The brainchild of singer songwriter Ry X, elemental techno band Howling’s search for mixing consistency between gigs ended with their acquisition of an Allen & Heath GLD-80 Chrome digital mixer.

‘I’ve engineered for Ry X for a number of years, including his other projects, The Acid and Howling,’ says explains FOH engineer,Tommy Williams, who has completed a tour across Europe with the mixer. ‘Howling is an interesting band to mix – there are live elements and electronic elements, which need to be combined seamlessly with FX and processing to create a homogenous sound.’

Ry X and Williams work together to constantly refine the set – Williams makes a multitrack recording every night enabling him to recall that footage at the next gig. Control of the mix extends beyong the use of Scenes for each of the songs in the band’s set. Replacing effects that were previously controlled from the stage, the desk has taken on control of FX parameters that change within each song.

‘There are lots of changes within the set, which Ry used to control on a pedal but it’s now my job to recall all those changes,’ says Williams. ‘That’s why it’s important we have the same desk every gig to do this seamlessly

‘What’s really great about the new GLD Chrome is the new plug-ins, including Space Echo and stereo tap delay effects, and the new compressors,’ he continues. ‘When you dial them in, it’s like using the real gear, and it feels like a more expensive desk because of the tactile nature of the faders and knobs. What I’ve always liked about A&H products is it doesn’t feel like you’re working inside a computer. You feel like you’re controlling the mix - it’s a tool helping you.’

The band is also impressed that unlike most desks, they can fly with the GLD-80 as flightcased it weighs in just under 30kg.

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