MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL

ON THE ROAD: Montreux Jazz Festival 

MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL 

IMAGINE A BEAUTIFUL LOCATION, A GENIUS LINE-UP AND THE PRO AUDIO ABILITIES OF SOME OF THE 

WORLD’S LEADING MANUFACTURERS WITH SELECT ENGINEERS IN TOW. THIS RENOWNED JAZZ FESTIVAL IS 

SO PRESTIGIOUS THAT THE CREWS STILL GUSH SOME 46 YEARS AFTER THE EVENT WAS CONCEIVED. TPi’S 

KELLY MURRAY WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THE STORY FROM THE SPONSORS BEHIND THE SCENES AT ONE 

OF THE FESTIVAL CALENDAR’S MOST SOUGHT-AFTER EVENTS. READ ALL ABOUT IT, FROM SWITZERLAND 

WITH LOVE... 

Claude Nobs, Géo Voumard and René Langel 

founded the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967 

with help from Ahmet Ertegün and Nesuhi 

Ertegün of Atlantic Records. In that time, a 

massive amount of artists and their crews have 

visited Lake Geneva. Four years ago, British 

console manufacturer DiGiCo became involved 

with the stylish Swiss festival as a way to not 

only service the organisers but to expand 

its growing company by making visiting 

engineers aware of product possibilities in the 

main three indoor venues dedicated to the 

festival. 

The company gained a prestigious Queen’s 

Award for Enterprise in the International Trade 

category last year. It was the first time DiGiCo has 

won the award in this category, having previously 

received an award in 2005 in the Innovation 

category. The 2011 award was granted for almost 

62 • TPi AUGUST 2012 

doubling its overseas earnings and exporting the 

vast majority of its products since its incorporation 

in 2002. A decade later, and DiGiCo has made 

quite a name for itself, and at Montreux, it has 

gained an army of new admirers. James Gordon, 

DiGiCo’s MD, explained: “The organisers were 

not happy with their existing supplier and saw 

what we were doing with the SD7 and SD8 at the 

time. They were keen to build a good relationship 

with a console supplier they could get on with in 

the same way they have with Meyer Sound, the 

speaker supplier. 

“It’s a great showcase festival for us; every 

year Montreux has world class acts that come 

to perform and that means our consoles are 

presented to the top engineers in the world. 

Not to mention it’s an amazing location and 

atmosphere. 

“It has become a second family, most of the

crew remain the same each year so over time 

those early acquaintances have become strong 

supporters and friends. They are all DiGiCo 

experts on the consoles and have grown to 

appreciate the British sense of humour, a strong 

part of DiGiCo...” he smiled. 

Over the last few years, the technical 

aspects developed within DiGiCo desks have 

benefitted the Montreux engineers a great deal. 

Gordon continued: “When we got involved 

we had SD8 and SD7 consoles at the festival. 

This year though we had the complete range. 

Whether it was the numerous SD11’s in the 

smaller locations or the SD7 / SD5 combo in 

the Stravinski Hall. The Jazz Café was armed 

with an SD8 at FOH and an SD9 Rack Pack for 

monitors and Miles Davis had a second SD5 at 

FOH and an SD10 for monitor world, so really 

the complete range was deployed. This year 

we moved the main venues to 2G Optics with 

SD-Racks so we were full 96kHz from the mic to 

the speaker.” 

Naturally, not every engineer traveling 

with an artist booked to play Montreux will 

have used a DiGiCo desk before hand, but the 

company has a solution for any such situation. 

One thing that’s very noticeable about this 

festival in particular is how relaxed and well 

organised it is. Considering it boasts a 15 day 

run, welcoming artists and audio pros from 

all over the world, the smooth running vibe is 

all down to a well thought-out system from 

the sound sponsors. Gordon elaborated: “It’s 

a great environment to try the consoles in as 

we always have DiGiCo crew on hand and 

consoles in a demo room to help with training. 

At a festival, it’s not so much about driving the 

features but experiencing the audio quality and 

speed, you can get to terms with the consoles. 

