News

Another long standing client of M32 is the ITV hit show Dancing On Ice. Now in it's 4th show, once again M32 has supplied rigging services to Wes Moore the shows Technicial Director. M32 now in its 3rd series of the show always looks forward to the show. With M32's Adrian 'Paddy' Neilly who is an Ice hockey referee in his spare time, also working as a rigger on the show. I'm sure this show will again provide some interesing jobs for M32 as the weeks go on till the final on 22nd March.

April 2008

M32 Audio & Lighting has started working with some of the UK's leading companies World Leading Lighting Company PRG Europe and The Award Winning Rigging Company Summit Steel. PRG are without any introduction, one of the busiest companies in the lighting hire world. M32's Adrian 'Paddy' Neilly has carried out a number of jobs for PRG over the past few mouths and will be seen on some more over the next few months.

The Award Winning and probably the fastest moving Rigging Company in the UK Summit Steel have used M32's Adrian 'Paddy' Neilly for a number of dates on the Sinatra Tour of the UK. Summit Steel are the house rigging company at the O2 Arena which has seen some of the best shows in the UK through its doors in the past months, as well as The Royal Albert Hall.

The past year has been a great year for M32 in the Freelance Crew Market with again Adrian 'Paddy' being hired as a rigger on The Famous ITV Show 'Dancing On Ice' & Sky's 'Are You Smarter Than A 10 Yr Old'. Both Jobs were carried out for Wes Moore of Global Alliance the Production Manager of both shows.

Robe UK supplies Butlin’s Skegness
16.8.2004
Robe UK has supplied M32 Audio and Lighting with a complete new moving light rig for installation for a major upgrade at The Reds Theatre on the site of Butlin’s, Skegness – one of the UK’s most popular holiday destinations in Britain’s liveliest seaside resort. The new moving lights include four Robe ColorSpot 250s, six Wash 250s and 6 Scan 575s, chosen for their reliability and great value.

The theatre’s capacity is 2,000 and it entertains up to 3,000 people daily during the peak holiday season, with the lighting rig in constant use. M32’s Adrian Neilly explains that having used Robe fixtures for many club, pub and bar installations, they had no hesitation recommending them for this installation, knowing they would be used heavily, “The build quality is excellent, they are very robust, the price is excellent plus there’s the great service from Robe UK and the 2 year warranty – we couldn’t go wrong” he states. He also thinks Robe easily out-performs any other comparable fixtures currently on the market.

Robe UK made several fixtures available in advance of the deal allowing Neilly to demo them in situ to Butlin’s technical manager Nick Owen, so he could judge hands-on if they were the right fixtures for the job. Once he’d seen them in action, it was an easy decision.

Entertainment is central to the whole Butlin’s ethos, and the Reds Theatre is used for wide gamut of performances. During the season, these are geared towards demanding, high-energy world of children’s live entertainments. Out of season – October to May - the site is popular for adult-orientated breaks including 70s and 80s music weekends, etc, when the facility hosts bands and discos.

It was the first time Nick Owen has used Robe, but it won’t be the last he enthuses, “The Robes are just so much brighter than our previous moving lights. Obviously we needed a good selection of dynamic effects as well, to cater for the variety of performances staged here”. There’s also a selection of generic lights and an Avo Pearl console, operated by the Butlin’s in-house tech crew.

A Note about Butlins Skegness

Skegness was the original Butlin's holiday centre opened by Billy Butlin in 1936 on a 200 acre site, with capacity for 1000 people. It served as a naval base during the war, but has always prospered as a holiday destination. The camp’s latest refurbishment was in 1999 when over 1,000 new apartments were added. It now has 7,500 beds and employs 300 full time and 1,000 seasonal staff. It has its own caravan park for over 500 privately owned static vans. One of the original 1936 chalets is now preserved as a Grade 2 listed building.

For more press information on Robe UK, please call Louise Stickland on 01865 202679, 07831 329888, e-mail:louise@loosplat.com.

The Warehouse



Venue: The Warehouse
Location: Bristol, UK
Venue-type: Bar / restaurant
Loudspeaker system:
TXD series
Impact series

TXD loudspeaker systems have been installed throughout The Warehouse, a student-only club and bar/restaurant complex on Bristol's waterfront.

An increasingly common sight in clubs and bars around the world, Turbosound TXD systems have developed a strong reputation for sound quality and value, with system design company M32 Audio & Lighting, installing some twenty TXD loudspeakers at The Warehouse. M32's installation also includes Turbosound Impact 50 loudspeakers, deployed in the venue's bar and VIP areas.

The internal structure of The Warehouse is focused around a main ground-level dance floor and bar area, with multiple mezzanine levels above, and the venue also includes the El Puerto restaurant. Apart from the sub-bass enclosures, all the loudspeakers have been ceiling-flown, with the majority of the units hidden amongst the venue's wooden beams. M32 has deployed a combination of four TXD-151 systems and two TXD-215 low-frequency enclosures for the main ground-level dance floor, complemented by two TXD-121's in the adjoining bar area, and with a further TXD-121 for DJ monitoring. The various mezzanine levels include a second dance floor - equipped with TXD-121's and TXD-118 subs - and an additional bar, which features four Impact 50 units. A chill-out zone on the uppermost mezzanine is also equipped with Impact 50's. M32 equipped the El Puerto restaurant with four TXD-081 systems, plus two TSB-110 sub-bass units, with eight Impact 50 speakers - configured across two zones - used as fills throughout the restaurant. And to ensure no-one need feel deprived of quality music wherever they are in the venue, even the toilets feature Impact 50 systems, delayed to match the restaurant's main system!

