Meyer Sound system survives sandstorm for Dubai Jazz Festival
Published: MEA
UAE: A Meyer Sound audio system was in use for both stages of the recent Dubai Jazz Festival held for the first time at Festival City. The solution was supplied by local production company Artes Middle East, which has worked on the festival for seven of its 10 years, and the equipment needed to survive two severe sandstorms.
‘This was the first time that we faced two major sandstorms. That was the biggest challenge,’ recalled Artes Middle East technical manager Karl da Costa. ‘On day two we had Jools Holland preparing for the soundcheck with a 23-member full band on stage and we had sand and wind flying all over the place,’ he explained. ‘We did lose a screen in the morning – it cracked – but we did manage to go through the soundchecks and fortunately during the show in the evening it settled down. It was a tough day,’ stated the technical manager. ‘The equipment held up pretty well,’ continued Mr da Costa. ‘It was obviously filled with dust, but I think it withstood everything. We had no issues in terms of the audio equipment.’
The solution employed for the festival was based extensively on Meyer Sound products. For the Skywards stage, the main PA consisted of 24 Milos, four M3D self-powered line array speakers, a pair of Milo120 extended coverage curvilinear arrays, 16 HP700 subwoofers and a pair of UPJ-Jr self-powered speakers for reference at FOH. Frontfills were six CQ2 full range self-powered speakers while control was via two Galileo 616 speaker management systems and a Klark Teknik DN370 graphic EQ. Mixing for the main PA was courtesy of a Yamaha PM5D-RH 48-channel digital console and a Midas Heritage 3000 analogue desk.
For mixing monitors, Artes turned to a second Yamaha PM5D-RH as well as an Avid D-Show 48-channel console. The setup also included 13 Empad MS69 high powered stage monitors, six Meyer Sound UM-1P self-powered monitors, a single Empad CC30 drum fill, as well as four of the manufacturer’s CC35 full range concert series speakers and a pair of its B315 subwoofers both for side fills. For in-ear monitors, the production company supplied eight Sennheiser EW300 G3s and eight Shure PSM700 systems. Processing was courtesy of four XTA DP446s and a single DP226 speaker management system.
The secondary Jazz Garden stage, which hosted performances between the main show weekends, was also a Meyer Sound based solution. The main PA was 12 M3D self-powered line array speakers with six M3D subwoofers. Outfills were four M’elodie cabinets, while frontfills were four UPJ speakers. Control was again via a Galileo 616 processor with Klark Teknik DN370 EQ. The stage was mixed at FOH with a Midas Pro2C desk. Monitors for this stage saw a combination of eight Martin Audio LE400s and two Empad MS69 powered speakers. Power was via a Crown amp rack and mixing was on a Yamaha LS9.
‘Dave Dennison from Meyer Sound was down and was instrumental in calibrating, optimising and setting up the systems for both the stages and was there for the first weekend,’ said Mr da Costa. ‘Dave and I had a chat considering what we would do differently for next year. He had suggestions depending on how large an area they are going to use of adding a few boxes and maybe flying the subs.’
Mr da Costa is pleased with the reaction to the event this year, particularly considering the challenges faced with the sandstorms. ‘It was very positive and an excellent show from our side as well as really appreciated by the general public, the organisers, artists, management and engineers that travelled.’