CASE STUDIES
At Martin Audio we believe that uniting audiences with exciting sound creates shared memories that sear into the consciousness delivering more successful tours, events and repeatedly packed venues.
We achieve this by an obsessive attention to detail on the professional sound system’s acoustic performance, frequently challenging convention and involving a sophisticated mix of design, research, mathematical modelling and software engineering, to deliver dynamic, full-frequency sound right across the audience.
With over forty years of live sound and installation expertise to our name, Martin Audio offers a wide range of premium professional loudspeakers so customers can be assured of selecting the right system for their chosen application, whether it’s a small scale installation or a festival for over
150,000 people.
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Theatre, musicals and live production is in our blood having provided sound systems for worldwide productions including Joseph, Return to Forbidden Planet, Chitty
Chitty Bang Ban, Grease, Lord of the Dance, Dirty Dancing as well permanent installs. At Martin Audio we recognise the importance of intelligible speech, vocals and music that envelops the audience, front to back, regardless of the acoustic challenges set by the production or venue itself and have a range of product solutions tailored to meet these needs.
Rea Sound provides full technical infrastructure at arts complex.
Belfast MAC, Ireland’s latest arts venue, has had its newly designed production infrastructure equipped and installed by Rea Sound, Martin Audio’s Irish distributors.
Appointed as specialist sub-contractors to Bowen
Mascott JV after responding to a competitive tender, they masterminded the entire technical fit-out including a Martin
Audio W3 theatre PA system, as well as stage-, working- and house-lighting, dimmers and control, intercom, video relay and IR — for both the main auditorium (Downstairs at the Mac) and the smaller studio (Upstairs).
The 350-seat main auditorium on the ground floor is an adaptable, modern theatre space with tiered, retractable, seating, while upstairs on the first floor, the 120 seat studio theatre offers flexibility for both seated and standing audiences and is ideal for press launches and networking events.
Working from a design specification by consultant Carr
& Angier, who had selected Martin Audio’s W3 arrayable
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CASE STUDIES three-way compact trapezoid system as best fit for purpose,
Rea Sound integrated leading sound and lighting brands throughout.
The scope covers the two performance areas, two rehearsal rooms and the foyer, allowing video and audio to be linked between all areas. The two performance spaces have raked seating, both retractable to allow for flat floor. The main space also has two balcony levels and here the design allows the speaker cabinets to be positioned on vertical grids to provide exceptional sound coverage and clarity.
Purpose designed for theatre, each enclosure measures just
28in high. Yet with its high SPL capability it delivers the clarity required for both speech and music applications.
“The W3 is a fantastic sound system and perfect for the requirement,” assesses Rea Sound’s Roger McMullan,
The original design called for four W3’s on each side – however, the client later changed this (to great effect) deploying three W3’s on each side, along with a Martin
Audio AQ10.
The system is powered by the Martin Audio MA range of amplifiers located in the dedicated amp rack. These provide separate channel feeds to each of the house PA speakers as well as the infills and effects speakers, which include three Martin Audio AQ10’s plus four ‘floating’ Martin Audio
Blackline F10+ and two F12+. Custom patch panels allow for the effects speakers to be positioned according to their requirement for the production at hand since the space is designed for multi-functional use and signals need to be routed to speaker locations throughout the venue.
“The original design called for three Martin Audio AQ10’s to be flown from the gantry above at the rear upper balcony.,” McMullan continued. “Whilst using the flying brackets from Martin Audio we need to design and build drop arms to come off the gantry at the right height and angle.”
The same patch panels in these areas also allow for audio tie lines, sending audio relayed from either of the show relay mics in each venue. The systems are flexible enough to relay audio and video from any of the performance areas, foyer areas, dance and rehearsal rooms and combine them with a live performance in the main auditorium downstairs.
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CASE STUDIES
Avenue Q
When Martin Audio rental stockist, dBS Solutions, was tasked by production company, Sell a Door Theatre
Company, to design a sound system that would take the touring version of the long-running West End show Avenue
Q across the UK, the company’s MD Chris Bogg was faced with his stiffest challenge in the company’s nine year history.
