Already resigned to its role of ‘poor relation’ to video and film, sound has recently seen new terminology further challenge its dignity. Locked film reels are increasingly being replaced with ones that are ‘soft locked’ or ‘parked’, giving the sound team a moving target.

A recent conference on sound for picture saw a series of high-profile speakers turning this to their advantage, among other insights, however…

Following the release of his third solo album Grey Tickles, Black Pressure in 2015, genre-defying singer/songwriter John Grant took to the road for a short tour of the UK and Ireland into early 2016. With Ber Quinn at FOH, Grant used Shure KSM8 and KSM9HS vocal microphones, in addition to Shure PSM900 in-ear monitors.

‘A voice as rich and detailed as John’s is deserving of the finest microphone; to be able to hear every subtle aspect of his performance is a joy,’ Quinn says. ‘The difference once he started using the KSM9HS was startling.’

Now armed with a KSM9HS in hypercardioid mode, Grant himself regards his in-ear mixes as revolutionised. ‘Rejection of ambient noise is extremely important for us, as John uses a vocal processor onstage,’ Quinn explains. ‘The KSM9HS has been excellent in that regard, extremely focused, neutral and detailed. I’ve never once had to worry about feedback, even when using heavy vocal distortion.’

‘It’s been nothing short of a revelation on John’s voice,’ adds Matt Pengelly, the tour’s monitor engineer. ‘It is tight and controlled with almost zero handling noise, but still with all of the detail and space that you would expect from a quality condenser.

Shure’s recently launched KSM8 microphones are used on backing vocals for the tour, and have also proven popular with Pengelly: ‘The KSM8 is far and away the most neutral-sounding handheld dynamic mic I’ve heard. Spill that was once “fizzy” in mics we’d tried previously became more like added ambience in the IEMs,’ he reports.

The PSM900 in-ears and Shure’s Wireless Workbench software, which manages all of the wireless tech in use on the tour, have provided Pengelly with peace of mind. ‘Being able to turn off the RF on PSM900 is a godsend, especially for festival changeovers,’ he says. ‘I also love CueMode on the packs, allowing me to walk the whole stage, listen to the RF in situ and check everyone’s mixes. Wireless Workbench is another great tool, and saves additional stress on the night since I can do my co-ordination in advance and get an idea of the RF landscape, in addition to checking scans of other users.’

Grant is now back on the road taking in several outdoor festivals over the summer of 2016.

More: www.shuredistribution.co.uk

Working with two stages, the Adele Live 2016 tour production makes unusual and specific demands on its sound production. Unusually for a pop music concert, this calls on Out Board’s TiMax SoundHub-S32 audio showcontrol matrixing, specified by system engineer Ulf Oeckel and purchased by sound provider Black Box Music

The main stage PA comprised main LR, side LR, rear LR, subwoofers and front fill feeds, and four channels of mono front and rear main hangs and front fills for the B Stage.  TiMax doubles up these 12 channels in parallel AES and analogue signal paths to make use of the failsafe auto changeover facility in the system’s amplifiers and Lake processors

At several points during the show, TiMax crossfades the levels on these multiple speaker channels from one set-up to the next, including morphing the delay times on the rear pair of B Stage L-Acoustics K2 hangs from zero delay when Adele is on the B Stage to 80-100ms delay when she moves back to the main end-on stage. Algorithms within TiMax enable this to happen without glitching or zipper noise.

‘There are physical problems to be overcome with trying to fade slowly from one to the other,’ says FOH engineer Dave Bracey. ‘In a large space, you can’t have sound coming from two different sources firing in completely opposite directions. You have to be very careful how you do it so that it doesn’t sound messy to anyone at either end of the coverage area.

‘It’s a good effect; we do it using TiMax, which you can draw time lines into and control the different fade times of all of the speaker stacks, but it can also fade delay times as well, because, of course, the rear hangs on the B Stage are used as delays for the main stage too. When you’re listening to the B Stage the zero time delay is part of the point source system at the B Stage, but when you fade back to the A Stage, you have to introduce delay, so that they line up with the A Stage. TiMax does that job for us. Fading time delay is something that’s not readily available in audio processing, but that’s the wonderful thing that it does.

Loudspeaker set-ups

To deliver the mix – complete with localisation processing – Black Box Music set up an L-Acoustics K2 system. 

