Named after the singer’s 2003 hit ‘I Love This Bar’, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill is a new chain of performance venues being opened in the US by the country music star.
The success of the chain’s early locations, the rider-friendly Midas Pro2 as its console of choice.
‘The first Pro2 we installed was in the Dallas location – it was the third Pro2 shipped in the US,’ says Josh Maichele, President of LiveSpace, the company handling the sound installation for the venues. ‘The price point of the console for the amount of versatility, usability and sound quality we get out of it has been a big home run for us.’
LiveSpace was called in to create give the venues both quality and consistency of sound:‘We’re a relationship-based company; we work hard to understand the needs of our clients so that we can tailor a solution specifically for them,’ Maichele says. ‘The important factors for the Toby Keith’s chain revolved around great sound, rider friendliness, versatility and ease of operation. Believe me, we looked at everything on the market, but when the Pro2 was announced, the only real question was delivery date. For how it sounds and what it can do, at that price point, it’s not even close.’
The venues range in capacity from 800 seats up to 3,000 at major locations. Live performances feature both local artists and touring acts. With new locations opening in over a dozen cities in the coming year, another critical factor for LiveSpace is training the house engineer at each location prior to opening.
‘Each location has a house engineer on staff, which is really important when working with visiting engineers who aren’t familiar with the console,’ says Maichele. ‘We’ve developed a workflow for them that makes things pretty user-friendly, with all the routing they should need, plus clearly labeled channel names and a colour-coded system so that engineers can easily understand what they’re running and quickly adjust things like gain and EQ.
‘The biggest problem in working with an unfamiliar console, especially a digital desk, is a fear of getting lost, especially when something starts to ring or feed back,’ he continues. ‘What we’re really teaching is muscle memory, so they have the confidence of knowing they’re only one or two moves away from getting where they need to go. That’s why the POPulation Groups are easily my favorite part of the console. If I’ve built my POP Groups correctly, I can hit those and with one trigger and instantly know where I am.’
To help develop confidence and understanding, LiveSpace walks engineers through the console set up step by step. ‘As we do that, we save those points as scenes so they can see the progression of how we build a show. Those scenes act as a great tool for success. The house engineer can go back through the scenes to see how we did things, and in what order. Another important aspect of training we provide is that we explain the patching, which is very powerful in the Midas system. One thing we love is the ability to hover over an input and see the signal coming in and where it’s routed to from there. That’s very instructive, and a great aspect of the user interface design.’
The last thing that happens before the LiveSpace team turns over the controls is a technical training night, complete with a live band. Maichele explains: ‘We take them from soundcheck right through the show, reiterating the workflow and why it’s that way. We start with a minimum of effects and dynamics, basically to drive home how good this console can sound. Then we build from there. It’s been a very successful approach for us.’
‘Trying to ensure great sound quality while avoiding technical issues across a national chain is a challenge,’ Maichele conclude. ‘Our whole approach to A/V systems is to simplify life for everyone who engages with our work, and the Pro2 definitely fits that profile of sophisticated technology that’s easy to teach and easy to use. It’s everything we wanted in a console, from the rider friendliness right down to the price point.’
More: www.midasconsoles.com
