With 2011 Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rock Song (“Little Lion Man”), Mumford & Sons have gone from complete unknowns to hot property in less time than it takes some bands to record an album.
The West London-based quartet have topped the charts in Australia, recorded with the Kinks’ Ray Davies, and recently completed a sold out U.S. tour that included appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
The band’s front of house engineer, Chris Pollard, selected the Avid VENUE SC48 for the US leg of their recent tour, having used a VENUE Profile System for their earlier European dates. As Pollard explains, the move to the SC48 was strictly a practical one.
“We wanted to scale down so we could carry our whole rig in the trailer,” he says, adding that the transition from the larger Profile console was a seamless one. “After just a couple of shows, it was really like having the same desk.”
The band is known for its energetic performances, impressive musicianship, and lively spontaneity. With set lists randomly changing and band members often swapping instruments, the VENUE console’s snapshot automation is an exceptionally useful feature.
“I’ve got the entire set list stored in the desk, so I can jump to another song immediately if they make a change,” Pollard says.
He adds that the onboard processing in SC48 delivers more than enough horsepower for the band’s largely acoustic instrumentation. “I’m mostly using some multiband compression for their vocals, as they’re very dynamic singers, and maybe a bit of reverb. It’s great to be able to carry my whole show on a single USB key.”
Virtual Soundcheck is another useful VENUE tool according to Pollard. But while many front of house engineers use the feature to get more out of sound checks that are too short, Mumford & Sons presents a slightly different challenge.
“These guys love to play, and they have a real passion for playing live,” he says. “If one of them starts playing, they’re all going to join in, and many times they’ll be up there jamming during sound check while I’m trying to listen to just one guitar. So it’s great for me to be able to pull up a set and isolate just one instrument without the band actually being present.”
The SC48 console’s seamless integration with Pro Tools is another solid advantage. “I kept Pro Tools running for the whole tour,” says Pollard. “Whenever the band wanted to make a rough recording of a new song, I would just hit record, give it a quick mix later on my laptop using Mbox, then email the MP3 to the band and management.”
