Held annually over two days along the banks of the Shinano River in Japan’s Nagaoka City, Nagaoka Fireworks Festival resumed in August after a three-year break. The spectacular show was accompanied by Martin Audio WPC and WPS line arrays, which were adopted as the main sound system.
The Festival was inaugurated as far back as 1879 and since World War II has been held annually on August 2-3, with the hope of achieving world peace. In 2019 it boasted a record 1.08 million spectators around the world, making it one of the three major fireworks festivals in Japan.
Although the main audience area spans approximately 500m x 200m, the height of the sound system is limited to under 3m in order not to block the view of the fireworks. To meet this requirement, multiple small systems were installed and distributed over the entire audience area.
MIC LLC and Yokinsha Co. Ltd. both brought 12 WPC and four SX218 subwoofers to the event, while Niigata Shomei Giken Co. Ltd. brought 16 WPS and six SXCF118—set at 50m intervals. The requirement for the system was to broadcast background music, commentary from the MC and emergency announcements, bringing clarity and high intelligibility across the entire audience area during the fireworks display.
Describing the event, Mr. Endo of MIC LLC, the audio general producer, said, “I have tried various systems from many manufacturers over the years, but the Martin Audio system was the only one that was able to provide a consistent experience for visitors over the wide audience area, during the explosive sound of fireworks. The reason why we were able to mix WPC and WPS without any discomfort was due to the uniformity between the various Martin Audio products.”
Cinch presents Creamfields Northcelebrated its 25th anniversary in style in the village of Daresbury—its home since 2006. The site in Cheshire again played host to the dance world’s premier brand, and with it a selection of global DJ superstars over August Bank Holiday weekend.
The biggest EDM event in the UK, hosting 250 artists over the four days, it comprised up to 12 stages, two of which were serviced by Capital Sound (a Solotech company) who have a long history of supporting the event, both in the north and south.
Headliners this year included Calvin Harris, David Guetta and Hardwell amongst others, all performing alongside the likes of Becky Hill, Bicep Live, Eric Prydz, Patrick Topping, Pete Tong, Martin Garrix, Jax Jones, Scooter and Armin van Buuren.
All the performances were DJ playback, and as is customary, each of the stages changed name on a daily basis. Working alongside Production Director Ian Greenway of LarMac Live, Solotech were responsible for ‘Stage 3’—a large TFS structure—and the outdoor stage 8 ‘Runway Stage’, which saw the introduction of a new ‘concept stage’.
THE COVERAGE WAS EXCEPTIONAL, FROM THE FRONT TO THE VERY BACK.
Stage 3 began as a Silent Disco as did all opening stages on the Thursday, changing to ‘Catch And Release’ ‘Stmpd Records’ and ‘MK Presents’ on the successive days. The key nights were Saturday when Martin Garrix headlined and on Sunday where MK revved up the audience hosting his own Arena line up.
Solotech fielded 11 MLA elements with an MLD Downfill at the base on both sides of the stage; further front fills were provided by four Martin Audio DD12, while an array of 13 MLX subwoofers in cardioid ran across the front. Set back in the rear of the compound were two delay masts of 10 MLA Compact enclosures, ground stacked on risers. Overseeing this for Solotech was system tech and crew chief, Olly Fallon.
Stage 8 came alive as Paradise on the Friday, transforming into Trick on the Saturday and Solid Grooves on the Sunday. This stage was designed as a unique self-supporting, eight-leg truss structure, from which a WPL PA was flown. The upstage goalposts (left and right) supported WPL, and delays consisted of two hangs of eight WPS, were flown from the last goalposts of the truss structure.
Rayne Ramsden, crew chief and system tech on this stage, reported that as the first time WPL had been used in this context it was a fantastic success. He said he had received a number of compliments from crews and crowds alike. “The coverage was exceptional, from the front to the very back,” he stated, adding that dance fans surged in to extend the area back some 40 metres beyond the FOH position. “Even with that extra capacity WPL catered for the extended throw distance with no trouble at all,” he confirmed.