‘Designing the system was a challenge because there is a very clean look to the triangular main stage and strict requirements for sight lines and projection, so we had to fly all the K2 very high,’ says system designer and technician Ulf Oeckel, who, like Bracey, has previously worked on tours by Pink and Cher. ‘The K2 was the perfect choice because, despite the sight line requirements, it gives us the projection needed to deliver Adele’s voice to every fan in the audience.’

The production features 150 L-Acoustics K2 loudspeakers. The main stage has LR hangs of ten K2 each, with four K1-SB on top providing low end extension, plus side-hang arrays of an additional 18 K2 per side. To cover the extremities of the 270º arc, additional hangs of 12 K2 per side were used. Eight stacks of three SB28 each are spread in an arc beneath the stage in a cardioid pattern. Oeckel and the team used L-Acoustics SoundVision to create a clever sub arrangement to provide the maximum amount of cancellation onstage. Six white X8 serve as lip fills.

‘Because the proscenium is closed at the back and lit from the inside, we couldn’t place any speakers on the inside of it,’ Oeckel says. ‘So we looked for the smallest speaker with the highest output, which was the X8. It’s the first time it’s been used on a tour and it’s fantastic, a really impressive speaker.’

In the centre of the venue, the B Stage combines an end-on arena set-up with a 360º system to cover the entire audience. This comprises 72 further K2s flown in four hangs of 18. The entire system is powered by L-Acoustics LA8 amplified controllers.

‘Adele starts the show on the B Stage and then walks to the main stage. The system is designed so that there is a seamless fade in the music and vocals between the stages as she traverses,’ says Oeckel. ‘This created some major challenges with the time alignment. For example, while she is on the B Stage the drummer was still going to be on the main stage, but this would have caused issues for audience members hearing the live versus the time-aligned drums. So for those segments he plays in an acoustically isolated room.

‘There were also challenges with automating the delay times. Part of the B Stage system is used for delays. It’s easy enough to add delay when the audio is coming from the main stage for the whole audience in front of it, but it’s more complex when the audio is coming from the B Stage system – the audio trigger is already there but we’re fighting against the time. We’ve hidden any artefacts nicely in some fades and movements to make the transition from stage-to-stage seamless.’

Stage monitor duties are met by the recently launched X15 HiQ. ‘I was very excited to try the new X15 HiQ,’ says monitor engineer, Joe Campbell. ‘I use EQ sparingly, only applying it to individual source inputs and the X15 HiQ translates those sources beautifully, without needing additional filters. They give me an extremely stable polar response across its operating bandwidth, and nice stereo imaging. Even at a distance, the vocals are smooth, not aggressive yet still in your face, with plenty of gain before feedback. The X15 HiQ is a powerful and beautiful sounding wedge.’ 

The X15s impressed Bracey so much that he picked a pair to use as monitors during rehearsals, swapping to a pair of X8s at FOH for the tour.

Despite the challenges of the audio production, the L-Acoustics system has made a significant contribution to the tour’s universally positive reviews. ‘K2 was the perfect choice for this tour as it keeps all the transitions and overlap between the stages as clean as possible,’ Oeckel continues. ‘We are getting excellent results all the way to the very back row. And of course we have had great support from L-Acoustics throughout.’

‘The tour has been fantastic,’ Bracey adds. ‘Adele is singing incredibly, we’ve had great reviews and there have been lots of comments about the sound. It’s one of the best sounding shows I’ve ever mixed, if not the best… what more can I say?’

Within the extensive sound production required for this year’s Eurovision2017 in Kyiv, a pair of TiMax SoundHub audio delay matrix units were used to manage multi-zone PA level and delay alignment between Main and B-stage performance areas.

The set-up revisited a technique pioneered for Adele’s recent record-breaking worldwide arena tour, where TiMax SoundHub-S16 systems were inserted between DiGiCo SD7 mixing desks and Lake master system processing feeding the amplifiers, which fed distributed L-Acoustics array hangs, subs and fills.

As the Eurovision performances switched between the two stages, the TiMax dynamic delay-matrix delivered all mix outputs from main and backup console/system processor chains via onboard 96kHz sample-rate converters, to re-align and focus all PA elements onto the current stage.

The power and versatility of TiMax came to the rescue with, what Head of Sound, Kai Reiss, terms an interesting ‘side effect’. He explains, ‘We were asked to provide an emergency announcement for the security office. We recorded it for them [in English and Ukranian] and then gave them a button in their office that allowed them to simply press to pull down the show sound automatically and play the emergency announcement, all from TiMax.’

