Formed in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, Tears for Fears is an English pop band known for their infectious hits like “Shout,” “Head Over Heels” and “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” Supported by Eighth Day Sound, the band’s 20-city North American 2022 in support of the band’s Feb. 25, 2022 album release, The Tipping Point, tour wrapped up June 25 in Wantagh, NY, before kicking off a U.K. leg on July 1. We spoke with the audio tour crew about mixing this iconic band.
The FOH Position
FOH engineer Joe Harling is mixing on a DiGiCo SD5. DiGiCo makes it very easy to set up complex audio routing within your show file, he notes, so Harling never feels constrained by the console’s design. “I do a lot of ‘nested groups’ and aux sends from groups, which on some other consoles is still not possible — and DiGiCo’s snapshot system is second to none. The SD5 in particular has just the right number of faders and screens for my workflow, without feeling too ostentatious. Overall, it provides a clean and neutral sound palette, and I can add color with outboard where needed. I’m not using any plug-ins — I travel with some nice outboard gear, so that is enough for me. I mixed the band’s 2019 tour, and was very happy to be asked back.”
Harling loves outboard gear, and his racks are filled with ones he’s used extensively before. “I have a Kush Audio Fatso compressor on the drum bus, with an A Designs ATTY [volume attenuator] inserted in its sidechain to control the compressor’s threshold. This unit gives magical, tape-like saturation and glue to the drums. The bass DI insert goes through a Reamp into a Darkglass Vintage Ultra bass preamp pedal (for some grit and amp simulation) and into an Empirical Labs Distressor. Both guitars have Empirical Labs Fatsos inserted on them for some gentle compression and high-frequency limiting.”
In terms of other processing, Harling applies a classic dbx 160a to acoustic guitar and on the main background vocal. “Roland and Curt’s vocals go through Empirical Labs DerrEssers — the best de-esser on the planet — and into the truly magical Rupert Neve Shelford channels. All vocals also have Rupert Neve Primary Source Enhancers on them to control spill and ambience in the vocal mics. My master bus goes through an API 2500 compressor and a Kush Audio Clariphonic EQ. Vocal reverbs are handled by two Bricasti M7s, and of course I have an Eventide H3000 for vocal doubling FX,” he explains, adding that “the most quirky pieces of outboard are the OTO Machines’ Bim and Bam, which are great little 1980s-inspired 12-bit delay and reverb boxes made in France. All my drum reverbs come from the Bam, and the Bim does all the vocal delays.”
Harling says these songs mean so much to a lot of people, so he sees his job as making sure the ‘emotional arc’ of the show is right. “For example, the first four bass guitar notes of ‘Woman in Chains’ will absolutely make you cry if presented in the right way. The audiences tend to be fairly mixed in terms of age groups, so the audio needs to have clarity and impact without being excessively loud. In terms of challenges, most of the keyboards are submixed on stage and a lot of the older tracks just have a stereo mix for backing-track content, so finding ways to ensure separation in the mid-range can be a little tricky. My VCA faders are constantly moving on this gig, but that is the most fun kind of mixing.”
The Systems Approach
Systems tech Sean Tingle’s day typically starts out with taking measurements of the venue and recreating it using d&b audiotechnik’s ArrayCalc. Tingle will then have discussions with the head rigger about whether or not they can get the ideal rig deployed and figure out any solutions or options if they can’t. “Once my points are locked in, I’ll start working on the angles/trim heights and decide how many boxes I actually need to achieve the job. When it comes to tuning the P.A., I’m using an Earthworks M30 mic to take measurements in SMAART 8 and then EQ and set delay times for the different subsystems from that information. I owe a lot of what I know to Ville Kauhanen, who is an amazing system engineer and mentor. Once everything’s optimized on my end, Joe and I listen together and make any system changes we might need to achieve that goal.”
Tingle typically spends the first two songs at FOH, just in case anything’s obviously wrong, and then starts walking around the venue to check for even coverage and make sure everyone is getting the best audio experience. “I’m also making sure Joe’s mix is being accurately translated throughout the venue, listening to how each subsystem interacts with each other, and with the room overall.”
Monitorworld
Monitor engineer Ricky Fernandez mixes on an Allen & Heath dLive S5000 series console. He had been a Midas Pro user until last year. “I felt the A&H fit more my style and workflow. A&H set me up with a CTI 1500 desk to use at home for a few weeks to feel comfortable and build a show file for the band I was working for at the time. I love many things about this desk, and I could go on forever about it. The ability to scale console size up or down seamlessly is amazing for festivals, TV performances or just general availability. I also have my laptop connected to the stage rack as a backup console using their dLive Director software. I love how easy it is to drag and drop whatever channels you want to the surface to build it out to work best with your workflow. And it’s easy to switch between recording from the desk and running a virtual sound check. Virtual checks are vital when working with a new band, and it really helped with Tears for Fears. During the week of rehearsals before the tour, it was useful for me to have members of the band come next to me and listen to their mixes while we made tweaks in real time.”
