Going from the self-proclaimed "kid in the teenage garage band that happened to know the most about the sound system" to a career that includes stints with acts ranging from Earth Wind and Fire and Prince to Brian Setzer and Leann Rimes, Jeffrey "Raz" Rasmussen has been at the console for Michael McDonald for the last dozen years.
"By the time I was 15, I had put together a P.A. with my friend and we started to rent it out to other local bands when we weren't playing. I started to mix some of the shows, and the rest is history. I would mix many local bands whenever I wasn't playing. I worked at music store when I was 18 and started to do sound system installs. The next year I got hired by Speeda Sound, worked there for about two years, then moved to L.A. where I went to work at Studio Instrument Rentals running the audio department. I've also worked at NBC, Nickelodeon, Schubert Systems, Electrotech and even AVHQ." The road to the current Steelyard "Sugartooth" McDan tour (Steely Dan and Michael McDonald) had some interesting detours. "Prince was definitely my most challenging gig," says Raz. "On the first day I walked into the Fleet Center in Boston around 5 p.m. as sound check was ending. When I got to the console so much stuff was EQ'd to death and the gain structure was really different from what I'm used too, so I basically zeroed out the console. Right as I finished that, Prince walks out by front of house and says, "Let me hear the kick drum." I bring it up in the P.A. with the EQ flat, and after one kick Prince says, "Stop! I want George Clinton's kick drum, not Bon Jovi!" So of course I cranked 63Hz and 10kHz and let him have it!!"
On most nights the current tour is powered by a Clair i4 line array system. (The night we caught the show was at the Aladdin in Las Vegas where they used the house rig–the largest V-DOSC installation in the U.S. The Clair rig consists of 12 i4 cabinets with 10 i4b cabs per side and two i4 cabs as out-fills. Power is provided by Crown 3600 and QSC amps. A touch-screen tablet controls a network of Lake crossovers and the master system EQ. John "JR" Robbins mixes Steely Dan on a Midas XL-4. His outboard gear includes a TubeTech 3 band tube compressor, Aphex gates, dbx compressors, Eventide and TC Electronic EQ's. Dave "Doc" Staub mixes monitors on a Midas Heritage 3000. He also has Lake crossovers and TC equalization. All the wedges for Steely Dan are Clair 12AM's powered by Crown amps.
Raz hails Clair chief system engineer Joe Dougherty as having been "instrumental in interfacing two sound systems" as all of the Michael McDonald sound gear is from Spectrum Sound from Nashville.
Raz drives a Yamaha PM5D-RH console plus an Eventide H3000 harmonizer and a TC Electronic 2290 delay. "I also use six of the built in effects in the PM5D. I use the onboard gates and lots of the compressors, too."
Mark Thomas is using a Digidesign VENUE loaded with plug-ins to mix monitors. McDonald monitors through two Spectrum Sound S-2 bi-amped wedges powered by Crown ITech 4000's–the only wedges on stage, as the band is all on PMs. Each wedge has a JBL 15-inch woofer and a JBL two-inch compression driver. All microphones and wireless systems are from Shure. Pete Parenteau is the system tech from Spectrum, in charge of snakes and "stage jamming."
Picking mics was a quick process. "McD has an endorsement from Shure microphones, so I picked all of their best mics," Raz explains. "I'm using the new KSM-9 hardwire on Mike's voice and the RF version for the backing vocalist. A Beta 54 headset mic picks up the drummer. Beta 98's get all the toms and a 91 gets the kick drum.
"A pair of KSM-32's act as overheads, but they are set up more studio style as the are equal in height and distance from the drum kit–an unusual setup for a live stage. By having the two mics in the same phase plane you eliminate any swishy phase canceling sound when the cymbals are struck. It also adds a real natural, open sound for the kit," Raz says. HiHats are covered by KSM-137's. Snare top and bottom are SM-57's. The Leslie cab for the B-3 organ gets a KSM-27 for the lows and two Beta98's for the stereo highs. Guitar is also a KSM-27. Flute is covered by a KSM- 32 and the sax gets a Beta 98HS RF system.
Raz has had an extra challenge thrown at him that means more open mics onstage. "We've been having a 10-person choir every night that is captured by three KSM-32's. Putting a couple of the mics out of phase helps eliminate any bleed through."
Adding to the challenge is McDonald's history as a member of Steely Dan (he joins the band for a string of tunes including "Peg," "Show Business Kids," "Do It Again," "Don't Take Me Alive," "Kid Charlemange," "FM" and "My Old School") as well as the fact that Steely Dan is considered a sort of benchmark when it comes to sound quality. "I like it that Steely Dan is considered the best sounding touring band in the world. It makes me have to bring it everyday"
