Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band hit the road again, playing all those memorable hits you know and love once you hear the first few notes. Joining former Beatle Ringo Starr is: Edgar Winter on vocals keys, sax and percussion; Steve Lukather (Toto) on guitar and vocals; Hamish Stuart (Average White Band) on bass, guitar and vocals; Colin Hay (Men At Work) on vocals and guitar; Warren Ham on saxophone, percussion, keyboards, and vocals; and Gregg Bissonette on drums, trumpet and vocals. We spoke with the engineering team for the tour when they performed several dates in Northern California.
FOH Engineer Brian Bavido
Front of house engineer Brian Bavido is entering his 18th year mixing Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. The gig originally came about when Bavido was working for Audio Analysts in the early 2000s. Some of Bavido’s other long-term clients have included Art Garfunkel, Lisa Loeb, Norah Jones and Dashboard Confessional — to name just a few.
Bavido started using a Yamaha Rivage PM7 console in the spring of 2018. “The desks we were using became a bit long in the tooth and it was time to make a change. And 2017 to 2018 was an odd time for many of the manufacturers. Most new consoles were in beta or early public phases. Friends were having issues with some other brands on the road, mostly to do with firmware compatibility problems, something I didn’t want to worry about.”
The reliability of Yamaha desks as a whole was a contributing factor in the decision for Bavido. “I trust that when Yamaha releases a desk to the world, they’ve put it through its paces. The pride of the engineering team in Hamamatsu is on par with that of any fine craftsman. I also reached out to many of our global vendors to ask them what they were looking to purchase in the coming year or two. Most of them had Rivage on their short list, which made the decision even easier. Of course, another big factor was the sound. Having come from the world of being a Waves user, I was initially skeptical of the Yamaha proprietary plug-ins and the Silk feature on the preamps. After quickly dialing up some sounds with the desk, I realized it wasn’t marketing hype, but truly were tools I could use to sculpt the sound of the show without the need for external rack gear or plug-in servers, which was something I was striving for.”
Bavido loved the idea of being able to walk in with a USB stick anywhere in the world, load the show, tune the P.A., do some virtual sound checking and be ready for the band. “The ability to share the RPio I/O racks on the fiber loop and get away from analog splitters — and their accompanying racks and cables — was part of the decision as well. I honestly can’t say enough great things about the Rivage platform. The ergonomics of the desk are quite amazing and have really helped me with a better overall workflow.”
Stayin’ in the Box
Bavido notes there are no outboard gear or plug-in servers being used either at FOH or in monitors. “Now that I’ve gone down that path, I can’t imagine worrying about all of those moving parts ever again. As far as what’s in the desk, I like to differentiate Ringo Starr and Gregg Bissonette’s drum kit sounds a bit. They do a great job complementing each other and are classic drummers who truly play for the mics, so I really don’t need much at all, but I do run Ringo’s inputs through the Rupert EQ 773, and then I put Gregg’s inputs through the Rupert EQ 810. I might not even touch the EQ, or only use the high-pass, etc., but simply having the signal pass through the plug-in really helps with the two kits being played simultaneously for a majority of the show. Outside of that, drum groups have the Rupert Comp 754 and Rupert Comp 369 respectively.”
In terms of other sources, Bavido reveals that “bass has a 773 as well, along with a U76. Saxes have Opto-2As to smooth them out a bit. Vocals are all either U76 or Opto-2A comps depending on what works best with a particular voice. I have a peppering of MBC4 multiband comps where needed on certain instruments and voices, along with the built-in De-essers. I also use the EQ1A on a handful of inputs. As far as time-based effects, I use just about everything in the desk to give songs from different eras their particular sounds.”
Bavido has to create the sounds of a lot of different players during each night’s show. “We have everything from an early Beatles song that only needs some tape echo and plate verb, to Toto songs where I utilize the H3000. My secret weapon to clean up the mix is Yamaha’s DaNSe plug-in. I have that on the vocals, saxes, percussion, etc. Basically, anything that needs cymbals, guitar amps, etc., get cleaned up. I’m a big fan of the CEDAR DNS 8 noise reduction hardware units, which I did carry with me for a bit until the DaNSe was released in the firmware on the Rivage. Having two plug-in signal chains with adjustable pick-off points on the Rivage is a game changer. I have one for singing and one for talking. For me, it’s very important to understand them when speaking between songs.”
