Festival Drayton upgrades with Wavefront
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“We had been looking forward to getting involved with Martin Audio for a long time and when this project arose, we knew the brand would be a strong contender,” stated director Martin Bickley. And with the assistance of Martin Audio product support engineer, Robin Dibble, with whom they had already developed a close relationship, the new design was brought to fruition.
B.S.B. (Sound) Ltd has been involved with the venue for many years, engineering their live events, helping them meet rider requirements and installing and maintaining sound and lighting equipment.
Explaining the latest upgrade in a venue that had begun life as a Methodist chapel, Martin states, “We were asked to specify a new PA system, as they often hosted live events which involved bringing in additional PA to cope with the requirements of bands. They decided they wanted to be able to tackle this in-house and were determined to ensure the PA system was absolutely first class. This is exactly what Martin Audio provided.”
The new PA system needed to be both aesthetically pleasing as well as sounding good, and the system was designed by Robin Dibble based on these client requirements. “Space is at a premium and six WPM modules a side ensured we could maximise sound levels and quality without taking up a massive footprint. The addition of two SXP218 subwoofers meant that we could remove them from the space when not required - for smaller events - and rely on the SXF115, which were hung one box per side, with existing Martin Audio cinema sub-bass 18” subwoofers under the stage.
In addition, two Martin Audio CDD8 in-fills at the rear of the auditorium cover the FOH mix position and two existing Martin Audio W1s provide front of stage in-fill. B.S.B. (Sound) Ltd has also supplied four new LE100 wedge monitors, while the entire system is driven by three Martin Audio iKON iK81.
In summary, Martin Bickley states, “The venue’s technical manager Peter Morris has a very critical ear, being a massive fan of everything hi-fidelity. He was more than impressed with the new system and remarked how he couldn’t help but spend hours listening to his lossless music collection on the new system. The venue’s chairman, Geoff Vernon was also incredibly impressed and remarked how this was potentially the best sounding small theatre in the country.”
(Jim Evans)
