To date, singer-songwriter Becky Hill is the only UK Voice contestant to have achieved a British number one single. On the road, she has been increasing the size of venue that her tours visit. Her 2024 tour, Believe Me Now?, has seen her play the UK, America, New Zealand and Australia, with engineers Anna Dahlin and Robyn Hannah using DiGiCo Quantum 338s on FOH and monitors respectively, alongside an SD and SD-Mini rack each, plus an additional SD-Nano rack on stage to accommodate support bands.
‘I met Becky back in 2012,’ Dahlin says. ‘When she started out with her own band in 2020, she called me and asked me to get involved. I’ve been touring with her ever since. Until recently, we could fit the show on one SD rack each. However, due to the size of the set-up in 2024, we needed to add a Mini rack per console, and two Nano racks. Robyn and I spent a long time arranging the input list in order to use a single show file wherever we went, as the show scaled up and down.
‘The show is heavily reliant on snapshots. In addition, I use groups to feature sections of players’ Dahlin continues. ‘I’ve also got a bunch of macros to make global changes in a cappella and instrumental moments that allow me to make global changes quickly.
Hannah is equally at home with the DiGiCo Quantum 338, relying on the onboard effects and features to keep her monitor mixes running smoothly.
‘I’ve been touring with Becky Hill for about three years,’ she explains. ‘Currently we are using 21 stereo mixes for people on and off stage, so workflow is important. I use groups and macros to make sure I can respond quickly. The large surface layout of the Quantum 338 is also great for keeping organised, which means I can work from muscle memory without taking my eyes off the stage.’
Both engineers use the onboard effects on Quantum for most of their EQs and dynamic processing. Monitors and FOH have been expanded with an outboard SSL Fusion each. Hannah uses the SSL over Becky’s IEM mix to gain additional stereo width. Dahlin, at front of house, uses the SSL sparingly over the master bus, and has an additional Bricasti reverb for Becky’s vocal.
‘The Mustard processing is in use across most channels and the Naga 6 has been a real game changer because I’ve not needed anything external’ Hannah says. ‘For Fly shows, it’s great. Because there is nothing to set up, I load my file from my USB and it’s done. It keeps everything consistent.’
Naga 6 is part of DiGiCo’s Spice Rack, a six-band Dynamic EQ, allowing frequency specific dynamic control, but is not just the Mustard processing and Spice Rack that Dahlin and Hannah appreciate about being part of the DiGiCo family. ‘I really enjoy using DiGiCo desks because the support you get from them as a brand is great; you can always pick up the phone, from any country, and ask anything,’ Hannah says. ‘Even at festivals, they’ll just be there to see how it’s going and whether you need anything. I really appreciate having someone come up and check that you’re doing OK.’
For Dahlin, the benefit of knowing there is always someone there to assist if required has been fundamental: ‘I don’t think I’ve met anyone from any other company, but I’ve met DiGiCo’s Mark Saunders loads of times, and the team in America,’ she says. ‘It’s a huge help to put names to faces and have that personal relationship.’
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