FLEXPOINT ON DUTY FOR TOWNER GALLERY’S TURNER PRIZE PRESENTATION
When rapper, Tinie Tempah, presented this year’s prestigious Turner Prize to winner, Jesse Darling, he did so through Martin Audio’s new FlexPoint portable coaxial loudspeakers, from a lectern mic.
Hence the 300 or so people assembled in Eastbourne’s Winter Garden—part of the Towner Gallery—were given an exceptional audio experience thanks to Missing Link, who were working for, and under the instruction of Identity Global, and specified the PA.
The Towner Eastbourne was nominated to host the prestigious prize for contemporary art by the Tate Gallery as part of their centenary celebrations. Also based in Eastbourne, Missing Link work frequently at the Towner, but for this event—held in the Winter Garden’s Floral Hall, which forms part of the complex—director Michael Vermaak was taking no chances with the audio solution.
“I knew it had to be right so although we had already used FlexPoint on a number of projects we first carried out tests.” As a result he was confident in deploying a pair of pole mounted FP8 either side of the stage, with a pair of the smaller FP6 at front of stage for nearfill and another pair of FP6 for outfills.
"We are looking forward to showing clients the new system and how great such a small speaker can sound.
To do justice to the background music through the entire frequency range Missing Link deployed a pair of SXC115 15in cardioid subs adjacent to each other, discreetly concealed behind the set.
Michael Vermaak says that by running the system through Martin Audio’s new DX0.4 system controller they can gain both speed and optimisation. “This is very impressive as we also use an FP6 /SX110 sub configuration for smaller conferences, and have all the presets built in. This has been a really popular combination, and the subs represent excellent value for money.”
Missing Link’s quest for a next generation conference system had led them to the FlexPoint solution after they had sworn they would stay in the active speaker domain. Their previous system had served them well over the previous decade but was nearing end of life.
“We knew we needed to act, and although going back to passive systems was not on our radar, we had used Martin Audio’s Wavefront Precision, BlacklineX and TORUS, cross-hired in from Sussex Events, on many occasions and had always been happy with the sound. When it came to purchase, we looked at BlacklineX and CDD but of course FlexPoint was the new thing and a bit more premium for a corporate production company such as ourselves.”
Missing Link could immediately see its USPs. “One of the things I’ve noticed about FlexPoint is the extra level we’re able to get out of the system. The Turner Prize was run entirely off lectern mics—which we don’t normally do—and I managed to get really good level out of it that I’ve not experienced before,” said Michael Vermaak, who was mixing the sound at front of house. “A similar thing happened the previous week in Leeds, and again I was pleasantly surprised the level we could get with very little tuning.”
The Turner Prize, for which the winner received a cheque for £25,000, was covered by the BBC who took a live feed from the sound desk.
Thus Michael Vermaak and his team were able to reflect on a highly satisfactory outcome in which FlexPoint displayed detail, clarity and even coverage. “We received many positive comments about the quality of the sound afterwards,” he confirms. “We are looking forward to showing clients the new system and how great such a small speaker can sound.”