Currently preparing for another run of shows in Belgium and with more planned for The Netherlands, De Hersenhap (A Piece Of Mind) – a humorous Dutch language theatre production – has enjoyed a highly successful Belgian tour, playing to more than 21,000 people during a 39-show run. Serving both FOH and monitor mixes is a Yamaha QL5 digital console.
The show is mixed by veteran sound engineer Peter Claes, who has worked with a wide range of acts and productions during his long career. For De Hersenhap, this involves comedic songs, dance and dialogue in the setting of a speciality store where the show’s stars, Tine Embrechts and Karlijn Sileghem, can solve anybody’s problems à la carte. With the production’s instruments, backline, props, microphones and mixing console all touring in one truck, Claes needed a high-specification digital desk which could cope with any house PA system it may encounter, but in a very compact footprint. He chose a Yamaha QL5, supplied by A/V rental house AED Group.
‘Musically this is quite a challenging show. In order to mix it and cope with the wide variety of house systems that we encountered, I used the Premium Rack effects a lot,’ he says. ‘In particular the dynamic EQ and Portico EQ in combination with graphic EQs for the main LR mix.’
The show features around 20 input channels for the three musicians, plus wireless microphones and in-ear monitors for the cast. ‘The StageMix iPad app is a very important tool. It allows me to easily do the line check and sound check on my own,’ Claes says. ‘I could do all the necessary line checks before the band came in then, during the soundcheck, I could be on the stage, checking that everybody was happy with their monitor mixes.
‘Overall, the QL5 is an excellent mixer. The faders are reasonably close together, which makes mixing a musical production like this really easy. I like its clean sound, the reverbs are great and it has a really solid, roadworthy quality. I have also been able to quickly transfer mixes from a Yamaha CL5 via USB stick. It has everything you need to produce excellent live mixes in a very small footprint.’
A Yamaha QL5 will again serve the audio operation of the forthcoming run of the show.
