This year’s annual Brighton & Hove Pride, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community that annually attracts crowds of up to 250,000 people to the Preston Park seaside resort in the UK, was supported by Capital Sound (part of the Solotech UK Group) employing a main stage system headed by Martin Audio Wavefront Precision (WPL) arrays in support of performances by headliners Christina Aguilera and Paloma Faith.
After Capital Sound deployed Martin Audio MLA arrays for Britney Spears at the event back in 2018, the enforced break caused by the pandemic had enabled the British manufacturer to further optimize its control technology. Working alongside production manager Dean Parker of Wilde Ones International Events, the sound design was based around main hangs of 18 WPL modules per side with a stage right side hang of six of the smaller WPC and a larger drop of 12 WPC elements stage left.
Maintaining continuity with the Wavefront Precision family, filling the sound at the front of the stage were eight WPS, while low-frequency extension was delivered by 20 Martin Audio SXHF218 dual 18-inch subwoofers designed in a castellated cardioid broadside array across the front of the stage. Stage monitoring comprised further Martin Audio systems in the shape of 16 LE1500 floor wedges, four SXHF218 and six TORUS T1215 constant curvature arrays.
The coverage was completed by three delay masts set 70 meters back from the stage. These comprised a further 24 WPS divided over the three positions, underpinned by three SXHF218 subs on each mast, this contained the sound within the audience area, as a fairground carousel at the rear provided a buffer between this zone and the dance tent behind.
Solotech worked alongside Robert Miller of F1 Acoustics to achieve both the onsite and offsite sound thresholds, with audio crew chief and system tech Joseph Pearce optimizing the sound in Martin Audio’s DISPLAY software. He was supported by FOH tech Alistair Hellard. Miller had taken the precaution of modelling the sound to establish proof of concept although having experienced WPL while carrying out similar duties on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, he had no qualms about sanctioning the upgrade from MLA.
As for the new deployment, Solotech senior project manager Martin Connolly states, “Although I have a balanced view, having provided an alternative system in 2019 at the request of Kylie Minogue’s sound engineer, I know wherever there is a sensitive site such as this, which manufacturer will be better! In fact we even managed to achieve superior figures with WPL than we had with MLA. Once I had explained to Dean Parker that outstanding results had been achieved at both Hyde Park and Glastonbury with WPL, he was more than happy to run with it.”
This was Pearce’s first experience driving Wavefront Precision for all hangs on an event of this size. “It worked really well,” he states. “The software-based techniques we use to reduce offsite noise levels are the same as those we use with MLA, so all the tricks Capital Sound have learned over the years at events such as BST in Hyde Park and others could be used with the WPL and WPC hangs in Preston Park.”
Stage right was the more noise sensitive area as it was closer to residences and shops, requiring constant level adjustments of both side hangs and delay hangs during the day. “In addition, as part of a site-wide strategy, all speaker hangs utilized the ‘Hard Avoid’ feature of DISPLAY 2,” Pearce notes. “This kept both our coverage and non-coverage areas clearly defined and reduces unwanted internal reflections from food and beverage vendors and other structures found at the end of audience areas.”
Following propagation tests, Pearce and Miller agreed to run the earlier acts at lower SPL levels—to obviate any complaints when the event is not at it busiest—before opening the system up to the maximum in the evening. “I knew that if we could achieve 100 dB LAeq15 or more in an area as densely populated as Brighton, not only I would happy but sound engineers would be happy too.”
Miller concludes. “The performance and configurable options of WPL meant that less time needed to be spent adjusting the system to achieve the offsite music noise level limits and more time could be spent focusing on delivering great sound levels at all stages. The WPL line array, and the professional installation and management by Capital Sound, gave us confidence that the off-site music noise level was under control at all times.”