When the tour is not carrying P.A. from Clair, Bavido usually assesses the tech and vendor on a case-by-case basis. He has all the vendors send him Soundvision, ArrayCalc, etc., files in advance for him to look at what they’re proposing for the room. “Most speaker systems are so good these days, they don’t require too much if deployed correctly. If it’s an L-Acoustics rig, I’m fairly well versed in Soundvision and Network Manager and like to dig in to finesse to my liking. I’m very hands-on,” he explains. “I walk the room extensively and will get tweaky with various zones of the room — nosebleed seats, balcony edges, etc. I want everyone to have an equally amazing experience, so I do what I can in the time given. This is a great, straight-ahead rock and roll show — no fancy effects or video, so I want the audio to be the best.”
Vocal intelligibility is key when mixing the band. “If you can’t hear the vocals, what’s the point?” says Bavido, “and not punishing people down front with subs and poorly deployed front fills is a sticking point. I typically set up what I call an ‘in fill’ to cover those seats versus front fills only. When people stand up, the front fills are useless in a theater setting.”
Another point of attention is low-frequency content. “Tight low-end is absolutely key, and bass definition is really important to me. However, I try to keep subs away from the audience members, or if we have rigging constraints where they can’t be flown, we really work on getting them in the least obtrusive spot possible. A speaker like the K2 has so much low-end in it, I really don’t have to rely on the subs all that much. Also, Ringo doesn’t use barricades. He wants the audience up to the stage, and that makes sub placement tricky as well,” Bavido says.
“The bass isn’t all about the low-end. The mids are so crucial for those notes to pop,” calling up a song like ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ as an example. “The bass and the vocals are the focal point of the mix. It has to be present. I do like a full mix, even if that means mixing a touch hotter than I would like in a room to get over the stage monitor levels. I run a multiband comp on my stereo bus to make sure nothing gets abrasive. I also want everything to pop and for fans to hear the nuances as much as possible no matter where they’re sitting.”
Bavido says he can learn something new every day on the road. “I’ve seen many incarnations of this band now and it’s been a real treat to get insights and stories from all of these legends, getting to mix all of these classic songs being played by the people who wrote them. It’s not about what mic or plug-in you’re using — it’s all about the songs, the arrangement and the tone and timbre.”
Bavido has nothing except his system EQ (on this tour it’s Lake units from Clair). He travels with his own Lectrosonics RTA RF system that he swears by, saying he wouldn’t leave home without it. “I call it the world’s most expensive mic cable. Software is Smaart 8 and Lake Controller. I switched over to Nuendo Live for nightly multitracking as it integrates for track names, etc. with the Rivage. That’s it. I only have a double-wide rack under my desk so I have something to put it on! I have drawers for computers, mics, etc. Truly, I’m only using about six of those rack spaces for actual gear, including a battery back-up.”
Monitor Engineer Michael “Fitz” Fitzsimons
An established pro whose other recent projects include Eric Clapton, Goldfrapp and Maisie Peters, Michael “Fitz” Fitzsimons is out with Starr as monitor engineer. Fitzsimons says Bavido has been mixing Ringo on the Rivage more or less since the console’s release, and in doing so on twin lane, they are able to reduce their truck footprint to something like four rows for monitors and control. “Perhaps I would have chosen something I was more comfortable with before mixing this tour — I’m an SD7 guy — but now, I wouldn’t do this gig on anything else,” Fitzsimons says.
“Mixing seven seasoned guys, is definitely a handful, but they all know what they want and how to articulate it. I’d say this show keeps my peripheral vision sharp! There are a lot of manual moves to make throughout the show, but you can never take your eyes off the stage with so much going on. Boosting the key elements and vocals per song as and when they happen, it’s really old-school monitor mixing. I love it!”
As with his counterpart at front of house, Fitzsimons is also mixing within the box on the Yamaha Rivage PM7 desk in monitor world. “But of course, I am utilizing several of the onboard plug-ins — the Rupert 5043 and 5045, and Yamaha’s inbuilt dynamic EQ’s — and it goes without saying, the Bricastis, too. We’re set up so that each ‘all star’ picks up their key channels on the first plug-in chain and then the second chain goes out to everyone else and that’s a really handy way of keeping the channel count down, as there are already a lot of inputs!”
