Tolan Shaw is an artist who likes to stay busy. When he’s not working on his own material, the San Diego-based singer/
songwriter spends his days cranking out music for film, TV, and a range of other projects. Shaw also performs several nights a week in his native San Diego, in between tours of Europe, Asia, and beyond.
Shaw’s gigs range from clubs and coffee houses to weddings and private parties, often in exotic and unusual locations. And he depends on his Mackie FreePlay Personal PA, even the most challenging places.
“At a lot of these locations, the number one issue is power,” he observes. “Will there be any power, will it be dependable, will it cut out in the middle of your show, will I have to run a ridiculously long extension cord to some power outlet a mile away?”
As Shaw explains, FreePlay has changed that. “FreePlay’s rechargeable battery gives me up to 10 hours of playing time. Or if I need to, I can run it on regular D cells. Either way, I know I’ve got a fully self-contained system that delivers, wherever I’m set up.”
FreePlay is a portable PA for small to mid-size gigs, delivering deep bass and rich, powerful sound that outperforms systems many times its size. And with the Mackie Connect app, users have complete control over FreePlay’s built in mixer, including EQ, reverb, delay, and other FX, right from their iOS or Android device.
“It’s just amazing to be able to set up my PA, loop my guitar, and walk out into the audience with my iPhone to adjust the sound,” he enthuses. “It enables me to hear exactly what the audience is hearing, and that ultimately helps me give a better performance.”
Shaw sums it up: “It’s simple, it’s easy, it runs on batteries, it’s quiet, it sounds really clean, it’s got great effects, it’s portable – what more could you really want?”