LONDON – Imogen Heap, a classically trained musician, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose music ranges from rock and pop to electronica and avant-garde, is using two Avid VENUE systems-and her fans-to help in her latest charity efforts on her current Ellipse world tour.
In a move that leveraged the reach of her fan-base, Heap went online to audition musicians, interact and collaborate with fans, and even have fans vote on set lists for each date, all in preparation for her tour, which began in late 2009 and continues through most of this year.
She took it a step further at a London performance in February, where she improvised a song, later christened "The Shepherdess," where the audience chose the key, tempo, and time signature immediately before the song began. The track was recorded live, mixed, and made available online for paid download, with proceeds going to a local charity.
The experiment worked so well that Heap decided to repeat the improvisation on subsequent dates of the North American leg, earmarking local causes at each show to benefit from the downloads.
To create the songs, Heap's monitor engineer, Mike Benson, records each track into Pro Tools LE through his VENUE Mix Rack System. "It's a simple but powerful setup," he said. "I just run a couple of FireWire cables from the back of the Mix Rack into a laptop running Pro Tools [that's connected to] a portable hard drive. [Pro Tools] sees the Mix Rack as an Avid audio interface. I can choose a combination of up to 18 input, output, and FX return channels to record."
Benson is using many of the included VENUE plug-ins for monitor mixing. "I'm loving the Smack! compressor plug-in, and I'm using the Dynamics III compressors as ear protection for the in-ear monitors," he said. "I'm also using the De-Esser to take the edge off the electric guitar sound without affecting the other sounds that come down the same channels."
Engineer Tom Evans mixes front of house for the show on a second VENUE Mix Rack System, and afterwards also mixes the improvised track using a MacBook Pro running Pro Tools LE software. According to Benson, the integration between Pro Tools and the VENUE systems makes moving the tracks between systems a seamless process. "Taking the tracks I've recorded and moving them to Tom's Pro Tools rig is as straightforward as it gets. Typically, by the time the truck's packed, he's got his headphones on and is working on the edits."
"After the show, I drop the audio files into a template, based on the initial mixes, with approximate settings for EQ, compression, and plug-ins," said Evans. "I normalize the tracks to ensure consistent levels between shows, then I do a preliminary mix, putting in some initial automation, cleaning up noise, and adding effects such as delay and reverb.
"Once I've done the preliminary mix, Imogen has a listen, and we discuss where to edit the track to create a short version," added Evans. "Then we create both a full-length ‘warts and all' version and a shorter, edited version. Usually, the next day I'll have another listen with fresh ears, complete the mix, and upload bounces to Kelly [their mastering engineer] for mastering. Kelly's input is particularly important, since I'm only referencing on headphones, so it's good to have someone check the mix on speakers."
Sales of the improv performances, posted at www.imogenheap.com/charity,
have been brisk enough to raise funds for a wide range of causes, from flood relief in Nashville and food banks in Denver to hospitals and conservation groups. Heap handpicks, from her fans' suggestions, each charity to reflect a local edge, further inspiring fans to give back to their own communities. In fact, a download of one particular track fetched a cool $1,000 donation.
"The ability to make these tracks available for people so soon after each show-while it's still fresh in their minds-has certainly gone a long way toward furthering our efforts," said Heap. "Pro Tools and the VENUE systems have played a big part in helping us to reach our goals."
For more information, please visit www.avid.com.
