After a long hiatus, Phish’s Summer and Fall 2021 tours are now underway with some upgrades to the band’s live sound rig, with long-time front of house engineer Garry Brown still running a Yamaha RIVAGE PM10 digital console now joined by 112 channels of Rupert Neve Designs RMP-D8 microphone preamplifiers, connected via Dante.
Brown reports that his initial trial of the RMP-D8 occurred on the Trey Anastasio solo acoustic tour in 2020. “Adding the RMP-D8 to my workflow ultimately has given me a different sound to the console. The Rivage is an amazing sounding console, but we went down this path with great results. When we implemented 112 inputs of this into the Phish show, the show became fuller, punchier, and I was actually able to run the show quieter and feel like it had more impact.”
Upgrading the system with these preamps over the existing Dante network was initially an artist-driven decision, according to Brown. “After we made the change, the feedback I got from the band members was extremely positive – I know the drummer was ecstatic.” Brown also utilizes three Rupert Neve Designs Master Buss Processors on stereo bus, piano, and drums; four Shelford Channels, one for each band member’s vocals; and two Portico II Channels for additional processing.
“The thing that Rupert Neve Designs offers me as a mixer…it’s a quality of sound; a coloration, a tonal quality that to me is completely pleasing and makes me have to do less. The products…they’ve made my job easier.”
