Battle Of The Bands A Winnig Formula For Martin Audio & Focusrite posted: 31/03/2020
Buckinghamshire Music Trust (BMT's) Battle of the Bands (BOTB) contest for young aspiring musicians was this year blessed by having two of the world's leading pro audio manufacturers provide a top tier concert touring spec. By being able to broadcast their sound through a premier touring PA, on a Dante backbone, will have taken the 12 bands competing in the final into new territory.
The two High Wycombe-based manufacturers concerned were Martin Audio, and Focusrite Pro, both now under the umbrella of parent company, Focusrite plc.
It was Stephen Button, Focusrite's EMEA Channel Marketing Executive, who established the relationship with Buckinghamshire Music Trust (BMT) several years ago. It started when he helped them out as a local musician with their monthly event Guitari Lounge, an open mic night created for under-18-year-olds.
BMT evolved from teaching young people traditional' instruments such as trumpet, flute or violin to now providing a programme called Hi-Gain-an after-school activity for musicians in bands, or self-taught musicians wishing to gain experience of playing in a group. The programme offers young people the opportunity to develop their performance, song-writing and music technology skills on a weekly basis. The jewel in the crown for these students is the annual Battle of The Bands event, now in its sixth year, which is held at the Wycombe Swan Old Town Hall. It is an opportunity for these young musicians to experience a professional setup with large stage and big audiences.
In recent years Focusrite's interest has increased as a sponsor and prize-giver, with Button himself participating on the panel of judges in 2019. When Focusrite plc made the acquisition of Martin Audio late last year, he could see an opportunity to help BMT improve the Battle of the Bands event even further. It became clear that we could not only provide prizes but offer a professional live sound PA through Martin Audio, he said. The other great part was that we could also record all the bands using the Focusrite gear over a Dante network.
We could give a parting gift to all 12 finalists. Each would receive their live tracks for them to do what they want with-whether it be mixing at a later date in their DAW of choice or using them as practice tools to see how they could improve their craft.
In planning the event, Focusrite's Head of Product, Will Hoult was soon talking to Ben Tucker, Martin Audio Product Support Engineer, aware that all kit would need to be Dante-compliant: Ben and I were really keen to deliver an experience for the bands which mirrored the setups from some of the biggest acts around the world-like the RedNet preamps used on the Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways tour and the Martin Audio system that is being utilised in tours and festivals. Tucker specified the Martin Audio equipment and piloted the house mix on a DiGiCo SD12-96 while colleague Nigel Meddemmen was down in monitor world, aboard a DiGiCo SD11.
Martin Audio provided a combination of their optimised line arrays WPM system with four boxes per side groundstacked and run in optimum 1-box resolution. These were mounted on a universal bracket, above two SXC118 subwoofers per-side. Tucker sent a L/R signal from the mixing console into both amplifiers (a Martin Audio iKON iK81 driving the WPM and an iK42 for the subs), summing the inputs for the subs, so they were running in mono.
Meanwhile, a single CDD-LIVE 8 at FOH enabled him to communicate with Meddemmen on stage, while the latter used his LE1200 listen wedge as foldback for FOH. In total there were six LE1200 floor monitors on stage for the band members-three mixes across the front, with a paired centre mix. There were also two floating' upstage LE1200s that were flexible when required and a pair of LE200 wedges for the drummer.
While Martin Audio partner RG Jones supplied the mics, Focusrite fielded a RedNet MP8R x3, delivering 24 channels of high-quality, remote controlled preamps at stage with integrated A-D converting to Dante; RedNet D64R - one each at FOH and stage, to provide 64 channels of MADI>Dante>MADI conversion to integrate the two DiGiCo consoles; Red 4Pre and Red 8Pre - Thunderbolt audio interfaces with 32x32 Dante I/O each, to allow a primary and backup recording onto MacBook Pros, for recording onto Pro Tools. The Dante network was also used to facilitate comms back and forth.
