From the smallest van tours to the biggest worldwide touring attractions, digital consoles have established themselves for convenience, consistency and ease of workflow.
The modern sound system has neatly divided itself into two major products: loudspeakers and consoles.
Most analog consoles have the advantage these days of having been paid for, along with sonic quality and a familiar knob-per-function single-page control surface.
However, any production manager can tell you the advantages of digital consoles: footprint, size, weight, repeatability, consistency and all will mention that it reduces the FOH spec to a single product with a much shorter conversation about it.
Just as comparisons of digital to analog console prices never account for the laundry list of outboard equipment needed to complete the FOH equipment list, the time saved by not having to talk about all the outboard equipment has saved countless hours on the phone advancing shows.
The Holy Grail of digital desks is being able to walk into a gig and make someone else’s console your own by simply loading a file that fits on a USB memory stick, reducing the amount of equipment needed from one show to the next to a microphone kit, a pair of headphones and a laptop.
Whether you bring it with you or order it provided at each show or on each continent, digital consoles have finally reached the tipping point where their benefits outweigh the advantages of analog consoles for touring.
Let’s check out the view from the cockpit.
Dave Lawler (Diana Krall)
Dave Lawler has mixed Diana Krall for the last six years, relying on a Midas Heritage console for most of that time.
Prior to last summer’s run-out, he made the digital switch to a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console, which he calls “powerful, fun, easy and fast.” One of several favorite features he cites is the ability for more than one person to work on it at once, not all that common on mid-priced digital desks.
Lawler notes the console’s 22 inches of depth that saves a row of seat kills at his mix position compared to other makes of consoles, saving his artist hundreds of dollars every show.
He mentions that the console’s size also allowed him to mix from a private box at the Hollywood Bowl, instead of the guest mix position further back. While the Vi4 is a foot shorter, its surface has eight fewer faders, and Lawler adds that having more faders available at once makes it easier and he’s glad he went with the larger console.
He also points out that he pairs stereo channels vertically, with the second channel on the second layer, allowing him to get most of his mix on the first layer’s 32 input faders. Another favorite feature is the ability to “gang” any number of channels and perform actions on all of them simultaneously.
Outboard processing includes a Focusrite ISA 430 “Producer Pack” using the optional AES digital output card, into which he inserts a BSS DPR 901 for Krall’s vocal.
He also uses a TC Electronic M6000 four-engine digital reverb, whose ICON remote control gives him five dedicated faders, besides those on the console. He also points out that they do a number of fly-ins and one-offs, where they go “commando” and just put this outboard equipment into a couple of 4U sleeves that fit into Pelican cases.
He mentions that the console’s onboard dynamics and effects are high enough quality for any application, with compressor, limiter and choice of gate or de-esser on every channel, plus the equivalent of eight Lexicon 960L reverbs inside. He comments that he didn’t expect to like it as much as he does, and notes that the screens are really bright and easy to use in sunlight.
As an accomplished system engineer as well, he incorporates a Meyer SIM3 and a pair of BSS Soundweb London BLU80 processors into the rack with the Vi6’s mix engine, feeding them AES digitally from the Vi6 and then coming out of the Londons using CobraNet, sending it into the Vi6’s digital tie lines going back to the stage, for a completely digital audio chain.
FOH connects with the Vi6 stage rack using redundant CAT5e, with a spare, for a total of three 80 meter cables, which are loomed together with 8 audio pairs for measurement microphones and intercom and a 12/5 AC run.
Lawler notes that a conscious decision was made to make their snake 80 meters, which is over 250 feet, instead of 100 meters, as it seemed like enough length for most venues, and it kept him from pressing the limits of CAT5 technology.
Brian Ruggles (Billy Joel)
Billy Joel’s “Last Play At Shea” marked the end of an era of historic concerts at Shea Stadium on Friday, July 18th. Joel’s world tour began in January 2006 and the 2008 North American segment kicked off in Philadelphia on January 26th, finishing up with two shows in Flushing, NY at Shea Stadium.
Sound reinforcement was supplied by Clair Showco, which has had a long relationship with Billy Joel, and FOH engineer Brian Ruggles and production manager Bobby Thrasher have worked with Joel for 33 and 27 years respectively, while monitor engineer Mike Pirich has been with Joel for the past decade.
When looking for a sound console for both FOH and the monitor positions, Clair Showco turned to the Studer Vista 5 SR for its portability, ease of use and sound quality. “The Vista 5 SR is capable of handling a lot of inputs,” said Ruggles. “We’ve tried different digital desks before but I wasn’t really thrilled at the way they sounded – until this one came along. The Vista 5 SR is by far the best sounding digital desk I’ve heard because it’s closest to the sound of an analog desk.”
