•home
Photo Files
(Click for high-res
JPG images)
 |
 |
PR AGENCY CONTACT:
Clyne Media, Inc.
Tel: 615.662.1616
Email: eaw@clynemedia.com
Web: www.clynemedia.com/EAW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EAW® MicroWedge Stage Monitors Rock Coachella
Whitinsville, Massachusetts, USA, July 6, 2011 – The three-day Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival annually attracts crowds of up to 70,000 a day to see more than 180 international artists perform on six stages at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, in the California desert. To meet the requirements of the artists performing on the stages in the Mojave and Gobi tents, Rat Sound, the production sound provider for the Coachella Festival for the past eleven years, this year supplied two complete systems comprising a total of 28 EAW® MicroWedge12 (MW12) Stage Monitors.
“We provide the artists with what they want rather than what we think they should have, and we offer three premium monitor systems,” stated Dave Rat, Rat Sound Systems founder and co-developer of the MicroWedge line with EAW. “The sound quality, volume level and feedback stability of the MicroWedge are exceptional and meet or exceed the competing products.”
Some of the artists appearing on the Mojave and Gobi stages and benefiting from the EAW MicroWedges included Monarchy, Raphael Saadiq, Neon Trees, Boys Noize, Steve Angello, Bloody Beetroots, and many, many others. “Paul van Dyk used two MicroWedge12’s on tripods, with six more behind him configured as a subwoofer,” added Rat.
Cage the Elephant, performing on the Outdoor Theater stage at Coachella this year, made use of their own MicroWedge12, MicroWedge15 and MicroSub monitors. Space is at a premium for the band, which has been touring with just a bus and a trailer, according to monitor engineer Jay Rigby. ”The wedges I had out before were about 150 pounds apiece and I had four amp racks. The same package with MicroWedges is one compact amp rack and the wedges are less than half the weight. The stagehands love them because they’re so light that you can pick two of them up, one in either hand.”
More importantly, he said, “I was able to get the SPL out of them that I needed with drums and vocals right off the bat.” There is certainly plenty of gain before feedback, as he reported: “I got my dB meter out the other day and in front of a pair of MW15s it was 115 dB, A-weighted. That’s somewhere between spaceship and Armageddon levels!”
Rigby has been enjoying a number of MicroWedge features as the band’s tour has progressed. “The cool thing that I like is the three different processor settings,” he said. The White setting offers a flat response, Gray introduces some high frequency roll-off and Blue is custom tailored to allow maximum SPL when the wedges are placed near vocal microphones. “I’m using the Gray, with a little bit of graphic EQ on it to get the tonality that I need. But the Gray gave me a bit more of the high end I needed to get the vocals on top of everything else.”
“Another advantage of the MicroWedges is that they are so compact and low profile”, he continued. “Our lead singer runs around the stage a lot, so it’s great having these low profile wedges; it gives him a lot more room to move around downstage.” Also useful, he said, are the MicroLegs, which allow a wedge to be tilted for broader stage coverage. “Because our lead singer is all over the place I need to be able to get the wedges propped up so they’re shooting more across the stage. The legs just screw right in and—done. That’s a really cool feature.”
For more information, please visit www.eaw.com
###
Photo File 1: EAW_Coachella_CTE_Singer.JPG
Photo Caption 1: Cage the Elephant lead singer Matthew Schultz, on stage at 2011’s Coachella festival. Surrounding Schultz’s feet are MicroWedge12 and MicroWedge15 Stage Monitors from EAW®, which the band uses on tour.Photo File 2: EAW_Coachella_CTE_Drummer.JPG
Photo Caption 2: Cage the Elephant drummer Jared Champion, on stage at 2011’s Coachella festival. Monitoring is handled by EAW® MicroWedge12 Stage Monitors and a MicroSub.
About EAW
Founded in 1978 and celebrating over 30 years of excellence, Eastern Acoustic Works® (EAW®) is a global leader in producing high-performance professional audio equipment trusted by the most discerning professionals for every possible sound reinforcement application.About LOUD Technologies Inc.
As the corporate parent for world-recognized brands Alvarez®, Ampeg®, Blackheart®, Crate®, EAW®, Mackie® and Martin Audio®, LOUD engineers, markets and distributes a wide range of professional audio and musical instrument products worldwide. Our product lines include sound reinforcement systems, analog and digital mixers, guitar and bass amplifiers, and acoustic and electric guitars. These products can be found in professional and project recording studios, video and broadcast suites, post-production facilities, sound reinforcement applications including houses of worship, stadiums, nightclubs, retail locations, and on major musical concert tours. The Company distributes its products primarily through retail dealers, mail order outlets and installed sound contractors. The Company has its primary operations in the United States with operations in the United Kingdom, Canada and China. For more information, please see our website: www.loudtechinc.com.
EAW is a registered trademark of LOUD Technologies Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
EAW • One Main Street • Whitinsville, MA 01588 • USA
Internet: www.eaw.com
All Rights Reserved.