MLA makes its mark with Marisa Monte
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Headliners included Marisa Monte, Sandy, Mano Brown and the legendary Gilberto Gil - but it was the influence of Marisa Monte’s sound engineer, Daniel Carvalho, that brought about the change from the originally specified festival system.
He had been piloting the mix on the famous singer’s Portas tour through an MLA, provided by predominant rental company Gabisom (who also service Rock in Rio). Coolritiba was part of their 100-show tour schedule where Marisa Monte was top of the bill.
Daniel Carvalho reports: “The festival had requested [another brand], but since we were headliners, and they were renting from Gabisom as well, we asked if they could switch to MLA for the festival.” And so, they shipped out the boxes to complement the touring rig.
“For many [engineers] it was their first time with Martin Audio and all techs loved the sound. The rap guys didn’t ask for additional subs and the promoter himself said he wants the same set-up for next year. Everybody agreed that it was the best sound ever heard at the site, including the Gabisom crew.
Daniel Carvalho is well qualified to have recommended the system. He has been handling Marisa Monte’s live mix since 2015 and was a studio engineer prior to that, during which time he has become an eight-time Latin Grammy Award winner as mastering engineer and mixer.
He first encountered MLA when mixing a band at Rock in Rio in 2015. “Someone from Martin Audio showed me the DISPLAY software and introduced me to the system.” From that day on he was sold. “When the Portas tour came around, I told Gabi from Gabisom, that I would love to try the Martin Audio system. It was love at first hear. At a stadium in Belo Horizonte, Marisa`s manager came to front-of-house and asked, ‘What happened today? The voice is so clear”. I told him it was our new PA and he said ok let’s use this one from now on.”
At Coolritiba, where a crowd of around 20,000 fans assembled, the main PA was rigged as an L/C/R system with 15 MLA and a single MLD down-fill at the base of each hang. Out-fills comprised seven MLA plus an MLD down-fill; there was a delay fill of six further MLA, with six MLA Compact as front-fills. The rig, which Daniel Carvalho also helped design, incorporated a generous array of 32 MLX subwoofers arranged in castellated broadside configuration.
“Thanks go to Gabi for placing this much-loved PA in our hands,” Daniel says in conclusion, “and to Josiel Silva and Diego Talasca for rigging everything so expertly.”
