In November 2007, Jean Michel Jarre released a special anniversary live version of his classic album, Oxygene. The celebration continues this year as Jarre has planned some very special concerts – including the Royal Albert Hall on March 30th – in which he’ll be performing Oxygene in its entirety..
“ I got out the old vintage synthesisers, and was absolutely amazed by the sound and the quality of those instruments that we almost all forgot about somewhere in the Eighties. They have such a special texture, such a special color.They are part of the mythology of electronic music.”
Jarre decided to put these 50 or 60 crazy instruments on stage and perform Oxygene like it is a futuristic classical concert, but in truly classical venues. These venues are quite unusual for him as they are small, with between 1,000 to 3,000 seats. “For that, we need a very special sound because these very warm analogue machines are like old ladies, and we need accurate and sophisticated equipment to get the right sound in the unusual venues for this type of music.”
To get this sound, a DiGiCo D5 Live console was chosen. This complete, self-contained system does away with the need for a multicore, splitters, line drivers, dynamics processors and an entire effects rack.
Alain Courieux, who has more than 30 years experience in live sound engineering, studio recording, sound design and audio consultant, is Jean Michel Jarre’s sound engineer on this tour. “I used a lot of the internal effects contained in the console,” says Courieux. “So the external effects rack consisted of just a Lexicon 480L reverb and an SSL stereo compressor.”
Jarre added “I think that the timeless warmth and the texture of the old analogue instruments teamed with the up to date digital sound technology is great. Not only for the PA systems, but also to eventually record the whole piece for film and for live projects. It’s absolutely ideal and we are delighted with it
Courieux is looking forward to the rest of the tour that kicks off in March. “The tour will see us use two DiGiCo D5 consoles, and the monitors and in ear system will be driven with a CS-D5,” Courieux added.