Commenting on the network, Ben Tucker stated, Both Nigel and I have used DiGiCo extensively and the integration into the Focusrite Dante network was easy, as we used RedNet D64R MADI-Dante converters for both consoles; and of course our speakers sit nicely on the Dante network as well.
It was hard work for the judges, which included legendary record producer and engineer John Leckie. After a search that began with 30 young bands from around the county being whittled down to 12 for the Final, Doppler Effect-a trio, all in their mid-teens-emerged as winners. In addition to taking away a Scarlett 18i20 3rd Generation as the winners' prize, the band also won two days recording time at Bucks New University which specialises in music production.
Ben Tucker confirmed that from a technical perspective the event had been an unqualified success. The Martin Audio and Focusrite kit paired very well, he said. Being able to come out of the consoles straight into a MADI converter to get them onto a Dante network suited us down to the ground. The Red 8Pre in our drive rack was used for Smaart measurements and playback, and clocking wasn't an issue at all which is normally the weak link in fully digital systems.
So overall I was extremely satisfied with the outcome of the entire system. We wanted to give the aspiring young musicians a taste
Europe Stories
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
04/12/2025
The ninth series of Dancing with the Stars returns to screens in early
2026 and will be proudly sponsored by Hyundai
Filling our Sunday evenings with glitz an...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2025 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2025 is a Single Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-t...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2025 is a Single Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and ...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
03/12/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, Thomson's Young Journalist of the year 2025 is hoping the accolade will be a springboard to more cross-border collaboration between ...
03/12/2025
For the fourth time, Bad Bunny is the most-streamed Wrapped artist on Spotify gl...
03/12/2025
The wait is over. It's time to look back at the audio that defined your year with 2025 Spotify Wrapped, our annual celebration for fans, artists, creators, ...
03/12/2025
Por cuarta vez, Bad Bunny es el Top Artista Global de Wrapped en Spotify, con 19...
03/12/2025
Spotify Wrapped is back, and as always, it's powered by the billions of streams that fans around the world delivered throughout the year. From the artists w...
03/12/2025
Spotify Wrapped is the moment when hundreds of millions of fans around the world...
03/12/2025
With more than 700 million listeners around the world turning to Spotify to soundtrack their lives, it's time to look back at the audio that defined the yea...
03/12/2025
Con m s de 700 millones de oyentes en todo el mundo usando Spotify para acompa ar su d a a d a, es momento de mirar hacia atr s y ver el audio que marc el a o....
03/12/2025
From page-turning thrillers to inspiring memoirs, audiobooks are becoming a core...
03/12/2025
Com mais de 700 milh es de ouvintes em todo o mundo recorrendo ao Spotify para embalar seu dia a dia, chega o momento de revisitar o udio que marcou o ano. Nos...
03/12/2025
Spotify Wrapped celebrates the audio that defined our year, and the annual globa...
03/12/2025
Wuppertal December 3, 2025
Riedel and Haivision Join Forces to Advance Wireless Video TransmissionRiedel Communications today announced a new partnership with...
03/12/2025
Tell us a little bit about your job I am a Digital Marketing Executive working on Paid Social, PPC, and Organic Social. I joined the team in May 2025 and am enj...
03/12/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. and VIENNA - Dec. 3, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann...
03/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Celebrate 2025's top Irish sporting stars with RT Sport Awards live from RT Studios on RT One and RT Player
RT pays tribute to Ror...
02/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
02/12/2025
--
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Unio...
02/12/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Will Redefine Subscribers' Quality of Experience, Lowering Churn SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 2, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today...
02/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Hollywood blockbusters The Banshees of Inisherin, Barbie and Oppenheimer make their Irish TV debut
Tune into the classics such as Love Actual...
02/12/2025
Showcasing fresh Irish storytelling and emerging talent Storyland 2025 signals a fantastic time for Irish drama
RT and F s ireann/Screen Ireland are proud to...
01/12/2025
MANCHESTER, UK - November 2025 - Announced two days before the 30th anniversary of Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe, the Oasis Live '25 tour marks t...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
Battle Of The Bands A Winnig Formula For Martin Audio & Focusrite posted: 31/03/2020 