Pirich noted, “Using the Vistonics interface makes it really easy to see where you are. As far as digital desks go, this is by far the easiest to get comfortable with before a show and to prove it, I only spent a few hours with the Vista 5 SR before we did a show.”
He added, “As far as quality, it sounds spectacular! It’s got lots of gain and no distortion. We have 30 faders in total consisting of three banks of 10 but are in no way limited by the number of inputs and outputs we can handle. We’ve just pushed 100 inputs feeding 18 stereo mixes and 22 mono mixes but really have more available inputs and outputs than we ever hope to use.
Production Manager Bobby Thrasher was extremely pleased with how much easier the Studer consoles make his job. “It’s small, it’s lightweight, it’s portable and not like the 6,000 pounds I used to have to carry around or fly around,” said Thrasher.
Jim Ebdon (Aerosmith)
The Midas XL8 Live Performance System completed the final leg of Aerosmith’s 2007 world tour, with FOH engineer Jim Ebdon at the controls as the Boston rock legends made their way across North America.
Given the strenuous demands that accompany this kind of schedule, coupled with the band’s notorious insistence on the best possible sound, roadworthiness and audio quality were top priorities when it came to spec’ing equipment.
Enter the Midas XL8, and Ebdon, whose history with acts like Sting, Annie Lennox, and American Idol have earned him a “golden ears” reputation; exactly what a tour with a band of such high critical standards demands. Along with Ebdon at FOH, Chuck Wells acted as assistant FOH engineer besides handling systems technician duties.
When the console joined the tour, “The lid came off to ‘oohs and ah’s’ from those standing by,” recaps Ebdon. “It looked beautiful, and was smaller than I remembered. I started to program the console and very quickly found my way around setting it up, patching input channels, routing, effects, sends and returns, and outputs.
“I had the crew band play for me, which is how we sound check, and within a few minutes I was confident with the console and had them sounding very good. I had very good results from the first show, and gained even better familiarity with it for the rest of the tour.”
“I’ve been a user of digital consoles since they were first introduced to the market and have really tried them all,” continues Ebdon. “However the XL8’s audio quality is above and beyond anything I’ve heard in the digital realm.
“It has that warm Midas analog sound – both the pre’s and EQ’s are what you’d expect from Midas. Plus, you’ve got the VCAs (variable controlled associations) and POP (population) groups which allow you to quickly grab any channel assigned for easy control.
“Add the fact that its work surface is completely intuitive – very much like an analog desk – and it’s been a real treat to use on this tour. I look forward to using it on more high profile jobs in the near future.”
Mark Frink (Lúnasa)
Mark Frink got the call to mix traditional Irish supergroup Lúnasa’s 2008 tour when their regular sound engineer couldn’t make the trip.
Before this, the five-piece instrumental group relied on the old-fashioned type of one-off, using the provided sound system in its entirety. Having recently used Yamaha’s LS9 console, it occurred to us that we could provide a much higher level of consistency while greatly simplifying the day-to-day chore of preparing each new “system-du-jour.”
The LS9 has a “virtual rack” that provides eight devices, the first four being graphic equalizers, while the last four can be digital effects instead. Yamaha provides an alternative type of graphic EQ called a “Flex 15 GEQ” which doubles the number of channels at the cost of being allowed to employ only half of the filters.
This is a wise compromise, since it’s well known that too much EQ is being used if more than half of a graph’s sliders are employed.
This leaves the second set of four engines of the LS9’s virtual rack for 48 different kinds of Yamaha’s SPX-type internal effects, which include the new REV-X algorithms found in V2 of the PM5D. This allowed dedicated REV-X Halls for Kevin Crawford’s flute, Cillian Vallely’s pennywhistle and uilean pipes and Sean Smyth’s fiddle.
As it happens, the 16-channel version of the LS9 measures just 19 by 20 inches and weighs about 26 pounds, and is small and light enough to fit into a Hardigg military road case that allows it to check into flights at less than 50 pounds. The fact that it is so small meant that in venues where they didn’t want to strike the house console, the LS9-16 could simply be placed on an adjacent rack or table.
The second part of the plan is a Ethersound snake, based around Auvitran’s AVY16-ES Ethersound card that fits into the LS9’s single MY-card slot.
