Front of house engineer Peter Keppler used SoundGrid with a DiGiCo SD10 console on David Byrne and St. Vincent’s 2012 and 2013 tours, and states that he plans to use it with a DiGiCo SD7 with Katy Perry this year.
“MultiRack SoundGrid with Waves plug-ins has been vital to my sound and workflow with the DiGiCo desks,” he says. “My go-to plug-ins are the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor, CLA-76 and TrueVerb, and of course I use several others as well. Using C6 on vocals works beautifully. I can use much more gentle compression on the channel, because any of the ‘peak-y’ frequencies are taken care of beforehand with C6, and subsequently retain more of the singer’s dynamics.
“Also,” he continues, “I do some basic EQ with the C6, and that leaves more of the console channel EQ available to me if I need it.”
Recently on tour with German rap artist Casper, front of house engineer Oliver Voges (Faith No More, Tangerine Dream, Sarah Brightman) used MultiRack with a SoundGrid Server One with a Yamaha CL5 console.
“Casper performs with a 5-piece rock band,” he says. “My main goal is to transfer the musical vision and energy from the studio recording to a live performance. In order to achieve this, live instruments and electronic sounds need to be glued together with a huge foundation of low end. This production is extremely challenging since it encompasses such diverse musical styles—hardcore, hip-hop, indie—creating an immense variety of sound.”
For a solid sub range, he uses a Waves MaxxBass plug-in, tuned to 43 Hz, with the input routed via an aux send, using it as a special FX sub for different sources, finalized by a L3-LL Multimaximizer in order to eliminate peaks and gain on the headroom. And for drums, Voges continues, “A combination of the very clear Yamaha CL5 input channel EQs to work on resonances, and different Waves EQ plug-ins for coloring. I love the V-EQ4 on kick drums and the SSL G-Equalizer on snare. For these channels I also use the Renaissance Axx compressor in order to get these pumping sounds I’m looking for.”
Front of house engineer Michael Brennan, a long-time Avid user, utilized an Avid S3L for a world tour last year by Scottish alt rockers Primal Scream. He primarily chose the S3L because its very compact footprint overcame some pretty serious size restrictions. In addition, the show file he had already created on his VENUE console was compatible with it, so he was confident in a smooth transition.
But what I found really interesting n was another plug-application. Brennan explains: “With the plug-ins and output patch function on the board, I’ve been able to use it as a system controller and crossover on several occasions. This has saved the show both times that the system controller broke, which was awesome.”
Times have most certainly changed in terms of audio tools, and it’s all for the better.
Senior contributing editor Craig Leerman is the owner of Tech Works, a production company based in Las Vegas.