Since he first appeared at the Marshland Festival in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Frank Foster has stuck with Deep South Productions (DSP) for all his touring technology, including the J-Series from d&b audiotechnik which was added about three years ago.
“It’s where my business relationship with DSP’s owner Marvin Simon was cemented,” says Foster. “I’m into every aspect of my show, especially the sound, and I appreciate the difference I get from DSP, especially since Marvin bought that new German audio system.”
The company has always prided itself on its commitment to providing great sound, “But this d&b investment was a game changer for us,” says Simon.
There is history between DSP and Foster; it was Simon, wearing his production manager’s hat, who had invited Foster to appear at Marshlands.
“We’d already done several shows with Frank and I could see he was building up a head of steam,” says Simon. “Not long after Marshlands we started to think about renewing our audio inventory. At the time we switched to d&b audiotechnik we had been on the fence. We had an old system and just weren’t getting the support we wanted. We talked to a number of different people but Joe DiFalco from d&b was the one who really took the time to learn who we were and what we are about. That’s important.
“Initially Joe recommended a V-Series system for us, a nice mid-sized line array. In the shop we sat down as a team and considered the alternatives from other manufacturers; several looked pretty good. So we looked at twenty technical riders and fourteen of them had d&b as an acceptable system.”
Still not totally convinced, Simon called up several sound engineers and production managers. “They all said fine, ‘but go for the J-Series.’ That was about three years ago. Sure, committing to the bigger J system stretched us financially, but I have to say Joe and d&b put a good package together for us. We took a look at where Frank was headed and we bought the shop: J8s, J12s, J-SUBs and J-INFRAs. We even bought a bunch of M4 wedges.”
The success of any such decision is ultimately down to the engineers. Foster’s long time front of house mixer Jayce Bosman was immediately impressed. “There are some good systems out there: I’ve been mixing for thirty years and used all of them. But every aspect of the J system delivers quality; it’s phenomenal. The off axis control is really tight. For someone like Frank who doesn’t have a super loud vocal I don’t have to worry too much about where he’s going and that gives me more freedom to mix. The J-Series is a great place to start when you get to a gig; you don’t need a lot of system EQ, if any. Just dial in the band and go.”
Monitor man Bill Horton has an equally long career, and he too experienced a change. “Here’s a funny thing: my first exposure to d&b was a Q system demonstration a few years ago now. I was behind the subs when I walked in and I thought the system wasn’t on. Then we walked in front.”
Cardioid subs were a rarity back then of course. “In those days I used to spend a whole lot of time with old dinosaur wedges. They were loud but you had to do a lot of work to get them to behave the way you wanted. Now we’ve jumped to d&b. I turned on the M4s and found I didn’t have to do anything. They are very well behaved. Frank is a pleasure to work with but as with any artist, it’s like ducks on a pond; looks all calm on the surface, but he can’t see you paddling underneath. Even so, I always get what I want from the wedge and I know he likes what he hears.”
Since that initial investment DSP has added V-Series to its inventory. “We’ve never had a product before where everything has been thought through,” says Simon, “Truck pack, rigging, amplifiers and networking. Three years later my guys are still smiling. When we tell people we have d&b systems, the next question is ‘what’s for lunch?’ And that’s just how we like it.”
