A Waves CLA-76 comp/limiter followed by a Waves DeEsser are applied to Levin’s vocals, which then run through a PreSonus ADL700 tube channel strip as a way to “pop out of the digital domain.”
The treatment provides more warmth and depth to the vocal signature, while a PreSonus ADL600 tube preamp serves the same purpose on his guitar groups. In addition, a George Massenburg GML8200 stereo EQ plays a “mastering” role, adding a little “air” to the PA. “It gives it a bit of sparkle that’s quite nice,” Ebdon notes.
A Pro Tools HD Native digital audio workstation along with a Tascam SS-R200 assist with recording each show live, with a secondary back-up mix to Waves Tracks Live that is great for virtual sound checks. Ebdon also has a studio set up in the back of the tour bus where he can do one-off mixes on an as-needed basis.
Monitor engineer Kevin Glendinning also helms a SD7 console. Another engineer who doesn’t require much in outboard gear, he has a Yamaha SPX2000 for effects processing, a TC Electronic TC 2290 dynamic digital delay and a Tascam CD-RW901 recorder in his rack.
“The SD7 is a terrific console – it really provides just about everything I could need,” Glendinning says. “With the band on in-ears, the only wedges we have on stage are Sound Image MA112s for the bass player, who’s stationary and really prefers wedges.”
Attaining Coverage
The tour is carrying 54 EAW Anya loudspeaker modules, joined by 24 SB2001 subwoofers and eight KF364 self-powered loudspeakers for front fill. Main left-right columns are made up of three hangs of 12, eight and four modules that provide 240 degrees of coverage, with the three columns hanging together as one array. And an additional three module column per side can be added to expand coverage to 270 degrees when needed.
“Even though the left and right arrays are made up of multiple columns, they sound coherent, like one array. It’s pretty amazing,” says Dowling, who also served as the system engineer on the previous Tom Petty tour. “The smoothness across the audience is quite impressive, definitely smoother than anything else I’ve heard.”
Briefly, each Anya module includes 22 customized transducers. Fourteen HF compression drivers provide a continuous line of apertures on a horn that expands to fill the entire face of the enclosure, joined by six 5-inch MF cone transducers utilizing proprietary technologies to sum coherently with the HF wavefront. Dual 15-inch LF cone transducers employ Offset Aperture loading to extend horizontal pattern control into the lower octaves. Each of the 22 transducers is powered and processed independently.
“The rejection on the system is also quite remarkable,” Ebdon adds. “During at least a third of each concert, Adam is out on a 118-foot thrust with a small performance stage at the end of it, yet the show is still comfortably loud with good vocal clarity and zero feedback.”