Not only was this puppet-based production the largest tour the company had undertaken, but the size of venues would vary enormously; and on tours where truck space is at a premium, trucking the minimum amount of kit, while keeping the production scalable, was crucial.
The Warrington based company’s relationship with Martin
Audio dealers, LMC Audio Systems was also critical, and the latter’s sales manager James Lawford was able to put a creative deal together that enabled Bogg to secure the new generation theatre system that he had been wanting.
In the era after the Wavefront WT3 theatre boxes, Martin
Audio has now introduced the versatile, sophisticated and purpose designed XD12 and DD6 (Differential Dispersion) technology, each with rotatable horns, and voiced for musical theatre.
The dBS owner admits, “I bought the XD12s and DD6s specifically for this tour. We were always looking to add more Martin Audio boxes to our fleet [to complement the 16-box W8LM system] but what made it affordable was securing this tour. It meant I was able to design the sound around exactly what the show required, without compromise, rather than base the spec on what we had in our inventory — and XD12 was the box I wanted to use.” Run with the DD6 and WS18X single 18in subs, he also saw it as a legacy system that would open the door to further similar projects.
“I had heard demos of the DD6 cabinets and colleagues had passed comment on how great they were, while the
XD12 was the right size and dispersion, and sounded great when demoed,” summarised Chris Bogg.
Although on larger shows, such as Manchester Palace, the company had fielded all eight XD12s and DD6s in their hire fleet, venues like the Swan Theatre, High Wycombe called on five DD6’s to be placed along the stage lip as front fills, with a further pair of the ultra-compact boxes rigged on the flanks of the stalls to provide outfills to complement the in-house delay boxes, Run passively, six of the multi-angled, lightweight XD12s were rigged, three a side and focused into the stalls and balcony tiers.
In venues with very wide stalls sections where two boxes are used, the rotatable horn is used discerningly to create even coverage without comb filtering or exciting the walls of the venue. “For instance, in some cases the 80° x 50° configuration would be too wide when paired with another box if it wasn’t for the fact that they are rotatable,” notes
Bogg. “This speaker also runs down to 60-70Hz with an
EQ boost at 65 Hz. We remove this in the stalls, but leaving
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CASE STUDIES it in place between 3dB and 6dB in the upper tiers allows for a fuller rounder sound whilst eliminating the need for extra subs in these areas.”
At the same time he draws attention to the DD6’s exemplary
HF pattern control and the fact that it can be used in portrait or landscape configuration. “They are perfect for fills or delays — and I like the Differential Dispersion technology element as well as the universal brackets, which can be used in both orientations; this means we don’t need to carry two sets of brackets.”
Anything that lightens the weight and rigging time on tour is appreciated. Another huge bonus, hit on by both Bogg and his touring sound operator Joe Green, is the SpeakOn group switch on the back of the DD6, which saves them from carrying additional heavy copper cable.
In essence Martin Audio has provided four Neutrik NL-4
SpeakOn connectors and a two-way switch, which allows the technician to choose which pair of circuits in the
4-core cable the speaker is powered by. Two sets of four can be run on a single stereo amplifier in a single NL-4 run, allowing left-right alternation or for delay purposes, inner-and-outer or near-and-far circuits.
For Joe Green this solution is perfect. “While I have enjoyed working with all the Martin Audio kit this switch on the DD6 is certainly my favourite item; we can make use of the second set of pins and run one four core cable for delay and front fills — running two feeds down one cable.”
Proof of concept having been established — much to the satisfaction of production manager, Will Mauchline —
Chris Bogg is already looking ahead to the future. “The
XD12/DD6 combination covers everything I would want for theatre, and the XD12 is voiced similar to our W8LM line arrays — which is brilliant for our future work. And the passive or bi-amped option gives us further flexibility.”
