Finally, a Dolby Lake processor is set up for eight channels of Mesa EQ for the main system.
Beside Haines, a Motion Computing Tablet runs the Lake Controller software, while a second computer equipped with an Edirol UA-25 USB interface and an Audix TR40 microphone runs Rational Acoustics Smaart.
Backstage, six more Dolby Lake Processors are used for the mains and three more are in the monitor rig.
Assisting Haines is System Engineer and Crew Chief David Moncrief, a touring veteran who previously worked with the tour’s Production Manager Tim Miller on ‘N Sync, which Miller also mixed.
Haines relies heavily on Waves Audio L2 Ultramaximizer limiter and MaxxBass bass enhancement plug-ins, which are both used on the main left-right mix bus.
The L2 is also inserted on the Juno and Moog keyboards, ddrum electronic kick drum, and Will.i.am’s DJ rig.
They were heavily employed on the record, which he strives to accurately reproduce, recreating the album’s dance club vibe in arenas by “pushing the low end and getting the bass in your chest.”
An Antares Auto-Tune plug-in is used shamelessly as a contemporary dance music effect and is Haines’ “go to” compressor, also applied to the main mix to keep it “in the box.” Other plug-ins include EchoFarm and ReverbOne for effects as well as Focusrite’s ISA 110 and 130 from the Forte Suite for Fergie’s vocal, who Haines also mixes when the Peas aren’t touring.
Waves Audio Ultramaximizer & MaxxBass bass plug-ins on L/R mix bus.
Her presence in the show forces Haines to walk a tightrope between mixing a pop show and a hip-hop concert, at which he succeeds brilliantly. He paraphrases Spinal Tap with the audio department’s motto: “It’s a fine line between thump and mud.”
Contemporary Effects
Boston native Ryan Cecil, who I originally met on Norah Jones’ first tour, mixes monitors on a Digidesign Profile.
His challenge, even more than for Haines, is that his performers really expect to hear the album every night.
His favorite plug-in is the Crane Song Phoenix on keyboards, and he also uses Antares Auto-Tune because, unlike other artists who use it to enhance their singing, the Peas like it in as a contemporary effect and want to hear it in their monitor mixes.
He also mentions the Focusrite EQ and uses Smack! as an insert on Fergie’s vocal mic.
“While the tour pays for the Antares, Waves and Crane Song plug-ins, I prefer to manage as few authorizations as possible,” Cecil says. “I find most of the plug-ins included with the Venue are very high quality.”