The complement of speakers that made that possible were hangs of 13 WPL with a further three WPL fills down on each side of the stage upstage from the main PA hangs. These were supported by an additional four DD12 , providing extra front fills, and a broadside array of 13 MLX subwoofers, providing the all-important LF extension.
Solotech senior project manager, Martin Connolly, described the event as an outstanding success, and the experiment with the eight-legged free-standing structure as a revelation.
Ian Greenway added, “We know Solotech well, and their willingness to adapt and overcome at Creamfields is more important than ever as we start to migrate to newer and more unique structures. With two Creamfields festivals a year now, we’re looking forward to further developing the relationship.”
In fact Creamfields marked its 25th year by launching a second edition—Creamfields South, which was staged early June at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and attracted 50,000 dance music fans.
Having routinely specified Martin Audio’s MLA Compact PA for festival shows where sensitive offsite noise has been an issue—along with the smaller MLA Mini on corporate events—Bristol based SWG Events has continued its long tradition.
Best known for servicing a number of stages at Glastonbury with Martin Audio solutions the production company recently provided sound reinforcement for the second year to the Hampton Court Palace Festival, having worked for the production company that runs HCPF on other shows.
In addition to the single large stage, which featured two main hangs of eight MLA Compact and six MLX, they also provided BlacklineX on a small bandstand in the East Front public picnic area prior to the show.
This year’s all-star line-up included UB40, Elbow, George Benson, Jack Savoretti, McFly, Kacey Musgraves, The Human League, Michael Ball & Alfie Boe and Crowded House. To provide even coverage for audiences up to 3,200-capacity SWG Events supplemented the two main MLA Compact hangs with DD12s for centre and left/right outfills, with eight WPM for front fills and six Blackline X8 for balcony fills. A monitor package in the shape of 16 of their new XE500 was powered by Martin Audio’s iKON iK42 amplifiers.
Aside from the quality of the music, the orientation of the stage—enabling the Palace to provide a spectacular backdrop—was the icing on the cake, as SWG Event Technology Specialist Ian Williams explained. “The idea is to create the illusion that the audience felt they were inside the palace rather than just in front of it. We illuminated it and handed control over to the lighting designers so it could be used as a spectacular backdrop.”
With Williams himself project managing, leading a team comprising Matt Pope, Ryan Bass and Kieran Jordan, the shows functioned like clockwork. Engineers simply plugged consoles into a pre-time aligned, pre-optimised system, and were provided digital inputs for left, right, sub and fill. “Our system technicians then worked to keep the optimisation as current as possible, working with the engineers to find ideal times within their sets to load in new profiles to the rig”, explained Williams.
SWG’s long successful tradition with Martin Audio equipment, now enters its next stage with their recent purchase of WPL. Williams commented, “We’ve already done a number of shows with our new system and we have received some great comments from engineers that have used it.”
If there is a single festival that defines the English summer, it has to be Henley, which this year celebrated its 40th anniversary with an eclectic mix of music, comedy, art and grade A fun.
Production managed by John Harris, Henley is a festival unlike any other, with the main stage placed in the River Thames, backed by a fleet of boats of all shapes and sizes. The site features a variety of other venues ranging from intimate comedy to cabaret and dance bands.
RG Jones has been providing audio at Henley since 1983—most of it based around Martin Audio PA—and in a relationship surviving that long, the level of trust and commitment is obviously at its highest. Over the years, the style of the event has changed somewhat from the original, fully classical programme to what is now a much more commercial line-up, but with no less determination to deliver an unforgettable experience. This year’s artists (on the main Floating Stage) were as diverse as Sir Tom Jones, Craig David, Katherine Jenkins, Jack Savoretti, The Script and Pete Tong with the Ibiza Classics Orchestra.
The Floating Stage sound system was manned by the experienced Mark Edwards, using an established design by Simon Honywill. The site is very unusual as it is around three times wider than it is deep, and three arrays each side of the stage structure are required to deliver the requisite coverage; the outer arrays feature nine deep hangs of Martin Audio’s MLA Compact, the forward facing comprise seven deep MLA Compact, and the inner coverage this time was provided by four deep Martin Audio Wavefront Precision Mini (WPM), plus some W8LMD frontfills. “It’s a tricky system to get right,” says Honywill, “as some seats are extremely close to the stage. But years of working on this site go a long way to guaranteeing a first-class audience experience.”
