Trivium is an American heavy metal band from Orlando, FL that formed in 2000. Since signing with Roadrunner Records in 2004 they have released six studio albums and 18 singles. Selling more than 1 million albums worldwide and following the release of their sixth album, the band is out on tour in support of Vengeance Falls.
Clair Global (Littiz, PA) is responsible for audio production for the tour. Trivium monitor engineer Mike Babcock chose the new Yamaha QL5 digital console for monitor mixing after talking with the Clair Global team.
Clair is also providing a FOH control package, a full stage patch package, and snake system for Trivium. The band owns JH Audio IEMs and Sennheiser transmitters, with Clair also suppling a stage monitoring system and control package for “Volbeat,” who headlines the tour.
“The Yamaha QL Console Series could not have been released at a more opportune time,” states Clair account manager Justin Weaver. “We were in the middle of talking to tour manager Joey Brueckmann and Mike Babcock about their upcoming tour package, and the QL5 was the perfect fit for the tour.
“Trivium is jumping around between headline, support, and festival shows, so having a reliable, compact console in monitor world was a must since real estate on stage is at a premium. “
Doug Staab at Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems assured Clair Global that Yamaha could have the QL5 QC’d and shipped to them before their shop load-out date – and he delivered.
“Not only did they deliver on time, but our console department also had time to play with the console and was quite impressed with the design and feel of the QL,” says Weaver. “We look forward to deploying this desk on many more tours in the future that require a dependable, small-footprint mixing console.”
Initially, Trivium chose a Yamaha CL1 for the tour because Brueckmann was finding that all of their fly dates had Yamaha PM5Ds for monitors.
“We wanted to stay within the Yamaha family for consistency yet keep a small footprint for ease of everything,” states Babcock. “The fact that the new QL5 was available was a huge bonus, mainly for the onboard preamps and not needing an additional Rio rack. I’ve never been one to shy away from new gear, especially from Yamaha.”
Babcock notes that since the main goal for a monitor console was a small footprint and Trivium is the main support act on the Volbeat tour, a quick load out was important. “Having a file system that is compatible with all Yamaha consoles is a big plus. The file conversion utility worked great with our first fly date festival using a Yamaha PM5D.”
He adds that on that fly date with a converted QL5 show file for PM5D externally clocked at 96 there was no noticeable audio quality difference after gain structure was reset.
“I would consider the QL5 to be PM5D quality (or better) in an Yamaha LS9 size. Great for club tours, support tours, and anywhere a small footprint is needed. Keeping client demands for high quality audio is the main goal, and the addition of the Premium Rack plug-ins is greatly appreciated and adds that little special sauce we all love. There are times where I really need dynamic EQ, and that option is great as well.”
“It all adds up to be the best monitor mixes anyone in the band has ever had mainly due to having the QL5 tools required to offset various venue conditions at the tip of my fingers.”
