Chris Raboid and Brad Blettenberg are a good team. Covering FOH and MON plus production for Southern rock jam band Widespread Panic, they have become "part of the family" with a band known for going through sound guys with almost Prince-like regularity — Chris has helmed FOH for five years, and Brad has been camped out at the side of the stage for a decade. FOH caught up with the daring duo on the band's Halloween show in Las Vegas (you can't tell, but the singer is wearing a chicken suit in the pics) and got a glimpse of a crew that has both the chops and the balls to hang with a band that regularly takes things to the edge of the musical abyss without ever falling over. And this band that has never had a radio hit was touring with one of the most cutting-edge and best-sounding systems we have heard in a long time. Here's how they do it. Chris, you are production manager as well as FOH. How does that affect your audio job?
Chris Raboid: I have a real problem, okay, paranoia, of people viewing the production manager/FOH thing the wrong way. I'm an audio guy who got thrust into the production world. Wearing both hats with Panic is tiring, but actually works pretty easily. When I was hired as the band's production manager, I came from an audio background. I put together a really good audio package with some really good engineers. As sometimes happens — no one's fault — things just kind of fell apart. We were in a rough situation, and the band asked me why I wasn't out there taking the reins. It was put up or shut up time, and I dove in head first.
Things just seemed to click right off the bat; management was happy, I felt confident about the results, the band was hearing what they wanted to from those they trust, and here we are five years later. The key to doing both jobs and having neither of them suffer or "give in" to the other is having, and trusting, a strong team. I have a fantastic production staff, a top-notch stage manager and the best system engineer and crew I could hope for. I typically set up shop in the production office until 2 or 3 p.m., and then I wander out to FOH and the stage to start the fun part of the day! By the time I make it to FOH, CW (Alkire, system engineer) has aligned the rig and made a pass at tuning it. I hop in, listen to my program material, and I may or may not make any changes from there. CW is outstanding. He and I have been working together for two years now, and I trust him wholeheartedly. He knows what I like, and I fully trust his methods of getting us there.
Do I look at things differently doing both production and FOH? Absolutely, positively, yes. If anything, I'm harder on myself, because you don't ever want anyone to think you're giving yourself a free ride. That is actually the bane of my gig. I'm always aware of the possibility that folks might see it that way. I've finally gotten to the point where I feel 100% confident that the results speak for themselves. I/We, as an audio whole, have a good thing going out here, and it's hard to dispute that. Listen.
How in the hell did a non-commercial band that has never had a hit end up with one of the most cutting edge systems on the road today?
By paying attention and staying current with what's going on in the industry. It's really that simple. Panic's success has come almost strictly from touring. They've never had a radio hit or a number one record. When it comes to audio, and production in general, they deserve nothing but the best, and I try hard to keep up with what's out there. When we started a relationship with Eighth Day in early '05, I was introduced to d&b products. The stuff is just great.
The first time I mixed on the smaller Q series array, I was a bit worried about how well it would work as our main system in a small 2,000-seat casino in Tahoe. We were traveling with a V-DOSC as our main hang and the Qs as a side hang at the time. That night I spent the first two songs of the show laughing at how great it sounded with just those little boxes! Totally blew me away.
I told Owen Orzack if they ever wanted to try out d&b's large-format line array, I'd love to give it a go. Fast-forward to '06, and Eighth Day has decided to take delivery of the J-Series. They asked if I was still interested, and the rest is history. It's definitely a very telling rig; if you suck, it sucks. There's nothing to hide behind with that system.
We now run 24 bit/48kHz AES all the way from the stage to the amps. Once the inputs hit the VENUE's converters, they never go through another conversion stage. The Dolby Lake Processors accept AES, the d&b amps accept AES. It makes for an incredibly clean signal path.
Most major touring companies can outfit you with an impressive rig these days. Having the latest gear is one thing, knowing the proper implementation of that gear is another. CW and all the Eighth Day guys truly understand the "hows and whys" of their gear. Fortunately, I've found a company with the right people, the right gear and the right knowledge. Flashy gear in a rack is just that if you don't know how to tailor that gear to every specific scenario you might encounter on the road.
What are YOU doing differently out front?
