Describing itself as a ‘fitness-fashion hybrid’, the 1Rebel gym model encompasses nightclub quality production values across a portfolio that extends from the UK into the Middle East using high-octane sound reinforcement from Martin Audio. With the 1Rebel Oxford Circus in London completed late last year, Middlesex Sound & Light (MSL) now completed work on a ninth installation – 1Rebel Oxford Circus.
Originally introduced to owners Giles Dean and James Balfour around four years ago as a replacement for their previous sound supplier, MSL provided a sophisticated A/V upgrade of the first two 1Rebel venues in the estate, before setting out a design blueprint for future roll-out. This would take into account the operators’ different studio concepts such as the trainer-led Ride, Reshape and Rumble.
Project Manager and designer Toby Jones confirms that Martin Audio products – from BlacklineX and CDD through to Adorn – now appear in all venues: ‘At Oxford Circus, the profile and raw sound of BlacklineX perfectly suit the brick-built industrial theme of the interior. BlacklineX again met all the requirements for performance and budget, and this is the third venue in which it is featured.’
1Rebel Oxford Circus features two of the three large studio concepts – Rumble (explosive boxing sessions for 55 clients, immersed in 45 minutes of sound and energy) and Reshape (offering a gruelling and dynamic programme of weights, core and cardio training, equipped for 25 people).
The sound in Rumble is played out through 12 Blackline X8 elements, mounted on the boxing structure itself, with a pair of SX112 subwoofers on the floor, one at each end. Reshape features ten Blackline X8 around the perimeter, ceiling mounted with Powerdrive attachments, and two further SX112 subs.
Fed by either local iPod or trainers equipped with head-worn radio mics (via mini jack), Jones says that the client’s high investment in acoustic isolation means that the sound level can be ratcheted up to performance levels, if required. Linked to a Soundweb digital backbone it also offers tremendous flexibility.
Elsewhere, the Reception area coverage is provided by a cluster of four Martin Audio Adorn A55 loudspeakers on a central ceiling mounted pole, providing 360° coverage, while the walkway is equipped with a further two clustered pairs of Adorn A55s on 1.5m drops, firing up and down the corridor.
Further Adorn A55s can be found in the male and female changing rooms, and even in the cleaner’s cupboard. ‘All changing rooms have preset volume controls whereas there is independent mic and volume control for the two studios,’ Jones says. ‘We originally demoed the Blackline X8 for the client in a small studio so he could experience the value engineering, and he agreed they sounded great.’
‘MSL has really understood the high-octane environments we’ve been looking to create with their technology,’ Dean concurs. ‘Central to this have been the Martin Audio sound systems, which on the one hand have all the potency necessary to accompany a high intensity workout while at the same time providing evenly distributed background coverage for the non-studio areas, with absolute clarity.
