Audio "Team of Rivals" Join Staging Company in Supporting Four-Day Festival
When you think of New Orleans music festival, you think of the Jazz & Heritage. But for locals, there's one that's as dear to their hearts as Du Monde coffee and beignets: The French Quarter Music Festival. This year was the 28th, and over four days in April, 260 local bands performed on 20 stages spread throughout the French Quarter for 533,000 music fans. From brass bands to Zydeco, classical to classic jazz, country to rock, it is a potpourri assault on the senses – the good kind.
"It's a really nice festival," says Jay Barocco of Show-Tech Production Services. "I've been all over, and I've never heard so much variety of music for free anywhere else."
"The French Quarter Music Festival is unique because of the way it's run," explains Premier Sound System's Russ Bryant. "The community really gets behind it. All the community musicians get behind it, and considering New Orleans has the best musicians in the world – it's a truly great event."
"It's the best festival that happens here," agrees Jay Gernsbacher, president of Center Staging, which has been supplying the festival's stages for close to 20 years. "It is totally free, totally New Orleans talent, totally awesome." Center Staging first supplied four of the smaller stages on Bourbon street, but then the areas on the Riverfront blossomed and they started adding big ones, including several 48-by-24-foot stages. For this event, they put up all the stages – seven major ones and eight smaller ones. (Some of the bands performed from permanent spaces as well). The Cajun/Zydeco stage was on a Stageline 100.
And before the audio guys could do their thing, he had to do his. "Like anything, it was a planning thing. It's a lot of prep, and we had three trucks shuffling stuff constantly, and had a dozen guys doing multiple things."
"We do a lot of festivals, but this is special because it's in the heart of the city, and extremely family friendly," Gernsbacher says. Funding is even a community affair, as the local musician's union work out a special scale, and non-union bands get local sponsors to chip in. "The French Quarter festival for me is what the city is all about, and tends to be my favorite festival."
In addition to PSS, there's Showtech and Bernard Productions, all working side by side on the bigger stages. Others worked the smaller stages. Sherman Bernard explains that most of these smaller stages were on the streets throughout the French Quarter and required just four speakers on a stick, a decent board, and good local engineers "with nothing better to do."
"Everybody gets along, and you end up borrowing a lot of back line from each other, and going back and forth with music stands and such," Gernsbacher says. "And since a lot of the musicians don't get paid a lot of money, we all try to accommodate them."
"We make an effort to work with everybody, and while we are competitors in one way, we try to respect people's turf and work together," Brian Gordon of PSS adds. "It's the way we like to work."
Show-Tech Production Services
Cajun/Zydeco Showcase Stage; Capitol One Riverside Legacy Brass Stage; Kids Tent
Show-Tech Production Services' Jay Barocco founded the company in 1986. While this is the ninth year he's personally worked for the festival as a freelance audio engineer, this is the first that his company has been brought in. In addition to these two big stages, he also handled a smaller stage in the kid's area. All three were close together, presenting one of the challenges.
Barocco personally mixed the Capitol One Riverside Legacy Brass Stage, working with system engineer Dennis Groome. He had others working on the Cajun/Zydeco Showcase Stage – including Darren Dawson as FOH engineer, Steve Barocco on monitors, and Jared Barocco as backline tech – and Mark Townsend handling FOH and monitor duties on the smaller kid's stage, which was in a tent in between.
"It was a challenge to get it all three to gel in such a small area," Barocco said, noting the difficulty of providing ample volume and sound quality in a way so that the sound from one stage didn't bleed into to the other.
The solution was in the system. "We have a lot of different sound systems in our warehouse, but my newer one, a JBL VRX – that's what I used. It is a really small line array, and when I first bought it, I thought it could do bigger things with it, but the throw is small." That turned out to be a good thing in this case. "You get 2,000 people in front of it, and it's really strong, and once you back away, it drops dB really fast. That's why I used it."
On the brass band stage, he went with his EAW system. "It's all horn-loaded, and has tremendous throw," he says. It was a much bigger area that had up to 3,000 people in front of the stage. One thing that wasn't in front of the stage was him. He took this over from another company who had previously done it, and they had always mixed from the side. "I think that's something they are going to change next year – putting the FOH mix in front."
Mic-wise, he kept in simple, with lots of Shure SM57s and 58s, plus 81 condensers for the overhead percussion. But every group (up to six a day) performed with a different configuration. "With these horn players, you just have to keep them close to the microphones," Barocco says. "Sometimes you might need compression, and I thought it would be harder, with me on the side, but I could see the mics a lot better."