It’s also great to speak to the touring crew 

about new features. This year we have some big 

FPGA feature advancements that surprised even 

those touring with DiGiCo.” 

Montreux is without doubt very special 

to DiGiCo, and it’s evident that the festival 

is thriving and generating impeccable sound 

where its desks are in use. But what makes 

this pretty Swiss event such a great one in 

the summer calendar for the live production 

community as a whole? “It has just about 

everything going for it; an amazing location, a 


Opposite: Lana Del Ray played using DiGiCo consoles. Below: DiGiCo’s training room for visiting engineers; Alt-J on stage at the Jazz Cafe; DiGiCo’s David ‘Webby’ Webster with Ed Sheeran and 

sound engineer Chris Marsh; the setting in Lake Geneva still proves incredibly popular with engineers. 

great history, world class restaurants and some 

of the best performers from around the world,” 

stated Gordon. “Oh and DiGiCo consoles in 

every venue... that must make it pretty close to 

utopia!” 

THE DIGICO DIMENSION 

“Montreux is more than a festival, it’s an 

institution; it has inspired many an artist and 

manufacturer. It’s always a great pleasure to be 

here, the atmosphere across the whole town is 

unique and addictive!” stated Ed Sheeran’s FOH 

Engineer, Chris Marsh. 

“Montreux is more than a festival, it’s an institution; 

it has inspired many an artist and manufacturer.” 

“I have spent the last 14 years as a Project 

Manager and Sound Engineer for Major Tom 

Limited,” said Marsh, who was mixing the star’s 

opening gig. “This has enabled me to meet and 

work with a multitude of artists and their teams. 

I have been FOH or Production Manager for a 

few artists that have come to Major Tom and I 

met Ed when I was mixing FOH for Diana Ross 

TPi AUGUST 2012 • 63


Below: The main festival entrance on the Lake Geneva side; Jazz in the Park; Line check in the Stravinski Hall; Meyer Sound’s Miguel Lourtie, a European Technical Services Manager. 

last year. We started chatting about how his 

show could grow from where he was.” 

To make the sound transition for Sheeran’s 

live shows as smooth as possible, with a bigger 

and better sounding production out front, 

Marsh chose his reliable desk. “With Ed I work 

on the SD11, not just for Montreux but as my 

console of choice. I am a big fan of DiGiCo 

products; I’ve used them for over 10 years. In 

the last 18 months I’ve used an SD7 with Diana 

Ross, an SD9 with Rumer and before that an 

SD8 with Michael Ball.” For Ed Sheeran’s show, 

Marsh used six inputs and eight effect engines. 

“I love the fact that all of the SD consoles 

sound the same, there is no compromise on 

quality between the price brackets, you always 

know that the EQ will do exactly what it says 

it will, same for the dynamics, the pre-amps 

and the effects, and although the surfaces are 

scaled to different specifications there really 

is no issue with diving from one surface to 

another as they are all effectively the same to 

operate. 

“It’s particularly important for Ed Sheeran 

that I can have AUX sends, VCAs, inputs and 

matrix outs all on the same layer, so it’s very 

useful to be able to create a bespoke console 

for bespoke needs. I need to use a lot of EQ on 

this show, we have very few inputs but a lot 

changes during the show, the EQ, particularly 


the dynamic EQ, is very effective on the SD 

range,” Marsh said. 

Regardless of the familiarity of working 

with the same artist, Marsh knows that when a 

diverse performer like Sheeran is live, anything 

can happen if creativity takes over. “Ed’s show 

changes every day! You never know the set list 

till after the gig and loops change in complexity 

and length depending on the reaction from the 

crowd. Mixing on the fly is the only way. 

“Ed just uses reverb and delay, he has a great 

voice and the changes in effects are only to 

suit the fabric of the songs and not to assist his 

voice,” noted Marsh. 

“It is challenging to mix, it may seem odd 

but one guy and a guitar is really hard, there 

is nothing to disguise any mistakes or tonal 

inaccuracies. The loop pedal also presents its 

own challenges as once a feedback or bum note 

has found its way into the loop, it is there for 

the whole song so a flexible EQ on the desk and 

fundamental understanding of frequencies is 

really important.” 

