Counted among the most successful live acts in popular music history, American rock act Phish are also noteworthy for delivering every show with a completely different set list. With many of the 2021 tour dates rescheduled from 2020 Phish’s Summer & Fall 2021 tours are now underway with some upgrades to their live sound rig.
Long-time FOH engineer Garry Brown is still running a Yamaha Rivage PM10 digital console – but with the addition of 112 channels of Rupert Neve Designs RMP-D8 mic preamplifiers, connected via Dante.
Brown reports that his initial trial of the RMP-D8 occurred on the Trey Anastasio solo acoustic tour in 2020: ‘Adding the RMP-D8 to my workflow ultimately has given me a different sound to the console,’ he says. ‘The Rivage is an amazing sounding console, but we went down this path with great results. When we implemented 112 inputs of this into the Phish show, the show became fuller and punchier, and I was actually able to run the show quieter and feel like it had more impact.’
Upgrading the system with these preamps over the existing Dante network was initially an artist-driven decision, according to Brown: ‘After we made the change, the feedback I got from the band members was extremely positive – the drummer was ecstatic.’
Brown also uses three Rupert Neve Designs Master Buss Processors on stereo bus, piano, and drums, Shelford Channels for each of the four band members’ vocals, and two Portico II Channels for additional processing.
‘The thing that Rupert Neve Designs offers me as a mixer… ‘ he says. ‘It’s a quality of sound, a colouration, a tonal quality that to me is completely pleasing and makes me have to do less. These products have made my job easier.’
More: https://rupertneve.com
