Take two big rock bands from the 1970s, make them co-headliners, let them loose on the summer shed circuit and pray for ticket sales and no rain. Boston is your typical “make it sound like the records” kind of show, with the studio engineer bribed into going out on tour to preserve the essence of leader Tom Scholz and bandmates. Then take road veterans like Styx, who do yearly tours with 150 to 200 gigs per year for the last 10 years and has done the co-headline thing with everyone from Journey to Peter Frampton, but also tours with their studio guy at FOH.
Both bands kicked off the summer tour together, using the Grand Casino amphitheater in central Minnesota as the first gig of the summer. They came in a day early to dust off the performance cobwebs. I got to check out good portions of both band’s sound checks, and that was much more informative from a production standpoint, as I could see the evolution of touring. Everything has become personal monitoring with instrument techs playing a key role in getting the signature sounds nailed.
Styx really drove the point home with a wall of Ampeg SVT amps and Marshall amps on the backline, but they were all for show — “tech-row” is really where the sound was made with racks of effects and SVTs/Marshalls driving Palmer cabinet simulators with the mics headed for the consoles. Tom Scholz had three full-height racks (about 30U) of guitar and keyboard signal processing. The instrument tech not only tuned and polished guitars, but had to dial-in on cue all the tones needed for each song.
Here are the interviews with the band engineers and racks and stacks provider Slamhammer Sound of St. Paul, Minn.
FOH: What does Tom (Scholz) call you for a nickname?
Bill Ryan: The “little guy” or the “hobbit.” (Onstage) they are all six foot or taller.
Who do you have up on stage?
BR: We have Tom Scholz, of course, and we have our new dueling front men Michael Sweet; and the guy we liberated from Home Depot, Tommy DeCarlo — he is thrilled to be here. We had him for three weeks of rehearsals and he’s getting it down. And we have Kimberly Dahme, who has played bass with the band for seven years. On the far stage left is Gary Pihl, who used to play with Sammy Hagar, came over a long time ago, since the early 1980s. Michael Sweet holds his own on guitar. All three of these guys are awesome guitar players. Jeff Neal on drums, a schoolteacher from Maine, also has a set of pipes on him; everybody in this band sings. A lot of harmonies are many voices.
How many inputs do you have running into your console?
BR: We have 48. We have a couple of spares, but we are using it all.
Did Tom give you the choice of your console and outboard?
BR: No, I pretty much picked everything. I had the choice, he gave me the liberty, which is unusual from what I hear. I have been his studio engineer for 13 years, and we just re-mastered the first two records. I have spent a lot of time in the studio with him, so he trusts me. If he can’t trust me than he can’t trust anybody, and he has had a problem in the past with that.
What console do you use in the studio?
BR: He (Tom) has an old Auditronics console. I have an old Amek 2500 in my room, too.
So both of you are Mister Analog?
BR: Mister Analog, yeah. I am also a studio tech, too, so that helps a lot, as well as a studio engineer.
So what do you have running here as far as a console?
BR: A Midas XL4 and also a couple of old Lexicon 300s (reverbs), a PCM42 mono delay and a TC D-Two for stereo tapped delays, and that’s pretty much it.
Any special things you do on vocals?
BR: Well, we worked a lot in preproduction on getting all the balances right. So, I have a lot of starting-off marks. The interesting thing about Tom is he listens to the front-of-house mix as his monitor.
Am I going to see him on headphones all night?
BR: He wears a pair of BOSE noise canceling headphones. He cut the wires off and just uses the noise canceling part, and then he has his in-ears. The cups cancel the ambient noise so he can run the in-ears at a much lower level. His hearing gets sensitive as he gets older, and he does not like a lot of level. That is why our stage volume is very low and the front-of-house level is comfortable. We are not trying to kill anybody here.
You keep an eye on the SPL meter?
BR: I absolutely do. My ears are getting old, too. I definitely do.
What do you aim for, 105 dB at FOH?
BR: No more than 100 dB. I’m more comfortable between 96 and 100 dB at the house. I’m almost 200 feet back.
Any tips or tricks you want to share?
BR: The thing about Boston and the band’s sound is the guitar tones are extremely processed and everything is coming up to me at line level. Everything is pre-compressed and EQ’d and everything.
So how wild do you get on compression for percussion and vocals?
BR: I try not to overdo it. I’m running more of a mix bus compressor, like this old dbx 162 on my house mix. I’m trying to make it sound period specific like the old records, and the only way to do that is to use some old stuff.
FOH: How long have you been doing front-of-house for Styx?
GL: Only since 1996 . I recorded their Man of Miracles album, which was their fourth album, in 1974. And then bits and pieces up to their Cornerstone album in 1978, which was all done in my studio. From then on, I recorded everything as an engineer and became their co-producer in 1999.
Who do you have onstage tonight?
GL: James Young, Tommy Shaw and Ricky Philips on bass. Lawrence Gowan has been our staple since 1999 when Dennis (De Young) left the band. All these guys are gentlemen. Every artist has to have an ego to become who they are. But these guys really check their ego at the door, especially with the crew, who they treat like their family. Todd Sucherman rounds out the group on drums.
