Renaissance promoter and Gibb Street venue owner Geoff Oakes called on Sheffield-based production company Mustt Audio to configure and install an audio system that would best deliver outstanding sound to this 1,200 capacity warehouse/club space, located beside Birmingham's international arts complex, The Custard Factory.
"Gibb Street Warehouse has reflective brick and metal surfaces so it's an echoic space," says Mustt proprietor and Flare distributor, Waq. "It was a challenge to tame the space, but it's refreshing that Geoff really cares about the audience and artists' experience. He told me he wanted clubbers and DJs to get excited about the quality of the sound system, to the point where it's the thing they remember most about the club."
To achieve this, Waq used a combination of Flare Audio's Triwave and Quadhorn products for the system. The Triwave i10 was used in both FOH line source and DJ monitoring. "Being able to produce a coherent bass is really important in challenging acoustic spaces," says Davies Roberts, Flare founder. "If a space has high resonance, the last thing you want to do is just pile up a stack of bass enclosures that don't work together! With solid and controlled bass that doesn't rely on resonance to create sound you can really make the most of the room acoustics."
"We use Flare Audio because it delivers the cleanest, most accurate sound possible," explains Waq. "I come from a recording studio background so I know how far the artist and producer go to commit their recordings to disc. They often feel let down by other PA systems, but Flare products always sound close to the recorded material."
The Gibb Street Warehouse project follows a summer of successful work for Mustt's Flare system, including two events sponsored and organised by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull. At an outdoor DJ event as part of July's Tramlines Festival, Sheffield, they also installed eight of Flare's Quadhorn subs and six Triwave enclosures. Headliners Julio Bashmore and Toddla T were easily heard and appreciated by 1,500 fans, in spite of the system running at only 60% capacity. "Red Bull's in-house events team videoed the project and have decided to use it as a template for organising future events," says Waq.
Mustt Audio again used the Flare system for The Red Bull City Trial in Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens in September, where stars of the motorcycle trials world competed on an urban course. The system was used for public address and incidental music, while the event presented a number of challenges, including keeping the sound away from a nearby hotel.
Flare Audio recently announced the decision to focus its business on specialist loudspeaker development and manufacture. It continues to invite potential new distribution and rental partners to discuss shared business opportunities.
(Jim Evans)
