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Martin Audio

MARTIN AUDIO HELPS MEXICO CELEBRATE SPECTACULAR 211TH INDEPENDENCE DAY

The most important civic ceremony in Mexico is the “Grito de Independencia” (Mexican Independence Day) which is commemorated annually on September 15th,with a national holiday.

Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, the 211st anniversary went ahead this year with excellent results, thanks to the efforts of many people, led by More Music production company and Martin Audio sound systems, which were used exclusively.

Among the aspects that stood out were the spectacular fireworks show and video mapping projection of the pyramid, located in the Zócalo square of the Mexican capital. Other highlights were sets by Mexican singer Lila Downs performing the song Latinoamérica, composed by the Puerto Rican urban music duo Calle 13.

To optimise all these showcases a professional sound design that would adapt to the ‘new normal’ was vital, since although there was no audience in the Zócalo, millions followed this ceremony online and through the national TV channels.

More Music took charge of the audio design, among many other duties. The sound reinforcementspecified throughout was from Martin Audio, with 10 different series featured, including MLA, WPC, MLD, MLX, SX218 and W8LM. Nearly 150 cabinets were deployed in total.

“It is the third consecutive year that Martin Audio has been used in the Grito de Independencia,” stated the CEO of More Music. “But this was the first time the entire audio system was from the British firm.”

“This year there were no complications, as we had learnt the lessons of previous years,” said Rafael Juárez ‘El Rot’, who was in charge of the audio system. “While the audio layout was the same as last year, what changed was that some satellite speakers were placed in front of the Cathedral, and there was a stage in front of the National Palace.”

The sound distribution in the National Palace consisted of four main towers, each with eight MLA cabinets for a total of 32 boxes (left and right). Two further towers were placed in the Cathedral, each with eight cabinets which were used for the video mapping projection’s audio track.

As for the stage where Lila Downs participated, this comprised 24 WPC (12 per side), with four W8LM and W8LMD side fills and 10 SX218 subwoofers in front of the stage.

“I have worked for many years on this type of event, and it is the first time that I have used this system,” added Rafael Juárez. “I was impressed by the fact that wherever you wanted the system to provide coverage, it did precisely that. In fact I took a walk across the Zócalo plaza, and we achieved coverage at more than 180 meters without any problem.

“The time it took for Paco Rojas and I to make the predictions in the DISPLAY software was less than two hours, it was just so simple. This was a very stable, plug and play system which performed very well and offered great results.”

Another of the companies that had an active and constructive participation in the Grito de Independencia ceremony was Proactive Latin America, who represent Martin Audio in Mexico and Latin America.

“We were invited to do a particular design for the Lila Downs presentation that would be carried out with a totally independent team, and we supported More Music in any way necessary,” remarked Eng Oscar Tovar, Proactive´s Tech Sales specialist for Martin Audio Latam. “Our systems specialist and tech support team, headed by Eng. Carlos Aldama, carried out a cardioid design of the subwoofers, since Lila Downs likes to have her stage ‘clean’, particularly in the low frequencies. Everyone involved met their objectives and millions of people enjoyed the show.”

In terms of price, quality and economy, Martin Audio offers a great performance-to-cost ratio. In addition, the intelligibility of their equipment is hugely impressive, added Tovar, enabling them to produce a performance that captivated the audience.

The realisation of this event enabled many people who have been without this source of employment since COVID to resume their jobs and generate income again. All were able to reflect on how Martin Audio components had made it possible to deliver a professional, high-quality and high-level event that had thoroughly captivated the audience.

Special thanks go toAudio Acustica, More Music, Dasa Producciones and the crew from Martin Audio Latin America for their participation in this historical event.

Translation, text, pics and interviews by: Rafael Uriega & Berenice Gutiérrez,Sep 2021 (Proactive Latin America)

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Martin Audio

MARTIN AUDIO AND RG JONES HELP MINISTRY OF SOUND CELEBRATE THREE DECADES OF DANCE

Ministry of Sound celebrated 30 years of dance in style with a spectacular concert at O2 Arena, with dance classics reimagined by the 50-piece London Concert Orchestra in company with Paul Oakenfold and other guest DJs.

