FRONT of HOUSE caught up with Garbage, an amazingly talented band of musicians who always put on a solid rock show, pushing boundaries with technology both in the studio and on the road. The Garbage headline tour includes Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Metric, making for a great three-band lineup. We spoke with key audio members David Gaumé (FOH engineer), Paul Johnson (monitor engineer) and Billy Bush (technologist).
The FOH Position
Mixing Garbage is FOH engineer David Gaumé, who has had a longstanding relationship with the band. Eighth Day Sound is providing support again for the tour. Gaumé says they were especially helpful during pandemic times when they all had to get creative to make streamed events happen. “They have deep gear and human resources around the world. When it came time to plan our headline tour, the choice of provider was never in doubt.”
In terms of P.A. systems, there are many great sounding options, and Gaumé considered a few. “d&b audiotechnik’s SL series set itself apart with a very even listening experience throughout the venue, made possible with the ArrayProcessing function and full-range constant horizontal directivity. To put it simply, the energy is accurately focused on the audience, not spilling back to the stage. It allows me to bring an intense rock show without overexciting or ‘blasting out’ the room. The SL Sub (cardioid 3 x 21” drivers) is the most defined, musical sub box I’ve ever worked with. Touring with 16 of them has been an absolute delight. The GSL mains pack a physical punch. They’re as incredibly powerful as they are detailed. The amphitheater “shed” circuit we’re on presents a wide variety of dimensions, stage shapes, funky ceilings, and obstructions. A combination of GSL, KSL, SL-SUB and Y boxes gives us a wealth of options. However, great gear is still just a pile of gear without a great system design, and we’re so fortunate to have SE Tristan Johnson out here. He is a certified wizard. Our results have been very consistent night to night, which is the number one goal for a touring system.”
First priority for mixing Garbage is vocal intelligibility, notes Gaumé. “Shirley’s lyrics are loaded with strong social messages and imagery. Every word during or between songs should be clear. This doesn’t just mean ‘put the vocals on top.’ Shirley has a huge dynamic range, so I employ a multi-stage compression and dynamic EQ scheme to hold the vocal right in its place and addressing trouble frequencies with narrow, precise filters, taking care to never compromise overall clarity. I also ride that vocal fader for pretty much the whole show, so I don’t miss any moments.”
The band has a silent stage of instruments and monitoring. No wedges, side fills, amps, drums or cymbals. All direct sources, and Roland V-drums. “Every live mixer’s dream, right? This is becoming a common modern approach, but Garbage have been doing some form of it since the 90’s!” says Gaumé. “The advantages of this for vocal mixing are huge — there’s nothing competing or bleeding into the vocal mic. I do need to pay close attention to front fill coverage for the first few rows, to uphold the illusion that a rock band is pushing some air in front of the listener, not over their heads. With all of our instruments being isolated mono DI’s, we have great sounding sources, but it can sound a bit two-dimensional without adding some glue, dirt and space. I work a lot with group compression, micro delays and short reverbs to give the instruments stereo depth and connection. Making dry drum samples sound like a drum kit in a room, blending electronic loops and triggers to sit nicely with the kit drums — that kind of stuff.”
Gaumé notes that Garbage’s music is a playground of ear candy. “They’re one of a few special bands to seamlessly blend electronic and rock music. The setlist can jump from a bright 60’s ‘wall of sound’ style right into jagged industrial beats. The approach is very much like mixing a record. I like to think of it as giving the audience a box of fancy chocolates, each one with a different decoration, and maybe a surprise inside! In my sixth year working with this band, I’m still refining the approach, and crafting new details to bring out of this mix.”
Gaumé added “It’s no secret that this is a band of accomplished producer/engineers with their own sonic vision. We have a collaborative way of working in tour prep and rehearsals.” The band spends time with Gaumé in the FOH room listening to the previous day’s rehearsals. These sessions often help bring his attention to balance decisions or details he may have overlooked. “There we identify ways to make the sources more consistent or work better for the song. Once the ship sails from the rehearsal room, the band trusts my instincts. This trust we’ve built over the years empowers me to really ‘go for it,’ make big impactful, musical moves with the mix, be creative, and add textures with effects. The band’s music and stage delivery are anything but boring and safe, so I try to channel that uninhibited rock ‘n’ roll energy to the mix. I’m after a dynamic, guitar-forward, thrill-ride of a rock show.”
