Have you ever heard the sound of more than 10,000 girls screaming at 119dBa at FOH? Daryl Carmen, FOH for Hilary Duff, and the Masque Live crew have been experiencing this night after night since her tour started last summer.
Those who think of theatre sound and wireless microphone management when they hear "Masque Sound" should know that over the past two years, Masque Live, a new division, has been slowly establishing itself as a formidable player in the fast-paced commodity world of concert sound. Masque Sound is renowned in the theatre world because, like with a high-end installation, they take the time to work out every last sonic detail for Broadway-type shows that run for years in the same venue. In contrast, Masque Live is about the time pressures of being in a different arena or stadium every night. Crew chief Paul Fabre said he believes that what separates Masque Live is their philosophy of having the same level of quality control at the shop for both their theatre and concert businesses. I arrived midway through the Canadian leg of the tour at the John Labbat Centre in London, Ontario, to witness firsthand the efficiency of the Masque Live crew. Daryl explained that the building blocks of the Lucas "Rico" Corrubia, Jr.-inspired house sound system is comprised of L-ACOUSTICS V-DOSC line- array modules and subs, with Camco amplification and Lake Contour dsps. Daryl relies on the trusted Midas Heritage 3000 because he said he believes it sounds better than any of the digital boards in production. He is waiting to see if Midas' or Cadac's digital console can step up to the plate and take sound quality to the next level before he considers switching. His outboard for Audio-Technica-endorsed Hilary Duff and band is all top-drawer, and includes BBS 901 dynamic equalizers, Empirical Labs Distressors and the "secret sauce," Valvotronics Tube compressors. Daryl said he loves the sound of warm bass and believes that tube distortion just sounds good. The only thing digital Daryl uses is a three-engine TC System 6000 that processes just enough reverb to smooth the mix, but not too much to excite the arena.
Brennan Houser does triple duty as system engineer, FOH mixer and monitor mixer for opening act Hello Operator. He explained that even though the Lake Contours had been set up to allow complex level and EQ shading, he prefers to have the line array angled and flown properly so that minimal shading is required. During systems tuning, only 4dB of level shading was used for the three top-most boxes. He said he loves the challenge of walking into a venue and having to figure out how to rig the line arrays to evenly cover the audience within 15 minutes. Six clusters were rigged at the John Labatt Centre. There was a main L/R cluster with 12 V-DOSCs on top and three dV-DOSCs on the bottom pointing straight. On the wings were matching clusters of seven V-DOSCs on top and three dV-DOSCs on the bottom, and at the extremes, pointing 90º from the stage, were matching arrays of two DVSubs and six dVDOSCs. Floor subs are eight L-ACOUSTICS SB-218s per side stacked at the front of the stage and staircase-delayed to reduce power alley. Radial Wireworks multi-pin connectors feed Camco power to the speakers. With the entire team working hard most days, the sound system is up and running by lunchtime. Brennan also has the challenge of using the backup monitor console, a Yamaha PM5D with its built-in outboard, to mix both FOH and monitors for Hello Operator. He maintains good communications with the stage technicians and allows them to be his ears so that a comfortable wedge mix can be built for the musicians.
At the side of the stage is Lorin White, who pilots the Yamaha PM5D for Hilary Duff's monitors. The band uses a mix of L-ACOUSTICS 115XT floor monitors and Shure PSM 700 wireless PMs, with individual band members using earpieces from their preferred vendor. I was surprised to see only stock antennas and no helical antennas. Lorin says that helical antennas are highly directional, and since Hilary likes to dance around a lot, having helical antennas so close to the stage could cause dropouts. Lorin had good things to say about the convenience of the Yamaha PM5D's built-in processing and recall abilities. He keeps on top of all his mixes by wearing three belt packs and switching his own PMs between them. He communicates with the guitar and drum techs and has them on the same wireless PM mix as the guitar player and the drummer, so that they can work together to make sure the musicians are happy.
Daryl commented that the Hilary Duff tour is a positive and refreshing change from your typical rock 'n' roll concert. Tonight, the arena was filled to capacity with girls from ages 9 to 16–most with their moms, but there were a few dads in the audience too. For most, it will be their first concert experience. One mother took her daughter by the hand to FOH. Mom pointed to the Midas Heritage 3000 and explained to her daughter that this is where the sound is controlled. The girls were so excited–yelling, screaming and waving their glow sticks during the whole concert as they heard songs that reassure them that it's okay to experience ebbs and flows of insecurity during adolescence. The show ended at an early hour so bedtimes weren't missed. Families, Masque Live and I left all the arena smiling.
Gear
FOH Console: Midas Heritage 3000
Support Act FOH/Monitors: Yamaha PM5D
Hilary Monitors: Yamaha PM5D
Power Amplifiers: 60 x Camco Vortex 6
Speaker Systems: 42 x L-ACOUSTICS V-DOSC, 24 x L-ACOUSTICS dV-DOSC
Subwoofers: 16 x L-ACOUSTICS SB-218, 4 x L-ACOUSTICS DV Subs
Loudspeaker Controllers: 12 x Lake Contour
Monitor Speakers: 14 L-ACOUSTICS 115XT
Multi Band Compressors: 4 x BSS DPR-901 II
PM Transmitters: 8 x Shure PSM 700
With Icon Remote: TC Electronic System 6000
Compressors: 2 x Focusrite Red, 1 x Drawmer DL-241
Dual Compressor: BSS 402
Quad Noise Gates: BSS DPR-504
Mics: Audio-Technica