“We use a Sennheiser 2000 Series radio mic 

with an e 865 capsule. For the instruments [for 

Sheeran’s band and own guitar] we use Avalon 

U5 DI boxes. We use these quite simply because 

we tried everything else and this combination is 

the best for the artist,” concluded Marsh. 

Buford Jones of Meyer Sound added to this 

sentiment: “Ed Sheeran playing in Miles Davis 

was my highlight. I found his show and sound 

“I love the fact that all of the SD consoles sound the same, there is no 

compromise on quality between the price brackets.” 

to be amazing. A great voice and uniquely 

different use of electronic effects gave this solo 

artist the sound of a full band.” 

KEEN FOR KIMBRA 

Closing the festival, DiGiCo desks were again in 

full use. As a sound engineer since the late ‘70s, 

Dave Bracey has mixed the likes of Dépêche 

Mode, The Cure, Robbie Williams [for 10 years], 

Massive Attack and Bjork. For Montreux, Bracey 

was working with New Zealand native Kimbra, 

who recently spent some time on top of the


Below: The FOH position in the Stravinski Audataurium. 

British charts featuring on Gotye’s ‘Somebody 

That I Used To Know.’ 

At Montreux Jazz Festival, Kimbra was one 

of the final artists to play, closing a tremendous 

2.5 weeks of gigs throughout June and July. 

Kimbra also played the infamous Miles Davis 

Hall, and Bracey noted: “I used the SD5 because 

it was the FOH console provided there, and it 

was perfect for my needs.” 

For Bracey, DiGiCo is always his design of 

choice, for six years he mixed on a D5 and 

since 2008 has opted to take the SD7 on tour 

outings. He described the SD5 as “an excellent 

scale down of an SD7.” 

Despite having little time for pre-production, 

the DiGiCo team provided great on-site 

technical support which enabled Bracey to do 

what he needed to perfect Kimbra’s set. “It was 

very useful to be allowed a few hours to run my 

multi-track through the SD5 to set the mix and 

program effects,” he told TPi. 

Bracey mixed the show on snapshots as one 

group, and was dealing with 32 inputs plus 

effects. “I used six onboard effects units and 

I’m particularly pleased with some of the new 

additions there,” he stated. 

Kimbra used a Sennheiser e 935 microphone, 

and Bracey described the singer’s final results 

as not at all challenging to mix. “The band are 

great and she’s an excellent vocalist. Every song 

is quite specific. She gave me a lot of notes, as 

this was my first time mixing her. 

“The production is great once you get in, it 


was a good result made easy by a great console 

to mix on,” concluded Bracey. 

Over in Kimbra’s monitor world is engineer 

Rod Matheson who also started out in the late 

seventies in Australia and ended up specialising 

in monitors for many major Australian artists. 

Gaining notoriety in his own right, this 

advanced to overseas touring with acts such as 

Split Enz, Silverchair, Il Divo and Kylie Minogue. 

Most recent international touring for Matheson 

has been with Bristol electronic stars Massive 

Attack, alongside FOH Engineer Dave Bracey. 

Matheson said: “I currently use an SD11, 

because it will fit into a Samsonite suitcase and 

check in as luggage under 32kg! I can travel 

with it anywhere in the world - not to mention 

it sounds deluxe.” 

For Matheson, a chance meeting with a 

DiGiCo desk 10 years ago has shaped the way 

he mixes today. “I was thrown into a Kylie 

Minogue rehearsal with a D5 when they first 

came out. I haven’t used another brand since,” 

he explained. 

“Initially it was daunting, transitioning from 

analogue to digital in a high pressure situation 

without any pre-gig training, but it didn’t take 

long to realise that it was the way forward. 

“With the SD11 set up for monitors, it is 

essential to access mixes quickly... macros can 

be utilised as the cue / assign button for up 

to eight mixes eliminating the need to revert 

to the master section each time. On a console 

so small, I find this the most time-saving and 

effective function.” 