In fact dBS Solutions have already been asked to undertake further work for Sell A Door as a result of this tour, and as a result of Avenue Q (as well as other work) they have been nominated for the Technical Theatre Awards hire company of the year.
When the updated production of Starlight Express opened at Bochum’s Stadionring — celebrating 25 years since its first performance at the specially constructed ‘Starlight
Express Theatre’ in June 1988 — it featured for the first time Martin Audio’s new award-winning Multi-cellular
Loudspeaker Array (MLA) platform.
Advertising itself as “the fastest musical in the universe” it fell to sound supervisor Riccardo van Krugten and system engineer/installation manager, Georg Hentschel to supercharge the next generation production while remaining faithful to Martin Levan’s original sound design.
Winning a 9-strong manufacturer sound system shoot out,
MLA Compact showed its prowess for reproduction of both music and vocals, critical for a venue that had received complaints concerning vocal intelligibility and clarity in parts of the auditorium. MLA Compact technology enabled even coverage for all seats in the house, maintaining frequency response and sound levels, whilst ensuring outstanding tonal quality.
Overseeing the sound in Bochum since early 2010,
Riccardo van Krugten was eager that the production remained faithful to a single system to cope with the fast roller skating action. “We wanted a stereo set-up for the orchestra, and a separate system for vocals, positioned above the main performance area,” he said. “This required a PA solution that would reproduce music and vocals equally well.” Another issue was the need to reduce spill and crosstalk from the PA speakers into the fast moving 25
Microport headsets.
Since the new production promised “to take audio engineering to the highest level”, van Krugten knew that the audience expectation today is far greater than it was two decades ago. He was also mindful of past complaints concerning vocal intelligibility and clarity in parts of the auditorium. “And so we searched for a system that would provide even coverage for all seats in the house, maintaining frequency response and sound levels.”
That search began after Andreas Karsten had produced a 3D EASE model of the Starlight Express Theatre. Said
Riccardo, “We ran various simulations with the existing speakers and looked at the problems. Then we ran the same simulations with a two conventional line array rigs at different positions to identify whether a line source solution could be used in this situation, before inviting nine manufacturers for two shoot out sessions.”
To thoroughly evaluate the competing systems, Riccardo prepared a file in ProLogic containing samples from the show (and other vocal recordings of different tonalities)
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CASE STUDIES
Starlight Express
— as well as music that everyone would recognise. “For the second half of the session we had the Starlight rhythm section and three cast members perform live from different positions on stage,” he said. “In two shoot out sessions, we heard nine different (mono) arrays rigged side by side.
The MLA Compact never left any doubt it would handle reliably whatever kind of audio we threw at it.”
As a result, 27 MLA Compacts have been divided into three flown L/C/R arrays of nine elements each — along with three DSX subs ground stacked left and right of the stage. This is designed to cover the entire auditorium including the balcony and the middle sub on each side is reversed to produce a cardioid pattern. The subs are set unconventionally just outside the left and right array — stacked on the middle track level a few metres above the ground — and are sunk into the proscenium wall, via a specially-designed setup.
A pair of Martin Audio W8VDQ hybrid boxes provide outfill coverage extension of the centre array, while production rigged a so-called ‘crossfire’ system, so that those sitting at the sides of the auditorium would also receive a stereo orchestra image.
Georg Hentschel explained, “Starlight has a large cast equipped with omnidirectional lavalier mics who constantly move around the set on three levels behind the speakers and also in front of the PA — often directly facing the arrays. During one particular scene, six highly amplified singers are elevated directly behind the centre array which mainly handles vocals. The amazing reduction in backspill of the MLA Compact masters these challenges in a very impressive way.The other aspect, of course, is MLA’s outstanding tonal quality.“
He set ‘Hard Avoid’ for the areas behind the arrays where there is a lot of singer traffic as well as to the areas underneath the speaker systems. Further back down the auditorium, the problems become even more complex, with two tracks running right through the audience, who are seated on different levels. Finally, there is a balcony and several rows of seating at both side walls that need to be covered.