More often used for spatial audio and vocal localisation in premier theatre, presentation and immersive A/V applications, the dynamic delay-matrix capability unique to TiMax also allows real-time smooth delay-morphing algorithms across multi-zone PA systems as necessary, all recalled as simple Showcontrol Cues presets.

The main TiMax SoundHub unit was provided from Black Box Music’s rental stock with the backup unit supplied by German spatial audio specialist, Panix.

More: www.outboard.co.uk

Having announced his solo career, Keane lead singer Tom Chaplin has completed an album, The Wave, and played a series of eight intimate gigs to promote it – all since the beginning of 2016.

The album was released in mid-October with the gigs following immediately at a series of unusual venues with extremely limited space – churches, boats, music halls and comedy clubs. DiGiCo S21s were deemed a perfect fit for mixing both FOH and monitor sound. Space limitations were a major factor, and all the backline and sound equipment had to fit into small vans and bus trailers, while load-ins generally involved several flights of stairs.

Simon Hall, Chaplin’s monitor engineer and project manager for Wigwam Acoustics, who supplied his S21, had worked with Keane for the past six years: ‘When Tom was ready to do live shows, I got the call,’ he says. Mark Littlewood became involved via Simon, who he has toured with on and off for almost two decades, and mans the FOH position with his own S21.

‘We also did promo and TV shows prior to the tour, which ranged from radio station “acoustic” shows to performances in German record stores,’ Littlewood adds. ‘After evaluating small-format desks from a number of manufacturers, we knew the S21s were a no brainer because of their small footprint, light weight and reliability. Also, a lot of the shows involved very limited time from arriving to performing and I had every confidence that the S21 would deliver and perform flawlessly first time.’

‘Size was important,’ Hall agrees, ‘But possibly more important was the quality-to-cost ratio, which is what steered it in the direction of the S21s in the first place. As this was a new project, the funds for promo were limited, so the whole package had to be cost effective. The S21 came to market just at the right time for us to give it a run out and, as Mark had been using his with great results, it seemed the perfect fit.’

Littlewood has owned his S21 since last year and has added a SoundGrid card, with a DMI Madi B card handling the inputs from the D2 Stage Rack. ‘The whole package worked perfectly from day one,’ he says. ‘The layout is incredibly simple and intuitive and I’ve never even looked at the instruction manual. The Set Spill feature is very useful, as Control Groups are always to hand no matter what page I’m using on the console. The set list for the tour changed daily and the ability to move snapshots easily around is a huge advantage.’

This was Hall’s first run out with the S21 and he has been more than happy with it: ‘Being a regular DiGiCo user meant all the terminologies were similar, even though the user platform on the S21 is different from the usual DiGiCo appearance,’ he says. ‘There were a few things I had to get used to and a few things that you can’t do on the S21 that you can on the SD Range consoles, but you have to remember this is a lower cost desk and you can’t really expect the same amount of functionality. However, the internal UB Madi is a great thing and, like Mark, I like the way you can change the order of the set list.’

‘Tom is really hands-on and is very interested in giving the audience the best sound possible,’ Littlewood reports. ‘He’s been impressed with the sound of the console at both FOH and monitors and I’ve never seen him looking stage-left at Simon – which is always an indication that things are going well.

‘The desk has also generated a lot of interest from house engineers, too, particularly when they realise that a DiGiCo console is now an aspiration they can afford. It still puts a smile on my face when I unmute the board for the first song. Its small size belies its huge sound.’

‘The consoles have been perfect,’ Hall concludes. ‘The sound is great and you can get them into tight spaces where the bigger desks would struggle. The Tour manager has also enjoyed the smaller rental bills.’

More: www.digico.org

Belgian electro rock band, Soulwax, has embarked on a summer tour of Europe with Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing systems and a ME personal monitoring system serving FOH and monitors, as well as recording the shows.

Band members sought a ‘20^th century sound’ by incorporating several vintage Trident Fleximix consoles onstage for pre-mixing. For this, FOH engineer, Hugo Scholten, needed a system that could manage up to 128 input channels to blend the vintage stems with any of the individual mic/line channels for the final FOH mix. Virtual soundcheck capability and the option to add Waves plug-ins, were also required at FOH, as well as a digital mic preamp split between Monitors and FOH, and a separate integrated system providing hands-on personal monitoring for the artists.

