ProAudio Review - March 2008 - (Page 24)

Touring Gear ON THE ROAD Continued From Page 22 Insight From FOH Engineer Tom Young With the upcoming touring season upon us, I thought I would offer some personal insight on how I approach sound systems currently available, and what trends are new to touring engineers. When touring with a national act, sound companies design a system for the specific needs of the show. Regional companies that have systems in venues for the summer touring season design the system for the needs of that specific venue. I will have the opportunity in the summer to work at some of my favorite outdoor venues: the Hollywood Bowl, Greek Theater, Ravina Festival, Chastain Park, just to name a few. Years ago, I used to carry PA into many of these summer venues in order to select the speakers to reflect the style of show I would be doing. It is more apparent today that several manufacturers deliver excellent products that handle all types of music (Meyer Sound, d&b, V-dosc, JBL Vertec, NEXO). Also, the local companies and technicians that service these venues are so in tune to the needs of the venue that you would be hard pressed to drastically improve on what they are accomplishing on a one-day show by putting in a different system. All of my shows with Tony Bennett have become fly dates due to management’s routing of shows. Carrying a sound system would be impossible, so I’ve been fortunate that the sound products and crew experience at regional levels has never been better, in my opinion. To maintain consistency from night to night, I specify Meyer MSL-4’s flown sidefills for the summer and install them every day in the venue. The use of Dolby Lake processing in sound systems is becoming as common as seeing a Klark Teknik equalizer on a sound system in the early years. The ability to equalize and walk the venue with a tablet has raised the bar on overall sound system performance. The availability of digital consoles on tours maintains a level of consistency and has changed my rider considerably from five years ago. When I used to specify only analog consoles, I had to specify equalizers, compressors, outboard reverbs, delays, etc. On an almost daily basis, it seemed that some or all of the equipment for front of house would be different. The flexibility of digital consoles and the ability to recall what you did last night makes their use hard to deny. One of the changes in expectations of live touring sound engineers is the recording of the show. I have been recording live shows for quite a while direct to cassette, then to DAT, and now to my laptop, CD or via several types of multitrack formats. The ease and portability of digital recording gear has never been easier to record on the road. The benefits to the artist and the ability to disseminate those recordings quickly on the TOM YOUNG continues on page 29 ➤ pairs with an API pre and an ATI Pro 6 channel strip. “I occasionally will bring out some GML 8200s or 8900s to play with, but in all honesty, less is more,” McBride says. “I have a Chandler Curvebender EQ across the left-right, but generally don't engage any EQ—the rig just sounds better running through the unit, even without doing any EQ.” Longtime monitor engineer Robert Bull echoes McBride’s preference for analog technology and “less is more” approach. He’s mixed on an ATI Paragon II since their introduction in 1997. “Everything’s on the surface, and you can get to it right away,” he says. “It has onboard gates and compressors, which gives you unbelievable flexibility. And it just sounds great.” Except for one TCM 5000 reverb, Bull uses all analog gear. He uses Clair Bros. 1202 wedges, originally developed by McBride, along with Crown 36x12 amps with built-in crossovers. He flies two Clair Bros. R4s per side for sidefill, which are powered by Crown 5000 amps for the low end, 600s for the mid, and 1200s for the had spend the last eight years mixing monitors for Christina Aguilera. For the Maroon 5 tour, both engineers work on Yamaha PM5D digital mixing consoles. “For a digital console, it feels kind of analog to me,” says Shreiner. “With most digital boards, I feel like I’m mixing on a computer, but with the Yamaha, everything is right in the center where you need it. It’s very user-friendly to me.” “Yamaha is a workhorse of the industry,” adds Chrysler. “I’ve used Midas and Soundcraft consoles for years. When digital came in, I started using the Yamaha desk by default. But man, with the amount of shows I’ve done on the PM5D with no failures, I’m pretty pleased with their performance.” Aside from an Avalon 737 compressor that Chrysler uses on Adam Levine’s lead vocals, all processing is taken care of by the PM5D. For the first leg of the Maroon 5 tour, production opted for a Clair Bros./Showco PRISM system, which has proved itself more than adequate for the job. “The Prism system is an excep- John McBride with the API Paragon Console highs. Most of the band monitors through Shure wireless ear systems with Shure E5 earphones. Although McBride and Bull have no plans to reinvent the audio wheel, McBride does have a few ideas to toy around with. “I am going to bring out a Cyclosonic Panner to try on a song. Also, I am a mic pre freak — I like to bring out some Telefunken V76s now and then. The Shadow Hill mic pre with the switchable transformers is really sexy — I may have to bring that out also. Or maybe some old Neumann KM54s or 67s. And a Cooper Time Cube is one of the coolest things I have ever heard…” CASE STUDY 3: KIRK SHREINER AND BILL CHRYSLER When Grammy-winning pop/rock band Maroon 5 began their lengthy world tour, they called upon front-of-house engineer Kirk Shreiner and monitor engineer Bill Chrysler to ensure first-rate sound quality. Shreiner, a Clair Bros. staffer for nearly 20 years, had just finished a stint with Motley Crue; and Chrysler, whose credits include dates with Paul McCartney, Madonna, and John Mayer, Kirk Shreiner (Front) and Bill Chrysler tional conventional PA,” says Chrysler. “I like how much air it moves and the way it fills a big room. And you can hang a lot of it with just a few points.” Coupled with the Prism system, the band uses a combination of Showco SRM wedges, Shure PSM 700 personal monitor systems, and both Ultimate Ears and Futuresonics in-ear monitors (depending on personal preference). Chrysler additionally cites the Shure UHF-R wireless microphone system as a component he has used with much success. Speaking of Shure, Maroon 5 relies upon a complete Shure microphone package, featuring a UR24D/Beta 58 dual handheld wireless system for Levine. As a team, Shreiner and Chrysler take a musical approach to sound reinforcement. As Shreiner states, “Really it all comes down to the room and the musicians on stage, and no piece of gear is going to fix that.” Heather Johnson is a San Francisco-based journalist and author whose books include “If These Halls Could Talk: A Historical Tour Through San Francisco Recording Studios.” 24 | ProAudio Review | March 2008 Subscribe to the Digital Edition of Pro Audio Review http://www.proaudioreview.com/subscribe www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com/subscribe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - March 2008

ProAudio Review - March 2008 Contents Publisher's Page Studio News and New Products Sennheiser MKH 8040 Microphone Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro Studio Spotlight Upsampler X/Audio Live News and New Products Touring Gear From the Road Broadcast News and New Products ION Audio Tape2PC Cassette Archiving System Brauner VMA Large-Diaphragm Microphone Audio Ltd. RMS 2040 Series Post News and New Products First Look NAB Showcase Buyers Guide Single Slice

ProAudio Review - March 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.