Colorado-based Brown Note Productions (BNP) has added a Solid State Logic Live L650 to its inventory to handle monitor duties on the US tour for Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit.

As a 360-degree audio, video, lighting, special effects, backline, and staging production and design services provider, Brown Note constantly takes up the latest products to meet the demands of the a diverse clientele. ‘We have always had our eye on the SSL live,’ says Ryan Knutson, who founded BNP with his wife in 2004. ‘Since we had a tour that specified an SSL Live, we felt it was the perfect chance to get one in stock in Colorado and a great opportunity to get into the platform.’

First Aid Kit – sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg and their band – have been clients for nearly a decade, Knutson reports, and although they requested an SSL Live L200 console, he was inclined to purchase the largest model instead, to make sure any clients request could be satisfied going forward. ‘I want to have the flagship L650 console as it will cater for all levels of production,’ he says.

Importantly, he observes, not only is the L650 the most powerful Live console that SSL has introduced, but it shares the physical layout of the L200, providing immediate access to 36 faders across the width of the console. ‘I like the frame and the fader layout, that’s why I felt like the L650 made a little more sense,’ he says. ‘With the L650, BNP can handle everything from full-production touring clients to corporate and special events to control packages for international clients.’

Monitor engineer, Nahuel Guttierez, who is familiar with the rest of the SSL Live range, had not previously used the L650 model but enjoyed the convenience of the fader layout on First Aid Kit’s US dates. ‘It gave me a feeling of analogue mixing that I had not had in a long time,’ he says. ‘It was really nice to have some of the screens for recording on the side of the console, as well as the IEM [in-ear monitor] software and being able to pay more attention to the band as everything was in front of me.

‘I specified an SSL on this tour because I always try to spec an SSL. I have been using the SSL Live platform on other tours and the main reason is the audio quality. Of all the consoles available, this is the one I enjoy the most mixing on – and I always get great results.’

Whatever the model, Guttierez especially values the flexibility of SSL’s Live console platform, how configurable it is, and its processing features. ‘The ability to customise inputs, outputs and buses is one-of-a-kind on this console and allows you to make changes to your set-up at any time without compromise. The latest effects additions, especially Sourcerer, the new source enhancer, are incredibly powerful. I use that on all the vocals and horns. It helps make mixes so much cleaner when those microphones are not being used. It’s an amazing tool.’

Brown Note naturally evolved into a 360 company very soon after the company’s inception, Knutson says, not just expanding its range of touring production capabilities but also offering rehearsal and video stages at its facility north of Denver. The company began to expand its services very early on after Knutson was hired by the cross-genre instrumental band Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) as a monitor engineer, later switching to front-of-house. BNP provided STS9 with lighting as well as audio production and never looked back.

‘At heart I’m an audio guy, so I’ve had to learn a lot about lighting and video along the way,’ Knutson says. ‘But people like the service where they can get everything they want and from a single company. A lot of companies have had to piece things together to make themselves 360 companies, but it’s inherent in what we do. It’s more common now, but that gives us a unique position in the industry. It has truly been part of the business model for the last 19 years. It’s part of our process and our culture.’

Since those early days, BNP’s client list has grown to include Illenium, Nathaniel Rateliff, James Blake and many other national and international artists. As the primary AVL vendor for Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, it’s not unusual for the company to work 150 or more shows at the iconic open-air venue in a season. As for festivals, just last year BNP worked a host of multi-day events, many with promoter Danny Wimmer Presents, including Ohio’s Inkcarceration, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life in Kentucky, Sacramento’s Aftershock and Welcome to Rockville at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

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