Category: Martin Audio

One of the highlights of New York’s holiday season is the unveiling of the seasonal windows at the City’s premier department store, Bloomingdale’s.

Providing the sound for the opening show which marks the occasion, and sees crowds thronging the streets on the corner of 59th Street andLexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan,is Frost Productions. The service company’s association with Bloomingdale’s extends back to 2013, but this year the store upped the ante, featuring Billy Porter and a full five-piece band, spread across a 32ft stage set in front of the feature windows.

Bloomingdale’s theme for its flagship store this year was ‘Best Holiday Ever’ and Frost Productions’ Audio Lead, Mike Alvarez, had no hesitation in specifying a Martin Audio MLA Mini in four hangs for the 20-minute show, knowing they could get the sound exactly where they wanted for the flamboyant stage performer and actor.

The low profile of MLA Mini enabled him to ground stack two MLA Mini rigs, underpinned with WS218X 2×18 subwoofers in the centre, without obscuring sightlines. At the same time, two outer hangs of four MLA Miniwere pole-mounted to an MSX 1×15 sub, while their much-deployed Martin Audio CDD-LIVE 8’s provided additional satellite fills and FOH near fields.

As back-up, the sound designer also provided three of his favoured Martin Audio XE300 wedges—two downstage centre for a stereo mix and one as a cue wedge for the monitor engineer. “The monitor wedges are among my favourites,” he said. “The fact the XE300 is coaxial is so great for pattern control, and with my choice of mics it delivered a lot of gain before feedback.”

“The coverage and response across the listening area was truly optimal”

The other benefit of using Martin Audio’s ground-breaking MLA technology was its unique controllability. Alvarez, who designed the system and also optimised the PA, turned immediately to the ‘Hard Avoid’ function. “This feature allowed me to provide coverage for guests across the street without having the PA hit the surrounding walls and windows of the buildings and cause slapback.

“The coverage and response across the listening area was truly optimal, without the annoyance of unwanted audio being where I didn’t want it: great results for our guests and the neighbours as well.

“You would never have known a concert was taking place a couple of blocks away, and a friend of mine—also a few blocks away—didn’t even realise there was a free show that evening! There were no complaints from NYPD and no stoppages for soundcheck during the day … just happy reactions from everyone who was able to check out the performance.” Foremost among these was a VIP area at the front.

There were no complaints from NYPD and no stoppages for soundcheck during the day … just happy reactions from everyone who was able to check out the performance.” Foremost among these was a VIP area at the front.

Mike Alvarez was also delighted that Porter’s production team had invested full confidence in Frost Productions, entrusting them with the choice of Martin Audio PA and DiGiCo consoles, as well as provision of all personnel. Working with the systems designer was FOH engineer Chris Lapke—stationed at the stage left control position—Carl Lund on monitors, Matthew Duane (PA tech) and Ethan Jose and Johnn Fedor (stage techs).

The fact that Frost Productions have been working with MLA Mini for the past six years made it a logical choice for this one, following in [Martin Audio Product Support Engineer] Joe Lima’s footsteps. “Joe was the first to use this technology at Bloomingdale’s, and ever since, we’ve been growing this system to incorporate more Martin Audio products every year. The XE300 was the missing puzzle piece this year,” continued Alvarez.

“For us Martin Audio isn’t just another brand,” he concluded. “There are gems in the entire catalogue—from the line arrays to the point sources, to the monitor wedges. As we are a niche company, specialising in events in places where there aren’t normally shows—such as zoos, museums, pop-ups etc—Martin Audio is perfect because it’s a lot about focusing the sound where I want it; having a compact speaker design is great for hitting the listening area without the fear of unwanted spill or reflections.

“I’m driving Martin Audio from a design perspective, and I’d prefer creating a better listening experience by focusing sound at the audience rather than throwing as far as I can.”

Photo personnel –

Front row Left to Right: Ethan Jose, Mike Alvarez, Johnn Fedor, Matthew Duane, Chris Lapke

Back row second from Left: Carl Lund

Portugal’s ever-popular Porto Drum Show recently relocated to the impressive Alfândega do Porto for its fourth edition.