Matheson uses 32 inputs from the stage and 

approximately eight local for effects, talk lines, 

“Kimbra has great control and understanding of production when it 

comes to her music. She likes to hear a full mix in her ears complete 

with reverb from me and effects returned from FOH.” 

ambience mics and so on, and it’s Kimbra’s 

professionalism and talent which shined 

through on this gig. 

“Kimbra has great control and understanding 

of production when it comes to her music. She 

likes to hear a full mix in her ears complete with 

reverb from me and effects returned from FOH. 

The challenge is to produce a deluxe mix every 

show,” highlighted Matheson, who is only using 

in-ears; five stereo mixes, a shaker feed, and 

two mono mixes as backup in case the in-ears 

fail.

Below: Meyer Sound’s Buford Jones; the popular Miles Davis Hall drew crowds; Noel Gallagher made the Stravinski crowd laugh between songs. 

And as for the overall experience for 

Matheson’s second time at the festival, 

Montreux has yet again proved a working 

highlight of the year. “Apart from the beautiful 

place that it is, everything is contained within 

the town, which forces everyone to socialise 

in a relatively confined area. If you are going 

to have a festival this is the ideal party vibe. I 

cannot wait for the next one!” he laughed. 

RIDING THE WAVES 

“At the Montreux Jazz Festival, I was 

representing Waves as their Live Product 

Specialist, supporting their SoundGrid system 

integrated in the DiGiCo platform,” explained 

Fabrizio Piazzini, who grew up in an Italian area 

of Switzerland. “I showed engineers how they 

could integrate the Waves technology into their 

workflow and demonstrated plug-ins like the 

C6 Multiband Compressor, Bass Rider and SSL 

Channels that let them tune their mixes using 

tools previously only available in the studio.” 

MEYER SOUND SUCCESS 

Founders of loudspeaker giants, Meyer Sound, 

John and Helen Meyer lived in Switzerland some 

years ago and met Claude Nobs [MJF founder] 

while he worked at the Institute of Advanced 

Music Studies. The Meyers watched as Nobs, 

who was promoting shows around Switzerland, 

was building the Montreux Jazz Festival up 

organically. Nobs was looking for higher quality 

sound and contacted Meyer for advice on the 

sound systems for the festival. Meyer Sound 

has since been involved with the Montreux Jazz 

Festival for 26 years of the festival’s 46-year 

history. 

Meyer Sound’s Buford Jones still has very 

fond memories of the festival: “My first time in 

Montreux was when I was touring as a sound 

mixer for Jackson Browne in 1980 when we 

played the MJF during the European leg of his 

tour. I was there once again with Al Jarreau in 

1990 as his sound mixer. On both occasions, it 

was in and out rather quickly and I didn’t get 

to see much of Montreux itself but the festival 

was tremendous fun and I was very happy to be 

involved. The place certainly had a vibe that was 

indeed something ‘special’.” 

On June 27 2006, it was Jones’ – now a 

Meyer Sound Senior Live Audio and Education 

Specialist - first time to the Montreux Jazz 

Festival representing Meyer Sound. He noted: 

“To me, Montreux is far different from other 

festivals for several reasons. The beautiful 

setting and the fact that artists get full sound 

checks appears to diminish the common 


stress levels of touring. All the rooms are 

beautifully and accurately tuned where most 

visiting engineers can easily be satisfied and 

concentrate simply on their own work. I’ve 

worked on many other festivals where a line 

check is all the engineer / artists get and a 

rushed schedule doesn’t give engineers the best 

environment to work or network in before and 

after the show. Montreux certainly does give 

engineers and artists alike an almost effortless, 

comfortable and very productive work space. 

I think this is clearly evident in the majority of 

sound checks and concerts no matter what 

room they are performed in.” 

Montreux’s three main venues are the Miles 

Davis Hall, the Stravinski Auditorium and the 

“My main objective since attending with Meyer Sound is to network 

with visiting engineers and ensure they are very comfortable working 

with the Meyer Sound platform.” 

smaller Montreux Jazz Cafe, all based in the 

Lake Geneva Conference Centre. Dotted around 

the outskirts of the building are several small 

open-air stages where passers by can enjoy the 

setting to its full potential. But back indoors, 

Jones’ role for Meyer is to engage with other 

audio pros passing through. 

