MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND--While there is no shortage of music festivals throughout the busy summer season, few can match Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival for its rich history, musical diversity and inimitable atmosphere. Many of the world's most renowned musicians have been known to schedule their summer itineraries with an eye toward spending at least a day or two in Montreux. From July 4 through 19 near the shores of Lake Geneva, such luminaries as Quincy Jones, Sheryl Crow, Joe Jackson, Gilberto Gil, Katie Melua and hundreds of others will fill the stages at this annual celebration of music.
Certainly one of the factors cited by so many performers is the Festival's consistently stellar sound. For 22 years, official sound provider Meyer Sound has been an intrinsic part of the Montreux Jazz Festival's sound, bringing a veritable battalion of systems large and small to cover each of its many venues. Montreux has also seen the debut of some of Meyer Sound's most acclaimed products, including MILO, MICA and M'elodie line array loudspeakers, as well as the MJF-212A stage monitor that was named after the Festival.
This year marks the Montreux debut of Meyer Sound's new UPQ-1P wide coverage loudspeaker. UPQ-1P will serve infill duties for the powerful MILO and 700-HP subwoofer system at the Festival's flagship Auditorium Stravinski, where MJF-212A stage monitors will support performers including Gnarls Barkley and Alicia Keys.
Yael Naïm and João Bosco will be performing through a MICA and 700-HP system at Miles Davis Hall, while the M'elodie systems at the late-night Studio 41 and Montreux Jazz Café will keep the beat pumping until sunup. The MICA system at Music in the Park will deliver bands and ensemble groups for the crowds relaxing on the lawn. Meyer Sound's Galileo(tm) loudspeaker management system provides complex system DSP and control throughout the Festival.
Swiss-based Skynight and LPS have been enlisted to supply the audio equipment, coordinated by Niveau 2 Mediasystems SA. The systems are designed by Martin Reich of TonstudiosZ Audioconsulting and the audio requirements are handled by Sound Coordinator, Pierre-André Aebischer and Eddy Broquet; while Audio Services Pascal Menghini provides technical support.
"We have worked with Meyer Sound for more than 20 years and needless to say, we have had much success with its equipment," says Aebischer. "The sound regulations in Switzerland are quite strict, and we have to constantly pay close attention to our levels. The Meyer arrays are very focused, and using the Galileo DSP allows us to achieve a very consistent and even coverage."
Meyer Sound...www.meyersound.com
