The ongoing “One Way Out Tour” by multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge, promoting her newest album of the same name, sees her long-time front of house engineer Jim Roese as well as monitor engineer Ozzy Giron both dialing in their mixes on Midas Heritage HD96 mixing consoles supplied by Sound Image.
The shows feature Etheridge and bandmembers David Santos (bass and vocals), Eric Gardner (drums) and Max Hart (keys, guitar, steel guitar and vocals). The tour began in March in the U.S. with stops mostly at casinos and theaters, including the historic Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in New Hampshire, and heads to Europe before returning for a final U.S. run, wrapping up in October.
The control and consistency needed because the tour relies on each venue’s in-house PA system makes the console choice more critical, Roese notes. “It’s hard to explain how awesome the Midas Heritage HD96-24 is. It’s got a wide spatial image, but is completely cohesive when the instruments sum. It’s the same great Midas Pro Series sound but on steroids. The workflow is super dialed. You can put anything anywhere and the touch screen GUI is very intuitive. Any move that I make while mixing requires only minimal time looking away from the stage or the artist.”
Two Lake LM44 processors are also in Roese’s kit, which allow him to better cope with the “PA du jour” scenario. “I actually enjoy the challenges of dealing with a new system in each venue. It keeps me on my toes. Having the Lake processors is crucial for consistency day to day,” he says.
Roese’s company, RPM Dynamics, has used and sold Midas consoles for more than a decade. “We put Midas consoles in the vast majority of our design-build installations and on every tour that we are involved with. In early 2021, AVL Media Group became the distributor for North America which coincided with the re-launch, if you will, and availability of the HD96. Needless to say, I’m a fan.”
Monitor mixer Giron, who had previously mixed Etheridge on a Midas Pro X, explains that it took a nudge from Roese for him to change to the HD96: “With a little hesitation I agreed and it was a decision I do not regret whatsoever. From the moment I first touched the desk it was very comfortable.
“I give stereo mixes to each of the band members as well as a mix for our Etheridge TV live stream platform and am simply amazed at the sonic quality of the Midas HD96. The first thing Melissa said was how great it sounded which is exactly what you want to hear from the boss.”
