HK Audio‘s CONTOUR Series continues to be the stage monitor of choice for Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, who used his favored pair of CT 112 loudspeakers and CT 118 subs on the band’s 2015 fall/winter tour.
Deep Purple co-founder Paice, who is the only continuous member of the band since it formed in 1968, has the setup placed directly behind his kit for live shows, a solution he prefers to in-ear monitors.
“I’ve been using HK Audio for 20 years, and there’s something in the way the systems are put together which for drums just seems to work,” Paice says. “They pick out the depth and the sweetness and the clarity at the top end that you need. The drums just seem to stay in balance and the frequency response seems to be working perfectly for everything I need. When you’ve got that, it just makes the whole process of playing an instrument you can’t physically hear a lot easier.”
During an exclusive interview with HK Audio before the band’s show at Trier Arena in Germany, Paice also explained – among other things – just why he and the other members of Deep Purple continue with traditional monitors in the face of more modern options like in-ear systems.
Rob Hodgkinson, Deep Purple’s longtime monitor engineer, is also a big fan of the CONTOUR setup. Hodgkinson spoke at length to HK Audio about his history in the industry and his continued satisfaction with the HK Audio monitor systems he controls for Paice, and also for Deep Purple keyboard player Don Airey, who uses a CONTOUR CT 115 monitor setup for live shows.
Hodgkinson said: “It’s a good, reliable system – it works well, travels well, and is well-built. It’s great: you just plug them in and turn them up. I’ve not had to use any EQ on the drum fill at all, and it just sounds great! Which is exactly what you want…”
Watch the Ian Paice interview here.
Watch the Rob Hodgkinson interview here
