The 2012 Virtual Reality Tour for CMA Entertainer of the Year Brad Paisley finds the country superstar on a whirlwind multi-city jaunt that kicked off in mid-Januaruy at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI and wraps up on the 20th of this month at the Hollywood Bowl. The tour is supporting the singer/songwriter/guitar virtuoso’s ninth studio album, titled This Is Country Music. However, Paisley isn’t one known to take too much time away from his fans, and a month before wrapping up the USA leg of the tour, he was debuting “Southern Comfort Zone,” a single from his next studio CD, due out in April of next year. And after just a couple weeks of R&R, Paisley and crew will take off to tour Northern Europe, starting Nov. 8.
For the Virtual Reality Tour, Sound Image is again providing audio support, and Paisley’s longtime production manager/FOH mixer Kevin Freeman is at the helm, along with audio crew chief Greg Hancock, FOH system tech Brendan Hines, monitor engineer Mark Gould and monitor tech Scott Ferguson. All are established veterans with years of experience working with Paisley. In fact, 2012 marks Freeman’s 13th year (and more than 1,400 shows) with the artist, and the pair have been working together since 1999, when the two first went out on the road on a bus with the all gear stowed in the lower storage compartments. Now touring internationally and filling arenas and large venues coast-to-coast, things are a little different. But one thing that hasn’t changed on the Paisley tours is a close family-style atmosphere among the artist and his longtime crew.
The Man at FOH
Although Freeman has mixed Paisley for 13 years, the gear in his FOH setup hasn’t changed much over that time. “I’ve got the same console that I’ve had, I guess, going on 10 years — a Midas Heritage 2000. It’s a nice console, although it’s mighty heavy. And Brad has a straight-ahead, kinda rocking country show, so I didn’t need any frills. And the Heritage has been great. It’s been almost flawless, performance-wise,” notes Freeman.
“Brad’s manager asked me when I was finally gonna go to a digital console. I said, ‘when somebody can convince me that it sounds better than what I’m using now.’ I’ve gotten very comfortable with this console, and I just don’t see the need to change. One of our opening acts has a Studer Vista, which is a gorgeous, nice console. If I was going to go to the digital side, that’s probably where I would lean, until somebody comes along with something real big, that just knocks it out of the park. The plug-ins and all that stuff’s handy, but right now, I just don’t see the point in changing. I’m the old guy who hasn’t gone over to the other side yet,” he adds, laughing.
In these days of plug-ins and virtual effects, outboard racks at FOH are somewhat of a rarity, but Freeman has found just the right gear that translates Paisley’s sound to the fans.
“My high-dollar piece would be a Bricasti M7 reverb for vocals,” says Freeman. “The M7 is by some [former] Lexicon guys who had designed the old PCM stuff, and they took it up a notch. I got one and it’s really nice — clean and very transparent. I’ve also got an SPX and an Eventide Eclipse Harmonizer and an ADL tube compressor. And beyond that, it’s pretty much BSS gates. And then I’ve got some [BSS] quad comps and that’s it. Nothing very exciting there”
It might not be “exciting,” but this minimalist, less-is-better approach fits into Freeman’s mix philosophy. “If you can hear the effect, it’s too much, unless you intend for it to be heard. But with our show, there are not a lot of tricks. It’s straight-ahead mixing. I don’t try to become part of the show. That’s simple. If the audience is paying attention to me rather than what’s going on the stage, then obviously I am doing something wrong. I just want to be that guy that’s getting it out there, so that all the attention goes to the performance. It seems to work for me.”
 Steve Jennings.jpg "Shure SM57s on the “sweet spot” on each of Paisley’s amps. Photo by Steve Jennings")
The Money Channel
So is there some elusive, secret device in use for Paisley’s vocal chain? “I forgot to mention the dbx 376 tube compressor/EQ in my rack,” Freeman adds. “That’s the only processor I use on him at all.” Mic-wise, the selection is equally down to Earth. “I use a Shure Beta 58,” says Freeman. “When we switched over to Shure, we went through their whole line — KSM9, SM87s, all of their higher end stuff — and then came back to the SM58. Brad still needed a little more sparkle in his voice, so we went to the Beta 58, which gives just a little bit more presence than the basic SM58. And since we did that, we haven’t changed for quite awhile.” And the Beta 58s seems to be the right choice, as they are used for all the band’s vocals.