Having successfully supported the event previously, Martin Audio’s Portuguese distributor, Sons Do Marques were back in action, featuring a state-of-the-art Wavefront Precision (WPS) PA for the main demonstration space.

The event brings together a collection of world class drummers for one evening, including Dave Weckl (Chick Corea, Mike Stern, Dave Weckl Band), Gergo Borlai (Al di Meola, Frank Gambale, Bob Mintzer), Derrick Mackenzie (Jamiroquai), Miguel Lamas (Dany Martin, Carlos Rivera) and Mike Terrana (Axel Rudie Pell, Tony Macalpine, Ywngie Malmsteen). All featured in the drum clinic on the demo stage throughout the course of the evening.

The show itself is split across three spaces of equal size: one for demonstrating drum brands, one for artist drummers’ shows, and one exclusively for Portuguese artists.

“We have always been able to place so much trust in Martin Audio equipment, that we have remained really relaxed about that.”

InterBEE 2022, Japan’s largest trade forum for broadcast media and entertainment, attracted many of the leading audio manufacturers and distributers.

Held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba over three days, it would be the first time in three years that Martin Audio Japan was able to show off its leading systems, following the COVID-19 pandemic. Many visitors gathered, filled with the confidence that business is now in recovery again.

Martin Audio Japan (MAJ) joined forces with prominent sound sales/distribution company, Audio Brains, and displayed hot products like TORUS and WPS, as well as wedge monitors and installation speakers—all of which attracted non-stop visitors to their stand.

“FOLLOWING THE DEMONSTRATION, WE RECEIVED MANY COMPLIMENTS FROM VISITORS WHO ATTENDED. I REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TROUBLE TO COME AND LISTEN”.

Speaking Spirit Ministries of Richmond, VA is a non-denominational Christian ministry, which in the space of nine years has expanded to three campuses, offering over 100,000 sq. ft of worship space.

Known as Glen Allen Campus, the Ministry’s latest facility opened recently, and again RTW Media were brought in by pastors, Fred and Inger Wyatt to provide a complete AVL technology infrastructure. Incorporating projection and control, the PA this time was based around a central hang of Martin Audio’s premium Wavefront Precision line array.

“We were fortunate to be able to start with a clean slate,” stated RTW operations manager, Zack Guida. “We knew what they had in their other facilities, so we wanted to match that end user experience, but with a little latitude to design the speaker we wanted. Our engineering team had the flexibility to design the ideal integrated system for the room.”

And he knew instinctively what that speaker would be, having previously experienced a WPS demo, courtesy of Martin Audio’s Northeast Regional Sales Manager, Martha Callaghan. “The demo consisted of a nine box hang with cardioid subs and it just sounded great. I was so impressed with how warm the boxes sounded. Everyone can produce a loud line array, but it was the warmth of the vocals here that really impressed.”

“The requirement here was to handle everything from the midweek bible studies and vocal presentation to high impact worship, with church bands.”

The client went with the recommendation of RTW who designed the system as a single mono central hang of five WPS elements, with an SX118 subwoofer set behind, and two further SX118 at stage level. The enclosures are finished in white to maintain the visual aesthetic of the new building.

Zack Guida explained the thinking. “The roof is an A-frame, so we have set the array as high as possible. The flexibility to have one sub in the air, to ensure even coverage, and then a further two to provide high impact from the stage where necessary is fantastic.

Further economies are achieved by being able to power the system from a single Martin Audio iKON iK42 4-channel process-controlled amplifier, configured in 2-box resolution.

Guida says as far as the client is concerned the system “checks all the boxes.” He explained, “The pastor was there with his audio lead when we tuned the system, and they were particularly impressed that a single array would provide the worship experience they were looking for.”

As for that tuning, they set up using SMAART and measurement mics and then did an EASE visualisation. “We let the software tell us what we needed, where—and the installation matched the model exactly.” Further tweaking was carried out in Martin Audio’s advanced DISPLAY optimisation and control software.

RTW Media has accomplished four impressive installations with Martin Audio systems in the past 12 months alone, specifying both their WPS and CDD series. Zack Guida is particularly delighted with this latest implementation. “The [listening] experience in the front row is exactly the same as in the back,” he exclaims. “It was very important to Pastor Fred for members in every seat of the audience to have the same worship experience. This was accomplished to precision with the WPS from Martin Audio.”