Jerey Denning, of Bristol-based M32 Audio & Lighting, commented:
"Our brief for this project was to arrive at a system that could provide a high quality, impressive-sounding solution at a sensible price, and Turbosound's TXD products have proved perfectly suited to the task - they really do sound phenomenal for the budget. The Warehouse is an out and out student venue, and has to cater for a huge spread of music types and styles. With requirements ranging from different club nights to private parties in the restaurant area, and with each event needing its own sound, it was imperative that we came up with a flexible and capable, multi-purpose system.The acoustics of the multi-mezzanine format did present us with a few challenges, although these were solved by carefully time-aligning between the floors and adjusting the relative levels to suit."

The size of the TXD systems is a further advantage, making a visually unobtrusive install much easier, while the little Impact 50's simply disappear from sight mounted up in the beams. We also had to make sure that the user interface was kept as straightforward as possible, and we have utilised AudiaSOLO DSP units, particularly for the restaurant, with wall-panel access to pre-sets for different styles of music - you simply hit a button for dance, reggae, rock, etc. Overall, the project has proved to be very successful, and The Warehouse has attracted many compliments for its sound quality - even from other clubs!




Turbosound Multiplies The Stereo At Ba Orient

- QLight loudspeaker systems are forming the key element in an intelligent zoning installation at Ba Orient, a unique style of cocktail and dim sum bar in the fashionable Mermaid Quay area of Cardiff, UK

Designed and installed by M32 Audio & Lighting of Bristol, the bar's new sound system features a total of 23 Turbosound loudspeakers, distributed throughout the venue's public areas and private VIP suites.

The design was conceived by M32 Audio & Lighting's Jerey Denning, with the Ba Orient's system based on QLight™ TQ-308 and TQ-230 enclosures, deployed in multiple stereo zones, complemented by TQ-115 and TSB-110 bass units installed at floor level and built into columns along the venue's central axis. A TXD-081 loudspeaker is also installed as a monitor for the DJ station, which is incorporated into the bar. M32 Audio & Lighting used flexible rubber suspension brackets to mount all the mid-high loudspeakers, in conjunction with acoustic treatment of the ceiling void, to prevent sound from the Ba Orient being transmitted to the Italian restaurant on the floor above.

The owner's brief for the Ba Orient sound system required a different approach to the more conventional up-front bar presentation. The emphasis was on creating a relaxed wash of sound, with the capacity for higher levels during weekend evenings. With four public-area zones, and three VIP suites which can be hired out independently for private meetings the system had to be sufficiently flexible to provide some of the zones, particularly the VIP suites, with their individual choice of music. The system is configured with a total of five stereo images in the public and bar areas, using TQ-308 mid-highs, with a pair of TQ-230 mid-highs installed in each VIP suite. Control over the zoning is handled by a BIAMP AudioSolo system, using four Select 8 control panels to give localised control over levels and sources.

Jerey Denning, of M32 Audio & Lighting, explained his approach: "The Ba Orient comprises a long main room, approximately 20 metres long by less than 10 wide, and to achieve the optimum quality throughout, we designed the system to have a stereo image at every four metres down the room. Each stereo pair of TQ-308 enclosures has a supporting TQ-115 sub-bass unit, built into a cabinet at the base of each column, while the TQ-230 mid-high pairs in the VIP suites each have an associated TSB-110 bass enclosure. Configuring the system in this way has enabled us to ensure a tight stereo image within each zone, and with a very even distribution of low frequencies. The coverage patterns of the Turbosound speakers are entirely appropriate for this kind of application, and the designs make a highly significant contribution to the consistency of image and quality throughout the venue. An important factor for the Ba Orient project is that this performance can be maintained as the levels rise during an evening. Typically, the levels are set-up to rise at around 5pm, and again at 7pm, as customers leave work and the bar gets busier, with further increases later in the evening and on DJ nights. The automated levels can also be controlled manually, for example within the VIP suites, with the whole system re-setting at the end of each evening. The overall result is a very good combination of quality, control and flexibility."

Conceived primarily as a stylish, up-market cocktail bar, the Ba Orient represents a fresh concept among the venues along Cardiff's Mermaid Quay, and serves a rather different menu based on traditional Chinese dim sum.

