Established in 1998, the three-day festival takes place in Borneo's Sarawak Cultural Village, attracting over 5,000 visitors with "world music" groups from across the globe. This year, the festival included performances from Colombian singer, Petrona Martinez; Faiz Al Faiz from Pakistan; Italian gypsy quartet, Acquaragia Drom; the Namgar from Mongolia; Djamel Laroussi and his band from Algeria; Polish bagpiper, Marcin Ruminski; and a debut from the American group, the Foghorn String Band. The festival also features daytime workshops, ranging from story telling sessions, to interactive dance and percussion jamming.
"Set in a wide clearing in the rainforest, the festival is a unique experience!" comments Cheer Productions' MD, Niall Macaulay. "I have used Allen & Heath mixers for the last six years at the RWMF as they are so easy to use and clearly laid out. I mix around 20 bands over the three days of the festival, some of them requiring over 30 channel mixes, and there is often only 15 minutes changeover between acts. The ML5000's VCA and mute groups mean the desk is quick and simple to navigate. It is also amazingly reliable considering the climate out there and it never lets us down, despite 90% humidity."
The FOH rig was Meyer, with outboard equipment from Drawmer, Klark Teknik plus dbx units, and Eventide, Lexicon and Yamaha FX.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
