A UK theatre tour earlier this year by singer, songwriter and keyboardist Howard Jones, who’s celebrating 40 years in the music business, was supported by a system utilizing CODA Audio ViRAY compact line arrays supplied by Liverpool-based production specialists Adlib.
The 10-night tour, which included nights at the London Palladium and Birmingham Symphony Hall presented full-on synth-driven electronic music complemented by acoustic trio and solo sections. CODA has been front of house engineer Chicky Reeves’ choice for Howard Jones since he began working with the artist in 2016, having first encountered the brand some years earlier while on tour with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).
“I’d initially been reluctant to stray from what I was used to, but having been persuaded to take the system out with OMD, I haven’t looked back,” says Reeves. ” When we set up for our first show, which was more of a production rehearsal with an audience, I walked in as the system tech was finishing setting it up. He had a track playing that I knew quite well and I was immediately smitten with the sound. I knew the track, I knew the room, and I’d never heard this combination sound so good before. I was absolutely stunned. After that, we took it on several tours – when I started with Howard, he asked if I had a PA preference, and naturally I told him ‘CODA’!”
The dynamics of Jones’ set are wide-ranging and demand a system that can deliver power and detail in equal measure according to the tour’s system tech, Steve Norman: “Howard’s material is exceptionally varied in the sense that some songs are pretty full-on with big electronic drums and huge synth sounds, and then three songs later he’s sitting at the piano playing a solo number on which a double-bass and acoustic guitar join in. Having a system that can deliver subtle nuances yet can also deliver full-power sound is critical. In my book, only one system can do it – that’s CODA Audio ViRAY.”
The system configuration on the tour was different every night to cater for the unique characteristics of each theatre. Some shows deployed the full system, whilst others saw a split flown/ground-stacked system enhanced with various fills for “hard-to-reach” seats. The complete inventory comprised 36 ViRAY units, four SC2-F and eight SCP-F subwoofers, two HOPS12-T, eight HOPS8 and two G712. The system was driven by CODA LINUS14 four-channel DSP amplifiers.
“The thing with a CODA system is that what would typically be a challenging room becomes like every other room,” Norman continues. “The various accessories provide you with the tools to deploy the system in a way that provides the most uncompromising solution. The wide, full band horizontal coverage of ViRAY solves a lot of issues in theatres. It’s actually amazing how side-on to the box you can be, yet still experience a full range sound.”
Reeves adds,“For this tour especially, as we played a variety of venue sizes, we found the system was easy to scale up or down. The coverage was clean everywhere – no comb filtering between boxes or arrays, excellent correction for room modes – everyone could hear everything. As for the subs – crikey! Howard’s music requires solid low end for those drum machines and FM basses, so exceptional subs are vital. Nothing in the low end ever felt slow or soggy – we got immediate punches from every kick and room-rattling bass, but never with that feeling of an oppressive low end.”