‘Ministry of Sound Classical presents Three Decades of Dance’ took clubbers on a journey through the dance anthems of yesteryear. Martin Audio’s signature sound, as featured in Ministry of Sound clubs worldwide, was provided by RG Jones and mixed by Phil Wright—a devotee of Martin Audio’s flagship and multi-award-winning MLA.

Working for promoters Coalition Presents, who produced the event with Raymond Gubbay, RG Jones—who already had a relationship with MoS, having provided equipment for some of their events—fielded 18 MLA a side. This was a similar configuration to that fielded for War of the Worlds at the same venue. Hangs of 12 MLA Compact provided outfills on each side, and 16 MLX subwoofers were set in a broadside cardioid array with a 2m central gap for a stage thrust, surrounded by a circular screen, on which the DJs performed. Eight DD12s were deployed as front fills along with some MLA Mini enclosures.

The components were chosen by RG Jones’ Jack Bowcher and his colleague Sam Millen handled the prep, assembled the racks, built the network (on a Dante and AES backbone)and was onsite technician alongside Doug Hunt.

Millen stated, “We worked together to achieve a great sounding PA, using the Merlins [Martin Audio’s digital loudspeaker management system] to provide more outputs in order to have greater control of the system. I then time-aligned the PA and then Doug and I tuned the system together.” Hard Avoid was used to avoid slapback from the back of the arena.

This provided a perfect environment for Phil Wright to mix the sound on a 96-channel DiGiCo SD12. “And we used every channel,” he exclaimed.

It was the sound engineer’s first time working at the O2, in front of 18,000 people. Of the challenges he said, “Although it was a loud show, with four DJs, we had to ensure the orchestra was the headliner. Local promoters feared we may had peaked too early, as Paul Oakenfold was on relatively early. But the production went up a level when the orchestra came on.”

Of MLA he confirmed ”We managed to avoid a lot of slapback [using the Hard Avoid feature in the DISPLAY software] and the direct-to-reverberation ratio was mind boggling.”

The entire orchestra were on in-ear monitors, and most of the instruments were miked with DPA CORE 4099. “The combination between this and the PA was fantastic,” he said.

“Despite the proximity to the PA we achieved a super amount of rejection at the back of MLA which meant I could mix it at 105dB comfortably without feedback. The crowd were screaming at 102dB and so I had to put the show on top of that.”

He said the power offered by the MLA / MLX combo meant “I had another 15dB [under the hood] had I needed it; it’s bonkers how loud it would go. By putting in a really big system and merely tickling it, the impulse response was utterly visceral and really grabbed you in the chest.”

Also represented were Martin Audio’s parent company Focusrite, with their RedNet Audio-over-IP solution, an A6R MkII analogue interface for Dante feeding the Shure PSM1000 in-ears.

Other RG personnel on duty included Rosie Tarrant (on stage and RF tech), Leigh Davis (on stage and personal monitors) while Nathan Kennedy was PA tech.

Photo credit: Luke Dyson.

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Martin Audio

Tooth Tooth chooses Martin Audio system

JAPAN: Tooth Tooth, a well-known restaurant brand, has recently installed a Martin Audio system within its food hall located on the ground floor of newly launched Kobe Port Museum. The city’s cultural complex otherwise consists of an aquarium, food hall and bridal desk.
Speaking on the music, which was produced by Fish Four, Kobe Port Museum president Yutaka Okano says: “High-quality BGM is an indispensable element for restaurants and cafes. We choose music suitable for both daytime and night-time that develops the atmosphere of the place. We have enjoyed a long relationship with Martin Audio and have used the brand in several facilities to date. With confidence in the quality of Martin Audio’s speakers, we again requested them without hesitation.”

Twenty-nine CDD6TX cabinets have been installed on several pillars, covering a wide area of the food hall. In addition, Adorn series speakers have been deployed in the aisles with ACP-55T pendant and ASC-55T ceiling speakers. Considering the outdoor terrace also, 52 Martin Audio speakers have been utilised.

