On the platinum-certified singer/songwriter Asaf Avidan’s “Anagnorisis” tour that’s currently trekking across North America and Europe with shows scheduled through mid-2022, front of house engineer Gil Teleman and monitor engineer Arik Finkelberg are both working with Waves eMotion LV1 mixers.
“The Waves LV1 system is the future. The clean sound of the preamps especially blew our mind,” says Teleman. “One of the great things about the LV1 is that it’s compact and completely modular. Its combination of small footprint, versatility and top-quality sound would be hard to beat at any time, but it’s a real godsend during this challenging era for live tours.
“To deal with uncertain schedules and limitations during COVID, we often have to rely on flights instead of a large tour bus,” he adds. “This means we need to think very carefully about the weight and casing of the gear. I don’t need an 8-foot, 100-pound surface to get the sound I want. It makes more sense to have a setup that’s small and light, but with a ton of options for my FOH mix, and that’s exactly what I’m getting with the LV1. The setup is compact and tidy, with everything controlled easily from the Waves FIT controller plus a touchscreen or two. The mixer has great-sounding preamps and enormous headroom, and with all my Waves plugins running inside the LV1, I’ve got high-end studio sound for the shows – the kind where you want to print every show and stream it to the world.”
Teleman explains that he alternates between two workflows: “For most shows, my setup is the FIT control surface combined with a self-powered mobile 15.6-inch touchscreen. The screen sits in the zipped front compartment of the backpack, and the whole thing weighs only 12 kg (26.5 lbs). I can easily put it on my back wherever I go and take it as a carry-on on the plane. My second configuration is even smaller. It’s basically a touchscreen/15.6-inch laptop and that’s it. I use it as an alternative for emergencies, small PR sessions, and solo shows without the full band. Occasionally, I will add a portable screen. Being able to switch seamlessly to this even smaller setup gives me a level of flexibility I couldn’t have with another mixer. Either way, we have a great-sounding setup that fits in just three Pelican 1637s, a 2U shallow case and a backpack. Both setups work amazingly well, and both have a Waves Mercury plugin bundle installed and running from within the LV1.”
Finkelberg (pictured above) notes, “Right from the get-go, when we started production rehearsals, I was really impressed with the sound quality of the LV1. Even without using plugins, the sources already sounded clean and healthy, which was very comforting to me. The guys on stage have a very high standard of how they like to hear their mix, and when I heard the channels for the first time, I knew I wouldn’t have to struggle with the sources to get there. Another thing that really blew me away was the headroom, which was surprising in the best possible way – I don’t think I’ve ever heard a mixer with that much headroom; it really helped us a lot with Asaf’s vocal being extremely dynamic. Furthermore, connecting everything is very easy: it takes me only three to five minutes to set up start to finish, including running tests to verify that everything works properly. Everything connects to everything else via a simple Cat-6 cable. It’s great to realize things can be that simple.”
Summing up his experience on the tour, Teleman says, “In my opinion, the Waves LV1 system is the future. We have a versatile pro rig that enables us to give the artist and his band the detailed album-sound they’re after. But no less important is that we have a flexible rig we can transport easily and adjust to local conditions without compromise. This is crucial for making a live tour succeed these days and be satisfying for everyone involved – performers, crew and audience.”
