As Montreux Jazz Festival marks its 50th anniversary in 2016, Meyer Sound can claim 30 years’ collaboration with one of the world’s most important music festivals.
‘Sound really mattered to Claude Nobs,’ says Meyer Sound CEO, John Meyer, of the festival’s late founder. ‘I remember distinctly when he came to me and asked how we could make the festival sound better. He had a curiosity about sound, and a real desire to create unique and extraordinary experience for both the artists and audiences.’
The 2016 MJF line-up includes Muse, Herbie Hancock, Neil Young, Santana, Quincy Jones, Robben Ford and Slayer, indicating both the variety of is content and the broad demands made of its sound systems. Meyer Sound has periodically used the event to introduce new technology – including a series of premium stage monitors named in honour of the festival, launched with the MJF-212 in 2006. This year’s news is the ‘powerful yet petite’ MJF-208, which brings the MJF technology to venues and tours where space is limited. The twin-driver design yields excellent sound quality and impressive headroom despite the small footprint.
‘Montreux Jazz Festival has played an important part in our product development history,’ says Executive VP, Helen Meyer. ‘Through our research and development in sound technology, we are able to bring the sound quality of the festival to a new level each year – and, at the same time, to receive valuable feedback from the festival professionals and artists. What I love is that the real beneficiaries of this great collaboration are the audiences who come to hear great music in one of the world’s most beautiful settings.’
Lyon and Leopard, members of Meyer Sound’s Leo Family of line arrays, power the sound at Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux Jazz Lab and Music in the Park, supporting a diverse range of artists. Nearly 500 Meyer Sound loudspeakers serve festival venues as diverse as clubs, bars and intimate shows on trains and boats.
More: www.meyersound.com