The stage end of the snake employs two of RAPCO’s 1U “Digiphy” 8-channel mic input and one 8-way line output device, duplicating the 16 mic inputs and 8 line outputs at the back of the console down at the stage in a 3U rack.
Eight line outputs feed five separate monitor mixes, along with stereo mains and aux-driven subs, which are really just for the electric upright bass.
Mixing monitors from Front of House is best done only by the experienced, the foolishly brave or those intimately familiar with their artist. On the LS9, double-pressing the mix select button put the console into “Sends On Fader” mode, often called “Fader Flip,” making it quick and easy to look at and adjust auxiliary sends, important when going through the iterations of bumping up levels in individual mixes (and ultimately restoring them).
Extras on the console include playback and recording to and from a USB memory stick. Even at the highest available MP3 bit rate of 192 kbps, a weeks worth of double set shows fit onto a 1 Gig stick.
Even though 16 faders was just the right number for my 12-input show, users of the LS9-16 give up two features that make the larger desk a bit more usable.
First the small desk lacks a gooseneck lamp connection. Secondly, the ability to turn all of the 32-channel LS9’s faders into a complete graphic EQ makes it easier to visualize them.
A redundant 50 meter length of RAPCO’s DuraCat ruggedized CAT5e cable served as the main snake, and coiled neatly into the back of the stage rack. The finisher was one of RAPCO’s dual-box 6-Pack sub-snakes that lived pre-labeled in the back of the rack for rapid deployment.
The great benefit of carrying a digital console and snake is that it reduces specifying a sound system to simply ordering speakers. We traveled a typical dartboard itinerary that had us spending equal amounts of time at the venue, sleeping and traveling, roughly eight hours of each.
The consistency and confidence of having the LS9 every day meant it was easy to succeed when the going got rough.
Lúnasa’s The Story So Far, a greatest hits compilation, was remastered by ex-Waterboys bassist Trevor Hutchinson, who plays electric upright. Lúnasa plays Irish festivals in Boston and Albany this month.
Eddie Mapp (Stone Temple Pilots)
Two Digidesign Venue D-Show Profile digital mixing consoles have been touring North America this summer supporting the recently reunited Stone Temple Pilots.
Front of House Engineer Eddie Mapp, and Monitor Engineer Andy Ebert, both utilized the system for the tour.
“I came on board with only a few days before the tour commenced,” stated Mapp. “These guys have a very large repertoire, but they’re really tight and totally professional, and I was able to record a full-set rehearsal and use the Venue’s Virtual Sound Check feature to work on cues and set up snapshots.”
Mapp, a ProTools veteran, trained under Robert Scovill at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Science. “Robert brought one of the early Venue systems to the Conservatory, and I was fortunate to learn a lot from him,” recalled Mapp. “I’ve watched the system evolve, and Digidesign’s engineers have done an amazing job.
“They’ve created a system that’s exceptionally intuitive, and sounds great as well. Venue is really the most powerful live mixing tool available. It does everything I need it to do.”
“When I was on tour with Evanescence, it was great to know that anywhere we were in the world, we could count on Venue consoles to be consistent. I’m able to carry my set on a small USB drive, plug in to any Venue and be up and running immediately.”
The system’s integration with ProTools TDM plug-ins are another important feature Mapp appreciates, “Being able to use the same plug-ins I’m familiar with and use every day in my own studio is extremely empowering. I can experiment with different plug-ins and settings at home and then translate them directly to ‘real-world’ applications.”
Terry Nuedorf (Brian Doerksen)
Terry Nuedorf has been performing Front of House mixing duties for Brian Doerksen, a Christian artist frequently touring Canada. He uses Roland Systems Group’s V Mixer digital mixing system.
“Every time I plug a musician into this console,” explained Nuedorf, “I have to deal with all sorts of unexpected things: compliments, questions about why things sound better, what’s different, ‘Why can’t we always sound this way,’ ‘That wee cable is a snake?’, etc. That’s the only time-consuming thing about this console – talking to everyone about it!”
“When I finally get to actually sit down and mix with it, I find it to be fast, full sounding, accurate and very responsive when making adjustments. The musicians have also been noticing this as well, and are really loving the sounds in their in-ear mixes.
“The digital patch bay feature allowing channel splitting and input routing recallable via scene recall really expands what we can do on stage with multiple inputs on a song by song basis and also makes interfacing the Aviom system a complete breeze.
“I have found that the V-Mixing system does many thing that larger digital consoles do, and some things that they can’t – like come with you onto a flight to the next show, so the next show can be as easy as the one last night was!”
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