System engineer/installation manager, Georg Hentschel, enthused, “I challenged the system with various optimisations to achieve the best solution, and it has really delivered; we were able to solve many problems with
MLA’s advanced technology, and it was absolutely the right system for the job.”
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CASE STUDIES
Built in 1913, the Lyric Theater quickly became a popular entertainment center for African-Americans in Miami. It grew to be the anchor of “Little Broadway” in Overtown, eventually featuring artists such as Sammy Davis Jr., Count
Basie, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Celia Cruz, B.B. King,
Patti LaBelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Redd Foxx, Mary Wells and others.
After closing in the 70s, the Lyric was purchased by the Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of
South Florida in 1988. Since then, the venerable theater has undergone three major restorations and upgrades, culminating in a grand opening for the fully refurbished performance complex in early February.
Miami’s Drummer Boy Sound Productions did the consulting and design for the Lyric’s new audio and video systems. Asked why he chose Martin Audio for the upgrade, owner Harold Cummings responded, “My client
Tim Barber, managing director of the Black Archives, had heard a Martin Audio system at one of my events and was impressed.
“The client wanted a high quality sound system that could be used for national R&B and Gospel acts and theater production events, that would properly cover the venue, and be accepted by touring engineers,” adds Harold.
“A line array wasn’t the right answer because the Lyric is a small 400-seater with a balcony and the sound would have been all over the place. Plus we needed a stereo-imaged room because the space also doubles as a movie theater.
“The Martin Audio W3P was the only speaker that made sense since it’s a compact 3-way trapezoid system with a tight pattern and 65º horizontal dispersion, which was key to this job,” Harold explains. “There weren’t that many speakers on the market with that type of dispersion, sound quality and high output capability in one package.”
Cummings’ system design includes four W3Ps flown from the proscenium wall, (one firing at the balcony and one at the main theater floor on each side) two Martin Audio
AQ5s for stereo under balcony, two AQ5s for stereo front fill, and two WS218SX subs fitted into custom openings inside the stage. There are also Martin Audio LE1200s as stage monitors.
Asked about the reaction to the audio system’s debut at a grand opening event called “Lyric Live” (an amateur hour contest for singers, bands and comedians from all over
South Florida), Harold said, “Everyone thought the system sounded amazing and the coverage was incredible. You could hear perfectly in every single seat. We had more than enough headroom and plenty of low end, something that’s very important to me. With Martin Audio, I feel confident that no matter what kind of act comes in here, we have it covered.”
Lyric Theatre
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CASE STUDIES
The War of The Worlds
Fuelled by a significant upgrade to the original 1978 concept, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The
Worlds, The New Generation as it is now known, played to packed arenas throughout the UK and Northern Europe with Martin Audio’s MLA system creating a superior soundscape.
Mark Edwards, system technician agrees, “The robustness of the new version of VU-NET means I can zone the PA accurately if needs be to influence or correct the tonal balance across the audience area. The evenness of the horizontal coverage pattern continues to amaze me, particularly the way speech intelligibility is maintained as you move further off axis … way beyond what I have experienced with other systems.”
“Whichever way you look at it, the production is on an epic scale,” said Simon Honywill, FOH engineer, “and MLA has its own outstanding performance”.
London’s O2 Arena had been a case in point. “I remember being very impressed with the clarity of the system at the back of the arena … around 100m from the array and 30m above the arena floor. The house delays were unable to add anything, not even any sparkle to the top end of the system
— and in the end I only used them at very low levels to add a little low mid warmth. For 16 boxes a side I think that is very impressive!”
Finally, he says, the system is quick to deploy “and the even tonality means I can tune it very quickly.”
Simon Honywill also noted, “Because the Left/Right system is pushed wide and upstage we have used some standard W8LM arrays as fills to boost the intensity and energy of the imaging in the expensive seats. We’ve also used W8LC’s as side hangs and four W8LMD built into the set across the front, for nearfield coverage.”
At Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, the unique abilities of the
MLA system created the ability for a new optimisation to reduce the reflections caused by the angled corporate boxes. Switching between the optimisations provided the ability to listen to the re-configured PA, all without physically altering the PA hang. “This dramatically reduced the reflections on the second night,” remembers
Simon Honywill.
“The result is that musically it has sounded a bit harder and more aggressive — which is exactly what production wanted,” he said. Even with a 3-tonne, 35-foot tall
Martian Fighting Machine firing real flame heat rays at the audience and scanning them with its bug-like eyes, it is the Martin Audio’s MLA system, the most intelligent touring system ever, that has been responsible for the dramatically increased level of performance and coverage consistency — even if this is something the audience now takes for granted!”
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CASE STUDIES
The final Oprah Winfrey Show, “Surprise Oprah! A Farewell
Spectacular,” at Chicago’s United Center was a significant
TV landmark and a star studded event. Needless to say, therefore, that an event of this magnitude required the highest level of audio quality.
Special Event Services (“SES”) and On Stage Audio
(“OSA”) partnered for the event, and deployed what was at the time the largest MLA system ever flown to ensure uniform coverage throughout the arena for this high- profile production.
The United Center served as both the set for the taping of the final Oprah Winfrey Show as well as a star-studded live concert, but the production itself offered up some challenges. With ‘A’ list artists such as Beyoncé, Stevie
Wonder and Madonna on the main stage necessitating a large left and right system, presenters hosted the show on lavaliere mics from the thrust stage right in the middle of the venue. This would have created extreme challenges for traditional technology, but with multi-cellular technology you are no longer confined by the physical coverage patterns of the array and are now able to extend coverage both under the array and over the array all electronically.
With the ability to store up to 10 different optimisation settings in the cabinet’s memory, for the Oprah show,
OSA were able to use two different coverage patterns for the main array and switch between them during the show depending on whether the presenters were using the thrust stage.
Speaking at the time, Jim Brammer, SES President, said, “Knowing the high level of audio quality we need to provide for an event of this magnitude, MLA was the obvious choice”. “And it’s a pleasure to work with Harpo
Productions as they realize the benefits MLA’s technology will bring to this history-making production” added Jim
Risgin, OSA Vice President.
Oprah Finale
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CASE STUDIES
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Provincial theatres can be hive of activity, but their size and location doesn’t detract from the need for high performance sound quality, as the installation to Aylesbury theatre is testament too. With Ambassador Theatre Group
(ATG), the UK’s largest theatre group, running the venue, sound reinforcement would also need to be world class, since the Aylesbury Waterside would be a circuit venue for the nation’s UK’s top touring productions.
Working to a specification devised by Carr & Angier Theatre
Consultants, evenly dispersed sound was of paramount importance, since there are three audience tiers (including fixed-seating balcony and upper balcony levels), and optional ground floor seating wagons to enable the 1200seat auditorium to convert into a larger 1800-capacity standing space.
Thus Northern Light (contractors) project manager Simon
Cooper decided to base his sound reinforcement solution around Martin Audio’s purpose-designed Wavefront theatre systems.
For the primary system, he chose 14 purpose designed
WT3 Arrayable 3-way compact theatre enclosures. These are designed in three vertical pairs on either side of the proscenium arch, focused onto each balcony, with a single enclosure at the base. The proscenium system is complemented by a centre cluster of seven W3P arrayable compact enclosures to provide true L/C/R imaging, while two WS18X subs, either side of the stage, add
LF extension.
Providing stage fills are Martin Audio WT15’s, while high up the building four WT2’s and a pair of S18(F) subs are mounted on the second lighting bridge to form the delay system for the second balcony. Finally, under-balcony support is provided by Martin Audio’s C6.8T ceiling speakers — six on each level.
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CASE STUDIES
The Clapham Grand, UK
Iconic London landmark, The Clapham Grand, undertook a technical upgrade which saw the installation of a Martin Audio W8LC Compact Line Array, reinforced with multiple Martin Audio AQ architectural loudspeakers.