“At night, DJs come in and play live. In addition, there is an event space in the hall, and if necessary, a portable Blackline X10 can be set up,” Okano said. There are three locations where DJ booths can be set up, so it was necessary to devise ways to smoothly transfer the signal inputs from these locations, and this was accomplished via a mobile input DSP rack, with the input signal delivered via Dante.

www.martin-audio.com

Article by : https://www.proavl-asia.com/details/69209-tooth-tooth-chooses-martin-audio-system

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Martin Audio

TIM MINCHIN MIXES WPS AND WPL PA ARRAYS ON BACK … ENCORE TOUR

With his inimitable repertoire of eclectic music blended with high-brow comedy, Tim Minchin’s UK tour, which began back in 2019, resumed after lockdown with a further eight-week stint. Imaginatively titled Back … Encore, this took him through a number of sold-out UK theatre shows, interspersed with a handful of arena dates.

The Australian was supported onstage by a seven-piece band—three brass players, bass, guitar, drums and percussion. Masterminding the sound production was Martin Audio’s rental partner, Capital Sound, with the highly experienced Dave Roden mixing once again to his favoured Wavefront Precision WPS.

Capital drew on their inventory of 32 WPS line array enclosures but purchased six additional multi-channel, Dante-supporting iKON amplifiers for the tour, enabling the system to be driven in the optimum one-box resolution.

Explaining the need for the expanded WPS inventory this time around, Capital account manager, Martin Connolly, said that the additional elements had provided Dave Roden with increased horsepower when matching to the main hangs and outfills.

“The WPS system is perfectly matched for Minchin,” he said. “It was so successful last time and so Dave [Roden] requested it again.” Crucially, the restricted loading points at some theatres became another defining factor.

However, WPS was supplemented at the three larger capacity arenas—Nottingham Motorpoint, Leeds First Direct and Cardiff Motorpoint—where Martin Audio’s larger WPL took over main duties, moving the WPS out wide to function as side hangs.

Providing low frequency extension were stacks of Martin Audio SX218 subwoofers—varying between six and 16, depending on venue size—along with a combination of DD6 and XD12, which have become standard fare for near-fill support. The XD12s were deployed as outfills on the lip of the stage at the extreme left and right with six DD6 set across the front.

However, there was always the opportunity for a little experimentation. System tech Nick Boulton, who had occupied the same role for Tim Minchin’s 2019 shows, took the opportunity to test drive Martin Audio’s new TORUS constant curvature array on a number of dates.

Martin Audio Product Support Engineer Nigel Meddemmen takes up the story. “Nick was keen to try this in place of the XD12s and so Martin Audio provided a pair of flight-cased T1230s, principally for use at Nottingham and Cardiff Motorpoint Arenas.”

But Boulton saw further potential. “Initially we put them side by side with our existing XD12 infills, and straight out of the box were blown away by the fidelity of them. They required very little EQ to match tonality with our hangs of WPL and WPS.

“Personally, I was also very impressed with the consistent coverage and pattern control. The rigging and cabinet feel high quality, and there are a bunch of cool features, such as the identifying LED, and NL4 pin swap switch, which make things a lot simpler.

“Consequently, we ended up putting them into every show between Hammersmith and Cardiff—and had we had access to more, I’d certainly have used them!”

Dave Roden and Nick Boulton were supported by fellow Capital crew members, Adam Wells (monitor tech) and Oz Bagnall (monitor engineer). Production manager was Ashley Newsome, working for promoter, Phil McIntyre Entertainments.

Summing up, Martin Connolly said the tour had been an unqualified success—not only for the warmth with which Tim Minchin’s show had been received, but the quality of the production. “He is an excellent showman, and running the PA at a comfortable level, between 98db-100db, the sound was extremely clean and the intelligibility high.”

Photo credit: Andrew Benge.

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Martin Audio

MARTIN AUDIO ANNOUNCES WHITE VERSIONS OF BEST-SELLING WPS AND SXC118 CARDIOID SUBWOOFER

Martin Audio has announced that its best-selling Wavefront Precision optimised line array system, WPS, is now available in white, as a made-to-order option, and is also accompanied by its cardioid subwoofer partner, SXC118.

