How do you do audio justice to a rock legend whose career spans more than 25 years? Well, one of the first and most crucial steps is to surround yourself with people, companies and gear that have proven themselves time and time again. When it came to planning the U.S. leg of R.E.M.'s recently launched 2004/2005 World Tour supporting their latest CD, Around the Sun, this meant handing the ball to FOH engineer Brett Eliason, who in turn joined forces with Seattle-based Carlson Audio Systems to design the main sound system.
In addition to Eliason's extensive experience, both he, R.E.M. and the rest of the crew were able to get plenty of warm-up time and fine-tune requirements appearing alongside acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Bright Eyes and the Dixie Chicks as part of the high-profile Vote for Change tour, which wrapped a mere two days before the R.E.M. solo tour kicked off on October 13 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles.
Based on EAW's KF760 Series line array system, the design of the main sound system for the solo tour was a collaborative effort between Eliason (best known for his live and studio work with Pearl Jam but with an impressive list of other clients including Train, Neil Young, Windowpane and many others), Carlson Audio's senior engineer and tour crew chief Allan Bagley and Jonathan Stoverud-Myers, Carlson Audio partner.
"Brett was very specific about what he wanted as far as a speaker system," commented Bagley. "I determined the exact needs of the system based upon the venues and the budget. I then used my past working knowledge of the EAW product to determine which tools were going to be right for the job." The complete EAW package includes 24 KF760 long/medium-throw boxes, eight KF761 nearfield boxes and 16 SB1000 subwoofers. Four KF750 and four KF755 downfill boxes work in combination with four JF260z and two JF290z two-way cabinets to provide rear and side fill.
The system configuration features left and right clusters of 12 EAW KF760 boxes and four EAW KF761 boxes per side with outer fill being provided by the EAW KF750/755 boxes. The subs are ground-stacked four high and two wide. The EAW JF Series speakers are distributed across the front of the stage to ensure coverage to those seats nearest the stage. QSC Powerlight series amplifiers, including six Powerlight 3.4s for the high end, six QSC Powerlight 6.0s for the mids, 12 QSC Powerlight 6.0s for the low end and six QSC Powerlight 6.0s for the subwoofers, power the entire system. Four QSC PL236 amplifiers supply the power for the front fills.
System control is handled by BSS FDS-366t Omnidrive Compact Pluses in combination with Klark Teknik DN3600 and DN360 graphic equalizers, a Klark Teknik DN6000 audio analyzer and an Aphex Dominator. A Midas XL4/56 console serves as the nucleus of FOH world, effectively augmented by an impressive array of dynamics processors, including some more exotic models such as an Alan Smart C2 Stereo Compressor, two Manley Variable MUs, a Summit DCL-200, an Aphex Dominator and nine (yep, nine) Empirical Labs Distressors, in addition to a healthy supply of "standard" workhorses like dbx 160 series, BSS 404 compressor/limiters and Aphex 622 gates. The list of effects processors is, if not quite as lengthy (or expensive), equally well chosen and includes both
a TC 2290 and an M2000 from TC Electronic, a Lexicon PCM-60, Eventide H3000 and a good old Roland SDE3000. Odds and ends include Whirlwind Concert 56 splitter systems and W-4 snakes, a Motion Labs 200AMP AC Distribution System and "a whole bunch of Avalon DIs."
The microphone selection represents a combination of live sound staples and higher-end models, best seen on the drum mics: the kick drum is miked with a Shure Beta 91 and an Audix D-6, while the snare is picked up by a Shure SM57 (top) and a Shure SM81 (bottom). A second SM81 is placed on the ride cymbal, with an AKG 460 on the high-hat and two Audio-Technica AT4050s as overheads. The Leslie shares a Shure Beta 52 for the low end and two Sennheiser 421s in stereo for the highs. Guitar cabinets are miked using a combination of Shure SM57, Sennheiser 409 and Audix D-3 microphones. Vocals are all Shure Beta 58a mics.
When the system is up and ready to go, Eliason generally starts by tuning the room by ear using a favorite CD. SmaartLive is then used to determine finer elements like side hang and fill alignment.
