du Forum looks for permanent system

UAE: Yas Island’s du Forum has stepped up the search for a permanent sound system to cover events at the Global Spectrum managed venue. The latest solution to be put through its paces was Martin Audio’s MLA which was put to use for the recent T-Pain concert.

‘There’s a strong possibility that we’ll invest in a sound system for the venue. It’s still being decided what we’re going to do,’ explained Global Spectrum’s facility manager Brint Jackson. ‘We haven’t made any decisions yet, but personally I am pushing towards us having an in-house system that will work for the majority of our shows.’

Mr Jackson is quick to point out while this isn’t the traditional venue model, there could be advantages to the du Forum owning its own system. ‘In a normal venue model in the US or UK, we wouldn’t generally buy a performing system like that because it just doesn’t make a lot of sense. But here, because of the nature of flying in artists without equipment for the non-world tours and generally sourcing the kit here, we’ve seen this as a way of us being able to be more affordable if we do have a system. But in turn, that system does need to work for 90 per cent of the shows.’

Getting the MLA treatment was T-Pain, with his concert being the first event put on by new Abu Dhabi promoter Groove Society. ‘That was their first gig, so we helped them get setup with things, helped them through the process,’ said Mr Jackson. ‘The gig itself was great. The reason why MLA was used was because of the demo aspect. It was a push by Martin and VTi to get it here and demoed, probably to see if they could get it to a rental company or myself as a permanent install.’

As would be expected for any demo, the process for sourcing the equipment was a little different from other performances. ‘Martin Audio sent over the MLA from the UK as a demo because they want to get a system in the region,’ explained Mr Jackson. ‘We did a deal with Martin through VTi and Delta Sound ran it for us because they do a lot of our gigs.’

In addition, Delta supplied an Avid Profile mixing console featuring a Waves 9 plugin bundle for FOH and a DiGiCo SD7 for monitors. The monitor system consisted of 12 L-Acoustics 115xt wedges and an L-Acoustics Kudo sidefill while the company also supplied a dV-Dosc system as frontfill.
Mr Jackson believes the trial was beneficial for all parties. ‘We were able to demo MLA and they were able to bring some people in. The long game is to see if it will work as a permanent PA and we’re still having those discussions.’

As for the way the system performed, Mr Jackson was certainly impressed. ‘We got very few complaints from the neighbours. They don’t really complain on Yas because they’re used to the music, but we had it aimed straight at the residences across the water and the MLA controlling the coverage area greatly reduced the noise outside the tent,’ he recalls. ‘The bass is amazingly powerful, even across the venue and extremely punchy, but the sound itself was very much reduced outside the venue which was a really nice capability of MLA.’

Of course, this isn’t the first time the system has been used at this venue. Towards the end of 2012, The Jacksons performed using MLA, which then stayed in Abu Dhabi for a series of demo days. Mr Jackson is keen to stress this has all been part of a long system selection process. ‘The reason it has been a little slow is because the MLA is relatively new and in turn it has taken a little bit of time for it to gain the trust of everyone here that it will work for everything. But I think with what it’s done over the last couple of months and in the summer, it’s definitely a system which can hold its own with some of the other A-list systems,’ he reflects. ‘I’m seeing the MLA on more riders now and it’s also a suitable replacement or a suitable alternative now as it starts to do some of these other big gigs around.’

With MLA put through its paces at the venue again, Mr Jackson is confident the decision making process is nearing its conclusion. He is equally keen to praise the support he has received from everyone involved. ‘It’s been a good demo process, the Martin guys from the UK have been top notch as have the VTi guys here. As long as the stars align with the decision makers, I should have a permanent sound system for our next fiscal year.’

www.duforum.ae
www.vtionline.ae
www.martin-audio.com
www.grvsociety.net
www.global-spectrum.com