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The Molde Jazz Festival in late July, at 47 years one of Europe’s longest-running jazz festivals, once again saw a unique Renkus-Heinz double bill with the appearance of both models of our line array systems, along with plentiful representations from across the product range in the town’s myriad venues.
Molde, a town of 20,000 people (including Renkus-Heinz VP of International Sales Karl Brunvoll) is located on the edge of a picturesque fjord in one of Norway’s most beautiful areas. Its festival has, over the years, hosted many of the greatest names from the worlds of both jazz and rock, among them last year’s headliner Sting, plus the likes of Stevie Wonder, Branford Marsalis, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Santana and Bob Dylan, and of course well-known Scandinavian artists like guitarist Terje Rypdal and trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg. The fact that the small town’s population swells to a massive 70,000 during this week is a clear indication of its importance and popularity.
This year the main stage was graced on July 19 by a unique double bill, which saw one of the greatest names in jazz-rock history, Steely Dan, followed by Elvis Costello and musical collaborator Alain Toussaint.
MOLDE FORUM AND THE POWER OF STLA/9
The festival is unique in that it owns its own production company – Molde Forum – which was formed 17 years ago and today operates as a full-time rental/production company as well as servicing the festival. Molde Forum’s STLA/9 high power line array served the event’s main 10,000 capacity open air Romsdalsmuseet amphitheater, which hosted the headliners in a beautifully idyllic setting ringed by snow-capped mountains.
The sound system comprised 12 STLA/9 self-powered line array modules a side and a total of 10 self-powered DR18-2 dual 18 inch subwoofers and two ST4/94 front fills, all controlled by XTA processors. Twin delay towers featured four PN102/LAs and two DR-18-2s per side.
The stage was mixed on a Digidesign Venue with FOH handled on a Midas Heritage 2000. “The STLA/9, as well as being very powerful, is easy to fly and to steer because of its 90 degree horizontal coverage,” comments general manager Jo Tore Bæverfjord. “It proved its versatility with the huge range of artists we had at the festival, including, of course, Steely Dan and Elvis Costello. “We’ve used Renkus-Heinz systems since 1991, from the birth of Molde Forum,” he explains, “and when we heard their line arrays we knew that they were what we wanted both for Molde Jazz and the other work we do all year round on classical, pop/rock and corporate shows.”
PN102/LA FOR COMPACT QUALITY
Some of the company’s first line array investment, 28 cabinets of the compact PN102LA self-powered system, is used for all the festival’s indoor concerts at the 900-seat Bjørnsonshuset Theatre. The system used consisted of 20 PN102/LAs and eight DRS18-2 subs. “It’s a special system, too,” says Bæverfjord. “Very small and easy to handle, but the 150 degree coverage means you can usually address an entire audience without side fills. We also use it as a club system with just four a side stacked on the subs, almost as you would configure a conventional system. In terms of sound quality, though, it’s like comparing colour with black and white TV; it’s staggering how far loudspeaker design has advanced in recent years. This system handles anything we expose it to – from rock to classical – with all the clarity and punch you would ever want.”
Among the festival’s more unusual venues is the elegant, modern 1,000-seat church, Molde Domkirke, built to commemorate the destruction suffered by Molde during World War II. Here, Molde Forum brought in a second ICONYX IC24 digitally steerable array to supplement the permanently installed IC24, which between them fill the long, narrow room to perfection, aided by two Genelec subwoofers.
“It works incredibly well,” says Bæverfjord. “Like most churches it’s acoustically a difficult room, but once you’ve set up the ICONYX correctly the problems almost magically disappear. It gives you a wonderful degree of control over the directivity of the sound and it’s a very musical box. We have very enthusiastic and critical audiences for these concerts and anything less than superb quality would not please them at all!”
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