Jon Burton explained the rationale behind his involvement in the development of Martin Audio's new passive 21" sub prototype. "We knew a year ahead of the event that Prodigy were likely to be headlining the second stage - but sound wise there is always an issue because of the strict noise levels at both the festival sites.
"We wanted to maximise the impact of the low end, but in a directional way to avoid noise propagation across the entire site. We always require more than the normal number of subs provided by the festival, in this case SSE, so always intended bringing in extra."
The search for "a comedy sub" began 15 months ago, with Burton approaching potential manufacturers. As The Prodigy's rental supplier, it was Wigwam Hire's director, Chris Hill, who recommended an approach to Martin Audio. Knowing that the High Wycombe based company were already in the process of developing their own ASX 21" active sub - they arranged the initial listening tests."We threw down the challenge to Jason Baird," says Jon Burton. "We were trying to reinforce where the main PA would begin to roll off, below 50Hz - to give the audience a greater physical perception normally only associated with much higher levels."
Martin Audio went into production of the 12 enclosures only once Chris Hill and Geoff Muir had given them the nod following listening tests, and Baird duly adapted the ASX design to come up with a single 21" touring box.
The 21" sub was earmarked for spot effects rather than used continuously - thereby helping to maintain the level constraints, to the relief of promoters SJM and Metropolis, and noise consultants Vanguardia, who were policing the sound.
Because of space constraints the 12 boxes were set in a straight line in front of the stage apron, but arranged into a curved arc digitally, via the processing software. "We had used our lab-based software to predict the soundfield so I knew exactly what to expect," said Jason Baird. "We couldn't have curved it physically because of lack of space."
Following on from the success in the summer, Burton again asked Martin Audio for assistance with a brief tour of UK Academy Group venues prior to Christmas, where they previewed songs from the upcoming new album.
Six ASX 21" subs were used to devastating effect. Driven once more by Martin Audio amplifiers and processors they were used to augment the house systems as well as providing spot effects at others, in addition to a large system supplied, once more, by Wigwam.
"I was very pleased with the way the subs worked indoors," says Burton. "I was once again looking for something to come in under the system, to add a dramatic amount of lows. They certainly did that, and even the band commented on the sub in the room ... a compliment indeed."
(Jim Evans)
