DSL and Stairway Productions collectively provided several hundred enclosures, plus amplifiers and accessories, site-wide at Liquicity Festival. This included the deployment of WPL Wavefront Precision line arrays by DSL for the premier two performance stages — and seven separate zones in all.
The main Galaxy stage saw 20 WPL left and right (in two box resolution), with 12x WPC for delays (also in two box resolution) and 21 SXH218 subs in cardioid (14 front-facing and seven back), with a further four W8VDQ for front fill and six Blackline X12 for outfill. These were powered by 17 IK42 multi-channel amps. On stage, six LE1500 were used for monitoring and two further LE1500 and a Blackline X118 were used on stage.
The second (Solar) stage saw 12 WPL stacked, with eight MLA Mini and MSX subs (as outfills). Four TORUS T1215 were used as front fill, with 20 WS218 and six SX218 subs. A further LE1500 and LE1200 wedge monitors, with a pair of X118 were used on stage, with all passive enclosures powered by nine iK42.
On the third (Lunar stage) playback was through 12 Martin Audio W8C, underpinned by 18 WSX subs. Reference monitoring was again provided from a pair of LE1500 and X118.
For the Nebula stage, sound reinforcement turned to Blackline, with a pair of Blackline H3T+, four WS218 and a pair of X15.
To equip other areas Stairway Productions dipped into several of Martin Audio’s other successful ranges, including CDD-Live 15 (for Temple), FlexPoint FP8 (for Mirror Palace) and TORUS T1215 (for the Mobile stage).
According to Martijn de Jong, Product Manager (Audio) at Ampco Flashlight Sales, Martin Audio’s Dutch distributor, with three tented stages the largest a circus ‘big top’ pumping out very loud music noise control over the wider area was the real issue.
“The two largest stages ran in cardioid setup, which worked great and made sure the people living around the festival grounds had no noise pollution. Also, Wavefront Precision was tapered off towards the back of the site so that it was fairly quiet—and this did wonders for the noise control. But the advanced control you have generally with a Martin Audio system helped contain the sound,” explained Jong.
Rental company DSL has wide experience with Martin Audio systems and made a D3 drawing for the main stage (in Martin Audio’s proprietary DISPLAY 3 software) mainly to visualise the performance of the sub-array as much as to predict the behaviour of Wavefront Precision. The cardioid set-ups, in combination with a dB(C), calculated by Event Acoustics, ensured that the event was able to stay within the confines of the permit.
For DSL, Gert Jan and Ad Gomes were project managers, and for Stairway Productions, it was Menno Smit. According to Jong, it had been the first time the event had been staged with Martin Audio rig. “Despite having to build the system from the ground up, the process was pretty quick with the tools we have at our disposal in D3.”
He said both DSL and Stairway Productions received praise for the sound systems, the Liquicity promoters themselves expressing satisfaction with the sound, while Stairway Productions reported similar feedback from the areas for which they were responsible.
