This week, Confetti had a visit from Martin Audio, as part of a guest lecture and workshop on the science and use of their PA systems.
Martin Audio was founded in 1971 by Dave Martin, a pioneer in the live and touring music industry. Having recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary, the multi-award-winning company has been passing on knowledge to the students of Confetti. In two-part session’s, Paul Connaughton gave a guest lecture before leading activities in the afternoon, where our students got hands-on experience putting together a rig and optimising it to suit our Metronome venue.
Martin Audio is responsible for the PA Systems at the world-famous Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, where their patented technology and unique systems allows for engineers to maximise the audience experience. This opportunity to learn the programming of such a high-quality system, whilst picking the mind of an experienced engineer adds real industry value to the student experience.
“At Martin Audio, we want to ensure that over time, there is students leaving their education with the confidence in these systems and basic foundations to be able to get out into the industry and be comfortable with these systems in real life” – Paul Connaughton, Martin Audio Product Support Engineer.
“It was great having Paul from Martin Audio up to walk students through the amazing technology that Martin Audio offer in their sound systems. As our second year BSc students develop their knowledge on live event technology, gaining an understanding about the science behind the technology and hearing it first-hand from a product specialist as experienced as Paul, is invaluable to their development as the live sound engineers of the future.” – Rob Baldock, Senior Lecturer in Event Production.
We spoke to a few of our students that were present on the day, to find out what they enjoyed and learnt from the experience:
“It was a great day with Martin Audio, looking at different systems. Learning about different configurations and how they work and how to optimise them to different spaces.” – Jack Thubbron, BSc Event Production.
“I enjoyed learning about how you can use a ‘Hard Avoid’, behind the back of a speaker or on a big stage. This can be helpful at festivals where you can have noise complaints, so this reduces the risk of that.” – Erin Whiteman
If you’re interested in studying at Confetti, book a place at one of our Open Days!
