Having staged parties for event organiser Alfresco Disco for the past five years, Bristol-based experiential and party planning specialist Pytch recently supplied local a full Martin Audio rig for a classic warehouse-based dance party. Comprising two stages, the sound needed to be carefully equalised to serve the all-nighter’s early proceedings – when it was little more than an empty, echoey warehouse – to ramping up the volume once the venue was packed with around 2,150 revellers.
Then, according to Chelsea Hopkins at Pytch, care had to be taken to avoid sound escape in a densely packed residential area. ‘Although the bass was powerful the sound was directional and well contained – resulting in minimal disruption for local residents,’ she reports. This was assisted by a cardioid pattern sub array to reduce problem lows.
For this event, guests could spill out the back of the warehouse into the yard and smaller warehouse, where Pytch has an LED wall set up as part of its studio.
To satisfy the audio requirements of such a large gathering, delivered from a succession of DJs, Pytch equipped the main stage with 12 flown Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Array elements, underpinned by ten WS218X subwoofers. These were all groundstacked, one array of three either side of the stage directly under the line array and four under the stage in an end-fire array to fill in the low end for the middle of the room.
A pair of W8LMD provided additional down fill, and a further pair of Blackline XP118 powered subwoofers added further low frequency support. Two further W8LM cabs were groundstacked on the lip of the stage to provide centre fill. This design was conceived by the service company’s in-house tech team, led by a member of its wider network, George Chandler.
The smaller second stage was located in The Virtual Venue, by day a broadcast, virtual production and recording studio, which ran vinyl records alongside CDs. Here Pytch fielded a pair of W8C Compact tops and second stack raised to listening height as well as WS218 subs.
Reflecting on the event, Pytch Sound Tech Simon Gore, who mixed the main stage, remarked on the even coverage throughout the space: ‘I was really impressed at the even coverage. The Martin Audio rig responded brilliantly, delivering perfect tone with masses of headroom.’
Chelsea Hopkins reports that thanks to the precautions they had taken the event was an unqualified success: ‘The sound system was fantastic and we’re not aware of any noise complaints during the event, which is fantastic. In fact, the feedback we had from organisers and attendees was that it sounded incredible.’