Fernandez had previously used the Waves SuperRack when doing FOH work but had never used them with monitors. “But honestly, the dLive console has everything I need so plug-ins aren’t needed. My favorite thing about the Allen & Heath is having a dynamic EQ and compressor on any channels. Roland doesn’t want any compression on his vocal. I thought that would be a struggle, but he has incredible vocal technique. By pairing that with a dynamic EQ, he’s been very happy with the sound of his vocals. Curt has a much lower-toned vocal, and without a dynamic EQ, I’d be scooping a lot of 500 Hz out of his mic.”
Fernandez uses Peak Limiter 76 compressors on drum channels, which emulates UREI 1176 compressors. On bass, he uses the OptTronik Compressor’s LA-2A emulation. “Curt plays multiple basses on this tour; some very vintage and some more modern. They all output slightly differently, so I use this compressor not only to control the overall sound but also to help normalize the overall volume. On all vocals — except Roland’s — I use the desk’s 16T compressor, which emulates a dbx 160A. An A&H Transient Controller insert provides a little more attack out from the kick and snare channels, and I use Allen & Heath’s SMR Live modeled reverbs for anything that needs it. I have reverb for drums and separate reverbs for every vocalist.”
In terms of vocal mics, “we’re using Shure UR2 transmitters with DPA d:facto II capsules, and they sound absolutely incredible. The band prefers to be set closer together, which could be an audio engineer’s nightmare, but they have great rejection.”
Tears for Fears is completely on IEM’s, with no onstage wedges or sidefills. Roland, Curt and guitarist Charlton Pettus are on JH Audio 11’s. The other band members use JH Roxannes.
Fernandez uses seven Shure PSM1000 IEM transmitters for 14 total mixes. “There are IEM mixes for all the band, as well as crew, guest and spare mixes for Roland and Curt. We have two sets of Shure P9HW hardwired IEM packs that go to Jamie Wollam on drums and Doug Petty on keys. I’m also using a Shure AXT600 spectrum analyzer. All of this is networked together, with a Mac Mini set up with Shure’s Wireless Workbench for frequency coordination.”
The P.A. Tech
Bryce Marshall has been Eighth Day Sound’s Los Angeles speaker department head for the last three years, yet this is his first tour as a P.A. tech. “A typical configuration for the all-d&b audiotechnik tour rig is 16 J series for the mains, with eight J SUBs flown and 12 J’s for our side hang,” says Marshall. “We have 12 B22 subs in the pit stacked in six sets of two and eight Y10ps for our fills on the downstage edge.” Some 21 d&b D80 amps per side of the stage power the system, fed from six LM44s for R1 and Lake control via redundant fiber.
“It’s a very straightforward rig, and d&b and deployment with d&b ArrayCalc, R1 and the J series rigging is a breeze. Sean Tingle is an array processing and systems tech genius and dials the rig in every show. This modest size system packs a punch, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.”
Tears for Fears The Tipping Point Tour
AUDIO CREW
- Sound Company: Eighth Day Sound
- FOH Engineer: Joe Harling
- Monitor Engineer: Ricky Fernandez
- Systems Tech: Sean Tingle
- P.A. Tech: Bryce Marshall
P.A. GEAR
- Mains: (16) d&b audiotechnik J Series/side
- Side Hangs: (12) d&b J Series/side
- Subs: (8) d&b J SUBS (flown), (12) B22 ground
- Front Fills: (8) d&b Y10ps
- Amps: (42) d&b D80
FOH GEAR
- FOH Console: DiGiCo SD5
- Outboard: Kush Audio Fatso, Empirical Labs Distressor, (2) Empirical Labs Fatsos, (2) dbx 160a, (2) Rupert Neve Shelford Channels, (2) Empirical Labs Derressers, (2) Rupert Neve 5045 PSE, API 2500, Kush Audio Clariphonic EQ, Darkglass Vintage Ultra Preamp, OTO Machines Bam, OTO Machines Bim, (2) Bricasti M7, Eventide H3000
MON GEAR
- Monitor Console: Allen and Heath dLive S5000
- Wireless Mics: Shure UR2 with DPA d:facto II heads
- IEM Hardware: (7) Shure PSM1000, (2) Shure P9HW
- IEMs: JH Audio 11s, JH Audio Roxannes
