Monitor engineer Claudio Venturelli admitted to having been initially skeptical about the MicroWedges, but was quickly won over: "Their main strength is probably the very vertical and narrow directivity pattern, which helps to keep the stage clean even when you have as many as 21 monitors playing really loud," said Venturelli.
"Powered by big Lab.gruppen fP 3400 amplifiers in passive configuration, the MicroWedges delivered a massive, coherent 'in your face' sound," he continued. "They also required very little equalization, typically just a single parametric filter from the digital desk's output stage. They proved to be very versatile, helping me to manage incredibly different sets ranging from jazz trios to big bands, and from '80s disco stars to full classicalorchestras."
Venturelli continued: "I strongly believe Radian MicroWedges were one of the key factors that allowed the stage crew to receive incredible positive feedback from all the bands that played at the Arena." His only criticism of the monitors is that they are heavy: "But I can accept that when it allows these small speakers to deliver such a big sound!"
"It was my personal choice to introduce the Radian MicroWedges last year," explained Angelo Tordini, who established Reference Laboratory in 1998 and has provided equipment to various venues at Umbria Jazz for over 20 events. "By the end of the festival the stage manager and sound engineers were completely happy and satisfied with them. They were also surprised by the total lack of distortion, even at high volumes," said Tordini, adding, "It is our responsibility to improve the onstage audio and provide all of the artists with the utmost confidence in the monitoring system."
(Lee Baldock)
