Battle of the Bands a Winning Formula for Martin Audio & Focusrite
Buckinghamshire Music Trust (BMT’s) Battle of the Bands (BOTB) contest for young aspiring musicians was this year blessed by having two of the world’s leading pro audio manufacturers provide a top tier concert touring spec. By being able to broadcast their sound through a premier touring PA, on a Dante backbone, will have taken the 12 bands competing in the final into new territory. The two High Wycombe-based manufacturers concerned were Martin Audio, and Focusrite Pro, both now under the umbrella of parent company, Focusrite plc.
It was Stephen Button, Focusrite’s EMEA Channel Marketing Executive, who established the relationship with Buckinghamshire Music Trust (BMT) several years ago. It started when he helped them out as a local musician with their monthly event Guitari Lounge, an open mic night created for under-18-year-olds.
When Christian hip-hop recording artist and seven-time GRAMMY®winner TobyMac hit the road for his Hits Deep Tour, the production team knew that growing audiences and varying coverage demands would provide a challenge few loudspeaker systems could meet. Eastern Acoustic Works’ (EAW) worked directly with BlackHawk Audio in implementing its ADAPTive System for the tour, as it extends coverage and provides even front to back response in a physically compact system.
Riedel Communications today announced that Teatro Diana, a 2,400-seat theater in Guadalajara, Mexico, has chosen the occasion of its 15th anniversary to upgrade its entire communications infrastructure to Riedel’s Bolero stand-alone wireless intercom.
The history of Knox Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Ontario stretches back all the way to 1820, and it has been in its current building across the street from the University of Toronto since 1909. Its ornate, high-ceiling sanctuary accommodates 550 people and inspires congregants with its sublime beauty. Unfortunately, Knox’s sound reinforcement system was nowhere close to commensurate. Poor intelligibility was largely due to a renovation that radically changed the acoustic nature of the space rendering the previous system untenable. Couple that with a transition from traditional to contemporary music forms created the perfect storm that left the church with inarticulate sound. The AV integration department at local music store Sherwood recently changed all that with a new sound reinforcement system that leverages the exceptional pattern control of Danley Sound Labs SBH-Series loudspeakers. The new Danley system keeps energy off the walls and treats congregants to crystal-clear, point-source fidelity.
Now celebrating its twenty-sixth year, Grace Family Church started with just eighty people in a former jazzercise storefront next to a bar in Tampa, Florida. It has subsequently grown to over 12,000 members! To accommodate so many members, Grace Family Church operates satellite campuses. Its sixth campus opened in Land O’ Lakes, a suburb of Tampa, and AVL firm All Pro Integrated Systems, of Pensacola, Florida, helped design and install the AVL system there. Since many of the decision-makers at Grace Family Church had never heard a Danley Sound Labs system, All Pro arranged for a demo that proved persuasive. The now-finished system includes Danley’s patented point-source Synergy Horn loudspeaker technology, its patented Tapped Horn subwoofer technology, and seven Danley multi-channel amplifiers with built-in DSP and presets for every Danley loudspeaker and subwoofer. Perhaps in the spirit of its origins, the Land O’ Lakes campus is built into a former big box store… but instead of just eighty, it can accommodate 1,000 people!
Summit Woods Baptist Church is a large but relatively young church in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. It moved into its first permanent sanctuary in 2004, a space that it had helped to design. Although most aspects of the 650-capacity, fan-shaped sanctuary (with room to expand to 1,000) were serving the congregation well, its acoustics and sound reinforcement were not. Their blended service style – everything from a contemporary band to choir to orchestral instruments – lacked the impact it deserved. Avoiding the expense, footprint, comb filtering, and destroyed sightlines of a line array, AV integration firm Advanced Sound & Communication, of Kansas City, Missouri, designed and installed a Danley Sound Labs system with excellent intelligibility, pattern control that minimizes the impact of the poor acoustics, and a small footprint that maintains a clear view of the video screens and stained glass windows from any pew.
Pro audio and commercial video systems specialist, Sound Designs LLC, has completed the design and installation of a new sound system for the remodeled St. John Fisher Church in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania using Biamp’s Community loudspeakers.
Riedel’s Artist digital matrix intercom and Bolero wireless intercom are at the core of a comprehensive event communications solution for the all-new International Swimming League (ISL). The integrated Artist/Bolero system enabled clear and highly reliable crew communications for the ISL’s inaugural season in 2019, culminating in December’s Grand Final at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Old Barn Audio (OBA) recently turned to Martin Audio’s CDD series to overcome a challenging situation at the refurbished St. Joseph’s College Chapel in Ipswich. The majestic Ipswich chapel, forced to close for three years when it fell into disrepair, has finally been brought back to life after a major revamp costing £750,000. Written into the upgrade program was the provision for a new sound system.
Passion’s lead audio engineer Stephen Bailey recently incorporated Waves