Like so many others involved in making the many bands sound good, he was as much an audience member as anyone. "It doesn't matter what stage I work, I just like being out there."
Cajun/Zydeco Stage
FOH Console: Midas Venice 320
Speakers: 6 JBL VRX w/VRX subs
Amps: Crown I-Tech 8000 using Harman System Architect DSP
Processing: dbx 166X compressor/limiter/gate; 2 Yamaha SPX900
MON Console: Allen & Heath GL2400
Processing: dbx 2231 EQ/limiter
Capitol One Riverside Legacy Brass Stage
FOH/MON console: Soundcraft GB4
Speakers: 6 EAW JF-500 (FOH); Eminence, Proprietary (MON)
Amps: QSC
Processing: dbx DriveRack 260 DSP
Kids Tent
Speakers: Meyer Sound (CQ, powered) and Subs
Premier Sound Services
Jackson Square and US Mint Stages
PSS was formed in 2003 to serve Baton Rouge, but they were called on often to do more than that, and the soundco quickly evolved into being a regional operation. Owners Brian Gordon and Russ Bryant have been involved with the French Quarter Music Festival one way or another since 2006, and have been steadily growing with it.
"We were asked to take on more stages and expand on what we've previously done for the festival," Bryant says.
They pull from their main inventory of JBL VerTec speakers, Crown IT amps and Soundcraft consoles.
While not the biggest, one of the highest-profile stages was the one in quaint Jackson Square, which is a fenced-in smaller area in the heart of the quarter, strategically between Saint Louis Cathedral and the famous Café Du Monde. It hosted mostly well-known traditional jazz acts.
They put head engineer Brennan Moss at the controls there. "He's been on that stage for four years and he loves it," Gordon says, also noting that Chad Percle handled monitor duties.
But the park's quaint charms are also a sound company's headache: narrow streets getting to it, big crowds, lots of grass and flowers, and a watchful city eye ensuring that it's all preserved. "We had to build a stage that straddled a flower garden."
The audio crew also needed to set up and tear down every day. But they organize their systems to be complete, multipin, with each system even having dedicated mic stands and mics.
Handling the parade of jazz players in never-the-same configurations over four days requires skill. "It is a challenge to mix that stage, but we're set up festival style with everything pre-cued," says Gordon. "We have a separate channel for things that might come up, and mainly run with 48 channels available, so we can do whatever we need to do."
"This is a gig that we look forward to every year, because we get to work with a lot of friends in the community. It's the biggest gig of the year for some of these groups," Bryant says. "Often, PSS gets a call from them to work on other things throughout the year. Plus, the bands get exposure they don't normally get, leading to an enviable situation for all – especially those who happen onto the festival."
Gordon adds, "we love what we do – we are all very passionate about the art and science of getting the best sound possible – thankfully we can earn a living at it, too!"
Jackson Square Stage
FOH
Console: Soundcraft Si2 (48 mono, 8 stereo, 12 VCA, 35 bus)
Speakers: JBL VerTec 4887A Line array tops (8); JBL SRX 728S subwoofers (4)
Amps: Crown IT 8000 (4); Crown IT 4000 (2)
Mics: Shure SM58 (10); SM57 (6); SM81 (2); PG81 (2); Beta 91 (1); Beta 52 (1); Sennheiser 604 (6); 609 (4); 421 (2);
Processing: XTA Electronics DP448
MON
Console: Soundcraft Si2
Speakers: JBL SRX 712M 12"x1.5" (12); JBL SRX 718 (1); JBL SRX 722F/VRX 9321a-1 (1)
Amps: Crown IT4000 (4)
US Mint Latin/World Stage
FOH
Console: Soundcraft MH2
Speakers: JBL SRX 722F (4); JBL SRX 728S (4)
Amps: Crown IT12000HD (2); Crown IT 5000HD (1)
Processing: BSS FCS 966 Stereo 1/3 Octave EQ (1); dbx 160A (4); 1046 (2) 166XT (1); BSS 504, TC Electronic D-Two delay, M-One reverb, Furman PL Plus
Mics: Shure SM58 (6); SM57 (2); PG81 (3); Beta 91 (1); Beta 56 (1); Sennheiser 604 (6); 609 (2)
MON
Console: Yamaha LS9-32
Speakers: JBL SRX 712M 12"x1.5" (6-8); SRX 725 (1)
Amps: Crown XTi 4000 (3); XTi 2000 (1)
Processing: BSS AR133 Active DI, Stereo DI, Passive Mono DIs
US Mint Coca-Cola Esplanade Stage
FOH
Console: Soundcraft Series 5
Speakers: JBL VT4888 (6); SRX 728S (6)
Amps: Crown IT8000 (8)
Processing: XTA DP448; BSS FCS 960; DPR 402 (2); DPR 404 (4); DPR 504 (2); TC Electronic D-Two digital delay (2); Lexicon PCM 91 digital reverb; PCM 81: PCM 96; Furman PL Plus II
Mics: Shure SM58 (6); SM57 (6); Beta 87C (4); Beta 91 (1); Beta 57 (1); SM 81 (4); PG 81 (2); Sennheiser 904 (6); 906 (4); 421 (4); AKG D112 (1);
MON
Console: Soundcraft Series 5M
Speakers: JBL SRX 712M (16); VT4883 (2)
Amps: Crown IT4000 (5); IT12000HD (1)
Processing: TC Electronic D-Two digital delay; M-One reverb; PreSonus ACP88; BSS DPR 504; FCS 966
Bernard Productions
Abita Beer Great Lawn Stage, Harrah's Louis Louis Pavilion stages
"I've been involved with this festival for around 15 years," Sherman Bernard says. "It keeps getting bigger, and we had a lot of compliments this year, which is nice." He worked two of the more high profile stages, having three people on each one plus an extra tech going back and forth and being used as needed.
