The Buccaneers - Part 3

    Bernie Weaver, the subject of our first Chronicle chapter, remembers using the first of the Martin split bins — two bins a side and a Midas desk, with the crossover built in — which are still in use now at some of the old Rank venues.

    The late Terry Price of Tasco, Mick Whelan (most recently with Sennheiser) and Bruno Wayte helped Martin install these systems at the Sundowns.

    “My first encounter with Dave Martin was in 1973, when I was asked to put Gauss loudspeakers into these ‘bin things’,” recalled Wayte. “I naively asked ‘does it matter which wires go to which terminal?’. Those who knew Dave can imagine the reply!”

    So what had fired David Martin’s success? In early 1971, the genial Australian had set up shop in Covent Garden and remained at Jubilee Studios for the next four and a half years. From 1973, onwards through the ’70s, Pink Floyd used all Martin bass bins, as did Supertramp whose rig was eventually acquired by Delicate Productions of California in 1982.

    However, word of mouth spread, with Regiscene in France, and the UK’s Concert Sound and Entec using the kit.

    Martin and Bill Kelsey had both served their apprenticeship working with Dave Hartstone at IES, with the Australian marking his UK PA debut at the Royal Albert Hall using RCA ‘W’ cinema speakers and twin radial horns.

    He and Bob Auger installed the PA for a Johnny Harris concert for £51 and a bottle of scotch in October 1970. “I bought the first speaker for £50, made an offer of £1 for the second which was accepted... and I rather wish I’d had more,” he once quipped.

    Dave Martin had seen the RCA W cabs when Iron Butterfly first toured with them. Because they measured 7’ high and weighed 500lbs they didn’t want to pay the return freight back, and so sold the system to Yes.

    The prog rock pioneers of the era, notably ELP and King Crimson, were also using them, and Martin took up the gauntlet. After a disastrous attempt to make a 4 x 15” bin with a detachable flare, he produced the previously-mentioned 2 x 15” bin, which was transformed into the 1 x 15” (the 115) by sawing it in half.

    In fact, the principle depended on unfolding the RCA W cab to its full flare length to give a very efficient bass bin and sawing off about 13” of the horn. It improved on the transient performance and because it was unfolded gave another octave of mid-frequency response.

    But Martin Audio’s horn-loaded systems, built around the 115 bass bin, were a big step up from the direct radiator columns, which couldn’t keep up with the demands of the emerging progressive scene and they soon established themselves with the rock elite.

    By their 1973 Dark Side Of The Moon showcase at Earls Court, Pink Floyd had upgraded their system with Martin bass bins and HF horns — things had really moved on and much more gear was being used.

    Even so, this was essentially a two-way system, with the bass bins going straight into high frequency horns using phenolic diaphragm compression drivers. The two-way system later became three-way, incorporating JBL bullets when Martin switched from Vitavox.

    In 1975, Martin and Midas moved to Euston. Dave Martin continued to adopt a horn-loaded philosophy for maximum efficiency in minimum space, but he recognised the need for medium-range speakers. Supertramp wanted more power in the voice region and mid-region, so the mid band was split in two, still using compression drivers.

    Martin introduced a direct radiator mid a couple of years later but its dedicated mid-range horns did not appear until around 1978 when the Martin MH212, nicknamed the ‘Phillishave’ because of its appearance, made its debut.

    The birth of the Phillishave started the mid-range revolution, with Dave Martin claiming that he spent a year working out the technology and then built the prototype in six weeks — straight out of his head.

    Martin always said he was indebted to Bill Kelsey for turning him on to the column because when HE was replaced on the Pink Floyd tour it was stacked 6’ x 20’ high, and they adopted that for the early Martin modular system, which was a totally radical stacking principle. As for the F2, he said you’d have to go right back to the 215 to stand comparison.

LEGACY
Although Martin Audio was acquired in 1990, Dave Martin stayed on under the new management. However, in late 1992, amidst a cloud of mystery, he went missing after a confrontation with his partner in a non-audio business venture. Martin’s body was never found, but his former partner was arrested and convicted for his murder.

    Since 2007, the company has been under the ownership of the U.S. group, Loud Technologies, Inc., although it remains a thoroughly British firm at heart. Dave Martin left behind an extraordinary legacy upon which Martin Audio has continue to build with such industry standards as the Wavefront 8.

    Sixteen years since his disappearance, a bronze bust of Dave Martin is one of the first sights to greet visitors to Martin Audio’s UK headquarters in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

    Joint MD David Bissett-Powell paid this tribute: “David Martin deserves to be remembered as someone who has had a positive and indelible effect on the live music industry.

    “Those who knew him, as I did, will agree that he was not always an easy guy to deal with but in hindsight this was probably due to his absolute obsession with producing as perfect a sound as possible for an audience, as well as Bristol motor cars, and engineering in general.

    “Most would agree that the very first touring ‘standard’ was his ‘Phillishave’-based rigs of the early ’70s. For that alone, he is worth credit but his constant experimentation took him into flying systems, well before others considered it feasible, and even the beginnings of what is now accepted line array technology. All this back in the ’80s!

    “Perhaps one of the saddest issues is that he was not as commercial as many and would constantly re-design products in order to add some small benefit that he frequently discovered. I hope that today he is looking down (or sideways) at the company and is proud of the legacy he passed on to the industry.”

TPi

With thanks to all at Martin Audio for
access to their photographic archive