Elsewhere, top comedians were doing their very best to keep everyone laughing in roasting temperatures in The Comedy Club – Andy Parsons, Milton Jones, Maisie Adam and Russell Kane were among the fantastic line up. For RG Jones, The Comedy Club was operated by Sam Liddiard and featured a Martin Audio W8LM/WLX system.
Rosie Tarrant could be found in the Bedouin Bar with a Martin Audio DD12/SXC118 system for a varied mix of world and folk music, and in the Jazz Tent Olly Wickes was tasked with a stream of different acts—handled more than capably by an MLA Mini system.Finally Dan Langridge was anchored in The Riverside Restaurant, mixing the resident dance band on a W8LM/WLX system.
A highlight of this year was the appearance of Boney M in the Big Top.With a fantastic 9-piece band and a raft of backing singers supporting original member Liz Mitchell, they smashed through their massive list of enormous hits to the rapturous delight of a crowd of very up-for-it festival goers.Mixed by Simon Honywill on his first serious Martin Audio TORUS adventure, the sound engineer stated, “the result was one of those one-off joyous things which make you realise why you still do this for a living.” Complete with stage invasion, this extravaganza was a huge success.
Another big success was Honywill’s partnership with LIPA student Sheridan Burns, who came under his tutelage as part of Henley Festival’s new RISE programme. The Festival was set up in 1982 as a charity, its mission being to stage a music and arts festival for the local community. To coincide with its 40th anniversary, they set up RISE to support emerging talent, both in front and behind the spotlight—and Burns was selected by RG Jones to fulfil their RISE quota.
As for TORUS, speaking of his first experience with the system, Simon Honywill stated, “This is a great product; it has great flexibility while maintaining the musical, signature Martin Audio sound that I love so much.
“We had to redeploy the system into a 270° DJ system after Boney M finished … and it totally rocked!”
John Harris also added his own plaudits, both on TORUS and the sound set-up in general: “Henley Festival is proud of its long association with RG Jones and is excited to see and hear the developments in technology that they introduce to our stages.”
Background music systems have been shown to have a huge influence on people in just about every situation. However, an area that has been overlooked is the effect that the quality of the music has on human behaviour.
Research has highlighted the way that music can affect consumer habits in a retail environment, employee focus in a workplace and relaxation in a hospitality setting. The first studies into the effects of music on shoppers were published more than 30 years ago and these results have been confirmed and refined time and again since then. Findings by PPS PRL[1] showed that two-thirds of UK adults say that the type of music a shop or business plays influences what they buy. The same survey also found that classical music encourages restaurant diners to order expensive items on the menu and that more than two-thirds admit to leaving a venue after realising that no songs were playing.
Further research, published by JAMA Network [2], notes the implications that music can have in other hospitality settings, such as hotels and spas. This research shows that music can make a positive change in health-related quality of life, which highlights the important role that a commercial audio system plays in therapeutic settings such as spas.
A slightly more contested area is the use of audio in the workplace. This is a subject that has seen a large amount of research, with results that have often been contradictory. Some papers have found that listening to music with lyrics while reading or working can decrease concentration or cognitive performance (Shih et al., 2012 [3];Liu et al., 2021 [4]). On the other hand, a number of studies have shown oppositely that natural-occurring sounds such as white noise, or highly composed sound such as classical music, can be beneficial for increasing focus and can even improve learning outcomes (Davies, 2000 [5];Chou, 2010 [6];Angwin et al., 2017 [7];Gao et al., 2020 [8]).
Recently published research [9] seems to back both of these findings. Amongst its conclusions, the study states: “We found that while performing a self-paced task for a long period of time (such as working), personalised soundscapes increased focus the most relative to silence. Curated playlists of pre-recorded songs by Apple and Spotify also increased focus during specific time intervals, especially for the youngest audience demographic.” Looking more specifically at the effects of different types of audio, the study concluded: “We found that based on our model, engineered soundscapes and classical music are the best for increasing focus, while pop and hip-hop music are the worst.”
