Putting former King Crimson members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin together with guitarist Steve Vai and Tool drummer Danny Carey, the Beat tour is a creative reinterpretation of three 1980s King Crimson albums: Discipline, Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair. After a massive sold-out North American run, the tour is heading to South America in spring 2025.
FOH engineer Frank Trzaskowski, renowned for his work with acts like Extreme, Generation Axe (featuring Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi), Celebrating David Bowie (Adrian Belew & Todd Rundgren), Cinderella’s Tom Keifer, Ritchie Blackmore and Ted Nugent, has selected Waves plug-in processing using SoundGrid Rack for Venue and the Waves Titan SoundGrid Server with his Avid S6L for the 2024-25 tour.
‘On the current Beat tour I use the Avid Venue S6L-24C console, Trzaskowski says. ‘All parameters are accessible directly from the console, and any settings can be stored within the console file. Since I employ several Waves plug-ins, the Titan SoundGrid Server is the perfect companion, ensuring I never max out. I also appreciate the mechanical aspect of the unit; it stays cool. It has not let me down once on 65 shows and weeks of rehearsals.’
Waves plug-ins are a key component of Trzaskowski’s workflow: ‘I tend to categorise plug-ins by essentials, problem solvers, character plug-ins and FX. Since I do a lot of side chaining, the F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ is one of these essentials, specifically as I can target selected frequency ranges with the sidechain signal making it easier to manage vocal headroom. For instance, my dedicated vocal master can carve out space on my instrument master, ensuring clarity and balance.
‘A crucial problem solver is the Waves PSE [Primary Source Expander] plug-in, which I use on vocals together with a pressure-activated mic ducking system, the Lily P4D,’ he continues. ‘This set-up achieves the cleanest vocals I have ever attained in a lively rock mix environment, even with Adrian Belew and Tony Levin’s vocal mics only a few feet away from Danny Carey’s drum kit.
‘As for character, I love the Abbey Road Redd Consoles on my main drum bus and an Abbey Road RS56 EQ on my tom bus. I use an SSL G-Master Buss Compressor on each of my subgroups. It’s set to barely compress, but it provides me a certain console cohesiveness that I really like. On top of that, the Abbey Road J37 Tape and TG Mastering Chain plug-ins consistently add tons of great character to my master busses.
‘For the song ‘Dig Me’, Adrian Belew wanted a robotic voice in the verses. I was able to combine Waves’ Morphoder, Vocal Bender and Doubler to create the wanted FX in the console. Obviously, another must-have plug-in is the Waves H-Delay Hybrid Delay. It is a mandatory plug-in for vocals FX.
‘With the Waves’ SoundGrid Rack for Venue and the addition of the Waves Titan SoundGrid Server, using Waves plug-ins on the Beat tour has not only allowed me to continuously fine-tune my mixes over a long period but it has also kept me inspired.’
More: www.waves.com
