David Morgan checks out Clair’s Cohesion-12 line array system for James Taylor’s 2016 tour.
This year’s North American James Taylor tour opened in Lubbock, TX in early April. Not only was I eager to once again mix what James often calls “the best band anywhere,” I was excited at the prospect of working on Clair Global’s new Cohesion-12 system. Over the winter, our production team had agreed to upgrade the touring system to include two 16-deep arrays of the Cohesion-12 cabinets that we would use as our front facing columns. The production would be retaining two 12-high arrays of Clair Global i-3 enclosures for our side facing columns.
Clair Global introduced the Cohesion-12 system to the touring world in 2015 with the CO-12s debuting on U2’s U.S. tour. The Cohesion Series is the first completely new large-format vertical line array system from Clair since the i-3s were launched in 2006. The development of the Cohesion Series had been whispered about for a couple of years, and expectations were running high. The system’s acclaimed performance on the U2 tour immediately captured everyone’s attention, and the more I learned about the CO-12s, the more I believed that bringing them out for James Taylor was the best course of action.
First, Some History
I have a history of being among the first, if not the first, touring engineers to test drive new developments from my friends in Lititz, PA. Clair’s first proprietary curved vertical array was the i-4 system that we took out for its maiden voyage on the Bob Dylan/Paul Simon tour, in 1999. As with any new product, i-4 had its plusses and minuses, but it was apparent that Clair had committed to its course of conception, design and refinements for line array systems. A few years later, the original i-4s were reworked, repurposed and reincarnated as the i-5 system. In more recent years, the larger i-5D was added to the lineup.
The James Taylor tour has been using the smaller Clair Global i-3 system with great success since the “One Man Band Tour” commenced in 2006. I believe we were the second act to take that system on the road, and “One Man Band” was the first major tour to have it out for the entire year. Our subsequent tours have employed i-3 arrays in theaters, arenas and amphitheaters all over the world. The lightweight, wide-dispersion arrays are incredibly versatile, and we have been very successful in creatively adapting their deployment to the varying structures and circumstances in which James performs all over the world.
Enter the Cohesion-12
Fast forward 10 years, and the first phase of the changeover to the Cohesion-12 system has begun. Clair sent my good friend and senior tour support/systems development engineer, Dave Skaff, to guide Clair systems engineer Andy Sottile, Clair system tech Chris Fulton and myself through the process of discovery and education with the new P.A. This was my initial contact with the CO-12s, and I very much appreciated having Dave Skaff share his comprehensive knowledge of the system control software and various hardware components that comprise the Cohesion-12 package. Dave Skaff and I have been friends for over 25 years, and there is a big trust factor in that relationship.
Cohesion-12 is all new — cabinets, drivers, rigging hardware, cabling, amplifiers and control software. There was much to learn in a rather short time. We had a tech day in Lubbock followed by two days of production rehearsals during which Andy and I had to quickly assimilate as much information as Dave Skaff could provide. After the Lubbock show, Andy and I would be flying on our own. It was Clair’s original intent to have Dave stay with us for the first week of shows. However, our tour schedule made that impossible. The next two shows (actually three of the four shows) that followed Lubbock were to be performed using local P.A. systems at private events or casino showrooms. Keeping Dave Skaff with us beyond Lubbock proved impractical from all viewpoints.
On the initial load-in/tech day, Andy and I allowed Dave to control all the aspects of system deployment and the computer related setup. I watched closely as Dave guided Andy and Chris Fulton through the steps involved with flying the Cohesion-12 arrays. I was curious to learn about the new hardware and to observe Dave’s use of Clair’s proprietary prediction program to determine the shape, the flying height and the aiming of the 16-high arrays. The newly designed Clair hardware systems for attaching the boxes and creating the angles between adjacent enclosures are incredibly simple, fast and strong. For optimum strength and durability, the CO-12 cabinets are constructed of marine-grade birch plywood from Finland.
Once all the arrays were flown to the positions predetermined by the prediction program and the cabling tasks were complete, I was experiencing a strong wave of anticipation. Dave, Andy and Chris were all way ahead of me, because they all had heard the CO-12s before we came to Lubbock. My only chance to observe and to hear the system would have been last year at the Forum in Los Angeles, when U2 was loading in and tuning the system. However, for some unclear reason, I was banned from visiting the Clair crew at that venue, and my window of opportunity to hear the Cohesion-12s was suddenly slammed shut.