What do have at FOH? Just that Yamaha PM5D?
GL: About two years ago, we needed to share a console with Journey, and the only console we could agree on was the PM1D. This was the first digital unit that came out by Yamaha. We were forced to go on that, and I kind of got a sour taste in my mouth. Because I am an old analog dog, even though I went to Pro-Tools, but I have Apogee converters. When the PM5D came out, I heard from some of my friends who I respect from very highly that it sounded a lot better. So, I gave it another shot and used a Big Ben clock, and it has really come a long, long way. You can see how small a footprint this takes up and I lack nothing.
And the effects?
GL: Everything. They even got a program in here that I made sound like a H3000 harmonizer and it is very, very good. I have not had any service problems.
Do you run pretty heavy effects?
GL: Outdoors, I am allowed a little more leeway. When you’re indoors you get clouded be the room reverb. I am a little disappointed that I am so far away; it defeats the purpose in that I do not get the true perspective that the bulk of the audience gets. I don’t get the real direct sound back here, so I am guessing (on effects).
Do you get a chance to walk during the show?
GL: No, it is a very active show. In a live show, you must get rid of any live microphones that are not being used. As you will see, they are very active. So, as they leave a mic that mic fader goes down. I mix it like I would on an analog console.
You use a lot of compression on the mix?
GL: I do. Just use a pinch on the overall mix. Because I have a digital console, I have compression, gates, EQ, everything on every channel. I might touch things a little, but I do not abuse anything. I try not to go heavy unless I am going for an effect.
How much compression on the vocals?
GL: I am 4:1 on vocals — my favorite ratio. You’ve got to remember that with these guys, I am trying to capture that Styx block harmony. I order to capture that fullness at all times I have to go that thick. On my outputs, I go 2:1 for lightness. I like to round things off a bit.
So how many channels do you have active?
GL: Looks like 42. I got 48 so I could get into a few more inputs if I have to.
So is everybody a vocalist?
GL: No, Todd doesn’t sing. The solid, solid guys are Tommy, JY and Lawrence. Ricky occasionally steps up. Todd can actually sing very well, but it becomes a nightmare back there to get a mic clean. Plus, he is an active drummer.
What do you use as overheads on Todd?
GL: I have a new mic;, it’s an Audix condenser, SCX-25. They are very open, and boy does that make a difference because Todd plays a lot of top (cymbals). As aggressive as he is, he is a delicate guy, too. The mics give me a better overall kit sound.
What do you use for vocal mics?
GL: An Audix OM-5 for Tommy. Other Audix OMs for the other guys.
Any other tips to share?
GL: When I am in the studio, I think of the mix as a collage. But when I am a live guy, I think more like a caricature. You must force people to listen to what is important in a song in different places. Having a good lighting girl, like I have back here, also directs attention to different proximities; it helps my job. Highlight somebody with a light — you automatically in your mind hear them better. I accentuate that, too. People get the whole deal.
Now a lot of rock bands are instruments first, vocals second. Do you give equal billing in the mix?
GL: I love the drums so much that I’ll mix the drums as hot as the vocals. This is a vocal band. People know Styx because of their songs. But these guys are in their 50s and are in tremendous shape. Their energy level is really great. But if I can complement that with a younger guy (Todd), who has even more energy, it makes everything even more energetic.
What kind of rig are you running for racks and stacks?
BK: Martin W8LC, 12 boxes a side. Martin WSX subs, single 18” per box and 16 subs.
I see you have a pair of BSS Minidrives at FOH — any other processing?
BK: No, just splits at the amp racks.
What kind of amps do you have running?
BK: Crests; we got a 9001, 8001 and two 7001s in each amp rack. Two amp racks per side. The 9001s have the subs, and the flown lows, mids and highs get the 8001s and 7001s.
And the W8LC boxes, what are they loaded with?
BK: 12” on lows, two 6” on mids and three 1” on horns.
And this is your preferred rig?
BK: This is what we own (laughing). As a touring guy, I like this; I’m so used to it now. When Pete (the owner) started buying boxes, he went with Martin; no one else had that around and he wanted to be different. Martin was really good helping him out, so when he wanted to advance with something a little better, like a line array, Martin was the way to go.
Want kind of power consumption do you have running?
BK: We have a three-phase 400-amp distro, but I do not know the draw. We use Motion Labs rack and have a 100-amp, three-phase hookup. Each amp rack gets a Hubbel L14-30 feed.
How many crew do you have here today?
BK: There are three of us from Slamhammer Audio and 24 stagehands from the promoter/production company (Grand Casino).
How long does it take to the system up and running?
BK: If you got five hours, it takes five hours. If you got two hours, it takes two hours. Myles and I can fly a side in a half hour if everything is ready.
So Myles, do you agree it can be really a two-man job?
MK: It’s definitely very easy with these boxes; they fly very fast with just two men. It goes up and together quite well. Once you got the computer program, and know the tuning, you just slap it together and go.
So you know the rigging points really well here?
MK: We have not been here in 10 months because of winter. But once you get the chain motors rigged, you just let ‘er rip.
BK: It took him about 10 minutes per side to rig, if that. Very quick.