Gaumé likes the Avid S6L console for its sound and clear separation. “Layers of parts competing in a dense mix seem to find their place and not get clouded. Small adjustments are responsive. Waves integration is seamless, simple, and reliable. Automation is powerful and easy to understand. MIDI and LTC ports right on the back, and they’re easy to use. The Events page makes about any macro or surface button customization you can think of possible. The 24C frame is the perfect size for our show and my workflow. And I’ve had no trouble sourcing the S6L for fly dates and shows in other territories with zero fuss.”
For analog outboard, Gaumé has just two insert chains. The lead vocal has one channel of Lake EQ to Empirical Labs Fatso (channel one) to an EL8X Distressor (3:1, slow attack and release) to Fatso (channel two). “The Lake can do precise filters and broad shelves with minimal side effects. The Fatso-Distressor-Fatso creates a chain of five dynamics processors, each doing small nibbles, rather than one broadband compressor trying to chew off the whole task. It gets me a long way toward a ‘hold the vocal right there in your face’ effect. On the main mix, I use the API 2500 bus compressor, lightly touching up transients, followed by the Kush Clariphonic EQ for its special bit of high-frequency luster. I make small adjustments on these units the whole show. Keeping those knobs and meters within reach is a big reason I keep my ‘money’ channels outboard.”
Gaumé says he’d love to carry a big rack of Distressors, the most versatile compressor he knows of, use them on (at least) every drum and the bass guitar, but this wouldn’t be fly-friendly. “The Arousor plug-in is the next best thing. It runs directly on the console as an AAX-DSP plug-in, and I can have as many instances as I’d ever need. Besides that, the only DSP I’m running within the console is Waves SoundGrid Rack. I run many instances of the “classic” Waves problem-solvers: C6, F6, PSE, L2, Sibilance, as well as models of some analog standards: CLA-76, CLA-2A, Pultec EQP1A, BSS DPR-402. Most inputs have the SSL EV2 channel strip. Often those run near-flat and just get some drive from the input section. Something about an SSL 4K strip is especially big and exciting sounding on drums, and this plug-in has a lot of that flavor. I’m also really into Waves’ new tube saturators: BB Tubes and Magma strip. These can be heavy handed — a little goes a long way. They’re quick ways to get a little more crunch or pop, to make mix adjustments with color and texture, or even create the illusion of depth without adjusting level. The Waves Voltage Bass Amp plug-in adds some beefy SVT-style heft to my bass DI.”
All reverbs, delays, modulation, distortion, anything that would be an FX return, are VST plug-ins hosted in LiveProfessor software, over a MADI connection. The main and redundant backup host machines are base model M1 Mac Mini’s. “They handle the native DSP load with ease, at around 5 ms round trip, a quite acceptable latency for FOH FX. Vocal effects include: Valhalla VintageVerb and Room, Soundtoys SuperPlate, Echoboy, Decapitator, Microshift, Devil-Loc, Crystalizer, PanMan. Drum and instrument verbs are LiquidSonics’ Seventh Heaven and Valhalla Room. Guitar cabinet/room sims are Klevgrand STARK. An iConnectivity MIO2 helps me route MIDI patch change and CC messages between the console and both FX machines. With the S6L’s Events features, I’ve set up a lot of hands-on control of the LiveProfessor FX host from the console, avoiding having to reach for the mouse very often. It’s really slick in use, and not quite as overcomplicated as I’ve made it sound!”