It’s clear then that the type of music you play over a commercial audio system will influence your audience, and that crafting the right playlist can have positive results for your business. However, there is one element that none of these studies consider, the quality of the audio your audience hears over the background music system.
There has been less research in this area, and the majority is focused on the quality of audio over consumer equipment. However, there are some useful parallels that we can take from this research and apply it to people listening to background music in over commercial audio systems.
One of the issues with studying this area is that music is very subjective, and different people can have vastly different opinions on the same piece. To overcome subjective issues such as this, researchers use Quality of Experience (QoE) as a way that allows participants to report and rate experiences in a way that can be quantitatively analysed.
The QoE methodology has been further refined with a standard measure just for audio – Overall Listening Experience (OLE). First defined in 2013 [10], the term is used to describe the degree of enjoyment whilst listening to audio. OLE and QoE are comparable in the sense that they both try to take into account all possible factors that may influence enjoyment. These elements could include technical areas such as the sound system, human factors [11] such as mood, and context influence factors such as the listening environment.
By taking all of these factors into account, OLE [12] can be used to see if what effect technical factors have in real-world environments. One of the interesting elements of this is the role that audio quality [10] plays in OLE. Research has shown that the lower the audio quality, the lower people rate their Overall Listening Experience.
There is plenty of evidence that links QoE and improved business performance, particularly in the retail space [13]. In addition to this, background music is cited [14] as one of the main factors that helps to define the QoE in retail.
With this in mind, it is logical that retailers and hospitality venues should also be looking at the quality of their background music systems as part of a wider strategy to enhance customer experiences. With research linking QoE with business performance and the parallel measure for QoE in audio, OLE, showing that higher quality audio leads to a better experience, it follows that investing in a high-quality commercial audio system will be one way to help the overall business performance.
It is widely understood that audio performance is only as good as the weakest link in the signal chain. This would suggest that to see the full benefit in OLE and QoE, sensible investment should be made throughout the signal chain. This starts with a high-quality source that plays music at the maximum possible bandwidth and ends with professional loudspeakers, such as Martin Audio’s ADORN family.
The award-winning ADORN series of on-wall and ceiling loudspeakers bring class-leading performance, reliability and cost competitiveness to a wide range of commercial sound installations — from retail outlets, bars and restaurants to corporate offices. They have been created with audio quality as a top priority and as such can help businesses improve their OLE.
Summing up, Dom Harter, Martin Audio Managing Director, remarked: “Background music systems have not always been at the top of the priority list with retail, hospitality or commercial installations. However, the overall pattern of the research points towards this being a mistake. Making sensible investment decisions in your commercial audio system will help improve the overall listening experience for your audience. This, in turn, will help you to see the full benefits that music can bring to your premises, uniting your patrons. And with ADORN in plentiful supply, you don’t have to be waiting ages to make that change.”
9. Haruvi A, Kopito R, Brande-Eilat N, Kalev S, Kay E, Furman D. Measuring and Modeling the Effect of Audio on Human Focus in Everyday Environments Using Brain-Computer Interface Technology. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8829886/
Following the success of the inaugural South Facing Festival at the Crystal Palace Bowl last year, Festival Director, Marcus Weedon, requested the same formula for this year’s 10-day event. And that included Martin Audio’s ground-breaking MLA loudspeaker array, supplied once again by Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK group).
This perfectly served the requirements of a top-class bill, including London Grammar, Bombay Bicycle Club, Jungle, Becky Hill and Richard Ashcroft.
Two other key developments helped boost the quality of the sound, as Solotech Project Manager David Preston—who was working alongside production manager, Julia Bruns, and site/production specialists, LS Events—explained. Driven by the excellent feedback, and absence of complaints from neighbours last year, he noted that levels within the bowl were raised from an SPL of 96dB(A) to 98dB(A) for this year, while the tech team still managed to stay within offsite thresholds.
The second advantage for Solotech was the extended space on the floating platform which housed the stage. Last year a lack of space at the front precluded mounting a broadside MLX cardioid subwoofer array across the front.
