Supplied by the city's own KLS Light and Sound, the new Meyer Sound MILO system demonstrates a heightened commitment on the part of the company - a long-time supplier to the Skopje festival - to offer the same sound quality as heard at Europe's better-known jazz meccas, such as Montreux. "We selected MILO because Meyer Sound systems are famous around the world for their sonic excellence," said Bosko Mangarovski, executive manager of KLS. "Meyer is accepted by all the artists who come here, without reservation, and having the MILO system sets us apart as a prestige provider in the region."
The initial impetus for the purchase came from company owner and general manager Petar Georgievski, who was convinced by MILO systems he'd heard at an earlier jazz festival in Slovenia. Compared to the former conventional solutions, Skopje's new MILO system proved remarkably adept at covering the wide, horseshoe-shaped seating area inside the festival's main venue, the 1,500-seat Universal Hall, say KLS. As part of inaugurating their new system, KLS called on Hungarian-based Meyer Sound specialist Karoly Molnar to assist in configuring the system for optimum effect by modeling it and predicting its performance with Meyer Sound MAPP Online acoustical prediction software. With no suitable rigging points available, the arrays of four standard MILO cabinets plus one MILO 120 extended coverage high-power curvilinear array loudspeakers were suspended inside scaffolds on either side of the stage. Two additional MILO 120 units were placed on the stage lip for front-fill, with sextet of 700-HP ultra high-power subwoofers adding depth to bass notes. At the front end, an LD-3 compensating line driver tailored the signals for each zone.
"We were extremely pleased with the results," says Mangarovski in evaluating the MILO sound. "The sound was well defined in every frequency range, as if MILO were an oversized hi-fi system. Even the most particular audience members were pleased, and, at the conclusion of the event, festival director Oliver Belopeta, made a public expression of his appreciation to KLS and Meyer Sound for a job well done."
During the festival performances, Mangarovski kept a close eye on artist satisfaction while working as monitor engineer behind the stage-side Allen&Heath ML5000 mixer. Out at FOH, Dorian Jovanovic mixed for the audience using a Soundcraft Series 5 board. Following the jazz festival, the next outing for the new MILO/700-HP system was a large concert by Macedonia's hottest band, ska-flavored rockers Superhiks. Mangarovski reports the sound was louder but with no compromise in quality or definition adding, "with three 700-HPs per side, we filled the hall with a lot of power. We also used those subs for a techno party, and those guys who were always complaining about not having enough punch in the stomach say they have it now."
Billing itself as a "creative and rental company," KLS offers turnkey production technology packages for performances and public events of all kinds. In addition to musical concerts, KLS supplies AV technology and logistical support for corporate presentations, live broadcast shows, fashion shows, and sporting events.
(Lee Baldock)