Designed to set a new benchmark for 8” line arrays, Martin Audio originally announced WPS in 2019—the fourth model in the award-winning Wavefront Precision series—and it has since gone on to be a firm favourite by owners and users alike.

OUR RENTAL PARTNERS, FOH ENGINEERS AND SYSTEM INTEGRATORS, HAVE REALLY TAKEN WPS TO THEIR HEART.

Dom Harter, Martin Audio

As Dom Harter, managing director, explains, “With WPS it was a ground up product development. We wanted to overcome the deficiencies and compromises of other 8” line arrays available on the market. That’s why we believe we have more drivers in WPS than anything else in its class, with spacing, waveguide and crossover point engineered to deliver in particular optimum HF performance with exemplary mid and high frequency pattern control, even at higher SPL. And our rental partners, FOH engineers and system integrators, have really taken WPS to their heart.”

The SXC118 is a cardioid subwoofer featuring an 18” driver in the front and a 14” driver in the rear, coupling together for increased output to the audience while maintain control and reducing noise behind it.

Harter continues, “The success of WPS and its partner sub has naturally meant that for houses of worship and auditoria there was a growing demand for a white variant and so moving forward we are happy to make this available as a made-to-order option.”

 

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Martin Audio

KOBE PORT MUSEUM FOOD HALL COMPLEX INSTALLS MARTIN AUDIO CDD AND ADORN

Kobe Port Museum, is a new cultural complex in the Japanese city, consisting of an aquarium, food hall, and bridal desk. The space on the ground floor is a next-generation food hall typified by the well-known Kobe restaurant brand, Tooth Tooth which has recently installed a Martin Audio system with background music produced by Fish Four.

Based in Kobe, the president Yutaka Okano says: “High-quality BGM is an indispensable element for restaurants and cafes. We choose music suitable for both day time and night time, and develop the atmosphere of the place. We have enjoyed a long relationship with Martin Audio and have used the brand in several facilities to date. With confidence in the quality of Martin Audio’s speakers, we again requested them without hesitation.”

A total of 29 CDD6TX cabinets have been installed on several pillars, covering a wide area of the food hall. In addition, ADORN series speakers have been deployed in the aisles with ACP-55T pendant and ASC-55T ceiling speakers. Including the outdoor terrace, 52 Martin Audio speakers feature in total.

“At night, DJs come in and play live. In addition, there is an event space in the hall, and if necessary, a portable Blackline X10 can be set up.”

Since there are three locations in the building where DJ booths may be set up, it was necessary to devise ways to smoothly transfer the signal inputs from these locations, and this was accomplished via a mobile input DSP rack, with the input signal delivered to the system via Dante. Switching between the ‘Start DJ’ and ‘Return to BGM’ sources is therefore straightforward.

Finally, Mr. Okano reveals, “There is an aquarium water pool above the bar counter in the centre of the food hall, and this is visible from beneath. We’ve created an amazing atmosphere which is well worth experiencing when visiting Kobe!”

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Martin Audio

MARTIN AUDIO AWARDED PATENT FOR XE MONITOR WAVEGUIDE

Martin Audio has extended its list of notable patents with the addition of a United Kingdom Patent for its XE stage monitor waveguide.

The patent covers the use of Martin Audio’s differential dispersion coaxial drive units and the continuation of their waveguide shape to form the baffle, as seen in the XE monitors to achieve the desired HF coverage.The geometry of the static HF horn, the LF cone/moving waveguides and the static baffle combine to form a single HF horn.

WE ARE DELIGHTED THAT OUR CONTINUING INNOVATION HAS ONCE AGAIN BEEN RECOGNISED.

Dom Harter, Martin Audio

The XE stage monitor series comprises the XE300 and XE500, both delivering perfect monitor sound with a defined coverage pattern that allows the artist freedom of movement, while reducing overlap with adjacent monitors.

Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology allows the artist to stand directly over the monitor or further back, without significant changes in SPL or tonal balance. It produces the optimal coverage pattern over a listening plane at head-height and helps to contain the sound within that region.