Dave and Andy meticulously worked their way through the pink noise testing of each of the individual amp channels and the corresponding components. Next, the guys configured the Lake software on the tablet computer to create the most effective interface for day-to-day operation of the entire audio system. I was dying to hear the beautiful new boxes, but I bit my tongue and waited for my turn in the batter’s box. First days on tour are always slow, as the gear must be carefully massaged and manipulated into its most efficient and effective state.
First Impressions
After he played a couple of tunes from his personal library, Dave Skaff finally handed me the keys to the car. I wasn’t familiar with the music he had played, but my first impression was very favorable. The system was smooth, balanced and very musical. I plugged in my iPad and brought up the familiar playlist of songs that I have used to tune P.A.s since dinosaurs roamed the earth. I muted the i-3 side hangs, the subs and the frontfills, and, as Don Henley’s “End Of The Innocence” poured forth from the Cohesion-12s, I experienced a huge “Wow!” moment. With no EQ applied to the arrays, it already sounded extremely good. I walked all around the arena floor and up in the seats in the grandstands.
The most obvious observation was that the audio output sounded nearly identical in every location. This told me that the prediction program was working flawlessly. For years I have been using graphics for individual zone equalization and only used parametrics to touch up overall system EQ. But when I heard the evenness with which the CO-12s dispersed sound in the coverage area, I realized that I could put away the graphics and eliminate small zone equalization entirely. One stereo parametric would be all I needed to gently tweak the sound I was hearing.
We are carrying only 120º horizontal versions of the CO-12 boxes. There is an 80º horizontal dispersion option as well, if one needs to throw longer distances or stay off side walls. As I began the equalization process, Dave Skaff advised me to use the widest Q settings I could on the individual filters and while still accomplishing the necessary adjustments. I kept this in mind as I roamed around the arena with my wireless tablet and stylus. It was both remarkably easy and remarkably fast to create a system EQ that resulted in an arena sound system that had the depth, clarity and texture of large accurate studio monitors. In minutes, I was hearing the most pleasing audio output I had ever experienced using a Clair audio system.
The Verdict
Over the nearly 30 years I have spent in front of Clair speaker systems, I have usually been able to mix good shows with excellent audio distribution throughout the audience area. But when I heard the Cohesion-12 system, I had to re-evaluate my entire experience. Principal senior design engineers at Clair, Kelsey Gingrich and Jim Meyer, have created a system so accurate that I was now hearing elements I had never heard before in familiar songs that I have been using for system tuning for years.
When I later turned on the subs and EQ’d out the bump for the port tuning, I understood that I was listening to the smoothest, warmest full range audio system I have ever heard. Dave Skaff had perfectly delayed the ground deployed cardioid sub arrays to the flying system. The result was seamless integration at all frequencies. The hardest job I had to accomplish that afternoon was attempting to match the audio output from the i-3 side hangs to the CO-12. Even that job was made far easier because of the incredibly sweet output coming from the main Left/Right arrays.
I will have more to say about Cohesion-12 in a subsequent column, but allow me to close this entry by saying that my first experience with the new system was nothing short of spectacular. I had a huge smile on my face all night long as I mixed our opening show. I am sure I uttered many audible “Wows!” The reviews that appeared in the local papers mirrored my feelings, as each raved about Mr. Taylor’s rich and complex vocal sound and the intimacy, lushness and dynamics of the musical accompaniment.
The Cohesion-12 system is a major step forward in helping FOH engineers tame the hostile acoustical environment one encounters in the arenas of the world. I can’t wait until next year when Clair has manufactured enough CO-12 enclosures to replace the i-3 side hangs. My life at FOH has taken a huge leap forward, and I find that I can be a clearer window for the art being produced on the stage by our musicians and singers.
Safe travels!
Complete specs and descriptions of Clair Global’s i-3, i-5 and Cohesion systems are available at www.clairglobal.com.
For part 2 of this article go to http://www.fohonline.com/ci/21-on-the-digital-edge/15104
