Montreal, Canada (August 30, 2017)—The annual Festival International de Jazz de Montréal—AKA Montreal Jazz Festival—always presents top-shelf acts from around the world, and this year’s edition was no exception, serving up the likes of Arturo Sandoval, Bob Dylan, The Barr Brothers, Ravi Coltrane (son of the late John Coltrane), John Pizzarelli and Walk Off the Earth—just some of the 2,000 acts presented. Audio provider Solotech tackled audio for a number of stages, providing gear to match the caliber of performers.
Two Yamaha Rivage PM10 Digital Audio Consoles were used at the main TD Stage, and a third was used at Maison Symphonique for front of house along with a CL5 at monitors. “The Montreal Jazz Festival was the first time I put my hands on the Rivage,” said Matt “Captain” Sevigny, monitor engineer at the main TD Stage, mixing for The Brooks as well as Betty Bonifassi, Brad Cheeman, and Souljazz Orchestra. “I’ve worked on pretty much all of the Yamaha digital consoles. After a day or two, I started using the SILK texture feature on many of my inputs that made me use less EQ on the strip and provided the sound I was looking for.”
FOH engineer for the TD Stage, Monk McClements, concurred: “It was a real pleasure to have the PM10s at the TD Stage, he says. Having access to 144 preamps on one scene made our job at front of house much easier, and changeovers without any interruptions came very natural. Everything on the board is right at your fingertips. Guest sound guys at the stage needed very little tutoring. Shortcuts were so quick, we never, ever had any confusion with the operational aspect of the board.”
Yamaha provided Nexo systems for three stages. The Metropolis Stage PA consisted of 12 Nexo STM-M28 with 6 STM B112 per side, flown side by side. 3 STM S118s and 3 RS18 Ray Subs were used per side with 3 STM-M28s used for front fills. Monitors consisted of 8 45-N12 wedges, 6 PS15 R2 speakers, and 2 LS18s used as drum subs. Stage fills consisted of 2 STM M46 boxes over 1 STM B112 over one STM S118 per side. Two Yamaha CL5 digital consoles were also used at the Metropolis Stage.
The Cinquième Salle Stage PA consisted of 6 Geo M10 line array speakers and 3 flown MSUB15s per side, 1 LS18 subwoofers on the ground per side, and 4 ID24 speakers were used for front fills. Monitors consisted of 4 45-N12 wedges, 2 PS15 R2 speakers, and 4 PS10 R2 speakers.
At the Savoy Stage in the Metropolis, Yamaha provided 3 Geo M620, 1 LS18 per side, and 4 PS10 R2s for monitors.
Solotech
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Yamaha and Nexo
www.yamahaproaudio.com
