Martin Wallace is an experienced and respected professional sound engineer who has worked consistently in the sector for the last ten years. Based in Manchester, UK, Martin has been much in demand with artists, festivals and creative organisations both nationally and internationally, working on thousands of live music and theatre events both in the UK and across the world.
Live sound
Martin has worked on sound design and as a front of house engineer for several acclaimed productions by Manchester International Festival (MIF), a biennial festival renowned worldwide for original, cutting-edge art, including:
- the original ballet/music collaboration Tree of Codes, choreographed by the Wayne McGregor company and featuring Paris Opera Ballet with an original soundtrack composed by Jamie xx and set design by Olafur Eliasson. Martin and the rest of the cast and crew toured the world with the production which was subsequently staged in Toronto, New York, Paris and Sydney in addition to its Manchester premiere.
- The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic directed by Bob Wilson, starring Willem Dafoe alongside the celebrated performance artist, and featuring original music from Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons
Martin has worked as tour manager and technical director on numerous best-selling national and international tours over the last decade and more, working closely with a range of comedy stars including Rob Beckett and Dara Ó Briain. Martin has also been an in-demand sound engineer for high profile corporate events, and was brought in by Samsung to work on their pavilion at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil.
More recently Martin has been working with up and coming singer and songwriter Låpsley (who played the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury in 2014, released her debut album in 2016 and received a 4-star Guardian review for her spring 2020 follow-up). For this collaboration, Martin experimented with different mic-ing techniques and effects to help this acclaimed young artist achieve the desired live sound for her audiences.
New studio project
In addition to his busy live sound career, Martin has always been passionate about recorded sound and the process of making records. Martin has a longstanding passion for music and is a talented multi-instrumentalist in his own right, being self-taught from a young age on guitar, piano, bass and more. In January 2020 he and a partner started work on a new recording studio and creative space project. This will become a central focus for much of his upcoming work, especially since the impact of Covid-19 on live events this year. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements in the coming months!