Supplied by Ampco Flashlight Rental – along with all of the stage, monitor and FOH production equipment – the dLive systems comprise an S7000 Control Surface with DM32 MixRack at FOH with Waves and Madi, including virtual soundcheck and SoundGrid, and an S5000 with DM64 and two additional DX32 expander racks with a 128 input split and recording via Madi and Waves. Additionally, each musician and technician is provided with their own ME-1 minimixer to manage their own personal monitor mix, linked via the ME-U hub.

‘In a full mix involving dozens of channels, including three drum kits, I’m enjoying the massive headroom and clarity dLive offers’ says FOH and system engineer, Hugo Scholten. The flexible strip layout allows me to put all my audio subgroups in the centre bank with DCAs underneath. I also really like using the de-Esser to help dilute the triple drumkit spill on the vocal mic. The networking options give me loads of freedom, so I am able to use Waves SoundGrid for buss processing and Madi for splits,.’

‘I love the practicality and ease of workflow on the dLive surface, which I picked up really quickly,’ he adds. ‘Everything is very easy to find, and the sound quality is equal to consoles costing three times as much,’ says monitor engineer, Marc ‘Mackie’ De Vulder. ‘I provide 40 auxes as stem mixes to the ME-1s, so that each musician can select their own IEM mix. Really early on in the tour, the musicians commented on the clarity and separation of their mixes. Everyone is extremely happy.’

More: www.allen-heath.com

Both main and second stages at the recent 2016 Ramsbottom Festival fielded sound systems provided by live audio specialist, tube UK, using d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers and Yamaha mixing consoles.

The truly boutique, family-friendly three-day event is staged in the picturesque Lancashire town of Ramsbottom. It offers a mix of music, food and artistic/creative engagements, with main stage headlined by Public Service Broadcasting, former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes and Fun Lovin’ Criminals. tube – along with Manchester based lighting company dbn – has been involved in the festival since it began in 2011, when invited onboard by production manager Roy Fernley.

Turbosound has added two models to its Flashline Monitors range, the TFX122M-AN and TFX152M-AN.

Designed primarily as stage monitors, the new wedges have 60° (H) x 40° (V) dispersion and are an may be used for FOH, side fill and delay applications, as well as portable speech and music sound reinforcement.

The TFX122M-AN and TFX152M-AN monitors deliver 1.1kW peak power from a lightweight integrated class-D amplifier. Specifically the TFX122M-AN features a carbon fibre loaded 12-inch ferrite low-frequency driver with a titanium dome 1-inch compression driver. The larger TFX152M-AN features a carbon fibre loaded 15-inch ferrite low-frequency driver with the titanium dome 1-inch compression driver.

Both models are designed to work individually without a controller and feature an intuitive user interface via LCD or remote control and Turbosound PC Edit software. Each speaker uses Klark Teknik DSP and class-D amplification, with Ultranet digital audio networking for connectivity to mixing consoles and other compatible digital devices.

The TFX122M-AN and TFX152M-AN Flashline Monitors are available at a suggested list price of US$689.99 and US$804.99 respectively.

More: www.turbosound.com

One of Europe’s largest cultural festivals, the Gentse Feesten is an annual highlight for residents and visitors to the city of Ghent, Belgium. It was also a highlight for Splendit, the largest Turbosound rental company in Benelux, who provided a system of more than 70 loudspeakers for two stages

Noise control is a critical factor for the city’s ten-day festival, which takes place in and around Ghent’s residential areas: ‘The Turbosound Flex Array was chosen for its 75° dispersion,’ Splendit’s Marijn Broeckaert explains. ‘It is able to deliver clear, directed sound without impacting areas outside of the immediate festival area.’

The largest of the festival’s stages, the Bij St-Jacobs, used a Midas XL4 mixing console at FOH, with two hangs of nine TFA600H and two TFA600HW loudspeaker elements per side, with 12 TSW218 subs ground-stacked at the front of the stage in a cardioid array. Two hangs of three TFA600HW boxes were used for delays, with 16 TMW115s and a TFA600L drum sub for monitoring.

The dispersion, sound quality, power and small footprint were the reasons Sint-Jacobs stage sound manager Dirk Brysbaert chose the Flex Array: ‘In addition to the controlled dispersion of the flown arrays, both stages employed cardioid bass array set-ups,’ Broeckaert says. ‘This worked so good that we had nothing but compliments about the sound quality.’

For the Baudelopark stage, two hangs of three TFA600H boxes and two TFA600HWs were set each side, with nine TFA600L subs in a central cardioid array at the front of the stage. Again, monitoring was covered by eight TMW115 and two iQ12 for fill. A Midas Pro2 console was used at FOH.