Ringo’s drum kit miking consists of DPA 2011 & 4099s on his snare top and toms, Coles 4038 on overheads and the rest of the kit is Shure Beta 52, KSM137s and SM57s. Bisonettes’ kit is incredibly similar, but with Neumanns taking overhead duties.
“Every guitar amp on stage has a Shure SM57 in front of it — “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” says Fitzsimons, “and it really does apply here. We’re using sE Electronics’ Reflection Filters on Colin Hay’s amp mics too! The brass and percussion are all handled by DPA 4099s, and we have some wireless timbales which are Beta 98s into Shure Axient packs for the middle feature with Edgar Winter.”
Josef Giese (Monitor Systems Tech)
“This is my first tour with Fitz (Michael Fitzsimons). I think we work great together,” says monitor systems tech Josef Giese. “We share similar work ethics and love of food, so we take care of one another. My main job is looking after the patch, mics, stands, and make sure Fitz and Brian (Bavido) are taken care of. There are a handful of RF mic swaps during the show, so I handle those as well.”
Giese freelances here and there, and actually came into the RSAHASB world by way of subbing for Galen Henson as guitar tech for Colin Hay and Hamish Stuart. “I’ve worked for Colin in his solo band and Men At Work since 2015, so it was an easy transition. Once I finished my substitute duties, I got the call from Brian to come back out and join team audio. How can you turn down more time on the road with a Beatle?”
Clair Global has been providing Ringo’s tour with a full control package including two consoles, snake, distro, mic/stand package, wedges, Shure Axient and PSM1000 RF. “For the vocal mic, they’ve been on SM58s for a very long time,” Giese notes. “Why mess with it? Shure nailed it with those mics, and this is an old-school rock show, so they do the trick!”
All the band is wired except for Ringo’s downstage mic and one used by Edgar Winter when he’s singing lead. The RF mics have 58 capsules. Ringo has a wired 58 at his drum kit for songs he sings from there. “Ringo’s stereo wedges are behind him on the drum riser so the mic is essentially pointed directly down the throat of the horns so anything with a hyped response or a condenser would simply not work. Ringo uses wedges — the Clair coax CM14s are absolutely on stun the whole night and sound great. Everyone else except Hamish Stuart are on IEM’s, and they run the gamut from Shure SE215s to Sensaphonics or Jerry Harvey Audio. All with PSM1000 packs.”
Crew? All First-Class
Bavido says the best part of working with this tour is how everyone on stage has seen and done everything imaginable. “As far as our crew goes, we’re really lucky. Somehow, we usually end up getting our core crew back out here for all the little runs Ringo does.”
Ringo’s drum tech, Jeff Chonis, has been here since day one of the All-Starr tours back in 1989. “Jeff is also our stage manager and is very passionate about everything being perfect. We have a few monitor engineers that pop in and out, depending on availability. Brad Galvin will be back once he’s done with Bruce Springsteen for the next leg. We also have Monty Carlo and Matt Fitzgerald come in and out depending on schedules — we’re a real family.”
AUDIO CREW
- Sound Company: Clair Global
- FOH Engineer: Brian Bavido
- Monitor Engineer: Michael “Fitz” Fitzsimons
- Monitor Systems Tech: Josef Giese
- Drum Tech: Jeff Chonis
- Asst. Drum Tech: Michael Musburger
- Guitar Techs: Jon Gosnell, Greg Howard
- Playback and Keys Tech: Bill St. Amour
FOH GEAR
- P.A.: Venue Supplied
- FOH Console: Yamaha Rivage PM7
- Onboard DSP: Yamaha DaNSe, H3000, Rupert EQ 773, EQ 810, Comp 754 Comp 369, U76, Opto-2A, EQ1A, De-esser, MBC4 Multiband Comps
- Recording Software: Nuendo Live
MON GEAR
- Monitor Console: Yamaha Rivage PM7
- Onboard DSP: Rupert 5043 and 5045, Dynamic EQ, Bricasti reverbs
- Monitors: Clair CM14 wedges, CP118 subs
- Wireless Mics: Shure Axient for Ringo Starr, Edgar Winter, brass and percussion
- IEM Earpieces: Shure SE215s, Sensaphonics, JH Audio
- IEM Hardware: Shure PSM1000