Other mics are Shure, but not entirely so, explains Freeman. “I’ve got a Beta 91 on the kick, 57s top and bottom on the snare and a KSM137 on hi-hat. I still have the Sennheiser [e604] tom mics, and I hate to say that, because we’re Shure endorsers, but I just like them! I also have Audix SCX 1 on overheads, but all the instrument mics are Shure KSM 313s, with SM57s on all the guitar amps. Brad changes his guitar setup from time to time and has tried other mics. But when he comes back around and gets it out of his system, he almost always comes back to the 57s.”
It’s Not Always Easy
According to Freeman, mixing a Brad Paisley show might be straightforward, but does have some challenges. “His stage volume is pretty loud. He’s got four guitar rigs up there, and on any given patch, he’s using two of them. And he’s switching around on them a lot, on different songs. He’s got a Vox, a Dr. Z, a Marshall and a Fender. He plays pretty loud, but he sings pretty soft. So, the amps are right behind him, which is where he wants them. I’ve tried to do the oscillation, or put them offstage, or put them somewhere so that they are not in line with the mic. But he wants them behind him, so I’m playing with the hand I’m dealt there. If he turns his head — even slightly — then the guitar is blazing, so I have to keep a hand on that vocal fader.”
The System
“I’m using JBL VerTec 4889 tops and 4880 subs. I’ve also got QSC WideLines for underhungs, with three of those a side,” Freeman explains. He’s also had some experience with the WideLines as mains in a smaller setting. “We did a winery gig a few years ago, and had about eight WideLines a side and a couple of VerTec subs, and that sounded good. It doesn’t quite have the horsepower that you need to get out to 20,000 people in a shed, but if I was mixing somebody maybe a little more acoustic-oriented or something like that, definitely, it would be a great little theater rig. The fidelity of the QSCs is really nice.
“When the VerTecs first came out, I was skeptical, as I am with anything, I didn’t want to be the guinea pig. We’re a Sound Image account, and I really like their G5 rig. It had the four 15s, two 2-inch drivers and some bullet tweeters. I thought it was the best-darned PA on the planet. And still do — in its place. But when you go into an arena with your trap boxes and stuff and you basically spray your sound all over the place, a lot of other factors come in, such as reflections. Coverage usually isn’t the issue, it’s just when it comes back. With line arrays, we’re able to focus where this stuff goes so much that it’s not such a factor.”
Asked for a specific example, Freeman brought up one venue in particular. “I’m not a big fan of the Bakersfield Arena. I don’t think they’ve quite finished that one. It has concrete walls, concrete floor, a tin roof and nothing in-between. So, the sound is bouncy and ugly. The line arrays have really saved us in a few buildings like that.”
Amplifiers are also an important part of the overall sound. “When we first started carrying the VerTec, Sound Image was a QSC House. Then they changed to Crown I-Tech 8000s. It was an audible difference. It sounded good with the QSC, but just sounded more open, more ‘in you face’ with the Crowns. And now we’ve stepped it up with the I-Tech 12000HDs. There wasn’t as much of an audible difference as when we changed from the QSCs. And, it’s really hard to tell a lot of times, too. As you know, I’m not making a record here. I am trying to get a level of consistency from day to day, in venues that range from a 15,000-seat arena to a 25,000-seat amphitheater, and no two are alike. And again, I think that’s my job. It’s consistency.”
On Venues
Besides the Bakersfield facility, Freeman — like most touring pros — has a list of memorable venues, both good and bad: for a variety of reasons.
“I sure like the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. Arena-wise and how it sounds, it sounds like a bunch of other arenas. But logistics-wise, you could go there in February and it could be 5 degrees outside, with the wind blowing 30 miles an hour, and it doesn’t matter. Why? Because you can pull all of your trucks inside and load right to the back of the stage if you want to. It works really well. All of the buses can park inside. It’s really pretty well thought out.”
Freeman has plenty of other faves as well. “That new Sprint Center in Kansas City is really nice. As is the Bridge-
stone Arena in Nashville. We always have a good time there — maybe because it’s our home base. And amphitheaters? The one in Virginia Beach is one of my favorites, along with San Diego, which is built from the same blueprint, really. I like all the amphitheaters.
“I am also the production manager,” Freeman continues, “so I also look at the logistics side. Some are harder to work with than others. And some of them, you just kind of scratch your head, and wonder, what were they thinking?
“We just played at the Bethel Woods Pavilion in New York, near the site of Woodstock. That may be the prettiest venue in the country. The place is gorgeous! But just not very well thought-out. When you’ve got 10 trucks trying to dump gear onto the stage, and you’re loading in on a three-truck dock and you have to cross a hallway to get to the stage…but the place is gorgeous! And we had a good time. Really!
“As for myself, I prefer amphitheaters. Arenas are really all the same when the lights go out. Some sound a little better than others, and some put more thought into making them concert-friendly.