The now patented contour-moulded static third waveguide increases the size of the horn mouth to maintain pattern control downwards and avoid spill outside the desired coverage area. Its rolled contour reduces diffraction and further improves pattern consistency at the lower end of the HF passband.

Managing director, Dom Harter, commented, “Even though XE monitors were introduced in 2017, it always takes time to secure a patent, but we are delighted that our continuing innovation has once again been recognised and I couldn’t be prouder of our R&D team.”

Find out more about XE Series here.

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Martin Audio

MARTIN AUDIO LE100 ASSISTS IN REPRODUCING EIGHT-HORN ENSEMBLE

A classic concert took place recently at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Concert Hall, featuring Nobuaki Fukukawa. One of the world’s most active horn players, he is also principal player in the NHK Symphony Orchestra and a major name in the orchestral world.

At this recent recital Mr. Fukukawa had the clear desire to emulate his recordings from King Records, and play the songs on it in the form of an eight-horn ensemble, by overdubbing himself.

Mr. Fukukawa and King Records consulted with Koichi Ishimaru, sound master at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, and he suggested “treating the loudspeakers as musical instruments.” His idea was that Mr. Fukukawa should perform live on stage to create the one part while the seven remaining parts should be played back one by one through the surround speakers, with the recorded source created in Pro Tools.

However, this was no easy task. The system had to be able to reproduce the accurate horn tone and unique localisation with natural sound. To solve this challenge, Mr. Ishimaru selected Martin Audio LE100.

He explains, “I was particular about coaxial speakers because they can accurately express the sound source of musical instruments. I was convinced it was going to be successful.”

Mr. Fukukawa stood in the centre of the stage surrounded by seven chairs, each of which supported an LE100, arranged facing in different directions.

“The bell of the horn is usually facing backwards when being played and so instead of pointing the speaker directly to the audience seats, I tried a similar approach. This allowed us to reproduce the unique soft sound.”

The idea of matching the start of the performance and the recorded sound was also unique. Using a video device called a conductor monitor, which has extremely low latency, Mr. Fukukawa played according to his own conducting video, recorded in advance. Since the original album was made in the same way, it was a straightforward process to do this for the live performance.

Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Concert Hall is famous for its beautiful acoustics and the two octet performances of Star Wars and Death in Venice Mahler Symphony No. 5 ~ Adder Jet were performed to a delighted audience, enthralled by an innovative approach to immersive sound.

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Martin Audio

Spa break

Martin Audio distributor Sama Sound has finished upgrading the first of several Resom Resort facilities that are under new ownership. Caroline Moss, from Pro AVL Asia, discovers how the best audio technology is contributing to the relaxation of clients and venue staff

Three years ago, South Korean construction company Hoban Co began proceedings to acquire Resom Resort from its creditors at a cost of US$224 million. Splas Resom, one of the company’s three resorts in Chungcheong Province, has just undergone refurbishment of its existing facilities and the construction of a new building, reopening as the country’s first membership spa resort.

Previously known as Resom Spa Castle, Splas Resom is located in Yesan, Chungcheongnam-do, an hour-and-a-half’s drive from Seoul and 30 minutes away from mountains, beaches and a variety of cultural tourist attractions. Splas Resom is supplied with waters from the Deoksan hot springs, revered by Koreans for 600 years for their healing properties.

Martin Audio’s Korean distributor, Sama Sound, partnered with dealer Asea Sound to submit a successful bid to supply sound systems for several multipurpose halls, including the main Juniper Hall, all of which host corporate events, seminars and workshops. The systems needed to be sufficiently versatile to handle a number of source feeds ranging from background music to voice announcements and occasionally, live music. Overseeing the project for Sama Sound was sales manager Jong Hwa Seo, while Seung Hwan Kim designed the system and Hong Geun Kim took charge of the speaker installations and system tuning.

Juniper Hall is mainly rented to third parties for a diverse programme of events, most of which include a speech component. This made speech intelligibility one of the first priorities when selecting an audio system for the hall. A cardioid subwoofer had also been specified in order to reduce leakage from behind the sub. Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision Compact (WPC) proved to meet all the performance criteria. “The system pretty much decided itself,” explains Sama Sound product manager, Edan Kwon, “and since a cardioid subwoofer had been specified, we designed the system using Martin Audio’s SXC118 sub.”

