WE WANT MILES—MEYER SOUND BRINGS LEGENDARY JAZZ SOUND TO MULTIMEDIA EXHIBIT IN PARIS

“UNLIKE OTHER EXHIBITIONS, THE AUDIO HERE IS NOT JUST AMBIENT SOUND FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. THE IDEA IS TO PROVIDE THE AUDIENCE WITH A

TRUE LISTENING EXPERIENCE.

THE TEAM AGREED EARLY ON THAT THIS EXHIBIT WOULD BE CREATED

WITH RESPECT FOR MILES DAVIS’S

MUSIC. THIS WAS KEY, AND DICTATED THE CHOICE OF MEYER SOUND SYSTEMS.”

— PHILIPPE WOJTOWICZ

SOUND DESIGNER

WE WANT MILES

AT WE WANT MILES: Jazz Face to Face

With Its Legend, the first large-scale ex- hibition dedicated to Miles Davis, his jazz music was the focus. Thousands of visitors flocked to Musée de la Musique in Paris this winter to rediscover his music that has touched the lives of countless fans. With compact distributed Meyer Sound sys- tems, curator Vincent Bessière and sound designers Philippe Wojtowicz and Mathias Abherve transported enthusiastic visitors to the world of Davis’s sound. The exhibit will move to Montreal in April, 2010.

To “show” music in a museum space was no easy feat. Its reverberant physical acoustics and the close proximity of the listening spaces demanded careful con- trol of the sound. Meanwhile, the visibility of the audio equipment had to be kept to a minimum to ensure visitors could focus on the musical instruments, stage clothes, portraits, session sheets, and other never- before-shown artifacts. Sound clarity was a priority in order to accurately reflect the immense musical talent of the artist.

From Davis’s St. Louis, Missouri home to his last concert at La Villette in Paris in 1991, visitors followed the evolution of his music through Meyer Sound’s minia- ture MM-4 and UPM-1P loudspeakers in the listening rooms. A series of pro-

2 | 2010 | VOLUME 1 | MEYER SOUND STORIES

jection screens showing footage of live performances were complemented by UPM-1P loudspeakers and UMS-1P subwoofers. Using acoustical panels, car- peting, and the predictable coverage of Meyer Sound loudspeakers, the designers effectively provided crystalline sound clarity while minimizing interference be- tween the numerous audio sources. The compact loudspeaker enclosures were largely hidden from view. All of the Meyer Sound equipment was provided by Paris- based Dispatch.

“I have used the MM-4s many times before. They are lightweight, visually discreet, and most importantly, they sound fantastic,” says Wojtowicz. “Sound opens a new dimension for the visitors, gives context to open their imagination. Using a high-quality sound system allows me to help transmit a lot of emotions for the exhibit.”

The Paris debut of We Want Miles: Jazz

Face to Face With Its Legend has received

critical acclaim from visitors, including The New York Times’ Yasmine Ryan, who re- ported that the exhibition “is infused with the spontaneous and elegant nature of the man and his music: cool and understated in all the right places.” Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32