“It’s involved,” system tech Frank Sgambellone says, of Usher’s “The UR Experience” tour, in what appears to be an epic understatement. “It’s large, and definitely a show — that’s for sure.” By all measures, the 27-date North American arena tour was a huge success, kicking off from Montreal’s Bell Centre Nov. 1 and wrapping up Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. A well-deserved break ensues before starting up again in Europe and the U.K. in February and March.
For the well-oiled machine that is the crew, most veterans of past Usher tours, there were some big changes. FOH engineer Horace Ward switched from an Avid VENUE to a DiGiCo SD5 for the tour. Ward has been tweaking knobs for 38 years, and been working with Usher since he opened for Janet Jackson in 1998.
Ward’s client roster reads like a Who’s Who of top-end pop and R&B acts — from Lady Gaga and Prince to Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Dru Hill, Puff Daddy, Wyclef Jean, Usher, Busta Rhymes, the Fugees, LL Kool J and PM Dawn — and he has long been a proponent of pushing the envelope when it comes to improving live sound systems. For example, while out on tour last year, he added a Dangerous Music 2-bus summing mixer to his arsenal — using that distinctively analog studio technique to add spatial detail, channel separation and clarity to his mixes. Constantly in search of audio perfection, he’s always interested in novel approaches to the art and science of live audio mixing.
Technology Shift
A significant change in the setup this time around is the incorporation of Focusrite’s RedNet audio networking technology. Ward says he first used a Focusrite preamp product while working with Lady Gaga. “We took the band out a lot to TV and radio stations, and I’d set up a remote studio to premix the band,” he says.
Focusrite USA president Phil Wagner presented the latest RedNet preamps and networking system to Ward at a system test at Clair’s facilities last August. Ward was impressed with the Ethernet-networked audio interface and wanted to use it on Usher’s tour. “Clair fitted me with 96 channels through the DiGiCo SD5 board, and we’ve had great results from it. It has more depth and almost gives us an analog feel. Digital is okay, but so sterile — that’s why a lot of studios are going back to analog.” (Ward is also a studio engineer, having recently worked with Robert Miranda on his debut album, Exposed.)
While reluctantly to give up his 48k Avid Profile, he says there was no learning curve as “I had used the SD, and all the boards do the same thing, though the hardest thing is getting the routing and patching set up. Once that’s done, you can get them to do what you need them to do.”
The tour rehearsed in the new Rock Lititz rehearsal facility in Lititz, PA for six weeks, then moved to Philadelphia’s Temple University for three more weeks. Further tweaking happened on the road, of course, and it’s an 11-hour build to get it all ready for the audience.
Lotta Outputs
Ryan Cecil, monitor engineer, has been in pro-audio since the late 1990s, and his first tour as monitor engineer was Norah Jones in 2002. He’s always been a monitor mixer (“never wanted to be a FOH guy — wouldn’t touch it!” he laughs). He’s been with Usher for nearly four years.
This tour kept him and his DiGiCo SD7 busy — 12 musicians onstage (nine players and three back up singers), plus assorted programmers, techs and video mixes had Cecil pushing a total of 72 outputs. “I think one of the different things about this tour is we have eight lines that go to the video department,” he says. “They use single sounds or a full mix to trigger video imagery.”
Like Ward, he, too switched from the Avid Profile, which he had used for two years with Usher. “When they added the horn section, we needed to switch to a console that had more outputs.”
Mic-wise, both Ward and Cecil mentioned switching capsules from a Heil to a Telefunken M80; “The Heil was great, but the Telefunken suited Usher’s technique better, allowing him to pull away from the mic a bit more,” Cecil says. “Both vendors, as well as Shure, have been very supportive throughout the tour.”
Interestingly, there is a keyboardist playing the bass lines instead of a bass guitar player, and he and the DJ are the only ones relying on boxes on the stage; all the other musicians, including Usher, have Sensaphonics in-ears. Regarding the band, “their mixes have been pretty much programmed, and there are minor adjustments and changes depending on the venue. I spend most of the show mixing for Usher,” Cecil says. “There are lots of audience mics in and out of the mix for parts where the crowd sings along, these are a mixture of shotguns and [Neumann] KM184s.” Shure UR4D/Axient belt packs and handhelds cover the wireless inputs.
System tech Sgambellone, who has been with Clair for nearly 20 years, started off as a P.A. tech, moved to mixing monitors and eventually FOH for multiple music acts before settling in at his current gig. He too, is bullish on Focusrite.
