Martin Audio partner Soundworks of Virginia recently equipped the five main stages of the long-running Richmond Folk Festival, an annual celebration of American culture and roots music, with the manufacturer’s Wavefront Precision line array loudspeaker systems.

Soundworks has been involved in the three-day free festival for more than a decade, held annually in the downtown Riverfront Plaza area of the city and occupying an area of almost 20 acres. An offshoot of the National Folk Festival, it is one of the largest events in Virginia, drawing around 200,000 visitors from across the country and featuring more than 30 artists.

Around 130 Martin Audio components were deployed across the site, exhausted all 124 available channels of Soundworks’ 31 iKon iK42 amplifiers. For the main Altria amphitheatre stage, 12 Martin Audio’s WPL enclosures were deplyed per side, with over three SXH218 per side. Four WPS were deployed for front fill, with an additional CDD-Live 15 on top of an SXP218 on each stage flank for fill.

The smaller Dominion Energy Dance Pavilion (under an 80ft x 160ft tent) saw eight WPC flown per side over two SXH218 subs bridged per side, with CDD-Live 15 over an SXP218 on each wing providing side fill. In addition, ten Martin Audio XE500s were provided as stage monitors.

The CoStar Group Stage was rigged in an 80ft x 120ft tent with six WPS flown per side over two SXC118 subs. The CarMax Stage was similarly configured but with the addition of four XP12s as out fill and delays. Finally, the smallest of the tents (50ft x 100ft) housed the Virginia Folk Life Stage where four WPC were stacked on top of an SXH218 subwoofer on each side.

Working alongside production manager Colleen Arnerich, from the National Council for the Traditional Arts, and Venture Richmond Festival Manager Stephen Lecky, Soundworks’ founder and CEO, Steve Payne outlined the approach to a sound design masterminded by the company’s president and senior sound engineer, Grant Howard, and System Tech Bryan Hargrave. They specified the PA systems to meet or exceed the parameters laid down by sound designer, Steve Fisher.

‘We were given free rein to deploy the systems as they best saw fit,’ remarked Payne. ‘In our experience, the difference between one- and two-box resolution is discernible when listening critically, but not dramatic. Having to run the systems in two-box resolution due to the available amp channels was only a minor concession. Having run Wavefront Precision systems for over two years we have become accustomed to achieving a high level of performance and consistency. It is a very gratifying situation.’

He adds that the systems had received positive reviews from every sound engineer on site for their flat response and ability to accurately reproduce the myriad of musical styles and instruments encountered at such a diverse festival.

‘While the site is sufficiently sprawling that interference between stages was not an issue, the Hard Avoid feature [in Martin Audio’s Display software] was used on the four tented stages to keep the sound off the tent roof which dramatically reduced reflections and had a major positive impact on the quality of the sound on those stages. The engineers at all these stages commented positively on the quality of the sound in an environment which often presents sonic challenges and can leave something to be desired in terms of clarity and articulation.’

‘It sounded awesome everywhere on site,’ adds Colleen Arnerich. ‘The upgrade on the Folklife Stage from CDD-Live last year to WPS this year made a huge difference.’

Soundworks’ Grant Howard believes that ‘in the ten-plus years of doing the Richmond Folk Festival, hands down this was the best one yet.’

‘While we have been proud of the job, we have done every year, we also feel that we have always managed to improve year on year,’ Payne reflects. ‘This year, I believe, marked a high water point in our efforts—there were virtually no compromises made in our efforts to provide the best sound possible at every stage on the festival site. This was fully the result of our major push over the past two years to grow our inventory of Wavefront Precision speakers and iKon amplifiers.’

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