The company's co-founder Helen Meyer, says: "We've been a festival sponsor for three-quarters of Meyer Sound's existence and, in addition to the challenge of providing high-quality sound for such a wide variety of artists and venues, it is very satisfying to feel that we can contribute to an outstanding experience for music fans at these festivals."
The largest sound system will be in the 3,500-seat Auditorium Stravinski and will feature 20 MILO high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers, supported by four MICA cabinets, eight 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers and five M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers. Other Meyer Sound loudspeakers will also be used at the Auditorium, including the UM-1P narrow coverage and USM-1P extended range narrow coverage stage monitors, MSL-4 horn-loaded long-throw and DS-4P horn-loaded mid-bass loudspeakers, USW-1P compact subwoofer and UPA-2P compact narrow coverage loudspeaker.
Miles Davis Hall will feature the largest MICA complement, with 16 of the new cabinets matched by six 700-HP units and a supplementary selection of loudspeakers similar to that at Stravinsky Hall. However, the Miles Davis Hall system will be driven by an LD-3 compensating line driver.
The Parc Vernex outdoor stage will be the other venue sporting MICA cabinets. Four 700-HP subs, plus UPA-2P and UM-1 loudspeakers complete the complement, with another LD-3 to drive the system. Smaller line array systems will be found in the Casino Barrière venue and the Workshop stage. Other venues with Meyer Sound systems include the Rouvenaz, Montreux Jazz Café, Montreux Jazz Club and even Press areas.
Patrick Vogelsang, the festival's technical director for audio and also managing director of Niveau 2 Mediasystems, Meyer Sound's Swiss distributor, is charged with providing sound systems capable of reproducing everything from solo piano to big bands to full electric fusion groups. For him, Meyer Sound's versatility is key. "Meyer Sound is such an ideal choice for the festival as their loudspeakers can provide intelligibility to announcers, sweet sound for Oscar Peterson or Bobby McFerrin, and clean, massive power for Garbage or Alice Cooper. To say that the Montreux Jazz Festival has benefited from the superb sound it has enjoyed as a result of Meyer Sound's sponsorship would be an understatement."
(Cheryl Constable)
