Georgian-born jazz and blues singing sensation, Katie Melua, has undertaken her first UK theatre tour to sell-out audiences.

Audio production company, Concert Sound, decided this would be the perfect vehicle to debut Martin Audio’s new Mini Line Array (W8LM) system. With seating capacities ranging from 1200 to 2500 — ludicrously modest considering the 19-year-old artiste’s mercurial rise — production needed the versatility of an easily-reconfigurable system that was fast to rig, fielding up to 12 enclosures a side at the larger venues (part groundstacked on Martin WLX subs, and part flown).

Explaining the decision, Concert Sound’s Tim Boyle said, “I kept hearing sound engineers say that the Martin Audio system sounded stunning and so when we specced the tour we thought the W8LM would be ideal. We have a long relationship with Martin Audio and it’s delightful to be using one of their systems again. I have known (system designer) Bill Webb for years and when we ran the Line Array up in the warehouse it bore all his hallmarks of a natural-sounding box that required no processing whatsoever.”

The tour was something of a baptism of fire for FOH sound engineer Matthew (Matt) Manasse — who would not only be sending feeds to the Martin W8LM for the first time but also marking his debut on a digital mixing desk (the Yamaha DM2000). The flexibility afforded by both set-ups he quickly grew to love.

However, the W8LM system held few surprises for the sound engineer, as he was quick to explain. By chance one of his friends, Oz Bagnell, was system tech on the recent Joan Baez tour — which also featured a Martin Audio Line Array. “He invited me down to hear it — and I could sense its potential immediately. When I heard that Concert Sound were considering it for Katie’s tour I recommended that we go with the system, because the way it is being talked about — and the way it sounds straight out of the box — inspires confidence.”

Using the system’s ViewPoint predictive software to optimise sound coverage in each venue, Matthew says, “As soon as we turn the system on it sounds great run flat, delivering a huge amount of power from a small footprint. Using the Martin software, all I’ve had to do is tweak the horn levels to achieve the optimum coverage, although in some instances I’m using additional fills, depending on the auditorium layout.”

Matthew had worked carefully on Katie’s vocal projection with her mentor Mike Batt, at production rehearsals, and at the same time favoured the stalwart Shure Beta SM58A to the additional detail provided by other mics — as it tended to negate any ‘breathiness’. With a singer as quiet as Katie Melua, an obvious advantage of the W8LM, he says, is its ability to produce a good central image.

“I’m running Katie’s voice absolutely flat using Martin Audio’s standard factory settings, and tuning the system with 4dB boost on the sub.”

The only vocal processing is provided from a solitary Lexicon 480L in his outboard rack (with any other processing provided by the internal desk effects).

Katie Melua’s line-up comprises drums, double bass, electric and acoustic guitars, brass, keyboards (electric, organ and concert piano), with Katie herself switching between four guitars. The DM2000 is taking 39 analogue inputs but by cross-patching internally Matthew has nearly 70 channels at his disposal.

Matthew’s sound mix has certainly earned the approval of Mike Batt. “At the first production rehearsal he was out front with me for much of the soundcheck — to ensure we got her voice sounding natural and unprocessed. But once he had heard the tapes played back he was perfectly happy.”