Designed to reposition the 1250-capacity, 100-year-old listed Victorian theatre from a pure party/dance venue to a leading-edge live circuit venue, manager Richard Beck called in the hugely experienced Matt Bate, of
F1:Sound Company Limited, to carry out the refit.
Given the venue is spread across three floors, with the aid of Martin Audio’s proprietary DISPLAY™ predictive software, Bate succeeded in getting the sound, from just four elements per side, firing evenly across the ground floor and to the rear of the first floor balcony (the two usable spaces). Low extension is provided off the stage by six WS218X (2 x 18) subs, ground stacked in threes stage left and right.
“Richard had wanted a PA that would maximise sightlines to the stage,” explained Matt Bate. “He always favoured
Martin Audio, as he knew this was a good system.”
And technical manager, Dan Huxley, added, “We wanted an industry-standard system that was recognised by incoming productions, so that they had the confidence to play through the house rig.
But at the same time the system needed to be multipurpose, as we are still utilising the venue for club and DJ nights — and this produces a thumping dance sound.”
F1:Sound Co bolstered the main system with 14 ultra-compact AQ5’s (each with two 5.25in ICT™ drivers): six deployed to cover the upper two tiers of the middle balcony, and eight for under-balcony on the ground floor, where additional power is provided by a pair of AQ10’s (with 10in bass driver) near the bar.
Independently operated and owned, the venue launched its new live program with an appearance by Jamie Cullum, who played through the new house system.
The Martin Audio installation has been an unqualified success and Richard
Beck says he believes this to be the best live sound he has ever heard in a
London venue.
DD6
Ultra-compact Differential Dispersion™ System www.martin-audio.com/products/DD6.asp
XD12
Compact high-output two-way system www.martin-audio.com/products/XD12.asp
W8VDQ
Compact, three-way, differential directivity system www.martin-audio.com/products/W8VDQ.asp
W8VDQ
Compact, three-way, differential directivity system www.martin-audio.com/products/W8VDQ.asp
W8LC
Compact, high performance three-way line array enclosure www.martin-audio.com/products/W8LC.asp
W8LMD
Three-way mini, vertically arrayable enclosure www.martin-audio.com/products/W8LMD.asp
F10+
Compact two-way passive system www.martin-audio.com/products/F10+.asp
F12+
Compact two-way passive system www.martin-audio.com/products/F12+.asp
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CASE STUDIES
WT3
Arrayable three-way compact theatre enclosure www.martin-audio.com/products/WT3.asp
W3P
Compact three-way trapezoid system www.martin-audio.com/products/W3P.asp
WS18X
Dual-driver vented sub-bass system
Xwww.martin-audio.com/products/WS18X.asp
MLX
Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Sub-bass www.martin-audio.com/products/MLX.asp
MLA Compact
Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array www.martin-audio.com/products/MLA Compact.asp
DSX
Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Sub-bass www.martin-audio.com/products/DSX-F.asp
WS218X
Dual-driver vented sub-bass system www.martin-audio.com/products/WS218X.asp
WT15 and WT2
Compact theatre enclosures www.martin-audio.com/products/WT15+.asp
www.martin-audio.com/products/WT2.asp
S18 (F)
Compact vented sub-bass system www.martin-audio.com/products/S18+.asp
C6.8T Ceiling
Ceiling mounted, two-way vented enclosure www.martin-audio.com/products/C6.8T.asp
AQ5
Ultra-compact, wide angle system www.martin-audio.com/products/AQ5.asp
AQ10
Compact, full-range system www.martin-audio.com/products/AQ10.asp
MLA
Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array www.martin-audio.com/products/MLA.asp
LE1200S
Active/passive, differential dispersion stage monitor www.martin-audio.com/products/LE1200S.asp
Martin Audio Ltd
Century Point, Halifax Road, High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire HP12 3SL, England www.martin-audio.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 1494 535 312
Facsimile: +44 (0) 1494 438 669
Email: info@martin-audio.com