From theatrical to R&B to church revival, Jill Scott’s show has a little bit of everything
With Masque Sound providing the audio, Jill Scott’s audience heard every malleable murmur and every vociferous vocalization equally – and with great delight. The sell-out show was a powerhouse of great music and showmanship. Scott is far from what all too often passes for a pop star these days: She’s a woman of experience, talent and effectively and sincerely connects with the audience.
And in what would be a great trend to see develop, Scott asked that everyone turn off their cell phone cameras for the last number “And I Heard.” The spiritual-inspired tune ended with the band marching off in drum line formation – the perfect ending to a great show.
When the show came to St. Louis on March 26, FOH Engineer Lorne Grabe was behind the console. Grabe began his career playing in bands in and around his hometown of Pittsburgh. He got in through the back door of sorts: bartering for free studio time, he interned at a local recording studio. Not long after that he had his proverbial light-bulb moment: “I realized I could make more money mixing,” he says with a sly smile. That was 11 years ago, and he eventually started being a contract player for Masque, based in East Rutherford, N.J.
Two years ago, he joined the company fulltime and enjoys the variety of opportunities that come his way: He’s often found mixing for touring Broadway shows, including Music Man and Footloose, working in the company’s HQ, and going out on the road with people like Scott.
Here in St. Louis, Grabe found himself at the 4,200-seat Fox, which was built as a movie house in 1929. It had glory days in the 1930s and 1940s, but by the 1970s, it was severely neglected and home to acts including Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa. Finally, it was shut down and abandoned. In 1981, restoration began to bring the venue back to its original 1929 splendor, which makes for a great-looking place for theatre, but a bit challenging for modern music acts like Scott.
FOH: This was a big, dynamic show.
Lorne Grabe: This show has a little bit of everything in it. There are 12 people on stage: drummer, percussionist, three horns, three background singers, bass, keyboards, guitar and Jill. Sometimes, they are almost theatrical, sometimes almost church revival. And other times, it’s just full in-your-face R&B.
How much time did you have to get ready for this tour?
We had one day to get this tour ready. We loaded in, worked out the typical bugs, did a single rehearsal, and started the shows. It was very quick.
Seems like you did a lot with a small crew.
I’m assisted by John “Jetski” Gaczenski, and Jim Roach, a freelance audio engineer who has been working with Scott for nearly a year, was the monitor engineer.
How long is the tour?
It’s not long. She likes going out on tours more often, but having them be shorter in length so she can get back home to her family. This one lasted just two months: Feb. 1 to April 1.
This is an old theatre – was setting up a challenge?
Not too bad. It has a long, wide proscenium that offers only a point to rig on, though. I had to split the array, which is something that I’ve had to do before on this tour, but I’d prefer to not have to do it.
What are you using?
I’m using a Meyer Milo 24 box rig, and I like to have all the arrays in the air, but here we flew four and stacked the others on either side of the stage. And the ones we flew are pretty far apart as well. I also have eight D&B B2 subs and eight UPJs for front fill. It’s all great for the general audience, but not so great for those in the “money” seats – those right at the foot of the stage. As the majority of the band is on personal monitors, there’s little for those sitting in what is actually the orchestra pit to hear, except for the sound of the drums and bits from wedges used by the guitarist and bass player.
Oops.
If you stand in those seats and look up, you’re actually behind them. And Jill tends to put her friends here and I catch hell because they can’t hear! [Laughs] They should use these seats as the radio giveaways – the better seats to hear are anywhere else.
Do you like the Milo rig?
Yes, a lot. We’re using the Meyer Galileo 616 speaker management system, Meyer 650P self-powered subwoofers, Meyer CQ-1 loudspeakers, and almost two dozen Meyer Milo High Power Curvilinear loudspeakers. The array is made up of Milo 120s, and there’s a pair of Meyer USW-1P powered 2 x 15 subwoofers taking care of the bottom.
I’m the one who built the rig, so I spec everything down to the mic cables for the show. This is all my preferred gear, though this is the first time I used this console. I generally like a bigger one, but it wasn’t feasible on this tour because the size.
And it’s all working for the artist?
Yes. I love gear. It’s perfect for Jill as she is a vocal-heavy artist. She knows how to work the mic and has a huge range, but it all pops out perfectly in box theatres like this.
Let’s talk mics.
I like a wide variety of mics, and as an employee of Masque, I get to choose from our mic locker.
Kid in a candy store scenario?
Yeah. So for this, I’m using the Neumann U89s for trumpet and sax, the Beyer M88 for the trombone, and all the vocals are Neumann KMS 105s.
What about for Scott?
She has an amazing dynamic range, and she really knows how to use the mic. She’ll go off axis, almost creating an echo. I had started her out on Shure’s new KMS 9, but it proved a little too brittle in the midrange, so I switched to a Neumann 105.
So it’s all fancy-pants, high-end stuff, eh?
Actually, it’s not! We have some problems with rejection on the background singers when they have to be too close to the PA, and in those cases, we just switch them to Audix OM 6s… We run the gamut here, using high-end extreme mics to basic club mics!
Are there any frequency problems with the wireless?
[Smiles] Masque never has any. We have our own wireless division, and all the coordination is done in the shop. Plus, we have some of the best RF people in the world on-call in the rare situation there is an issue onsite.
And the monitors?
The personal monitors are Sennheisers with Future Sonics earpieces.
It was a great show. I was impressed with the range – is that challenging?
It is a dynamic show, and it keeps me on my feet. A lot of the show is her vocals. It’s all about her telling a story, and everybody everywhere in the theatre has to be able to hear every syllable. Sometimes the band can get a little too loud, so it’s a challenging mix to get up quickly. The band is killer, too. Some of the best players I’ve ever worked with. They make it a fun show.
Scott really worked the crowd, too…
Jill is a true artist, drawing in the crowd and never letting them go until the show is done.
Gear List
1 Aphex 1788 Analog 8 channel
pre-amp
1 Audio Technica AE2500
2 Audio Technica AT 4050/CM5
3 Audix D-2
1 Audix D-3
2 Audix D-4
2 Audix D-6
1 Beyer M88
4 Beyer M88TG
12 d&b B2 Dulmode Sub (2×18)
6 Digidesign PQ Mixer
1 Digidesign Venue, D-Show Console
11 Firehouse F12 12 monitor wedge
5 Lab.gruppen FP6400 2 Ch Amp
1 Mackie 1402-VLZ Pro 14×2 Mixer
1 Meyer Galileo 616
2 Meyer 650P self powered subwoofer 2×18
2 Meyer CQ-1 CQ1 Loudspeaker
20 Meyer Milo High Power Curvilinear Loudspeaker
4 Meyer Milo 120 Array Speaker
10 Meyer UM-1P Self-Powered Monitor Speaker
8 Meyer UPJ 1P Powered Speaker
2 Meyer USW-1P Powered 2×15 Subwoofer
6 Neumann KM184
1 Neumann KM85
5 Neumann KMS 105
2 Neumann U87A1
2 Neumann U89
2 Sennheiser MD441U
1 Sennheiser E609MD409
1 Sennheiser E815S
3 Sennheiser E908D
1 Sennheiser MD409
4 Sennheiser MD504
3 Sennheiser MZA900P
4 Shure Beta 57
4 Shure Beta 58
4 Shure Beta 87A
1 Shure Beta 91
8 Shure Beta 98
3 XTA DP226