"We both like the many characteristics of this P.A., including the smooth full high end and very good control in the low mid-range," commented Bagley. "I can also appreciate that the KF760 elements roll in on carts four high and fly very quickly with all the rigging hardware staying attached. We have further enhanced the set-up/tear-down efficiency by designing carts for the SB 1000 that allow us to roll them in and out four high rather than being handled individually."
"On this tour the venues range from soft-seat theatres to sheds and arenas," Bagley continued. "Configuration of the system is very liquid–especially when we are doing places like Irvine Meadows, Madison Square Garden or the Fleet Center, then jumping into something like the Ryman Auditorium or the Fillmore in Denver. Needless to say, some days we are leaving lots of P.A. on the truck and other days we need more than we are carrying. We have been pleased to find out that the 16 SB1000s are sufficient for the larger venues with this band. We had been planning to add subs in the largest rooms and we have discovered that no additional subs are necessary."
When the tour hits the larger venues, additional EAW KF760 and KF761 hangs are sub-contracted to augment the existing system. This coordination is accomplished through the benefits of the EAW Touring Association (EAWTA), which provides members easy access to a massive member-maintained database that allows EAW customers to quickly locate the EAW gear needed in the field.
In a somewhat unusual twist, the monitor system was provided by a separate company: Rat Sound Systems, based in Oxnard, Calif. How did this come about? "Simple," explains Rat Sound's Daniella Shepherd. "R.E.M. hired George Squiers as monitor engineer. George is a freelance engineer who has used our systems for several years with clients that include Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Offspring and Rancid, so he spec'd Rat for the R.E.M. tour."
"I love Rat Sound; I always have," stated George Squiers. "I believe they are one of the best companies out there. I love the gear. I love the people. I get what I want, it's packaged well and it works. Jon and Daniella were a great help. Rat also has techs like Peter Baigent. He is knowledgeable, determined and efficient. Peter makes my job easy."
The monitor system design was a combination of R.E.M.'s requests and Squiers' preferences, and represents a hybrid combining personal monitoring and conventional wedges. At the heart of monitor world is Yamaha's new PM5D-RH, a digital console designed for live applications, which features 48 XLR analog mono inputs with recallable mic preamps plus four stereo mic/line inputs. The console handles 44 inputs from stage and a total of 13 monitor mixes, as well as all dynamics and effects processing.
Of the 13 monitor mixes, 10 are divided among a total of 20 Rat Sound Microwedges (18 Microwedge 12s, two Microwedge 15s) in traditional positioning with two Microwedge 12s angled inward for most positions and the keyboard riser and one supplemental guitar position using one Microwedge 15 each. Power is supplied by Crest 7001s for the low end and Chevin Q6s for the highs, with Klark Teknik DN800s handling crossover duties.
The remaining monitor mixes are reserved for the Sennheiser EW300 G2 personal monitor systems with Future Sonics earpieces. Michael Stipe and drummer Bill Rieflin each get a stereo mix, whereas bassist/keyboardist Mike Mills uses a mono mix in his left ear only.
The world tour picks up this month in Lisbon. According to Allan Bagley, who will be traveling along in his position as tour crew chief, the systems will be much the same, with FOH and monitor racks shipping from here and boxes being supplied by Britannia Row.
Rushing Into Something New
FOH Meets DVD on the Rush European Tour
By Dan Daley
Brad Madix leans over an 80-input Yamaha PM1D inside the cavernous Festhalle, the centerpiece of Frankfurt's Messe convention complex. He's tuning the sound of a pair of white industrial clothes dryers that have been carefully miked with a pair of Audio-Technica AT4047 condenser microphones. They stand next to a revolving vending machine which, for whatever reason, the band Rush has chosen to make part of the soundscape for their R-30 tour, celebrating the Canadian power trio's 30th anniversary.
Halfway into the three-hour show, the clothes in the dryer begin to seem like they're tossing around to the thump of Neil Peart's kick drum The machinery is quirky but seems oddly congruent with what is otherwise a stark set that comes to life with a startling array of video projected onto slices of screen surrounding the main video monitor above the band. The lighting, by LD Howard Ungerleider, is complex, and about as bright as you'll see for a rock concert by the time it reaches its climax.
