What’s the typical load-in process on this tour?
Kyle Walsh: Depending on the riggers, we can be in and up within about two hours. At each venue, I come in and shoot the room/mark points, and then go back to the bus and put all of the information into the Adamson Blueprint AV software. It creates specifics for handing the system and we’re good to go.
Mike and I (Mike Veres is the monitor tech with Eighth Day and an integral part of the setup team) dump the truck and organize and set angles as the gear comes in. By the time we get “hands,” the points are up and we’re ready to fly the arrays.
After that, we place fills and subs, and then run snakes. Jon steps in to build front of house around his DiGiCo SD10 console, followed by my alignment and tuning. I utilize (Rational Acoustics) Smaart v7 to assist the tuning process, making adjustments on the Lake filtering in the Lab.gruppen amplifiers via a tablet interface. So it’s usually a pretty easy morning, depending on the rigging.
Load-out is even easier, able to be done in an hour depending on the push. Not having to zero the boxes while loading is a real time saver – you can land it with one person if need be.
How’s the new Blueprint AV software working out?
Walsh: It’s great, pretty much set and forget. I worked with Ben (Cabot) in the beginning and we knocked everything out. We have a few presets that we use and the software is very straightforward.
Jon mentioned that the system needs to have some degree of flexibility – can you provide some specifics?
Walsh: Some of the venues have weight restrictions. Fortunately it’s easy to reconfigure the system. I’ve flown all E12s, all E15s, or a mixture of both, and even ground-stacked them in a few places. It all transitions very easily and sounds terrific no matter what configuration we put together.
Jon, you’ve mixed many tours with DiGiCo consoles, correct?
Lemon: Yes, I had one of the first D5s back in the day and haven’t really mixed on any other console since. I think the DiGiCo boards, in general, have a really good, almost analog sound – they have since the beginning. As a company, they’re extremely receptive to suggestions from engineers like me, which in turn leads to the consoles being very user friendly.
I tend to choose the specific console model based upon the reality of what I’m going to use. Sure, tons of channels are great, but if you don’t need them, go with something smaller. I love the SD7 and all its features, but the SD10 is exactly the same in audio quality and has more than enough features for the needs of this particular tour. So I have an SD10 at front of house and 192 racks on stage enabling us to run at 96k , and it’s equipped to run SoundGrid-compatible Waves plug-ins that provide me with an even wider assortment of tools for the mix.
So you’re a fan of plug-ins?
Lemon: Absolutely. I love them. The more you get into SoundGrid, the more you can create specific nuances for the mix. The CLA-76 compressor/limiter really suits Ray’s vocals, so I use that along with the Rennaisance DeEsser and C6 for plosives and sculpting. There are four other vocalists on stage – really good singers – and I use the same chain for them, too. From there the four vocals go into a group that’s tweaked with the CLA-3A limiter and C6 multiband dynamic compressor, which produces a very cohesive vocal sound.
I set up a lot of group busing; for example, I have two group buses for drums, a normal one and another for parallel compression (with an SSL compressor), so I’ll use the Waves NLS (non-linear summer) plug-in to drive that. I actually apply the NLS on all of the bus/groups in my mix – it gives me a real analog feel.
Are you carrying outboard gear?
Lemon: Yes. I always have a Waves MaxxBCL (bass enhancement, compression and level maximization) at the top of my rack. I haven’t done a gig without this piece of gear for as long as it’s existed. Granted, I can get a plug-in to handle the same thing, but I just love having those knobs available to grab at. There’s also an Avalon VT-737sp channel strip that allows me to quickly EQ or compress Ray’s vocal if needed, and again, there’s just something nice about having the box right there. And, there’s a Summit TLA100A (tube leveling amplifier) for bass – this is on the bass group (electric and upright), so I wanted something simple, effective and flexible.
Because Ray is performing old and new songs (two distinctly different vocal styles) on this tour, I need to step up the reverb on certain passages, so I’m carrying three Bricasti M7 stereo reverb processors MIDI’d up to the SD 10. I use one exclusively for backing vocals and another for drums. They’re really impressive pieces of gear. And that pretty much does the trick.
Ed, you’ve also got an SD10 for monitors, correct?
Ed Ehrbar: Yes, I like the SD10 because it’s sonically the same as the SD7, which is usually my console of choice, but the SD10 is suiting my needs on this tour completely. I’ve been able to pare down the size of the console budget without sacrificing any quality. Waves also has come a long way, and the ease of using the various plug-ins on DiGiCo consoles has greatly improved.
What’s happening on stage?
Ehrbar: We’ve got d&b audiotechnik M2 wedges for the performers and a couple Sennheiser G3 IEM mixes for the techs. This show is very straightforward with great music and great players. You don’t really need much more.
Lemon: All of the vocals are handled with Sennheiser e 935 dynamic microphones, with drums captured by a selection of classics – beyerdynamic TG M88 and a Shure SM91 on kick, two Telefunken M80s on the snares with Sennheiser eb 414s underneath, Neumann 184s for hi-hat and cymbals, and Shure VP88 stereo condensers over the kit and drummer. On guitars there’s a mix of a Shure SM57, a Neumann TLM 103 and a Telefunken M80.
What’s standing out in your mind on the tour at this point?
Lemon: The only unusual thing is how bloody consistent the PA is night after night. I find that surprising. I’ve used a lot of big-name systems, and this is very sophisticated. Other than that I’m just very lucky – I’m working with great people and a terrific sounding band, which makes it even easier to make them sound good. I wouldn’t change a thing.