofers between. This he knew would provide not only high-octane audio but evenly distributed, site wide coverage.

To supply the equipment, Bickley contacted Bristol based Martin Audio partner, SWG Events, who were pleased to sub-hire their powerful and ground-breaking Wavefront Precision WPL optimised line array. The two towers were also provided by SWG, whose head of audio, Simon Purse, assisted with the set-up.

“We needed to ensure we had consistent quality and intelligibility over the 150m throw distance whilst keeping levels contained on site, with a 74dBA limit at the borders of the event site,” noted Dibble. “The site itself is in a natural bowl and the results of any events in the show ring during the day needed to be broadcast with absolute clarity by the commentators, while in the evening both military and contemporary bands took over the stage, followed by a laser display. This is where the subwoofers—a broadside array of 12 SXH218 (2×18”) enclosures—came into their own.”

The DISPLAY 2 files were prepared by Robin Dibble and loaded into the amps ready for use by Purse, with some tweaks on set-up days. “The main challenge,” Dibble continued, “was getting accurate site information because of its unusual shape, and the fact it was the first time we had worked here. So we undertook terrain mapping with SketchUp, adjusted with on-site surveys during set up.”

Sound was mixed from a desk in the commentary box, set 50 metres behind the speakers, and Robin Dibble, who took responsibility for the overall site design, was more than happy with the outcome. “This event was all about achieving consistency of coverage rather than pushing level. It worked extremely well and sounded fantastic.”

Martin Bickley agreed. “Shrewsbury Flower Show is a favourite event for us at BSB Sound and is bigger than many realise, typically with over 10,000 people sitting on the bank enjoying a wide variety of entertainment from the main show ring.

“The results were a revelation; the improvement in consistency and quality throughout the audience was a real eye opener. All the BSB Sound team were impressed with the results, and we are looking into the possibility of purchasing a WP based system of our own on the back of the equipment’s performance at this event.”

Solotech makes a mighty statement at Victoria Park with premier line array

There can be few production companies more familiar with the challenges of east London’s Victoria Park site than sound specialists Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK Group).

Often working alongside Loud Sound they have supported many of the music events and festivals at this location for more than a decade. It was here in the summer of 2011, first for Deadmau5 at the LED Festival, followed by other back-to-back events including Field Day, that they proved that even within a densely populated residential area, they could achieve enviable levels within the performance area without disturbing the neighbours.

It was at these events that Capital debuted, and established the unique controllability of Martin Audio’s award-winning MLA technology, and a further propagation test at Hatfield House duly led to its adoption at another challenging site, Hyde Park, for BST, which persists to this day.

But such demands place pressure on their inventory and he adds that they are fortunate to be able to utilise the growing Martin Audio network when it comes to pulling in extra inventory. “Martin Audio also provides great support where we need it and has done a fantastic job staying involved. But as the user network has grown, we have managed to rely less on manufacturer support and more on partner support.”

Once again, for reasons of efficiency, the organisers tweaked the layout of the two main stages (named Riot and Roots), while out around the perimeter the Radical (Stage 3), Rise (Stage 4) and Rebel (Stage 5) areas belonged to Martin Audio.

Solotech makes a mighty statement at Victoria Park with premier line array

There can be few production companies more familiar with the challenges of east London’s Victoria Park site than sound specialists Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK Group).

Often working alongside Loud Sound they have supported many of the music events and festivals at this location for more than a decade. It was here in the summer of 2011, first for Deadmau5 at the LED Festival, followed by other back-to-back events including Field Day, that they proved that even within a densely populated residential area, they could achieve enviable levels within the performance area without disturbing the neighbours.

It was at these events that Capital debuted, and established the unique controllability of Martin Audio’s award-winning MLA technology, and a further propagation test at Hatfield House duly led to its adoption at another challenging site, Hyde Park, for BST, which persists to this day.

Yet proof of concept is continuously evaluated, and this year further modelling was undertaken against another premier brand, before MLA rightly took its familiar place on the East stage in Victoria Park, at AEG Presents’ now consolidated All Points East.

IT SOUNDED GREAT, AND WE COULD ACHIEVE THIS SPL, WITHOUT BREACHING OFFSITE LEVELS.

Solotech senior project manager Martin Connolly confirmed that, under evaluation, the same measurements had been achieved as previously. “It’s good to have scientific data, but then we have proved the point over and over again with MLA.”

This year the coverage pattern was tweaked in accordance with the slight reorientation of the stage away from the sensitive flank. Meanwhile, on the West stage was Martin Audio’s newer Wavefront Precision technology, embodied in the mighty WPL.

The main hangs on East stage comprised 13 MLA and a single MLD (downfill) box on each side per side, with side hangs of nine MLA stage right, and eight on stage left. Frontfills comprised eight Martin Audio XD12, with a castellated cardioid broadside array of 20 MLX subs along the front.

Further back, five delay points were set, populated by a total of 46 MLA Compact, with six MLX subwoofers in a cardioid design on the last two positions. Finally, stage sidefills comprised four SXHF218 subwoofers, and a pair each of Martin Audio TORUS T1215 and T1230 constant curvature boxes.

It was left to the Solotech crew, comprising system tech Dan Fathers and FOH tech Xavier d’Arifat to ensure Gorillaz, Chemical Brothers, Tame Impala, The National, Nick Cave and Disclosure, along with their respective tech crews—were given the best experience possible.

Meanwhile, headlining West Stage—situated further back on the site, and surrounded by trees—Idles enjoyed a very different audio experience, as Martin Connolly explained. “After the huge success of BST at Hyde Park where it was featured for the first time, we took the decision to run WPL [as the main PA] on the West Stage, along with WPC—and the new SXHF218 subs in a castellated cardioid array.”

Here, levels of up to 104dBa were possible, including 103dBa for Fleet Foxes and 102dBa for Caribou. “The implementation of WPL was a huge success,” summarised Connolly. “It sounded great, and we could achieve this SPL, without breaching offsite levels.”

Main hangs comprised 12 WPL per side, while side hangs consisted of 10 WPC (stage right) and 14 stage left, further augmented by eight WPS. The broadside array of subs comprised 11 SXHF218, while the two delay masts each supported 12 WPC.

Monitors on West stage comprised 12 Martin Audio LE1500, four SXHF218 subs and a pair each of TORUS T1215 and T1230. Joseph Pearce was Solotech’s system tech and Jackson Akers, tech at FOH.

As at BST, the company was working alongside experienced production manager Mark Ward (of Proper Productions). Confirming the success of the event, Ward, said “The combination of Solotech’s expertise and Martin Audio’s advanced control technology has proven time and again that challenging sites such as Victoria Park and Hyde Park, once considered almost unworkable, are entirely viable when it comes to staging proper events.”