Sponsored by Spanish language radio station La Rockola 96.7 FM, the show was programmed on the Martin M1 in a matter of only three hours by lighting director and programmer Ed Motts, a 14-year industry veteran and one of the earliest users of Martin's Maxxyz series of consoles.
"The Maxxyz has always been good to me and the support has always been great," Motts commented. "I saw the M1 console early on and was initially interested because of the weight and the size, but it also has the same functionality as a big Maxxyz with a price point that is very appealing."
Motts used eight universes across a house rig of about 70 moving lights, dimmers and LEDs, and the event came off without a hitch or hiccup. He was impressed with the speed of the console, the layout of the surface and the number of playbacks at his fingertips. Live modifications and changes in the fully improvised show were handled without delay.
"As it runs the same operating system and software as the Maxxyz, the move from Maxxyz to M1 was pretty seamless. It's new technology yet very stable and the speed is amazing. It patches fixtures very fast, and I was using a beta model! The production model is even faster."
Motts, who often does one-offs with Jennifer Lopez around the world using locally supplied consoles that are sometimes not up to snuff, commends the portability of the M1, which can easily be moved by a single person and is light enough to be checked in as luggage at the airport.
"To be able to have a console like the M1 that I can take on a plane with me is very appealing," he says. "With the Martin family of control products I have no second thoughts at all in putting it on any of my shows."
(Jim Evans)