What sets this show apart from the others on the tour–aside from laundry machines on stage–is that Madix is mixing with more than the show in mind. A crew of 14 cameras is shooting footage for what will ultimately become Rush's second DVD music video. The fact that the cameras are HD, shooting in 1080p, indicates the band and its management plan a long and profitable revenue life for this project, well into the arrival of the next generation of high-density disc formats (HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc) and the proliferating number of high-def broadcast outlets in the U.S. and elsewhere. These are the sort of media considerations that the music business–and FOH mixers–will have to keep in mind as it tries to find new economic avenues in a downloadable world.
Indeed, according to the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, music on DVD accounted for the vast majority of the nearly 47% increase in music video sales just last year, as well as for most of the expected more than 100% increase this year. By 2006, it's expected to account for about 10% of a global $30 billion-plus business.
Madix has had some experience with DVD shoots before. A Marilyn Manson tour he worked on included one at a show. "The first thing they did was fly the P.A. higher to keep it out of the camera frame," he recalls.
That would not be the case with Rush–the goal is creating a video very much meant to reflect the concert experience. Prior to the show, video director Pierre Lamoureax, who has directed similar DVD projects for the Who, Harry Connick, Jr. and Aimee Mann, consulted with Madix, emphasizing the need to keep the room level at a certain volume. "The key in a production like this is to understand that everyone is part of a larger team, and that we're all working towards the same goal: to make the artist look good," he says. "Specifically, in terms of the FOH mixer, we want to be able to feel the audience presence. The trick is to balance it so that the crowd still feels the power of the performance, but the performance doesn't overpower the microphones on stage."
The sound system is Clair Brothers, out of the company's Switzerland base. The line array is comprised of 28 I-4 boxes and 20 I-4B enclosures, augmented by eight Prism II sublows and six P2 front-fill boxes. The system is powered by 10 Clair C/Q house amp racks (two Crown 3600 and a QSC 9.0) with control handled by a Clair IO 96k digital system drive with wireless remote control. Monitors were a pair each of Clair's P2 and 12AM enclosures, buttressed with six MB215 subs and powered with eight Crown 3600 amps.
Brent Carpenter was the monitor engineer working a Showco Showconsole. An 80-point split at the stage sent separate signal to the FOH and to the video and audio trucks in the parking lot outside the venue. "First and foremost, no feedback," says Madix of the hierarchy of needs that the DVD shoot imposed. "Geddy Lee will often sing in a low register and then soar," says Madix. "I need to be especially careful about riding the vocal and keeping the overall level down so that the truck gets a printable feed. A key thing was to not overwhelm the audience microphones, because the audience response is a big part of what the DVD mixers have to work with." Lee's vocal microphone is an Audio-Technica AE5400, which Madix says sounds great
but isn't the best at gain-before-feedback. "We get away with it because we're using personal monitoring for the vocals," he says. Additional control was attainable in part by the use of Palmer speaker simulators on stage instead of massive amp cabinets. As a result, the truck was also able to get direct feeds from the guitars and bass.
Madix was present for the surround mixes done for Rush in Rio, the band's first music DVD, which was released in 2003. He observed mixer Jim Barton at work in Los Angeles and provided guidance about the dynamics of the live show mixing.
While the trucks would be getting their own direct feeds, an array of house microphones would pick up not only the crowd but also the ambience of the show itself. Madix had a few tricks to keep the live sound bright for the recording. "There's a lot going on for just three guys on stage," he says. "Neil's drumming is intricate. Getting the splash cymbal to pop takes some
program limiting using a Smart Research C-2 compressor across the drum mix." Madix also had two separate stereo subgroups, one of which he passed through a Distressor, a touch of which he says also adds definition to many of the upper-frequency details.
"I learned that one from Journey FOH mixer Kevin Elson," Madix admits. "Limiting across the submix is a great way to tighten an entire group mix."
The video shoot was financed by the band and its Canadian management company, Anthem Entertainment, and will cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time post-production and 5.1 mixing are finished. Thus, it wouldn't be surprising if the evening's emphasis naturally tended to be on the shoot over the show. Part of Madix's brief that night
was to keep the show as uncompromised as possible, given the video crew's needs. "The video is expensive, true, and it will be around for a long time in the form of a DVD," he concedes. "But the people in this room"–he gestures over his shoulder towards the throng of ripped-jeans and T-shirts now flooding the hall–"aren't thinking about that. They're here to see a show. That's what we're going to give them."