Slated as the largest indoor health and fitness club inDubai, offering world-class facilities over 75,000 sq. ft, the new Wellfit gym has been fitted out with a Martin Audio sound reinforcement solution.

Located in Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC), this latest mammoth facility, situated on level 2 of the Circle Mall, features no fewer than 200 of the British manufacturer’s loudspeakers, spanning several different ranges.

It is the second such state-of-the-art sports, health, and fitness centre in the UAE opened by operators Arada, following the successful community pilot in Sharjah last year.

The sound is broadcast through the main activity zones via Martin Audio’s popular CDD series. These coaxial differential dispersion loudspeakers were installed by local partners, PRO LAB, to a specification by Pulse Middle East, who were responsible for the design and build of the venue. They form part of a full audio, visual, lighting, and content management solution provided by the integrators.

“IT WAS THE COVERAGE PATTERN IN PARTICULAR THAT DREW US TO CDD.”

There is a school of thought that micro line arrays are only good for vocal applications. This misconception comes from the type of projects where such a sound reinforcement system usually excels. However, these small format cabinets can also deliver much more musicality than people expect.

When consultants are recommending micro line arrays, it is usually due to a combination of two common factors. First, the application requires a sound system that will not take away from the aesthetics of a space. And second, the venue requires tight control over the audio to ensure intelligibility.

This combination means that houses of worship are often the most common application for micro line array systems like Martin Audio’s O-Line. And the reaction of users in that setting is overwhelmingly positive. “We are extremely satisfied with the performance of O-Line,” said Zachary Ward, Director of Communications, First Pentecostal Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas. “With such a unique room, including 42ft-high ceilings and several stained-glass windows reaching more than 28ft tall, O-Line provides even coverage and clarity while accomplishing our main goal, preserving the overall aesthetic of the room.”

“THEY WERE ECSTATIC ABOUT THE SYSTEM AND BLOWN AWAY WITH THE INTELLIGIBILITY AND MUSICALITY OF THE O-LINE SYSTEM.”

When Martin Audio first released its CDD series, with all the benefits of coaxial differential dispersion technology, Kentucky-based JCA Media immediately jumped onboard. According to their project manager, Alex Peake, that’s when they became a convert to the British manufacturer’s signature sound.

With Houses of Worship as one of their core installation segments, he says, “We have since used CDD of all sizes, including the weatherised versions. With their asymmetric pattern, they sound awesome—smooth and warm.” JCA Media then discovered Martin Audio’s Blackline X8, and with it a perfect wedge monitor complement.

Then finally, along came TORUS, Martin Audio’s latest advanced constant curvature solution —and the series arrival caused the company to re-specify a HoW system that they had been asked to design for First United Methodist Church—situated an hour away from their base in the south-central Kentucky city of Somerset.

“The church first reached out in November 2019 after seeing our work on Facebook—but then COVID intervened,” reports Peake. “In fact I was quoting this installation six or eight months before TORUS came out and had a different brand specified.

“But with a throw distance of around 70ft the client was reluctant to have another delay system—they wanted the new system tucked in and tidy and didn’t want anything visible on the floor.” In demoing other single point source systems Alex Peake found he was losing volume at the back of the room. “But TORUS changed all that.”

He was already sufficiently conversant with constant curvature technology and the pedigree of Martin Audio to obviate the need for a demo—and so flew straight in and specified the system.

“I knew TORUS would be perfect for a medium throw application such as this and it was also minimally obtrusive.” The project manager’s design to create even coverage over the 300 congregants—in both service modes—was based around a three-box hang, driven in one-box resolution from an iKON iK81 process control amplifier to give ultimate shading flexibility.

A single T1230 at the base gives full 90° coverage, with the top two T1215s running at 60°. “This was to keep the sound off the ceiling and walls, and it enabled us to control the horizontal dispersion. The horizontal waveguide would tighten up the sound disappearing up into the vaulted all-wood ceiling and at the same time would eliminate the need for a front fill. So it all came into play perfectly and provided multiple solutions.”

