One of
the most popular open-air music events, Hohaiyan Rock Festival recently took
place at Fulong Beach, Taipei, Taiwan. The event began in 2000, and is annually
organised by the city government. This year, MSI Japan Taiwan operated for the
first time with Martin Audio’s flagship MLA loudspeaker array, given the system
its open-air debut in Taiwan (having previously been used by MSI Japan Taiwan
indoors).
Many of
Taipei’s most popular artists performed at the beach side location, which is an
attractive site for the audience. And for the sound system, the engineering
team needed to make a special effort. The main hangs comprised 19 MLA and a MLD
Downfill on each side, and side fills were formed of six MLA elements and two
and MLD. Six MLX subs were flown and three ground-stacked MLX in a cardioid
pattern were staggered in three positions on each side of the stage, making a
total of 18 cabinets.
Mr.
Watanabe from MSI Japan Taiwan, who operated the event, commented: “First of
all, we had to set the speakers at the lowest level we could, to prevent the
sea wind. Though temperature was variable, between daytime and after sunset, we
needed to set the parameters to keep MLA’s performance sustainable — and thanks
to its adaptive properties, there was no effect from the weather at all.
“We
arranged the audience area 200m from main stage, but the organisers also
requested that the entrance gate, which is located 400m from the stage, also
needed sound coverage. It was a simple and easy mission for MLA, but we were
concerned that the sound would spill onto the second stage, and might interfere
with the show. So, we set a ‘hard avoid’ [preset in DISPLAY software] and
solved the problem immediately.”
Mr.
Watanabe added that at first, the local crew was concerned with the idea of
designing the sound system without a delay tower. “But once it was set up they
were really surprised by the high performance, and also the effectiveness of
the hard-avoid settings.
“The
festival resulted in a grand success, and MLA is already being spoken about for
next year’s event.”