“My main objective since attending with 



Below: Benoit Saillet; Jose Gaudin from SkyNight PA; the outdoor scenes by the lake front; Team TPi with the legendary Quincy Jones. 

Meyer Sound is to network with visiting 

engineers and ensure they are very comfortable 

working with the Meyer Sound platform. We 

enjoy socialising with them while helping them 

with any technical questions or interests. Four 

years ago we had a database of 127 engineers 

who signed our guest book and we still stay in 

touch with many of them now!” he beamed. 

Meyer Sound sends a highly trained technical 

team each year to assist wherever and however 

its necessary to ensure uncompromised audio 

performance for the festival. This team works 

very closely with the local Swiss engineers days 

before the concerts begin and remain for the 

duration of the festival, not only to help resolve 

any technical issues but also to answer any 

questions visiting engineers may have about 

Meyer Sound products or techniques. 

It’s evident that touring engineers know 

they will have the absolute best provided for 

their visit. The festival is confident they are 

supplying a reliable solution for their visitors. 

Jones continued: “I have witnessed the majority 

of engineers who come through the festival 

strengthen their attitudes and practices toward 

Meyer Sound by performing at this festival. 

With all of the venues sounding so good, 

engineers often mention how they are able to 

relate on their work as a sound mixer without 

distraction or delay. I think that’s the best 

compliment that we get at Montreux, and we 

get it often!” 


Alongside Jones is Miguel Lourtie, a 

European Technical Services Manager, based 

out of Portugal. “My role was as part of the 

support team that Meyer Sound makes available 

to the festival. In that sense we are all - Thomas 

Mundorf, Martin Reich, Freddy Meyer, Brandon 

Rice, Jose Gaudin and myself - part of the Tech 

Services Team that are on-call for the festival for 

different periods of time. 

“Year after year, the festival’s eclectic mix 

of artists and venues has provided a wonderful 

environment for the audience to enjoy live 

music. For Meyer Sound, Montreux has also 

been a great place for us to work closely with 

sound professionals from all around the world 

and gather their feedback of our new products, 

including the MJF-212A stage monitor, which 

was named after the festival,” he told TPi. 

For the Stravinski Hall, Meyer Sound 

products could be clearly seen. The main L / R 

hangs comprised two by eight Meyer Sound 

Milo 90 curvilinear array loudspeakers, for 

down fill two Meyer Sound Milo 120 curvilinear 

array loudspeakers were used, in the centre 

cluster there were four Meyer Sound M’elodie 

curvilinear array loudspeakers. Additionally, 

front fill consisted of six Meyer Sound M’elodie 

curvilinear array loudspeakers. In fill utilised 

two Meyer Sound UPQ-1P loudspeakers, whilst 

out fill required two Meyer Sound UPA-2P 

loudspeakers, cardioid line subwoofers, and 

12 Meyer Sound 700HP HP subwoofers were 

configured as four cardioid blocks of three 

subwoofers each. For processing, two Galileo 

616’s were used. 

On stage, side fill comprised three Meyer 

Sound JM-1P loudspeakers (per side), two 

Meyer Sound 600-HP self powered subwoofers 

for side fill, monitors used were 12 Meyer Sound 

MJF-212A powered monitors, and again, a 

Galileo 616 was deployed for processing. 

At the Miles Davis Hall, the main loudspeaker 

system comprised main L / R hangs three Meyer 

Sound JM-1P and a 600HP (per side) two Meyer 

Sound UPQ-1P loudspeakers for down fill, a 

Meyer Sound UPQ-1P loudspeaker for the centre 

cluster, and front fill used four Meyer Sound 

M’elodie curvilinear array loudspeakers. 

Out fill warranted two Meyer Sound UPA-2P 

loudspeakers and five Meyer Sound UPJ-1Ps 

were used for delays. A total of nine 700HP 

were used set as three cardioid blocks of three 

700HP each, processed via two Galileo 616’s. 

The stage set up mirrored the Stravinski. 

