The Key Factor
Sting’s vocal mic was the Sennheiser E865 condenser microphone he codeveloped with the company, and it was hard-wired.
Shure Beta 52, SM57 and KSM44 mics were disbursed for instruments and drums, joined by beyerdynamic Opus mics on toms.
The bass for Sting was linked via a Sennheiser wireless beltpack, giving him some additional freedom of movement during non-vocal passages.
“This venue is tricky, but the show worked out well, and our preparation in optimizing the system ahead of time really paid off,” Mauricio notes. “Sound was very natural, and definition was the key factor.”
“You could understand absolutely everything Sting said and sang. “When Howard arrived, he analyzed the system and ended up only taking down 1 to 2 dB at 400 Hz. This tells me we did a good job for our client as well as the paying customers.”
C. Vilar Amplificacion’s scope continues to grow. A DiGiCo SD8 digital console is one of the latest pieces to enter their inventory, and like everything else in the company’s supply, it’s already seeing heavy usage.
The SD8 was originally required for a Carlos Vives tour, with Rob “Cubby” Colby doing the house mix. “We really like the sound of the preamps of the SD8, as well as its overall audio quality,” Mauricio says.
“The signal path is clean because there’s just a MADI connection between the stage rack and console. We’ve used this board for rock, pop, classical and tropical music, and it’s worked out nicely with all if it.”
The association with Colby stretches back a few years, with C. Vilar supporting his engineering work in the region with tours by Shakira, Luis Miguel, Juanes, and most recently Vives, where Mauricio joined Colby to serve as monitor engineer.
“Cubby is detailed in everything he does, very professional, consistent and focused,” he concludes. “It’s fascinating to work with one of the top engineers in the world, and it’s only a benefit to our company in so many ways as we continue to move forward.”
Keith Clark is Editor-In-Chief of Live Sound International and ProSoundWeb.