But with no such problems this year, 10 MLX subs were arced across the front of stage, with MLA Compact enclosures deployed as frontfills. David Preston explained: “Having the extra couple of metres along the front of the pontoon meant that we were able to get to a broadside cardioid array and provide more even sub coverage across the venue, and this also gave us greater control in the lower frequencies.
“The event is in a natural amphitheatre which seems to really help us with the audio coverage; the clarity at the back was similar to that at the front—which was great. As for MLA Compact, these provided a more robust option for front fills and could throw effortlessly across the nearby pond to hit the front of the audience.”
Preston led a Solotech team comprising Rayne Ramsden (System/FOH Tech), Isabella Di Biaise (Monitor Engineer), Harry Garcia and Diego Ternivasio (Stage Techs).
Ramsden programmed the DISPLAY software so that the sound tapered off at the site perimeter, thereby ensuring minimum bleed and maximum containment.
Once again, MLA was a hit with visiting sound engineers, among them Richard Ashcroft’s sound engineer, Al Davies. He has been using the PA since shortly after its launch over a decade ago, when with girl group Neon Jungle he said it was the best sound he had ever heard in Brixton Academy.
At Crystal Palace, despite the mix position being off axis he said the sound was balanced, the coverage even throughout, and the rear rejection impressive, with no backstage bleed. The subs also sounded great and non-granular. “Some have a tendency to sound ‘notey’, but the bottom end was balanced beautifully.”
He added, “Richard likes to be loud, so I was mixing at 97.5dB, almost up to the threshold, without ever struggling. He was really impressed and congratulated me afterwards.”
In conclusion, David Preston stated that Crystal Palace is now becoming one of the favourite festival sites he looks after during the summer calendar. “It’s a great space for concerts,” he said. “Working with Julia and the LS Events team is always a pleasure, and I look forward to 2023.
“Martin Audio’s MLA proved yet again that—noise control wise—it can do things that no other box on the market is capable of. For suburban festivals, with tricky noise limits set by local councils, that’s the important factor, to ensure the license for the festival can be granted again for the following year.”
German technology service provider, EBV Veranstaltungstechnik, has invested in Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision technology, with the purchase of a WPM line array from territorial distributors, Audio Technica Deutschland.
Based in Hettenleidelheim in the Rheinland-Palatinate, EBV is a family business with a long tradition. Elmar Breitwieser founded the company over 40 years ago and focused primarily on regional musical events, which he initially equipped with sound and lighting systems before adding stage technology.
In 2018 Christian Breitwieser, son of the founder, took over the company and expanded the business from concert and festival events to corporate functions, conferences and more.
THE OPTIMISATION OPTIONS MAKE THE SYSTEM FEEL AT HOME ANYWHERE—WHETHER IN A ROCK CONCERT OR AS A SPEECH REINFORCEMENT SYSTEM.
Needing to adapt and upgrade the audio equipment to the new requirement he opted for Martin Audio, stating, “I had already been familiar with the brand for a long time.”
His interest was rekindled, first when he became aware of the DD6 and CDD-LIVE series, and he initially expanded the company’s hire inventory by adding these two series, complete with a combination of SXP118 and SX118 subwoofers.
Justifying the purchasing decision, he said, “Both series have an asynchronously radiating horn—even as a self-powered coaxial system in the CDD-LIVE. The resulting performance is outstanding, the systems work very homogeneously and still sound extremely pleasant even at higher levels.
At the same time, he had also planned an investment in a line array, but this had to take a back seat due to COVID. “Fortunately, we now have a large number of events once again where a line array is needed. And for that reason we made an immediate decision to go with the WPM.”
Like the other members of the Wavefront Precision family, the smaller 6.5″ WPM system offers scalable resolution and very precise control capabilities thanks to the DISPLAY optimisation software. “The WPM fits perfectly into our portfolio due to its flexibility, EBV’s managing director continues. “The optimisation options make the system feel at home anywhere—whether in a rock concert or as a speech reinforcement system.”
An additional benefit of investing in Wavefront Precision had been its immediate availability, he confirmed. “We decided to make this investment at short notice in April and were pleasantly surprised that Martin Audio were able to deliver within a few weeks. This meant that the` system was already in use by the beginning of June.”