The scalable Wavefront Precision offered additional advantages, too. “The venue was constructed without regard for architectural acoustics, so there were consequently many sound reflections, especially from the venue’s back wall, as well as from backstage,” continues Kwon. “The Hard Avoid feature in the proprietary Display software helped us to control those reflections, while the customer was more than satisfied at how the SXC118 cardioid subwoofer reduced the radiation behind.”

A main system of five WPC elements per side and a single W8VDQ Differential Dispersion central speaker, driven by iKON iK81 Dante eight-channel and four iK42 Dante four-channel amplifiers, has been installed in the Juniper Hall, accompanied by two-per-side SXC118 compact subs in cardioid mode, with a pair of LE200 wedges provided for stage monitoring. Four CDD12Bs function as delay speakers, with side fill handled by a CDD12B on each side of the hall.

In the smaller Rosemary Hall, a pair of Martin Audio W8VDQs and two SXC118 subs form the main system, with two CDD8Bs acting as delay speakers, all powered from a four-channel iK42 and an LEA Connect 702 amplifier.

The Geranium Hall has a pair of CDD8Bs as main speakers and a pair of CDD5Bs for delay, with four CDD8Bs in the Iris and Marigold halls, and a pair of the same speakers in each of the Sage Hall, Jasmine Hall and Verbena Hall spaces. All the CDD models are powered by LEA Professional’s Connect amp series, a relatively new brand which Splas Resom’s house engineer, Seung Hyuk Im, hadn’t worked with before. “I was surprised at the sound performance in conjunction with the CDDs; they are a really good combination,” he says. “Considering the performance and the IoT features they offer, they are very cost-effective products.”

All other equipment installed throughout the halls was well-known to the engineer. “Since the venue is mostly rented, I wanted to choose equipment that was familiar to visiting engineers,” continues Im. “Martin Audio was one of my considerations from the beginning, and it provided me with the best solution. I have experienced [the brand] both at exhibitions and also when I was working at a rental company. The sound is so clear and punchy, and the balance extremely good. Engineers who came in to rent systems for their events were all 100% satisfied.”

The optimisation and Hard Avoid features had worked really well, he adds. “I was also satisfied with the performance of the SXC118 cardioid subwoofer. Since we are a resort, the aesthetics were also important. Martin Audio speakers look classy and fabulous but are also small enough to be fairly unobtrusive – particularly the cardioid subwoofer; it is not easy to find one this small.”

Im is also unstinting in his praise for the CDD Series. “We are using many CDDs in our rooms for main speakers and also for delays,” he says. “In the Juniper Hall, they work as delay speakers, but also as the main speaker system when the hall is divided into several spaces. What makes them so special is that they sound exactly the same, no matter which size, from 5- to 15-inch models. It’s so easy for me to control the sound when there are different sizes of CDDs installed at the venue and, as well as the sound, I also love its small size and design.”

A top-of-the-range Allen & Heath dLive S7000 with DM64 mix rack was selected as front of house console in the Juniper Hall. “The dLive S7000 had enough input channels to handle all the equipment and devices in the room and it has an outstanding preamp,” says Im. “My most important consideration was stability. I’d never experienced any issues with the Allen & Heath SQ6 which we used before the S7000, so I am very satisfied with the stability of Allen & Heath consoles. I also like the fact that the interface is simple and intuitive, and it was very easy for me to learn how to use it. One click and you are there.”

Sama Sound also supplied Shure QLXD4 wireless mic systems to all the halls. “I am very satisfied with Shure QLXD; not just with the sound quality, but with the RF stability,” says Im. “I have many times suffered with RF disconnections with other wireless products, but I haven’t experienced any with QLXD over the course of a year. I tested them using all our 24 channels at the same time at the venue before installing them, and there was no problem at all.”

Im is confident that the new audio infrastructure will allow events to be staged smoothly using the resort’s own equipment, and that visiting rental companies can put on events without needing to bring in their own systems. “Thanks to Sama Sound, their proposal was just what I needed and our collaboration fulfilled all the requirements to achieve my plan,” he says.

