Organised and hosted by Israel’s largest live music club, Zappa, and the Keshet Media Group, a media company reaching audiences in response to the current coronavirus crisis, The Show Must Go On is a series of live streamed concerts involving Israel’s top artists.
Among the artists delivering music ‘and an injection of fun’ to the homes of hundreds of thousands of Israeli music fans is says top Israeli pop/rock singer and songwriter Danny Robas – whose first show set was so successful that he was invited to perform again on the second.
For both concerts, Klang’s immersive mixing systems were used – a Klang:fabrik for the band and a DMI-Klang for the broadcast feed. The result was an outstanding audio experience, not only for the artists, but also for the online audience, allowing the live shows to have a much bigger impact than has previously been possible.
‘I’ve had the pleasure and the honour of working with Klang’s immersive mixing system in the last few months, as an in-ear monitor system for me and my band, and for two online shows as a PA for a broadcast,’ Robas confirms. ‘It is a marvellous aid and it allows me to be focused on every note and each instrument separately, and to enjoy the show in a new and exciting way.
‘Eighteen months ago the whole band moved from wedges to in-ears and the Klang:fabrik system,’ explains Robas’ sound engineer, Soul Sebag, who has worked with the artist for more than a decade. ‘From the first test we did, Danny was in love with Klang. The system gives him width, depth and high separation, so he can hear even the smallest detail. In fact, the entire band loves the space and the separation in the mix.’
For The Show Must Go On, Sebag used a Yamaha CL5 as the monitor console, with two ambient mics that each musician could adjust for himself to give them the feel of the room.
‘In-ears often make you feel like you’re boxed in,’ he says. ‘When you’re also performing in front of empty seats – as Danny and the band were doing here – it’s even more important, to make the artist feel safe and comfortable during their performance. Klang really helps with this, and they found it incredibly useful.’
‘For the broadcast feed, we sent all the outputs from a DiGiCo SD10 to the DMI-Klang, connected via an Orange Box format converter, and then brought everything back into the console in several groups,’ says Alon Eitan, CEO of AEM Audio, who provided the DMI-Klang, as well as on-site support alongside monitor engineer Shahar Ben Hamo.
As this was new territory for everyone, the first show was used as a test without fully immersive content for the audience. The second show was built to immerse, with a binaural mix for broadcast, placing the home audience inside the club, just next to the artist.
‘As an artist, with the help of my wonderful sound engineer Soul Sebag and Alon Eitan, the representative of Klang in Israel, the system allows me to reach new peaks of innovation and creativity,’ says Robas. ‘I can feel the stage and that helps me to sing and play better, closer and more enjoyably than ever’
‘As an engineer, I was just fascinated with these two short experiences to do an immersive mix,’ adds Sebag. ‘My set-up was no different to any normal monitor set up, I just had more options to put instruments in the space, which was very exciting. We also tried to give the listeners the feeling that they were actually on stage with the band during the show.’
Praise from the director and the production team was unequivocal, and audience figures of around 300,000 for the two shows are their own endorsement. ‘Alon gave me the same great support during the shows as he has since I started working with the Klang system 18 months ago,’ concludes Sebag. ‘From helping with the configuration to providing a DMI-Klang, setting up the file for the broadcast and giving me insights for immersive sound, his help has been invaluable and the results were truly outstanding.’
More: www.klang.com