Italian singer/songwriter Davide Van De Sfroos has brought stories spoken in the laghèe dialect (spoken in the northern areas of Lecco and Como) to one of the most important stages in Italy – the San Siro in Milan. More than 20,000 people attended, to be entertained in a language very difficult to understand for anyone not from that area of Northern Italy.

The sound reinforcement was provided by Martin Audio partner All Access, who fielded an MLA system. The hangs comprised no fewer than 22 MLA and an MLD Downfill on each side of the stage, underpinned by 36 MLX subs. For side fill, All Access added a further 11 MLA on each flank, while front fills were made up of four MLD Downfills and eight Martin Audio W8LM Mini Line Array.

For the musicians, 12 Martin Audio LE2100 and six LE1200 floor monitors were provided for reference sound, while stage fill comprised eight Martin Audio W8LM and four WS218X subs.

Sound engineer Paolo ‘Red’ Talami, All Access PA manager, explains the choice of system configuration: ‘The attendance was estimated between 20,000 and 25,000 people and it was not decided until the last moment whether to open the second ring of the stadium. For this reason, I developed three different projections in [Martin Audio’s] Display 2.2; one was covering only the first ring, the second was a partial ring cover and finally a full coverage of the second ring. When the decision to open the second ring was taken on show day I opted for a partial cover.’

The three profiles had been realised with the same type of rigging and degree of array incline, so that any projection could be implemented as easily as possible. ‘With a stage height of 1.90m we centrally located the four Martin Audio MLD front fills on the MLX line source, along with a configuration of 3+3 Martin Audio W8LM as out fill and two separate W8LM,’ he continued.

The subs were arranged in 12 stacks of three MLX in line source configuration – spaced from 0.7m and with incremental delays for a 170° dispersion. This resulted in uniform sound coverage, delivering the same image to all of the fans.

Van De Sfroos’ appearance on the San Siro stage represented the highlight of a 20-year career.

More: www.martin-audio.com

Acoustic and audio specialist Event Acoustics has appointed Vanguardia Consulting as UK distributor for the MeTrao intelligent network audio measurement system. Event has also assigned Istanbul-based Elit sole rights for Turkey, with audiovisual design and distribution specialist Zap SA to cover Switzerland.

To support the UK venture, Vanguardia has recruited sound engineer Roly Oliver into the post of Head of Live Business, with a focus on the distribution of MeTrao to rental companies, consultants and temporary and permanent installations.

‘From my experience, as both sound engineer and sound supplier, one of the most frustrating things has been wanting to have real-time information about the actual impact of our stage on the perimeter levels,’ Oliver says. ‘MeTrao finally gives us that, including trackable third-octave analysis of the problem frequencies and even filtering out crowd noise. This allows for a much more relaxed approach to staying within the licensing limits of the event, but still delivering maximum enjoyment to the paying audience. Promoters, sound engineers and ultimately audiences are going to love this device.’

MeTrao provides audio professionals and event organisers with a quick and easy way to measure and observe increasingly strict sound level regulations for live event environments. The system offers a unique feature of diagnosing off-site which sound system at a multi-stage event is reaching a problematic level. It also establishes the problematic frequency so that adjustments can be made. This allows engineers and event managers to avoid breaching regulations by meeting critical off-site limits.

‘We are confident MeTrao is going to add a fantastic new aspect to our business,’ says ZAP’s Flavio Rüdy. ‘The system is a totally new approach, making it possible to distinguish between audience noise and the PA sound itself. It can even be used to measure wind and vibrations. This innovative technology is then combined with robust and professional hardware and an easy-to-use software interface with a convenient cloud infrastructure. We are also looking forward to working closely with Event Acoustics; the team has a focused and professional approach and a great will to keep developing the system. This future-proofing is a very important factor for us.’

‘Vanguardia, Elit and Zap SA are companies with unparalleled reputations for both technical expertise and customer service, making them the ideal fit to launch MeTrao to their respective markets,’ says Event Acoustics’ Peter van der Geer.

‘MeTrao has been designed according to the highest global standards and therefore deserves a respected, industry-leading distribution network,’ agrees Marcel Albers, Director of Global Sales at Event Acoustics. ‘We are confident it is going to take Europe and the UK by storm.’

