"Sound really mattered to Claude Nobs," said Meyer Sound CEO John Meyer, recalling the festival's late founder. "I remember distinctly when he came to me and asked how we could make the festival sound better. He had a curiosity about sound and a real desire to create unique and extraordinary experience for artists and audiences."
The 2016 MJF line-up features a host of luminaries across a spectrum of genres, including Muse, Herbie Hancock, Neil Young, Santana, Quincy Jones, Robben Ford, Slayer and others.
Meyer Sound has a tradition of introducing new technology at Montreux, including a series of premium stage monitors named in honour of the festival that was launched with the MJF-212 in 2006. This year's new entry is the powerful yet petite MJF-208, which brings the award-winning MJF technology to intimate venues and tours where space is limited. The twin-driver design yields excellent sound quality and impressive headroom despite the small footprint.
"Montreux Jazz Festival has played an important part in our product development history," says executive vice president Helen Meyer. "Through our research and development in sound technology we are able to bring the sound quality of the festival to a new level each year - and, at the same time, to receive valuable feedback from the festival professionals and artists. What I love is that the real beneficiaries of this great collaboration are the audiences who come to hear great music in one of the world's most beautiful settings."
Lyon and Leopard, members of Meyer Sound's award winning Leo Family of line arrays, power the sound at Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux Jazz Lab and Music in the Park, supporting a diverse range of artists. Nearly 500 Meyer Sound loudspeakers provide exceptional audio quality throughout other festival venues as diverse as clubs, bars and even intimate shows on trains and boats.
Collaborating with artists and institutions to drive sound innovation has been a part of Meyer Sound's DNA since it was founded in 1979. Many of the company's products were created as a direct result of challenges faced by artists and creators such as The Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, The Three Tenors, Metallica, Cirque du Soleil and Francis Ford Coppola, among many others.
(Jim Evans)
