Glasgow, Scotland-based Cheer Productions managed the sound requirements for the annual Rainforest World Music Festival (Borneo), selecting an Allen & Heath ML5000 VCA live sound console as the front-of-house mixer for the main stage.
Established in 1998, the three-day festival takes place in Borneo’s Sarawak Cultural Village, attracting more than 5,000 visitors and featuring world music groups from across the globe. This year, the festival included performances from Colombian singer Petrona Martinez, Faiz Al Faiz from Pakistan, Italian gypsy quartet Acquaragia Drom, the Namgar of Mongolia, Djamel Laroussi and his band from Algeria, Polish bagpiper Marcin Ruminski and a debut from American group the Foghorn String Band. The festival features daytime workshops that range from storytelling sessions to interactive dance and percussion jamming.
“Set in a wide clearing in the rainforest, the festival is a unique experience,” comments Cheer Productions’ MD, Niall Macaulay. “I have used Allen & Heath mixers for the last six years at the RWMF as they are so easy to use and clearly laid out. I mix around 20 bands over the three days of the festival, some of them requiring over 30 channel mixes, and there is often only 15 minutes changeover between acts. The ML5000’s VCA and mute groups mean the desk is quick and simple to navigate. It is also amazingly reliable, considering the climate out there and it never lets us down, despite 90-percent humidity.”
The FOH speaker system was Meyer, with outboard equipment from Drawmer, Klark Teknik and dbx units, as well as Eventide, Lexicon and Yamaha.
For more information, please visit www.allen-heath.com.