Bernard has more than 30 years experience in event production – as a musician, as an audio engineer, and as owner of a regional production company. In 1986, he was entrusted with sound duties for HBO's Fats and Friends, a filmed jam session with Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ron Wood and Ray Charles, among others. More recently, he's handled scores of fairs and festivals in the NOLA area through the years.
"This was business as usual," he says. "You just have to make sure the band coming on next sounds good on the first song." His technique is simple: a row of vocal mics with a monitor in front of each one, another set of inputs ready for guitars and keyboards, all crossed-mixed and ready to go.
He has all it going through four Yamaha PM 4000, two for each stage. For mics, it was a standard assortment of Shures. "But the magic is in the speaker system," he says. Sound-Bridge Acoustic Labs Line Array Systems were employed for this event and backed by Lab.gruppen amplifiers. "This system is so efficient we only use half the power of conventional amps."
He says the "little Texas company" found him a few years back and politely informed him he needed their speakers. A demo was set up; a visit to the factory had; and a deal made, lickity split. The line array used at the festival was the 7208XY. He says their wave-shaping technology creates a situation where it's like a single wave coming from one speaker instead of many, and their Quad-One technology provides greater directivity and increased sensitivity by focusing all four LF drives at the same quadrant of sphere.
"We've had them for nearly three years now, and they've been wonderful. We're looking at our budget on how to pick up some more this year."
Abita Beer Great Lawn Stage
FOH
Console: Yamaha PM 4000
Speakers: Sound-Bridge Acoustic Labs XYON 7208XY High-Mids (12), 2×18" subwoofers (8)
Amps: Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q (4)
Processing: XTA stereo graphic EQ; Yamaha SPX 2000, 900, 90; Eventide H3000; Klark Teknik 8ch compressor/gate; Drawmer 4ch noise gate (2); TC Electronic D-Two delay, M3000 reverb/delay
Mics: Shure SM58 (10), SM81 (3), SM57 (5), Beta 98 (6), Beta 58 (4), MX393C (1); Audix D5 (2), i5 (2)
MON
Console: Yamaha PM 4000M
Speakers: B.A.D. 1-15"x 2" wedge monitors (12), 1×18" drum subs (2)
Amps: QSC MX 1500 (6), MX 2000 (6)
Processing: Klark Teknik Stereo 1/3 Octave EQ (5)
Harrah's Louis Louis Pavilion
FOH
Console: Soundcraft K-3 Theater Mixer
Speakers: Sound-Bridge Acoustic Labs XYON 7208XY High-Mids (8); 2×18" subwoofers (4)
Amps: Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q (2); QSC PLX3602 (2)
Processing: EAW UX8800 digital signal processor; Ashly stereo graphic EQ (3); Roland SDE-1000 delay; TC Electronic M-One reverb/delay (2); dbx 903 rack compressors (12); Gatex 4ch noise gates (4)
MON
Console: Allen & Heath GL3300
Speakers: B.A.D. 1-15"x 2" wedge monitors (8); Renkus Heintz 2-15" X 1-2' drum boxes (2)
Amps: QSC MX 1500, MX 2000
Processing: Ashly 4 In, 8 Out digital crossovers (2), Ashly 1/3 Octave EQs (8)