Long-standing Martin Audio rental partner, SWG Events, has upgraded its pro audio inventory with the acquisition of 24 of the large format Wavefront Precision WPL enclosures.
These form part of a Martin Audio package, along with 12 SXH218 subs and 24 XE500 floor monitors. Powering the WPL in 2-box resolution are Martin Audio iKON iK42 process-controlled, multi-channel amplifiers, part of an order for 17 iK42’s, which will also be assigned to the XE500.
Stated SWG Events’ Head of Audio, Simon Purse, “Everything came along at the right time, with me joining the company [from Martin Audio]. This coincided with SWG looking to buy a bigger, state-of-the-art system as an upgrade for their trusty W8LC, to put us back at the top end of the touring market, with higher tier acts.”
The acquisition was sanctioned by SWG managing director, Alister Pook, in light of the fact the company had been forced to cross-hire during this summer’s crowded outdoor season. “SWG has always been a Martin Audio house, and the fact that they were able to supply immediately from stock, plus our familiarity with the system, were major selling points,” stated Purse.
On arrival the new system was deployed within 48 hours, enabling their sub-hired MLA to return to base. This was at the Rhyl Event Arena for a package show that featured James, Tom Grennan and Jack Savoretti. It then moved onto CarFest North on the Bolesworth Castle in Chester.
Purse said that the choice of system size ticked a number of boxes. “A 12-box hang per side generally fits where we are at, giving us coverage for 5,000 up to 10,000-cap venue sizes.
“The Southwest has now got to the point where there is local availability to cross-hire so that we can scale up to a full arena system.”
He said he was particularly pleased with the XE500. “I believe we are one of the largest stockists of the XE500 and I’d be happy to put these in front of anyone.”
In conclusion, Martin Audio UK sales manager, Peter Codron added, “SWG has been a loyal, and long-serving customer of Martin Audio for many years. Their ongoing support is further reflected in this latest investment in our new technology, and being part of the ever-increasing UK Wavefront Partner Network. It is also gratifying to know that they already have a number of events earmarked for WPL.”
Popular Richmond, VA live music venue, The Broadberry, has taken delivery of a new Martin Audio TORUS constant curvature array, supplied by locally based rental partner, Soundworks of Virginia.
Soundworks has been working with the 550-capacity venue, owned by Lucas Fritz and Matt McDonald, providing sound for their outdoor concerts since the Spring of 2021.
Explaining the rationale behind the venue upgrade, Fritz says they had been making do with the old system that was in the venue when they took over in 2014. “We were well overdue for a PA overhaul, especially given the calibre of artists we were continuously bringing to the market. We had been working with Soundworks and knew they wouldn’t lead us astray.”
The venue’s production manager Justin Lewis confirms that the previous system had been poorly deployed—and he had a firm idea in mind for its replacement.
WE ARE EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT OUR NEW TORUS RIG.
“Due to the shape of our room I wanted a box with a relatively narrow horizontal pattern. All the line arrays I looked at were too wide and point source didn’t provide the flexibility we wanted in vertical coverage.”
He looked at a number of systems and consulted his crew, ultimately deciding constant curvature would probably be the best for our room. “We chose TORUS mainly due to Soundworks’ existing relationship with Martin Audio, and the cardioid feature of the SXC118 was also a positive influence on our decision.”
Taking up the story, Soundworks’ CEO, Steve Payne, adds, “Their trust in the Martin Audio name, and belief that anything with that badge on it would be a quality solution, was reinforced by the [Wavefront Precision] WPL and WPC systems Soundworks had been routinely providing for their outdoor concerts.”
And while he admits the Wavefront Precision series remains his “hands down favourite,” for an installation situation he needed to look no further than TORUS. “I think this system, with its variable horizontal coverage and choice between 30° and 15° vertical angle is a better solution than a short hang of WPS,” he says, concurring with Justin Lewis.
The pair of three-box hangs comprise two T1215 and a single T1230 at the base, to eliminate the desire for front fills. The arrays are supported by TORUS fly bars hung from Unitruss, which spans the structural roof girders. Four SXC118, ground stacked in a central cluster under the stage, provide the low end, and all processing is via the onboard DSP in the Martin Audio iKon multi-channel amplifiers.
