Jeffrey Holdip and crew keep Canadian songstress Nelly Furtado sounding great no matter where she is.
I recently caught up with FOH mixer Jeffrey Holdip and the rest of the Towers Clair Showco audio crew for Nelly Furtado. Adamson’s Ben Cabot helped out for the first two shows of the Canadian leg of Nelly’s world tour by tuning the house system. He uses sine-wave sweeps with a multichannel version WinMLS by Lars Morset to equalize the Clair IO processors. He chose WinMLS because it’s the only portable multichannel measurement system quick enough to handle the time pressures of touring. Ben’s kit of six microphones, multichannel sound card and computer can easily fit into a laptop bag and be hand-carried onto an airplane. This was the first time I have seen WinMLS used on a major tour. I have used almost every measurement system on the market; I think that tuning the house before the artist sound check with WinMLS and using Smaart when the band plays is ideal for getting the most useful measurements. Most speaker manufacturers use sine-wave sweeps because they’re accurate even when there are extraneous noises. With a sine-wave sweep you can get usable measurements even if there is hammering and banging going on.
FOH: You’ve been with Nelly Furtado since the very beginning. How’d that get started?
JH: Yeah, I’ve been with her for seven years — from day one. I was working for the rock band Big Sugar in Canada and her manager called me up and asked me if I wanted to make a change. At the time, Big Sugar was a very popular band and Nelly wasn’t signed yet, so I told them I would think about it and to call me when they were ready to tour. A few months later, they called — I can’t explain why, but I made the change and went with Nelly.
Why did you choose the Adamson line array with the T21 subwoofers, and how is it distinct from other line arrays?
I chose Adamson because it is my current favorite speaker. Nelly doesn’t tour very much, but she does do festivals, and that is where I got to mix a few times on the Adamson Y10 and Y18 line arrays. The system sounded great, so I jumped at the chance to add it to the tour. Even her management could hear the difference. On the Canadian leg of the tour, we were able to add the T21 subwoofers, which are awesome.
Tell me about how the Digidesign D-Show and how you chose it to mix.
When I am not touring with Nelly, I am usually in the studio recording reggae bands. I record with Pro Tools and the Digidesign Control 24. When I had a chance to change the sound system and align both the recording and the live world, I jumped on it. The D-Show console was daunting at first, but I soon realized how to quickly get around the basic use of the desk. We are recording all the shows to hard disk just in case management wants to release a live album, for reference for the MD and to use the virtual sound-check capabilities of the VENUE. Using the D-Show Console with the Adamson line array and subwoofers makes mixing live for me as comfortable as recording in my studio. At the moment, I am not using any outboard gear. My favorite Pro Tools plug-ins for the live show are McDSP MC2000 for multiband compression and the Revibe for reverb. I love having the ability to recall specific settings for each song. Nelly’s music is quite complex; it has a lot of layers, and the sound changes a lot from song to song.
What is your take on the sound of analog verses digital?
I’m old school. Analog boards like the Midas XL4 sound really warm, and it is worth the extra time and effort to set up. The trick in making the D-Show or any digital console sound good is to think old school — set up the plug-ins to make the mix sound like old-school analog.
What’s it like having a mic sponsor?
Throughout my career, there have been many times where I had to show up and use whatever was provided. If I am given the choice, I’m like a kid in a candy store. I do have favorite brands of microphones for specific instruments, but I don’t mind using any microphone system as long as it is reliable. For Nelly, I use a Sennheiser SKM500 handheld with a 935 dynamic capsule. I prefer it to the Neumann 105 capsule because, with the loud stage noise and the natural high-end of her voice, the Sennheiser 935 fits her better and requires less equalization. I have had many fights with TV engineers who insist on using the Neumann vocal microphone, but when they hear how good the Sennheiser 935 sounds on her voice, they are won over.
You just finished the European leg of her world tour. How’d that go?
Europe was really smooth. The reason it went so well was Dave Donin, my monitor engineer, who did such an awesome job that I only had to worry about my FOH mix. I gave Dave, the new guy, my middle bunk on the bus and took the bottom bunk. That’s how much I appreciate him. Having a good monitor engineer makes my job easy, and with Dave running monitors, if there were any mistakes in the mix they would be mine.
What do you enjoy most about this world tour?
I really love mixing live; if all I was given was an 8-channel mixer, I would happily use it. When Nelly is doing promo, I take care of all the logistics of the backline, audio and cargo, but I would much rather be mixing. I have been very fortunate. On tour, we have our Clair system engineer Brad Ervin who takes care of setting up and equalizing the system. When I come in for sound check, the system is ready to go. Brad understands what I am looking for and delivers it to me each and every day.
CREW
FOH: JeffreyHoldip
MON: Dave Donin
System engineer: Brad Ervin
P.A. tech: Brian Kirk
MON tech: Jon Halliwell
Adamson Tech: Ben Cabot
GEAR
FOH
24 Adamson Y-18
12 Adamson Y-10 Under hang
6 Clair Brothers P-2 Front fill
12 Adamson T-21 Subs
20 Adamson Y-10
1 Digidesign VENUE D-Show with Sidecar
Clair IO
Lab.gruppen 3400s and 6400s.
Crown 3600s
MON
4 Clair Brothers 12 AM Wedges
4 Clair Brothers R4s for Side fills
Crown 3600s
1 Digidesign VENUE D-Show with a sidecar
12 Sennheiser G2 300 Systems
10 Sennheiser EW 550 Series with 935 Capsules
16 Sennheiser EW 550 Series Wireless for Instruments
