Montreal, Canada (October 29, 2021)—The Montréal International Jazz Festival returned this year, with 30 acts including headliners like Charlotte Day Wilson, Patrick Watson, Plants and Animals, Shay Lia and artist/record producer Daniel Lanois. They all appeared on two outdoor stages in the city’s downtown area due to the new all-outdoor format—a move that required longtime audio provider Solotech to cover audiences without hammering the neighbors.
Systems on both the Place des Festivals and Parterre Symphonique stages incorporated a trio of Meyer Sound GALAXY 816 Network Platforms for loudspeaker processing, and MJF-210 low-profile stage monitors used for artist foldback at both locations.
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The larger system at Place des Festivals employed main arrays each with five LEO-M and four LYON-M per side, with six 1100-LFC low-frequency control elements per side in a focused gradient configuration. Fills were two each MSL-4 and CQ-1, while first delays were, per side, six MICA line array loudspeakers with three 900-LFC elements in gradient configuration. Second delays were a pair of CAL 64 steerable loudspeakers.
Meanwhile, the Parterre Symphonique stage system was anchored by twin arrays of nine LINA loudspeakers per side, with seven gradient-configured 900-LFC elements at center. LINA and MSL-4 loudspeakers served as fills, with a pair of CAL 32 loudspeakers as delays.
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Festival technical coordinator Dan Meier noted, “We have difficult spaces to work with because we are in the Quartier des Spectacles, in the heart of the city…. Working closely with Meyer Sound’s David Vincent and Solotech, we designed systems that focus the sound and keep everybody happy. We use cardioid subwoofer configurations and we also use CALs [Column Array Loudspeakers] as delays, which allow us to steer the sound exactly where we want it. They are small, efficient, and we can aim them with precision.”
Among the festival’s headline artists, Daniel Lanois carried the most storied reputation, having produced iconic albums for U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, and Emmylou Harris. He brought along his personal set of Meyer’s UPJ-1P loudspeakers to reproduce his trademark wash of ambient sound and rhythm, with the vocals heard through the festival’s MJF-210 stage monitors.
“The MJFs have a nice, full sound, the way we like it,” he comments. “We only put vocals in them because we’re almost acoustic volume on stage. It’s almost a throwback to the old Grateful Dead days where every member of the band got his own speaker stack. And for the audience we have the best sound system from Meyer Sound. I’ve been associated with these folks for a long time. It’s a personal relationship, but in the end, it comes down to the sound. And the Meyer loudspeakers never let me down.”