One of the partners of the Ba Orient commented on the venue's aims and the results of M32 Audio & Lighting's installation: "We created the Ba Orient to offer a unique environment, incorporating a number of unusual design elements, including the interior aesthetics, as well as the audio and lighting technology. Our main objective was to offer our wide-ranging clientele the best quality experience, from the choice of food and drink, to the music. We can be serving business lunches at the start of our day, while creating a livelier atmosphere later in the evenings, with a DJ on weekend nights. Our sound system had to be able to handle a wide range of music, while retaining its quality and clarity at different volumes levels. With help from Jerey at M32 Audio & Lighting, we did a considerable amount of research into the kind of system we were looking for, visiting other venues and listening to a number of products. We were particularly attracted to the Turbosound loudspeakers, and they have proved to be perfectly suited to our venue. Their very clear and detailed sound does not inhibit easy conversation, even when running fairly loud. It is certainly the best sounding system we have heard in a venue of this type, and we are very satisfied with the results. Jerey worked very hard to ensure we had a design that fully met our expectations. If we ever open another venue, we will certainly go this same route again."

In addition to the Turbosound loudspeakers, M32 Audio & Lighting also installed a variety of MC2 power amplifiers, including T-1500, T-1000, T-500 and T4-250 models, plus a BIAMP AudioSolo 4-in/12-out DSP system with wall-panel volume/selectors. The DJ equipment included a Denon DN-D4000 double CD player, Technics SL1210 turntables and an Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer, with a Denon 5-disc CD carousel and a c-burn digital music system being supplied for playback duties.

AMPHI – TURBONEWS 12 – SUMMER 1995

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Skeleton Floodlights have transformed business at the Brunel Rooms in Swindon, south-west England.

One of the oldest clubs in the country, having opened in 1973, the Brunel Rooms have recently added a second club-within-a-club with a capacity of 350 and a mission to bring the latest dance music to a dedicated audience with discerning taste.

“It has been built expressly with a dance club in mind, and therefore everything has to be right,” says Jerey Denning of M32, the sound installation company. “The type of high volume music that is played here means that the emphasis is on frequency extremes, but the system copes very will with it.

“The first time I heard Turbosound was when I saw Level 42 at Glastonbury with a TMS-3 rig. I was immediately sold and I had to build a system which sounded just like that!”

The sound installation at the New Amphi, as the club is known, comprises of four TSW-718 bass bins and four flown TFL-760H skeleton Floodlights in a custom-designed horizontal format.

“The restraints of low ceiling presented difficulties with the positioning of the loud speakers. Our first idea was to use TMS-3s, in which the horn arrangement allows you to fly the cabinet horizontally rather than vertically. But it was old technology and we wanted to move forward so we started to look at the vertical skeleton Floodlight.

“After inspecting the site, we realised that the positioning of the air-conditioning ducts and elements of lighting meant we would have to fly speakers so low that anybody measuring six feet would knock themselves on the cabinets! Turbosound agreed to produce a custom horizontal configuration, which has been a great success and we don’t have a problem with head height, apart from a few places which we have covered with discreet foam barriers.”

Turbosound’s presence at the club is not restricted to the dancefloor. There are TXD-100s in the bar area, and the chill-out bar runs a separate jazz or soul programme distinct from the main system.

DISCO MIRROR & licensed design – July 1996

Cheeks Aldershot

Aldershot is not the best town in the world in which to start a fight. Perhaps in recognition of this, when Andrew and John Searchfield decided to transform the town’s former fleapit cinema into a modern nightclub, they opted to provide a major distraction, a clear incentive to focus the mind on the task at hand. The name Cheeks, referring as it does to the gluteus maximus rather than maxillary muscles, sends a strong signal in itself.

This blatantly sexual theme is continued within by Andrew Searchfield’s interior design, The walls being muralled extensively with post impressionist nether parts in, were this not the home of the British Army, one might say, gay profusion. The emphasis on sex does not end there. This club is equipped with an impressive array of Martin Professional and Mach lighting and sound equipment; one of a growing number of these attractive rental/purchase packages which have been cleverly put together to bring the latest audio and lighting technology within the reach of smaller clubs. Not that this club is particularly small, having a capacity of 800, split across two levels and two dance-floors.

They clearly expect to be busy, maybe the more so because their nearest late-licensed rival, the Royal Military a.k.a. the Rat Pit is the home en masse of the parachute Regiment. A veritable redoubt for the battle hardened, the latter would prove let us say challenging to the more demure youngsters who inhabit this part of the Farnham Triangle. That the club is equipped to succeed then is in no doubt (check the tech spec at the end). Main technical installation contractors were Bristol-based M32. they it was who were responsible for the latest upgrade to the Brunel Rooms in Swindon, previously reported in these pages, and here as there, M32’s Jerry Denning has demonstrated both a sure touch and safe pair of hands. The installation of the Mach speakers, the Ecler PAM amplification and mixers, Cloud comp/limiters and all has been thoughtfully and thoroughly carried out. As is his habit, Jerry Denning has devoted considerable care to ensuring that the two DJ booths remain feedback free, which is important since the staple fare is vinyl-based dance music, from jungle to Techno. That the speakers are man enough for the job is evident as soon as they are powered up, and the overall sound benefits from both careful speaker placement and the substantially unaltered surfaces of the club. This is not a mould-breaking venue. It is, however and interesting and relevant example of what is going on out there in the sticks, and of what can be achieved by capable people on a limited budget. To say different would be, well, cheeky.