The Jazz Café used five Meyer Sound 

M’elodie curvilinear array loudspeakers per 

side on the main hang with a centre downfill 

of Meyer Sound M’elodie curvilinear array 

loudspeaker. Front fill was two further Meyer 

Sound M’elodie curvilinear array loudspeakers 

and out fill was three Meyer Sound UPA-1P 

loudspeakers. The rear surrounds needed two 

Meyer Sound UPQ-1P loudspeakers and for VIP 

Delays, four Meyer Sound UPJ-1P loudspeakers.

Below: The Jazz Cafe played host to bustling crowds for three weeks; Shearwater performed an intimate show; the Stravinski venue up in lights. 

And a further 10 Meyer Sound UPM-1P 

Loudspeakers were used for delays. A cardioid 

line comprising five 600HP subwoofers was also 

deployed. The LF Extension required two Meyer 

Sound 1100-LFCs. Processing was via another 

Galileo 616. The stage used two Meyer Sound 

UPA-1P loudspeakers for side fill, and 12 Meyer 

Sound UM-1P Stage Monitors. 

California based Brandon Rice told us: “I had 

the absolute pleasure of attending Montreux 

Jazz from Meyer Sound in a technical support 

role for the first time this year. The best way 

to put it in my opinion was live music and 

professional audio at its highest level. The 

history, stature and expectations of this festival 

lent itself to getting only the best equipment, 

technicians and talent resulting in some magical 

performances. 

“Although we assist in the PA system tuning 

process, the day to day audio operations of the 

stages are handled by the festival. They have 

done a great job, namely by Eddy Broquet at 

Tonspur, at staffing the stages with fantastic 

mix engineers and technicians for the run of the 

show, so my role was simply to provide support 

for the PA systems and engineers as needed. I 

supported both Bernard and Benoit, the house 

engineers from Stravinski and Miles Davis but 

spent most of my time in Stravinski with Bernard 

taking care of the larger acts. 

“We like to be available to openly discuss the 

system components and tuning with any guest 

engineers if questions arise. This year had 15 

nights of shows by over 200 artists, so quite a 

variety comes through the systems night after 

night. Most of the engineers were thrilled with 

the clarity and power of the systems. The FOH 

tech for Herbert Gronemeyer said it was like 

hearing ‘the band in a studio environment’ and 

he was able to pick out subtleties in the mix that 

he hadn’t heard before – even on the last date 

of their European tour,” said Rice. 

It would appear that the Meyer systems have 

the capability to handle a massive variety of 

artists and genres on a very fast turn around, 

ranging from Tony Bennett to Pitbull without 

needing to make any changes to the tunings or 

configurations. This, said Rice, is what makes 

Montreux that much easier on the engineers. 

He continued: “Our Swiss customer, SkyNight 

had over 230 Meyer loudspeakers between the 

five stages, not to mention close to another 100 

for distributed background music for the various 

hospitality areas and bars in and around the 

Conference Centre. It was a great logistical feat 

no doubt but pulled off with absolute precision 

or at least it seemed from my point of view. 

“The festival has a great family feel to it as a 

lot of the crew and staff return year after year 

from all over the world. I hope that I get the 

treat of attending again in the coming years but 

I feel honored to have been involved even just 

once,” he enthused. 

RESPECTED RENTAL 

Eddy Broquet has worked in Switzerland’s live 

industry for 10 years. “In 2006 I worked for the 

Swiss Meyer Sound distributor and from 2011 


I worked at Tonspur which is the Meyer Sound 

and DiGiCo reseller for Switzerland. I started 

working at Montreux Jazz Festival in 2003 and 

now I take care of all the audio equipment, 

installation and inventory checks. As of last 

year, I’ve done the same job for Skynight,” said 

Broquet. 

Skynight is the rental company that 

provides all the audio equipment from XLR 

cables, mic stands, DI box to stageboxes. 

What perhaps makes Skynight stand out as a 

rental company is its dedication to creating the 

ultimate experience for the visiting engineers 

by supplying brand new products every year 

maintaining the goal of keeping the highest 

level of sound quality that’s possible. 