More: http://vanguardiaconsulting.co.uk
More: www.eventacoustics.com

UK audio engineering, sound management and design consultancy Vanguardia has appointed Roly Oliver as Head of Live Business, to establish and oversee the company’s distribution of sound management tool MeTrao in the UK, for which Vanguardia has secured sole rights.

In a 25-year career, Oliver has provided sound engineering expertise for the Manic Street Preachers, Daft Punk, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Pet Shop Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snow Patrol among other artists. Oliver was previously sales manager at Britannia Row Productions, where he handled Robbie Williams’ and Red Hot Chili Peppers' stadium tours as well as the Lovebox and T in the Park festivals. In 2008 he set up the UK operation of US-based Eighth Day Sound, managing to build it up in testing economic times.

Joining Vanguardia from Eighth Day Sound, he will be responsible for all concert touring and festivals, building the company’s reputation and promoting the its comprehensive raft of services, including noise control and management, event site feasibility assessment, event site noise modelling, sound system design and testing, licence representation, expert witness and hearing protection.

 As an integral aspect of his role, Oliver will oversee the UK launch of intelligent sound management unit MeTrao. Devised to enabler event organisers to meet noise control regulations, MeTrao measures all sound-related data and provides real-time frequency and zone specific solutions to any arising issues. Uniquely, MeTrao provides correlation information enabling the unique source of a sound from a specific stage at a multi-event festival to be pinpointed and adjusted, so potential breaches of regulations can be identified in advance and avoided.

‘We've enjoyed such significant growth in our live events work and developed our own tools such as Audioview to serve our clients,’ says Vanguardia Director, Jim Griffiths. ‘MeTrao is a further development of this technology and to partner with it makes perfect sense, primarily because the product's ground-breaking innovation will continue to keep us at the cutting edge of the industry.

‘To lead this venture, we knew we needed someone who combined hands-on sound engineering expertise with a proven track record in sales – a specific combination of divergent skills. Thankfully, Roly Oliver is exactly that person. We are over the moon he has joined the team and look forward to working with him.’

‘The consultancy is held in such high esteem throughout the industry, making this a dream appointment for me,’ Oliver replies. ‘From decades of experience with some of the world's top acts, I've developed an in-depth understanding of the complex set of issues faced by sound engineers at live gigs and festivals. I know inside-out the quirks and specifications of many of the UK’s top venues – as well as the difficulties of festival production and sound level management at outdoor stages or inside tents.

‘I can't wait to introduce fellow sound professionals and event organisers to the technical innovation of MeTrao. It removes all the headaches – both literal and metaphorical – surrounding noise control, resulting in the finest quality audio at the highest possible legal levels.’

More: http://vanguardia.co.uk

Among the most notable venues in the Austrian capital, the Vienna Metropol Theater provides a stage for national and international music acts, cabaret and theatre productions.

The has three stages – the main stage in the large hall has an audience capacity of 700 standing (550 seated), with the stage open on three sides and a comparatively low ceiling height. The audience sits around the stage in a 270° angle, which further complicates the sound reinforcement situation. The room acoustics are also unusual; It is characterised by a short reverberation time with pronounced diffusivity in the empty space. In short: a demanding task for every sound system.

After various modernisations were carried out in recent years, it was the sound system’s turn in 2018. Austrian distributor Pro Performance set out to provide outstanding performance and seamless sound coverage across the audience with a set-up of Alcons RR12 point source array systems and universally applicable Alcons VR12. The Metropol installed the RR12 with 120° dispersion behaviour for the main area.

‘The main emphasis was on very good speech intelligibility and resolution, which should be preserved even at high sound pressure levels,’ says Wolfgang Sauter, owner of Pro Performance who gave the demo in the Metropol and intensively advised the client. ‘Because of the low ceiling height and the associated visual limitations due to the speakers in the stage area, the aesthetics also played an important role. As the audience is in close proximity to the loudspeakers, the asymmetrical vertical projection was also of great importance. All in all, no other product met these requirements better than the Alcons RR12.’

Eight Alcons RR12s and four BF302 MkII subwoofers were subsequently installed on the main stage, controlled by two Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controllers.

Andreas Früchtl, long-time technician in the Metropol, is satisfied with the installation: ‘In my view, the decision for Alcons Audio was absolutely correct considering the mentioned criteria, because no other product fulfilled this to the extent, like the RR12,’ he says. ‘And as has now been shown for several months of operation, all artists and their technicians are also very satisfied with the system. There was not a single complaint whatsoever. And as I have learned from various artists, the response of the audience is also very positive.