“In the past year or so, we played at a couple that were brand-new, like the one [Matthew Knight Arena] in Eugene, OR. The places are brand-new, and they were built with unlimited dollars, but they were built for basketball — only. Our show is 84 feet wide with the stage and the wings. But theses places are built for a 72-foot-wide basketball court. That makes things a little interesting! You wonder what these places are used for when it’s not basketball season? They have air-conditioning and power and that sort of thing, but are just hard to work in. Yet when the lights go out, they’re all the same.”
Monitor World
Monitor engineer Mark Gould is one of those rare individuals with longevity in the business. He’s been mixing monitors for some 20 years, yet has only worked for two artists — Mark Chesnutt and now nearly 11 years with Paisley. And like everyone else on the crew, Gould is quick to point out the close team relationship he has with monitor tech/Pro Tools operator Scott Ferguson in getting the job done night after night.
“I’m mixing on an Avid D-Show,” notes Gould. “It’s got really good separation so I don’t have to run things as loud in the mix. Sound quality-wise, I can’t complain about it — even the stock plug-ins sound good as long as you don’t overuse them or over-manipulate them. I’m not using any outside rack processing; everything comes right out of the console. The only additional plug-ins I’m using is a Waves SSL G-Channel and a McDSP Channel G. Both of these seem to have more headroom than the stock plug-ins, and it seems I can hit them harder without them breaking up.”
Gould runs seven stereo mixes for the band and five wedge mixes, with the latter acting mostly as fill, with a couple single-15 wedges underneath the keyboard and drummer risers — mostly kick, bass and snare so they can feel it, to supplement their in-ear mixes. Everyone is using Shure in-ear rigs, either PSM-900 or the new PSM-1000 models.
“Brad’s on in-ears, but I think he tolerates it as a necessary evil,” Gould explains. “I don’t think he really likes it. As a guitar player, it’s hard to make 12 inches of paper sound good through a couple millimeters of titanium or whatever.” Paisley uses the Westone UM-2 IEMs and prefers the fit on the generics rather than the custom molds, which provide just enough leakage so he can experience a little more feel of his amps and some stage/audience ambience.
All About Consistency
Even after 13 years and more than 1,400 shows, the Brad Paisley team has stayed mostly together. “And, we’ve got basically the same band that we started with,” adds Freeman. “Most all of the crew that works for Brad are the same. And I guess Brad’s happy to have us, or he would have made some changes. But again, it comes back to consistency. We all do what we do and, fortunately, we’re still selling a lot of tickets doing it. I saw just yesterday that we were the number-five grossing tour for this year. Feels pretty good to be right behind Roger Waters and the Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil show. That’s not a bad place to be! I’ve had enough gigs to know the difference between a good one and a bad one, and this is a good one!”
Brad Paisley Virtual Reality Tour 2012
Sound Company
Sound Image
Audio Crew
Production Manager/FOH Mixer:
Kevin Freeman
Audio Crew Chief: Greg Hancock
FOH System Tech: Brendan Hines
Monitor Engineer: Mark Gould
Monitor Tech/Pro Tools Operator:
Scott Ferguson
FOH Speakers
Mains: JBL VerTec 4889
Subs: JBL VerTec 4880
Front/underhung fills: QSC WideLine
Amps: Crown IT 12000 HD
FOH Electronics
Midas Heritage 2000 Console
TC Electronic 1128 EQ
Klark-Teknik DN6000 RTA
Bricasti Design M7 Reverb
Yamaha SPX 990 Multi FX
Yamaha SPX 2000 Multi FX
TC Electronic M2000 Multi FX
Eventide Eclipse Harmonizer
ADL 1500 Tube Compressor
dbx 376 Comp/EQ
BSS 404 Comp
BSS 504 Gate
Tascam CD01R Pro CD Recorder
Monitors
Sidefills: Sound Image PD1x15
Sidefill subs: JBL 4880 Subwoofers
IEMs: Westone UM-2
Monitor Electronics
Avid VENUE w/sidecar
Avid Pro Tools rack
Shure PSM 1000 IEM System
Shure PSM 900 IEM System
Microphones
Lead Vocals: Shure Beta 58A
BG Vocals: Shure Beta 58A
Kick Drum: Shure Beta 91
Snare top/bottom: Shure SM57
Toms: Sennheiser E604
Hi-Hat: Shure SM137
Overheads: Audix SCX 1
Instruments: Shure KSM-313
Amps: Shure SM57
Direct Boxes: Countryman Type 85, Radial J48, Whirlwind Director