“In the first week, we really have a lot to 

do with installation side. I have to take care 

that materials arrive in the right venue and that 

nothing is missing. In addition to the core sound 

crew, we have eight more people to help us 

during this week. When the festival starts, it’s a 

bit more relaxing for me! I start the day about 

12pm with the get-in of the two most important 

venues; Stravinski and Miles Davis Hall, and I 

have to be available in case of any problems,” 

he continued. 

Broquet said of supplying DiGiCo to the 

festival yet again: “The first word that comes to 

me is flexibility. You can do so many things with 

a small SD11, it’s crazy! The bigger consoles, the 

SD5 and SD7 are just state of the art, but my 

favourite is the SD9. For its size, its flexibility, 

this console is amazing! 



Below: Both Kimbra and Lana Del Ray played to sell-out crowds at MJF 2012; Shure provided an array of microphones and IEMs for the festival. 

“We’ve worked together at the festival for 

four years now and it’s always a pleasure. David 

Webster and his technical support team, Dan 

Page, Roger Wood and Dave Bigg are all great 

guys,” noted Broquet. “It makes me happy and 

proud to say how easy it is to work with the 

Meyer Sound and DiGiCo teams.” 

“It makes me happy and proud to say how easy it is 

to work with the Meyer Sound and DiGiCo teams.” 

A SHURE THING 

Michael Wolf has been with Shure since 1994. 

In his role as Technical Support Manager he’s 

responsible for all service-related tasks in 

the EMEA region. For 15 years he has been 

attending the Montreux Jazz Festival taking 

care of the frequency coordination, loaning 

equipment and assisting with any technical 

questions. 

Being a passionate musician, Germany based 

Wolf plays the trumpet as well as the drums 

and is a member of the German cover band 

United Sound Ltd. As in the past years, a core 

Shure crew was onsite as the Technical Supplier 

providing microphones and wireless systems for 

a total of 15 stages and locations throughout 


the extended site. 

Wolf said, “As usual I will be on-site 

during the entire festival to guarantee perfect 

performances from our products!” The first 

preparations regarding the technical elements 

where Shure is concerned usually start three 

months prior to the festival’s first gig. 

“Creating the product list in accordance with 

the production company, our goal as Shure is 

to include as many new products as possible. 

One week before the festival starts, it always 

gets a little bit hectic. Microphones need to be 

planned for the diverse locations and packed in 

cases, wireless systems need to be built in racks, 

connected and programmed,” he added. 

Just a few wireless components this year 

comprised 16 channels of Shure Axient Wireless 

Management Network – for the main stage at 

the Auditorium Stravinski - 50 channels UHF-R 

Wireless System, 20 channels PSM 1000 In-Ear 

Personal Monitoring System for both Stravinski 

and Miles Davis Hall. 

Wolf concluded: “All in all we have over 

1400 single products [microphones, transmitter, 

receiver, accessories] which need to be 

diposeted. I’ve coordinated the frequencies 

beforehand in the Wireless Workbench 

Software to ensure all receivers and transmitters 

are programmed and able to ‘plug and play’. So, 

we were ready to go!” 

UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES 

Montreux is, without doubt, an incredible 

festival to visit, as a music enthusiast, a writer, 

a lover of travel and certainly a TPi backstage 

bandit! Meeting the sound teams behind such 

a stunning feat was an absolute pleasure, 

and Team TPi even met a hero of mine, the 

charming, multi-talented and gentlemanly 

Quincy Jones. What a legend! A festival of 

truly dedicated and admirably passionate 

manufactures created a most welcome space 

for us to investigate the beauty of this event. 

Created out of a love of Jazz, today Montreux 

has blossomed into a fruitful home for clarity 

in any genre and technical support in several 

languages! Here is to the 47th MJF, get there if 

you can! 

TPi 

Photography: Zoe Mutter, Kimbra by Tom Kerr, 

Lana Del Ray by Nicole Nodland 

www.montreuxjazzlive.com 

www.digico.biz 

www.meyersound.com 

www.shure.com

MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL

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