‘I can only agree with this judgment. Our contacts in the music scene confirm that the new sound in the Metropol Theater is extremely well received,’ Sauter concludes.

Italian sound systems specialist Outline has created the new position of WorldwideApplication Engineer and GTO Network Manager, to be held by Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Perreux.

Beginning his professional career in central France as a theatre sound technician, Perreux subsequently racked up almost 20 years’ touring with major PA companies, around the globe, with duties spanning PA manager to FOH babysitter and crew chief. In the past three years, he has collaborated with a worldwide corporate group as Trainer, Training Trainers, Field Support & Application Engineer.

Perreux has worked in many roles with some of the world’s top touring companies and their clients, including U2, Muse, Justin Timberlake, Smashing Pumpkins, Leonard Cohen, Gloria Estefan, Beyoncé, Green Day, Michael Jackson and Elton John. Now he will play a leading role in asserting Outline’s role on the global pro audio market.

‘I’m so glad to be part of the Outline Team for many reasons’, he says. ‘The main one regards all the technology Outline has developed from the past to now, which is just amazing. Another is to work with a lovely creative high-tech factory crew... and yet another good reason, but definitely not the last, is to provide the opportunity across the audio market for a professional response to what so many users are looking for. I’m the new kid on the block in Flero, but I feel ready to bring all those racks and stacks in clients’ front doors. I can’t wait to see their eyes as soon we switch on. Watch out, I’m in Mission.’

More: www.outline.it

HAS Productions debuted its US East Coast-based Vue al-12 line array system at the first Marley Cup event, the brainchild of Bob Marley’s son, Ky-Mani Marley, The Dubplates and The Charleston Battery club in South Carolina.

The all-day, all-ages event brought together the football team from Marley’s hometown of Falmouth, Jamaica, with the greatest names in Reggae for an all-day, all-ages mashup at MUSC Health Stadium. The line up featured 12 bands including Kymani Marley; KJ Marley, Mix Master Mike of The Beastie Boys; The Dubplates featuring Future Fambo; King Yellowman and more. The 6,000 concertgoers also witnessed a Jamaica-versus-Charleston six-a-side all-star soccer match and celebrity shootout.

Mixing a bombastic selection of classic Manson with new songs, Marilyn Manson embarked on a 2019 tour in support of his latest release Heaven Upside Down.

With new material always presents a challenge to engineers, Manson had Herbert ‘George’ Chapman and Eddie Mapp at FOH to rely on – and a Vue Audio i-8a PA.

Touring systems can take time to set-up and Manson’s primary FOH engineer of 13 years, Chapman, chose a pair of Vue’s i-8a loudspeakers to assist in mixing the show by using the active two-way speakers as FOH monitors. Chapman has worked FOH for Manson and monitors for Steely Dan. Both require a demanding ear for mixing.

Chapman described how he employs his pair of i-8a loudspeakers. ‘What I liked most about the Vue i-8s was how they had a great sound and clear reference of what I was listening to,’ he says. ‘I used them to build my mix and make sure everything was in its place as you would if you were mixing a record. This was handy on the days that the main PA wasn’t up early enough for me to listen to.

‘During the show, if we’re in a large room that was hard to mix in or, a venue that had a less than desirable FOH position, I would time align them [i-8a speakers] to the system and turn them on slightly so that I could clearly hear what I was sending to the speaker and that way I knew I had a solid mix going and then I could turn them off and on as needed to verify what I was sending to the main PA.’

Chapman handled FOH for Manson during the summer leg of the tour with Rob Zombie on the bill. He was then pulled away to mix monitors for Steely Dan. Chapman grabbed Mapp to cover FOH. Mapp previously worked with Stone Temple Pilots/Scott Weiland, Evanescence, Paramore, Papa Roach and many others. The first Manson show for Mapp was a festival with Chapman onsite to hand the reins to Mapp.

‘Yeah, that first festival show was a throw-and-go situation,’ Mapp recalls, ‘We had no time for a traditional sound check. We did a virtual sound check using the Vue i-8a monitors. We had to rely on the mix we had set through our Vue speakers. When the lights came up, we unmuted the mix and started the show. It was such a relief to hear how the mix translated from mid-field loudspeakers to the house system. It’s really great to have these on tour as I’m confident my mix will translate to a larger system. The i-8a loudspeakers are absolutely invaluable night after night.’

