Setting The Standard: Delivering The Sonic Experience Of The Pixies

Intuitive Moves

The Pixies stage is outfitted with L-Acoustics X15 monitor wedges for Black Francis, with side fill via two L-Acoustics ARCS full-range boxes atop an SB218 subwoofer per side. Jones mix for Black Francis includes his vocal and guitar, along with a bit of kick/snare.

“It’s localized so that when he walks up to the mic, these elements come through while everything else comes from the side fills,” he says. “Less is more. There’s not a lot of vocal coming through the side fills, but there is bass and drums that helps keep the band all together.” Each player on IEM is delivered a mix tailored to individual preferences.

Jones has utilized a Yamaha PM5D from the outset with the Pixies, and he’s found no compelling reason to change: “I’ve certainly looked at other consoles, and they’re great, but I always come back to the 5D. It seems to suit the band’s sound and provides me with all of the capabilities I need, plus it just works night after night, there’s never a problem or issue.”

While it’s an older platform, the PM5D still satisfies his requirements with onboard internal gates and comps, GEQs, and plenty of outputs. Admittedly larger and heavier than newer models, that’s not proven a problem, with the upside that it’s exactly the tool he needs with this band.

A Shure SM57 and AKG C414 capturing the guitar
amps.

“Because it’s a four-piece group – drum, bass, guitar, and vocals – there aren’t exotic requirements, and you can use your brain to make it work and get things exactly where they should be,” he expounds. “We’re not doing anything that’s rocket science. It’s a loud stage, but we get the vocals above the band and go from there.

“Because the band and tech team work closely together, it becomes intuitive. You can often sense what is coming up next, picking up on non-verbal cues,” he continues. “This gets into your psyche, how everyone is thinking and what they’re more likely to do next, and it’s amazing the things you can come to know without thinking too directly about it.”

Making It Happen

Wilson’s overriding goal every time out: make the band sound like they should, indeed, the way they want to sound regardless of the room and the system. In smaller spaces, this usually means backing off on volume until output is balanced in the coverage area, and then riding the peaks from there.

He doesn’t have a formal system tuning process. The vocal mic is first, certain other aspects of the mix that are key to the music are then established, and he tailors from there. He adds that system tech Jamie Harris was also very helpful with system optimization on the recent tour, making it easier for him to reach his sonic goals on a consistent basis.

Wilson runs Rational Acoustics Smaart for some additional insights, but the tuning process is largely based upon what he’s hearing within the given venue at each show. And there are invariably challenges that come up. “At one show on the last tour, the house system sounded way off,” he says. “We worked with it for a bit but then dropped one side of the PA and quickly figured out that half of the compression drivers were blown. You don’t need a Smaart rig to tell you something like that; it should be immediately obvious just by talking through a mic.”

A long-time Avid VENUE Profile user, he switched over to the S6L toward the beginning last year, noting: “I quickly came to love the S6L, and as a long-time user of Avid products, I’ve never experienced any issues. This console has plenty of facilities for what we do, and plugin-wise, I also rely on the Sonnox live bundle, which works great for dynamics as well as any EQ that might be needed.”

His biggest focus is keeping the volume at a manageable level while maintaining power and clarity. Depending on the size of the room, 112 dB of Marshall and Vox AC30 guitar amps can make this difficult. At this point, one can image that Wilson’s not a fan of a “set and forget” mix approach, but rather, he seeks to craft and then amplify an immersive experience unique to each performance. The band can get loud, but he doesn’t want to see the audience scrambling for their earplugs.

“It’s simply not good enough to just set things and move on. We need to be listening and aware of optimizing the artist for the audience throughout the entire show,” he concludes. “The reality is that this is not a CD. It’s live, every time is unique, and we need to work within that framework and that reality, and adjust accordingly. It’s the very nature and essence of live sound reinforcement: dig in and make it happen.”