Soundworks’ project manager Bryan Hargrave masterminded the installation, in conjunction with Martin Audio US Technical Support Engineer, Joe Lima.
Summing up, Justin Lewis says, “The coverage and sound quality are just about perfect now, and the rig is a vast improvement over our old one. Our crew is pleased, and we’ve had generally good responses from guest engineers.
And Lucas Fritz is equally effusive. “We are extremely excited about our new TORUS rig. The room sounds better than it ever has,” he exclaims.
Martin Audio’s MLA system for the first time on the main stage of Radio 1’s Big Weekend that took place at Memorial Park, Coventry, with the popular music festival finally returning after the hiatus caused by Covid-19.
An audience of 40,000, and an array of premiere acts that included Harry Styles, George Ezra, Ed Sheeran and Calvin Harris, played across two nights in the city of Coventry’s beautiful, historic park. The show was new to RG Jones, who tendered successfully for the event. The production company were delighted to get the chance to flex their sonic muscles on such a high-profile project while re-connecting with long-standing clients Dick and Frankie Tee from EnTEEtainment, and reminding Festival Republic, who managed the event, what the company can do.
Being an urban site, noise management was of the highest priority, but Coventry’s status as 2022 City of Culture has also meant that throughout the year events of all shapes and sizes are taking place and the city council are keen to make the most of the opportunities that City of Culture affords. A generous offsite limit of 75dBA Leq15was relatively straightforward to achieve for MLA and its ability to control offsite noise, despite some strange acoustics surrounding the nearest houses.
Main PA hangs of 14 MLA elements were boosted by a central cardioid sub array of 22 MLX, asymmetrically steered to help with offsite C-weighted levels. In addition, MLA Mini and DD12 provided frontfills, MLA Mini and MLA Compact outfills, and there were two delay positions of 12 MLA Compact, and a single central position of eight MLA. Most impressive was the MLA Mini outfill—with a hang of 12 enclosures covering about 75m and easily keeping up with the stage right MLA.
The RG Jones crew featured a blend of seasoned A-team regulars and some newbies. “It’s so crucial to have the right team on these shows and bringing some new faces into the circle of trust is both exciting and invaluable,” believes Simon Honywill. At FOH were RG’s regular Damion Dyer, and the experienced Chris Pyne, running the twin DiGiCo SD12 A/B desk system.System tech was Matt Besford-Foster, who was fresh off MLA training and getting amongst his first MLA system, having spent many years travelling the world with Muse and Elbow.
His verdict on MLA could scarcely have been more positive. “I was very impressed with the tonal signature across the MLA range,” he said. “MLA Mini seemed to defy physics with their ability to sit alongside MLA as a side hang and hold their own.”
On stage were Mark Isbister, in his regular role as patch master and interface with the BBC, assisted by Chris Lambert and RG’s own Rosie Tarrant.Looking after monitors were Martin Dineley and Sam Manigley.
Simon Honywill was responsible for system design and used Martin Audio’s new 3D prediction software – DISPLAY 3 — to generate a series of plots for environmental sound consultants, Vanguardia. “For me it was interesting to actually deploy a system that was mapped in DISPLAY 3 for the first time. I worked hard to design a system that would deliver the best possible experience for the audience of course, but also looked into restricting coverage on the house right side of the arena, where there was a large bar and toilets, and beyond the perimeter fence was the closest noise monitoring point.
“I had some reservations about using 12 MLA Compact on the outfill that covered that area, but in fact it was the right choice as the crowds thinned out significantly there and we were able to control coverage very effectively and run the headliners at a comfortable 98dBA.”
Frankie Tee was also fulsome in her praise for the sound coverage. “It was a real pleasure to be back working with RG Jones again after so many years. We knew they would deliver a great service to the Radio 1 event, and we only had positive feedback from the clients, broadcast and artists, proving we were in safe hands.
“The site faced some challenges with nearby properties, but Simon and the team were able to very accurately not only predict offsite noise levels, but stick to them too. I very much look forward to hopefully many more events together!”
