Four years since their last live appearance, German tour promoter Karsten Jahnke has brought musician, producer and engineer Alan Parsons and his band back to Germany for 13 nearly-sold-out dates throughout the country in May. A Yamaha Rivage PM10 console has taken care of the intricate FOH mixes for these much-anticipated performances.

Playing a mixture of indoor and outdoor shows, the nine-piece Alan Parsons Live Project is being mixed by Emmy-nominated FOH engineer and production manager Ross Pallone. The Rivage PM10 console has been supplied by Lüneburg-based audio production/installation company PM das Systemhaus für Medien & Veranstaltungstechnik (Profi Musik), with these shows being the first time that regular Yamaha user Pallone has got up close and personal with the new flagship audio mixing console.

‘For us, the most important thing is that the sound has to be very high quality – that is what Alan’s fans expect and I want them to have it. I want them to be really impressed,’ he says,

Pallone has around 48 inputs for drums, bass, two electric guitars, three acoustic guitars, four keyboards, vocoder and nine vocal microphones.

‘First and foremost, the PM10 sounds amazing,’ he says. ‘But I also love the way Yamaha consoles are laid out, especially this one and the CL5. I like the fact that the Rivage PM10 has banks of 12, instead of the standard eight on most consoles. It also has 12 Custom Fader possibilities on each bank, plus 12 DCAs. I constantly need to get to a lot of inputs very quickly on this show, so it makes it really straightforward for me to lay out the console for ease of use and speed.

‘The new Rupert Neve plug-ins are great and very useful. I also love the screens that Yamaha use, they are really easy to read and the touch screen is very responsive.’

Pallone describes himself as ‘very fortunate’ having PM-Systemhaus system tech Lennart Wenzel supporting him on the tour. Lennart is equally complimentary about the Rivage PM10. ‘Each day I try to give Ross a flat main system, so that he can use the console’s features to create colour and depth in the sound that Alan’s music needs,’ he says. I really like the number of faders and all the possibilities that the plug-ins provide. It gives you a lot of space to be creative. For me, it is an absolutely amazing console.’

The PA Project

Twenty-four RCF HDL 50-A speaker elements were used as the shows’ main PA system, deployed 12 per side, with 18 RCF Sub 9007-AS adding the low-frequency support. In addition, six TT052A boxes served as front fill and four TTL 6-As as out fill.

‘I had never heard of or used any RCF PA systems before, so I was sceptical – but the sound company assured me that it is a good PA system.’ Pallone says. ‘As it turned out, I was very pleased with the PA. It was very smooth with excellent coverage. ‘ The main PA was powerful and never harsh. The 21-inch Sub 9007-AS is the best I have ever used. They were set up every day in the cardioid pattern that made the subs deliver the same volume from the front of the venue to the back. I could sit right in front of the subs and not be blown away.

‘This also worked well with the low-profile TT052A front fills. I am always very concerned that the people in the front rows have good sound. I do not want them to be pounded to death with subs, and I want them to be able to hear the band clearly through the front fills. On some of the shows, we used the TTL 6-A boxes that were provided to cover the sides of the venue that could not be reached with the main PA or front fills. These boxes worked great for that purpose.’

The system was networked in order to control each loudspeaker through RCF management software – RDNet. ‘One of the great things about the RCF system is that every box is easily remote-controlled.’ Pallone reports. ‘The systems tech and I could walk around the room, and we could not only change the volume on each and every box but we could also EQ every box, individually.

‘I am looking forward to RCF becoming a PA system that is readily available everywhere in the world. This company makes all their own components and has rigorous quality control. I had the opportunity to visit the RCF factory in Italy, and I was very impressed with the way they build their PA systems. If you are an engineer and you are offered the RCF PA for a gig, go for it. You will not be disappointed.’