Gaumé began using the Telefunken M80 capsule on vocals when he started with the band in 2018. They previously used different condenser capsules on prior tours. “For all of the desirables of a condenser’s tone, P.A. interaction and feedback were an issue in the past, and Shirley likes to roam literally anywhere in the venue she can get to. I must be ready to bring up that vocal mic even directly in front of the P.A. at times. So we went with a dynamic mic. The M80 is well known to have an almost condenser-ish clarity and smoothness to the top-end, and its side rejection is excellent. Between the directionality of this mic and this P.A., the amount of gain before feedback is pretty insane. I can put a whisper right over a band rocking full-throttle. It doesn’t require a whole lot of EQ to sound great. Shirley’s gotten settled in so well on this mic, she really works the mic technique and proximity effect to everyone’s advantage. I’m open to other choices, but this one’s served us so well, why mess with a very good thing?”
Monitor World
The band’s monitor engineer, Paul Johnson, has been using DiGiCo consoles for a long time. “DiGiCo makes it easy to customize my show file to suit my workflow and the needs of the project. This Quantum 338 model is fairly new and has some great upgrades. Larger and brighter screens, great meters, and the channel layout is fantastic for a digital console. It’s actually designed more like an analog console. For example, when I look at it, I can see all of the meters and channel settings for up to 36 channels at a time. Having this type of visual overview of my mix is very helpful; it makes troubleshooting much faster and allows me to mix in a more organic way. The preamps, EQs, dynamics, inserts and aux sends of each channel can be accessed without opening additional windows, which speeds my workflow and allows me to spend more time watching the band and less time flipping through menus. As a monitor mixer, it’s important that I interact with the band and anticipate their needs throughout the show. Working on the 338 makes this process much easier.”
Of course, the Quantum 338’s sonics are a major factor. “It sounds great for monitor mixes. It has a very clean, honest and hi-fi sound that works particularly well for Garbage. The band has spent a lot of time designing great guitar and drum sounds for their show, and I like to give the band a clear and honest representation of those sounds in their mixes.”
For most of the inputs, Johnson uses the DiGiCo’s onboard channel EQs and compressors. He finds that these channel processors work really well to carve out masking frequencies and level out dynamics in a subtle, but effective way.
“Most of my outboard gear is used for Shirley’s vocal channel. Shirley’s vocal chain is a Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, into the DiGiCo console. I have two inserts after that. Insert A is a built-in DiGiCo Chilli 6 multi-band compressor / dynamic EQ. Insert B is an outboard Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-X. For vocal FXs, I use a Bricasti M7 reverb and a small amount of the built-in DiGiCo pitch shifter, which I use to emulate an Eventide H3000 doubler effect. The RND Shelford has a fantastic analog preamp; it’s the perfect studio-grade front-end for her vocal. It sounds rich and smooth in a way that you’d expect from a Neve. I also use the Shelford Channel’s EQ section, which is incredibly musical and allows me to do some very broad stroke EQ curves that sound natural. The DiGiCo Chilli 6 lets me compensate for proximity effect on the vocal mic, which is usually a build-up of around 250 Hz that happens when the mic is cupped or held very close to the source. I also use the Chilli 6 to do some transparent de-essing in the 8-10k range. I use the Distressor as an 1176-style limiting compressor with a fast attack and release. Shirley has a very powerful voice and the Distressor helps to level out peaks in a really musical way. The Bricasti M7 is one of the best reverbs I’ve used; it does a great job of adding some depth and shimmer to an already fantastic-sounding vocal.”
Technologist Billy Bush
Bush started with the band in late 1995 when he got a call to see if he was available to help Garbage figure out the best way to recreate the sounds of its debut record on the road. Having previously gotten a reputation for dealing with complex guitar and keyboard rigs and having a forward-thinking way of approaching tones, Bush jumped at the opportunity. “What was supposed to be six weeks of getting them up and running has now turned into nearly 30 years of constant evolving roles in the organization. In addition to the never-ending quest to find new and innovative ways of improving the live show, I help oversee many aspects of their creative endeavors from co-producing, engineering and mixing their albums to cataloging and archiving their creative output as technology continues to change.”