However, it was the cardioid SXCF118 sub flown behind the hang that had been the real revelation, he said, and was specified because the church wanted a ‘blended’ service to complement its traditional mass. “The SXCF118 blew our minds,” said Peake. “That vaulted ceiling almost served like a natural horn, with the single 18” vibrating off the ceiling.”

Finally, wedge monitors are in the shape of four Blackline X8.

However, there was still a place for CDD in the installation. Downstairs is a smaller, separate area for a more contemporary service and, as with upstairs, an ancient sound system was ripped out to be replaced with a CDD6 L/C/R set up, underpinned by an SX112 sub tucked away on a semi-portable stage.

All of which has delighted the Church’s Technical Director, Aaron Denney. “The Martin Audio array and amps are amazing,” he enthused. “They provide targeted coverage in every row of the pews. They have more than met project goals and greatly exceeded our expectations. One staff member referred to it as a ‘300 times improvement’ for a space that has many complicated issues when it comes to live sound.

“All in all, a job well done.”

September 15 marks the commemoration of the Grito de Independencia (or Mexican Independence Day)¬—the most important ceremony in the country.This year it was able to resume again in front of an audience at the Zócalo in the centre of Mexico City after two years of being held remotely due to the COVID pandemic. According to official calculations more than 160,000 people celebrated the national holiday out on the streets again.

The vastly experienced Norteño group, Los Tigres del Norte—famed throughout the Latam countries—headlined the event with a show that lasted more than three hours.

The production work was carried out by the company KW, and for the third consecutive year Martin Audio systems were used as the main PA for the Ceremony. They provided audio coverage for a site measuring 46,800 sq.m.

For the presidential protocol, four clusters of MLA were designated, one pair with 11 MLA plus an MLD Downfill, and a further pair of outhangs with eight cabinets and an MLD (providing 120°H x 20°V dispersion).The main hangs covered a distance of 150 metres and the lateral clusters 130 metres.

On monitors and sidefills were Martin Audio’s Blackline F10+ and WPM series—servicing both the Mexican Army Chorus and the speech delivered by the President of the Republic, Mr. Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador. For the Chorus’s monitoring the four Blackline F10+ were fed from iK42 amps and for the presidential monitoring, four WPM per side, in stereo format, were set in the presidential box.

THIS SYSTEM DELIVERS THE RESULT THAT ANY ENGINEER IS LOOKING FOR IN TERMS OF AUDIO QUALITY, POWER OUTPUT, CONTROL AND DESIGN.

Martin Audio partner Soundworks of Virginia equipped the five main stages of the long-running Richmond Folk Festival, an annual celebration of American culture and roots music, with the manufacturer’s state-of-the-art optimizable Wavefront Precision line array speakers.

Promoted by Venture Richmond, a non-profit organization, this three-day free festival, with which Soundworks have been involved for more than a decade, is held annually in the city’s downtown Riverfront Plaza area—spanning an area of almost 20 acres. An offshoot of the National Folk Festival, it is one of the largest events in Virginia, drawing around 200,000 visitors from across the country and featuring more than 30 global artists.

Some 130 Martin Audio components were specified across the site, and Soundworks’ founder and CEO, Steve Payne, notes that this exhausted all 124 available channels of their 31 iKON iK42 amplifiers, which were detailed to drive the various PA rigs in 2-box resolution.

For the main Altria amphitheatre stage they turned to Martin Audio’s largest format WP, fielding 12 WPL enclosures per side, over three SXH218 per side. Four WPS were deployed for frontfills, with an additional CDD-LIVE 15 on top of an SXP218 on each stage flank for sidefills.

The smaller Dominion Energy Dance Pavilion (under an 80ft x 160ft tent) saw eight WPC flown per side over two SXH218 subs bridged per side, with CDD-LIVE 15 over an SXP218 on each wing providing sidefills. In addition, 10 Martin Audio XE500s were provided as stage monitors.

The CoStar Group Stage was rigged in an 80ft x 120ft tent with six WPS flown per side over two SXC118 subs. The CarMax Stage was similarly configured but with the addition of four XP12s as outfills and delays. Finally, the smallest of the tents (50ft x 100ft) housed the Virginia Folk Life Stage where four WPC were stacked on top of an SXH218 subwoofer on each side.

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.”