I monitor individual inputs throughout the show. I like to solo things post fader and then add other inputs on top of one another, one by one. By doing this, it helps to simplify what inputs might be stepping on one another. You can have the greatest sounding lead guitar in the history of rock and roll, but if it eats up too much room in the mix, who cares?
The one thing I've learned that has helped me tremendously is to separate input from system. By that I mean it's crucial that I know and trust how an input sounds coming out of my console, so that when I hear that same input sound displeasing through the PA, I know to alter the system, not the console. Sound checks and empty rooms can really cause you to second guess your moves on the desk when the real problem might just be a bit too much 2k in the system.
What was the learning curve like on the VENUE? And what are the pros and cons now that you have been using it a while?
VENUE's great on so many levels. Creatively, your options are endless. You can decide at lunch you'd like to try a this on a that, and 20 minutes later it's done. There's no calling the shop, taking out this piece of gear to make room for that.
It admittedly took me a while to get around on the board. I felt way too slow on it at first, especially for a show that has 60-something active inputs coming from the stage. I flew up to Cleveland and spent three days at the shop there playing back tracks (via Pro Tools). I'd run through a whole show without stopping to get used to its feel. The band has about 200 songs, and we get the set list about 10 minutes before they go onstage, so there are no scenes for this kind of show. It's "turn it on and go!" Now, I cruise around on it just as fast I would on any console.
What is your favorite part of working with Panic?
It's a big band, and it's an unscripted show. When I'm able to mentally get on the same page as the band and reel their sound in — man, that's just a great feeling.
The hardest part?
Being away from my own bathroom
What would you be doing if you weren't doing sound for a living?
Coaching high school football…how's that for polar opposite career paths?!
If you had to go on the road with a different system every night, and could only bring three things with you, what would they be?
A Shure SM91, a Distressor and Brad.
Meanwhile, Back at Monitor World…
Tell us about the monitor system.
Brad Blettenberg: The console I'm using is a Yamaha PM1D, utilizing all the onboard dynamics. There is roughly 80 inputs coming off the deck, and I use in the neighborhood of 30 outputs. I have two pair of d&b M2 wedges for the guitar and bass mixes and a set of Q7s for the key mix. I also have four guys on personal monitors, and I'm using a combination of Sennheiser 300 G2s and Shure wired belt packs.
So it's a mix of wedges and PMs?
Well, it's kind of funny because, when I started with these guys 10 years ago, they were all on PMs. JoJo (keyboards) was the first one to go back to wedges, mainly because of an inner ear situation. Then Dave (bass) was the next victim; after a stint with Gov't Mule, in which he went back to wedges, he felt that he could play with better dynamics. Jimmy (guitar) came onboard this year, and he — to my knowledge — has never been on PMs. I've always wanted to do these guys on all wedges, but…be careful of what you ask for.
The guys are on two different types of earpieces — Ultimate Ears and Future Sonics. The lead singer and the drummer are on Ultimate, and the percussionist and the steel/ guitar player are on Future Sonics. I have the console set up for split inputs. One layer (1 through 48) for one set of earpieces and the other (49 through 96) for the other set, along with wedge inputs. I work with the guys on a daily basis for the tones. After that, it really comes down to mix levels and ratios.
How loud is the stage?
In normal places like arenas and sheds, it really isn't that bad — maybe 100 or so. But given that we go from a shed to a small theatre and back to an arena, it varies greatly between 100 to 110. I asked Chris, and he said that he has measured the bass rig at FOH 80 feet out at 90 dB, A weighted.
Jimmy has a system of wedges for individual instruments and controls them himself with volume pedals?
What we're doing is a throw back to the days of when Jimmy was with The Dead. I believe Ian Dubois was the original mastermind behind the system. (He mixed six out of seven band members, and I mixed Mickey Hart in 2004.) Essentially, it is a pedal system that gives Jimmy control of the five instruments he needs the feed off of. There is one pedal that has a sub mix of kick, snare and hat, a second for percussion, a third for a mix of keys (piano, clav, whurly), another for the rhythm guitar and, finally, one for the top end of the Leslie. Basically, there are six separate mixes that the pedals are inserted on. The mixes are then sent to a matrix, and then on to amp and wedges. We have three wedges out there for him — two M2s and one Max. The M2s get the brunt of it, and the Max gets the Leslie.
