Beginning in Austria and Switzerland, and building up to 5,000-12,000 capacity venues in Germany, Kraftklub have been on the road with their In Schwarz Tour 2015 – and a Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker system operated by Berlin-based Complete Audio.
Kraftklub has followed their platinum-selling Mit K album and club tour with the In Schwarz second album – which sets a new milestone in the young band’s career. The blend of indie beats, punk rock and rap with the thoughtful German lyrics has attracted fans across all genres. Comments from the band and the audience, coupled with posts on social networking sites, indicate that the tour has already been a great success and acoustically has left no wish unfulfilled.
With a need to deliver a high-energy performance, Complete Audio MD André Rauhut turned to Martin Audio’s MLA for a scalable sound system that would fit all venue sizes.
‘For the action-packed show and the powerful sound of Kraftklub we are using a 20-box Martin Audio MLA system and four MLD Downfills, which are an important part of the MLA system,’ says Complete Audio System Engineer, Nils Uhthoff.
The two downfills, which are hung at the base, increase the efficiency of the entire multi-cellular array set-up because they can provide up to 15m throw in the region of the first rows. Providing LF extension are 14 Martin Audio MLX subs. Any delay positions and necessary out fill is handled by up to a further 20 MLA Compact elements with an easy and barely audible transition to achieve perfect EQ optimisation.
‘With the Martin Audio Display 2 software, I can change the angle of the PA in each venue to achieve the best audio for the audience,’ Uhthoff explains. ‘The software supports me perfectly in every hall calculation. At Complete Audio we have challenged ourselves on this tour to ensure every note is right – and the Martin Audio MLA technology fulfils that goal perfectly.’
‘Those who know Kraftklub’s music regonise that the guys are rocking the venue from the start with full-on sound,’ Uhthoff adds.
FOH engineer Nico Lindner mixes the sound on two Midas Pro 2 consoles – the second mixing desk in a support capacity, for use as necessary. Monitor engineer Kai Gerner works on a Yamaha QL5, mixing Shure IEMs. But Complete Audio have also supplied ten Martin Audio LE1500 stage wedges as well as a Martin Audio – WS218X drum fill.
Uhthoff and PA colleagues, Thomas Birnbaum and Martin Eckert, have made a detailed plan of how the PA components can be removed as quickly as possibly after the show. In order save time and have a stable transport device for the MLA frames, a special case has been developed with Complete Audio, containing either two MLA frames or a mix of one and an MLA Compact frame. Particularly in large halls where the Martin Audio MLA Compact is used as an out fill array, this solution proves to be particularly effective: ‘This prevents uneven load distribution, which makes a half-empty case tilt and tip when travelling over longer distances.’
More: www.martin-audio.com
