…but, fortunately, a blazing Edward Woodward is nowhere to be seen. Taking place close to locations made famous by the similarly titled 1973 film, the Wickerman Festival is widely regarded as one of the UK’s most eclectic live music events, reports David Davies.

The image of Edward Woodward’s character, Sergeant Neil Howie, being forced into an enormous wicker statue which is then set aflame to the strains of traditional English folk song Sumer Is Icumen In is one of the most haunting in contemporary British film. The denouement to seminal 1973 movie The Wickerman, it has proven to be a touchstone for subsequent generations of filmmakers keen to scare the bejesus out of their audiences without reverting to blood-stained horror film cliché.

However, the film’s influence has extended far beyond the multiplex, permeating popular culture at every level. It seemed a logical move, therefore, when in 2002 the film’s title was evoked for a new event to be held in Scotland near Dundrennan – an area that provided locations for some of the movie’s most memorable scenes.

Seven years later, the festival’s reputation for music, cinema, comedy and more continues to grow. The Magic Numbers, The Zutons, Idlewild and Billy Bragg were among the headliners at the 2009 event, which saw Banchory-based company Taylored Sound assume audio responsibilities for all but one stage.

In a shift from the general policy in previous years, Taylored Sound opted to employ point source loudspeakers across all of its stages. As a rental network partner of Funktion-One, the manufacturer’s Resolution Series equipment figured prominently in the final specification. The main stage system featured 20 RES5s, 10 RES4Ds, two RES4s, 10 F221s and two F218s, with further F218s and RES4s specified alongside Global Acoustic wedges and subs for monitoring purposes. The second stage setup, meanwhile, was structured around a quartet of RES4s and eight F218s.

“We use point source because line arrays just don’t work in windy conditions outside,” explains Nick Taylor, director of Taylored Sound, matter-of-factly. “In Scotland, we have to deal with a lot of bad weather! We’ve listened to many festival stages over the past few years, and have found that the sound has been dreadful because of the wind throwing it about. With point source you still get the effect, but it is greatly reduced compared to line arrays. It is important for us that the audience gets the best audio experience possible for their money.” Taylor goes on to describe the Funktion-One Resolution series as “a great system – we’re really pleased with it”.

Providing a manufacturer viewpoint, Funktion-One’s Tony Andrews notes that “it is well-known that line arrays work by mutual interference of the constituent drivers. It is also known, but rarely stated, that their susceptibility to combing and ‘phasing’ in the lightest of winds is an undesirable side effect of this mutual interference. A horn-loaded point source array such as the Resolution 5s is hardly affected at all by the strongest of winds because at the critical frequencies the constituent horn-loaded drivers are working as a singularity, completely avoiding interference issues.”

In most cases, Taylored complemented its Funktion-One boxes with its usual preferred MC2 Audio amplifiers, although the company did trial some Powersoft K6 power amplifiers on the second stage (“they were great – very transparent-sounding”, says Taylor). In the main, processing was provided by XTA DP448 processors, while consoles included a Midas XL4 and two Yamaha PM5Ds at the main stage, and a Midas Heritage and Yamaha LS9/32 mixer at the second stage. Logic System Bi-amp wedges and an EAW drum-fill were also part of the second stage-monitoring set-up.

With a cluster of other festival commitments and one-offs on the summer agenda – including Imagine Scotland and Inverness’ Belladrum Festival – Taylor admits that he has not had much opportunity to catch up with the Wickerman team post-event. However, festival spokesperson Caroline McCleary confirms to PSNE that the organisers “were very, very happy with the sound. We have also received a lot of positive comments from audience members, which is very pleasing indeed.”

www.funktion-one.com
www.tayloredsound.co.uk
www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk

Reproduced from Pro Sound News Europe