’I think Vue monitoring speakers are great for any application-reference monitors for building mixes or close-field monitors for using during the show aligned with the PA system,’ Chapman adds. ‘They give you a clear picture of what you are doing with your mix and sound amazing and full.’ Chapman will be back on the road with Manson in 2020 when his Steely Dan duties wrap up.

More: www.vueaudio.com

With a stage rig that includes 11 new and vintage keyboards, and four sound modules, Rick Wakeman is currently touring with singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Trevor Rabin as the band ARW. Central to the operation of the keyboard set-up is an Allen & Heath Qu-32 digital mixer.

Previously, an analogue console provided fixed mixing, routing and basic DSP services. Now, Qu-32’s scenes manage mixing and routing of specific keyboards on a per-song basis, sending the mix to the FOH desk. Engineer Erik Jordan manages Wakeman’s rig, using a custom a Sycologic M16 Midi Patchbay that acts as a master controller. As Wakeman performs, he uses a simple keypad to select a Sycologic setting. Each setting sends specific Midi commands to the keyboards and the Qu-32 ready for the next song.

Jordan notes that Wakeman may change settings on the Sycologic during a song triggering a Qu-32 scene change: ‘On any sound source and for any song, we may adjust the Qu-32’s input gain and signal routing, its EQ, gates and compression and three or four different effects,’ he says. ‘So it’s critical that the mixer respond quickly and smoothly and the Qu-32 does this very well.

‘The Qu-32’s internal DSP is excellent,’ he continues. ‘We’ve simplified Rick’s set-up by eliminating many external effects. Overall, the Qu is a phenomenal desk – it’s completely reliable and stunningly powerful. It feels like mixers that cost ten times more. It’s highly intuitive as well; I just turned it on and used it. The Qu is a major change in Rick’s rig, it’s a joy to use and it’s inspiring me to do more things with the sound.’

‘The Qu-32 has become an important part of my rig,’ Wakeman  confirms. ‘It gives me full control of the mix and shapes the sound like one of my instruments. This desk opens up new possibilities for my music.’

More: www.allen-heath.com

Headlining the Stone Free festival at the London O2 Arena, Rick Wakeman was supported by leading artists, including Alice Cooper, The Darkness, Marillion, Therapy? and Yes guitaristSteve Hackett.

In the best traditions of prog rock, Wakeman performed with a full band and accompanying orchestra, and required a total of 120 inputs from the stage which were served by Allen & Heath’s dLive digital mixing system.

Waves Audio has introduced the Waves Axis One, a Waves-optimised computer platform, custom-designed and optimised to run Waves audio applications.

Packed in a road-hardy half-rack 2U-high case, Axis One is a turnkey solution for live sound, broadcast and the studio, that has been designed from the ground up to perform reliably and consistently under demanding circumstances, with maximum stability and performance. Through careful selection of components and extensive rigorous testing, it has been optimised to match the needs of sound engineers using Waves software applications. With Waves SoundGrid connectivity, Axis One can act as the ‘brain’ of a SoundGrid system, interfacing with SoundGrid I/O devices and servers for FOH, monitor, broadcast A/V, studio tracking, mixing and mastering applications.

Key features:

• Dedicated Waves applications computer.
• Intel i5 8500 Processor.
• 16Gb DDR4 RAM.
• 256Gb SSD internal storage.
• Windows 10.
• Two HDMI ports/one display port.
• SoundGrid port (EtherCon connector)
• Ethernet port (RJ45 connector).
• Eight USB2/USB3 ports/one USB-C port.

More: www.waves.com/hardware/axis

Waves Audio has released the Primary Source Expander (PSE) plug-in – a tool to reduce stage bleed and sensitivity to feedback when a mic is idle by automatically lowering mic levels between musical phrases for live sound and for mixing live recordings.

At the heart of the Primary Source Expander plug-in is a precision expander, tailored to melodic sources such as vocals, guitars, strings, brass and woodwinds. PSE operated as a gain control that smoothly attenuates the channel’s level when the source goes below a set threshold. The user determines both the threshold and the amount of attenuation. Reducing stage noise leakage when microphones are idle will help users get an overall mix that is more coherent, more focused and has better phase relations.  

PSE also provides advanced sidechain and ducking controls for consistency and precision when treating complex live scenarios. When mixing FOH or monitors in a live venue and working on a live recording in the studio, PSE ensures that mics are as loud and clean as possible, while preserving the source’s original tone and the natural ambience of the location.  

More: www.waves.com/plugins/pse-primary-source-expander