Article Source : https://www.proavl-asia.com/details/69040-spa-break

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NEW POP GOLF EXPERIENCE LAUNCHES IN WEMBLEY WITH MARTIN AUDIO CDD

Situated at BOXPARK Wembley, a 20,000sq. ft events space described as ‘the ultimate fan park destination’, Pop Golf offers a unique social experience, combining crazy golf with 21st century pop music in a brightly coloured environment. This unusual playground is built on the belief that nothing brings people together like music and play.

Based on a concept devised by Smith & Devil, the venue features a course of nine pop-themed holes paired with a high-octane Martin Audio sound system, provided by partners, Middlesex Sound & Light (MSL).

Director and project manager Darrel Olivier looked no further than the company’s CDD6 / SX112 subwoofer combination, as he has many times in the past.

From Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ to retro 80’s boomboxes and suspended cassette tapes, each hole is completely unique and has been designed to offer the experience of stepping straight into a music video. Hence MSL also applied some unusual twists and immersive customer interaction.

They were introduced to the project by designer Zachary Pulman (Zachary Pulman Design Studio) with whom they worked previously on the similarly profiled Swingers. Olivier won the pitch and was soon on-site discussing requirements for the multi-zone site with owner Allan Saud, of operators Mighty Adventures. The brief was to provide cutting edge audio technology, that would do justice to the eclectic playlist, profiled by creative director, Kevin Mura (of Smith & Devil). The playlists were curated by Tin Drum, featuring different genres each night, while Open Ear delivered the platform for the music playout.

THE MARTIN AUDIO SOUND SYSTEM, RECOMMENDED AND INSTALLED BY THE MSL TEAM, HAS ENSURED WE ARE ABLE TO DELIVER THE UNIQUE MUSIC EXPERIENCE THAT WE WANT FOR OUR CLIENTS.

Allan Saud, Mighty Adventures

Stated Olivier, “The process began in September last year but became drawn out because of COVID. However, it was a joy to work with because the client had put together a complete 30-page AV presentation pack; they knew exactly what they wanted. There was a strong emphasis on powerful sound with some quirks. For example, in the Sound Lounge experience they have used Ableton Live software run off a 32Gb iPad Pro to enable clients to interact and manipulate the sound.” Any sound source can be sent to any zone with local volume and source select by BSS remote control panels.

Explaining the speaker selection, he said, “The place is like a tin can with high ceilings and hard surfaces so we specified a large quantity of speakers which could be underrun, to mitigate the reflections. We have used the CDD6 many times; aesthetically it is a nice box which works particularly well with the SX112.”

The operation exists on ground floor and mezzanine levels. In total MSL has deployed 22 CDD6 compact 2-way loudspeakers. In the Ground Floor bar, a pair of CDD6 are complemented by a 1 x 12in SX112 subwoofer concealed under the stairs.

Each of the nine crazy golf holes is served by its own CDD6 and color-coded with its own individual RAL colour, with the Martin Audio enclosures are sprayed to match. Three SX112 subs have been specified—two flown and one floor-standing—each providing coverage for three of the holes).

One twist is on Hole 3 where a giant set of headphones has been equipped with a pair of Martin Audio ADORN A55. “As clients walk through it, they trigger different sound effects,” explains Darrel Olivier.

Up on the Mezzanine, each of the two zones is identically equipped with CDD6 in each of the four corners and an SX112 handling the low frequency extension.

DJ plug-in points have been provided on Hole 9—which is designed as a live stage set, with provision for live PA. Further DJ plug-in points can be found in the mezzanine area for private hire clients.

Finally, MSL has provided a full AV infrastructure, with the many media displays used exclusively for digital signage and promo, controlled by Tripleplay.

This is the first Pop Golf venue in what is being positioned as a gradual brand roll-out.

Stated Allan Saud: “The Martin Audio sound system, recommended and installed by the MSL team, has ensured we are able to deliver the unique music experience that we want for our clients. It is both powerful and versatile, making its mark in both the interactive features as well as over the nine golf holes, where the speakers blend in seamlessly.”

Photography by Andrew Meredith.