Next to monitor world, Bush also maintains Duke Erickson’s guitars, where choices change with every tour. “We have been playing on this tour what is for us a short headline set of about 70 minutes, so we only have four guitars out on tour. His main Guild Starfire III, a Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster and two guitars I built for him — a modified Fender Cabronita with TV Jones pickups and a spin on Fender’s Johnny Marr Jaguar that has humbuckers in it. All three guitar rigs (Duke, Steve, Shirley) and the bass rig are all Line 6 Helix rackmount units. One new thing I’ve done this tour is run the outputs of Duke’s and Steve’s Helixes through Ableton Live via a pair of Universal Audio X6 interfaces. On the guitars, I’m using the Neve 1073 via the Unison slot as the front-end for the preamp’s harmonic saturation and global EQ and on the vocal, I’m using the SSL 4k Unison preamp and doing real-time effects processing on it and Duke’s guitar inside of Ableton before sending them to monitors and FOH.”
Bush oversees all of the guitar and keyboard sounds, bass, vocal FX processing and patch changes for the entire stage and timecode for video, lights and FOH. The main brain of the rig is Ableton Live on a pair of 14” M2 Max MacBook Pros. That one session includes playback, processes the guitars and vocal effects, outputs timecode, sends patch changes to the guitar, keyboard, bass and drum rigs and hosts the virtual instruments.
Bush and the band tend to look to technology to make things more efficient, smaller and more cost-efficient. “The major shifts (acoustic drums to triggered drums to fully electronic drums, guitar amps/pedals to the Helix, racks of keyboard gear to computer hosted VST’s) — have given us the flexibility to change sounds on a song to song or part-to-part basis efficiently and in a repeatable fashion just like we do in the studio. Going from analog monitor and FOH rigs to digital consoles not only was a vast sonic improvement, but it gives our engineers more tools and options to craft the sounds in ways that were impossible before. Having such a small footprint gives us a backline and control package that’s incredibly svelte, cost-effective and easy to source locally, which allows us to continue to tour around the world even as all the other costs skyrocket.”
Great Crew, Great Tour
“It’s a real pleasure to be a part of this tour,” says Johnson, summing up the experience. “The collection of people from all three bands (Garbage, Noel Gallagher and Metric) is just stellar. Everyone out here is beyond friendly and talented. We’ve had amazing shows for a very memorable experience.”
The tour, which opened on June 2, 2023, concluded its North American run in mid-July. This month (September), it continues on with dates in Mexico and South America.
AUDIO CREW
- Sound Company: Eighth Day Sound
- FOH Engineer: David Gaumé
- Monitor Engineer: Paul Johnson
- Monitor Tech: Mark Phillips
- Technologist: Billy Bush
- Systems Tech: Tristan Johnson
- Guitar/Drum Tech: Evan John McIntosh
- Tour Manager: Levi Tecofsky
- Production Manager: Jason Trabue
- P.A. Techs: Geoffrey Mintz, Paul Cabello
P.A. GEAR
- Main Hangs: (16) d&b audiotechnik GSL-8/side
- Side Hangs: (12) d&b KSL-8/side
- Subs: (16) d&b SL-Sub
- Front Fills: (10) d&b Y10-P
FOH GEAR
- FOH Console: Avid S6L-24C, E6L-112 engine
- In-Console: Waves Ultimate, Empirical Labs Arousor
- Outboard: API 2500 bus compressor, Kush Clariphonic EQ, Empirical Labs Distressor, Empirical Labs Fatso, LiveProfessor FX host; (2) Waves Extreme Server-C X10; Rational Acoustics Smaart 8
- Recording Software: Cockos Reaper
MON GEAR
- Monitor Console: DiGiCo Quantum 338
- In-Console: DiGiCo Chili 6 Dynamic EQ; DiGiCo Stereo Pitch Shifter; DiGiCo Studio Delay
- Outboard: Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel; Empirical Labs Distressor EL8-X; Bricasti M7 Stereo Reverb; Yamaha SPX 2000 Multieffects
- Vocal Mics: Telefunken M80WH capsule, Shure AD2 transmitter
- RF: Shure Axient digital AD4Q; Shure AXT600 Spectrum manager
- IEM Hardware: Shure PSM 1000s; Shure P10-R+ bodypack receivers
- IEMs: JH Audio Roxanne