“We’re moving forward with a different type of audio transfer technology on this tour,” Sgambellone says. “Using the Focusrite RedNet System, all the audio is transferred over fiber/Ethernet to the FOH console with Dante protocol.” The stage inputs all hit the preamp/A/D converters under the stage, and the audio is pressed into the Ethernet stream on its way to the FOH console and two other record streams. “It’s a rock-solid system. We haven’t had any issues, and it sounds fantastic. This system is better than what we traditionally have had on a tour like this.”
In all, 96 channels go through 12 remote-controllable, 8-channel Focusrite REDNet-4 preamps and arrive at the DiGiCo SD5 at FOH through three 32-channel RedNet-6 Dante-to-MADI Bridges. Everything — both recording and console/P.A. feeds — runs at 96 kHz.
Road-Worthy Recording Studio
Sgambellone adds that there’s a second duplicated audio stream going to a Pro Tools setup, and while there are up to 128 channels streaming, that configuring maxes out at 96. The third audio stream is sent to a Reaper DAW recording system through a PCIe bus. This system is used for virtual playback. The recordings are used to create everything from music beds for the musical direct to proof mixes and for commercial use, and — more importantly to the audio crew — virtual sound checks. “It makes programming in the next venue much easier,” Sgambellone says. “It’s great. For the most part, it’s a really nice recording studio out here.”
“The difference here between what has been used previously with other console systems as virtual sound check is that in this configuration, the console never changes state, It’s a simple recall of the data you want to feed into it from whatever part of the system you want — mic pre’s, and Reaper or Pro Tools playback.
There are Clair CM 22 monitors on the floor and Clair CP 118 sub bass enclosures for Usher and the band/dancers. The side fills consist of CP 218s and CO-8 micro line array enclosures for overall stage coverage.
Something New
Sgambellone says there’s something new in the air: They are flying the Clair CP-218 self-powered sub boxes for the first time. “It’s made everything in the sub region extremely, insanely [loud],” he laughs. “You could blur the people at FOH’s vision if you wanted to! We have actually had some problems with the vibrations shaking the image in the long lens cameras at FOH. It’s easily the loudest, most musical sub I’ve ever heard. We had great response from EDM and hip hop acts, and from what I’ve been hearing, when they go out with some of the newer country acts, they end up turning half of them off. They can be crushing if you want to go that route. They are definitely something that has to be experienced.”
Wade also says the 218s are “great — we have 18 in the air and three on the floor, and they really cover the arenas with great dispersion.”
“The guys at the Clair shop did a great job with the rig — it really goes up quickly,” says Cecil. “And we have a great crew. Robert Drewes (ML) and Steve Callebert put together a great system, from the RF rig to an extensive patching system, and the shop guys and touring crew of Jeremy Bolton, Tim Joyce, Jim Ward, and Frank [Sgambellone] did an amazing job putting and keeping it together and running.”
“Every tour this scale has different challenges, and on this one, the audio team and the other touring departments have to be especially careful not to get in each other’s way and still get the job done in a timely fashion,” Sgambellone says. Because the show is asymmetrical, there’s a bit of peculiar rigging, only on one side, which makes double-checking everything before it’s hoisted in the air especially important. The large stage, loaded with several hydraulic risers, is set up at the opposite end of an arena and isn’t moved in until all the audio rigging and hanging is completed. Of course, all of that has to precede a sound check. “You maximize what little time you have because it can become a real issue to have to bring the audio hang back in with set under it. And time isn’t a luxury we have.”
Usher: The UR Experience Tour
CREW
Sound Company: Clair Global
FOH Engineer: Horace Ward
System Engineer: Frank Sgambellone
Monitor Engineer: Ryan Cecil
P.A. SYSTEM
Main Hang: (16) Clair i5 with (8) flown CP 218 subs per side
Ground Subs: (3) Clair CP 218 stacked per side
Preamps: (13) 8-channel Focusrite RedNet-4 preamp modules under stage
FOH GEAR
Console: DiGiCo SD5 with onboard effects and Waves plug-ins
Outboard: Dangerous 2-bus summing mixer; Apogee Big Ben clock.
Network: (4) 32-channel Focusrite RedNet-6 RedNet-to-MADI modules at FOH.
Recording: Simultaneously to Avid Pro Tools via three RedNet-5 RedNet-to-Pro Tools interfaces; and to Cockos Reaper DAW via a RedNet PCIe card.
MONITOR GEAR
Console: DiGiCo SD7 with (3) SD Stage Racks
Outboard: TC M6000 Reverb; Empirical Labs Fatso Jr.
IEM: (16 channels) Shure PSM 1000; Sensaphonics earpieces; (2) Sennheiser 5000 ACP antennas; (2) Clair custom IEM combiners.
Wedges: (9) Clair CM22 wedges, (3) CP118 subs for keys and drums.
Sidefills: (6) Clair Cohesion 8’s and one CP218 sub per side.
MICS
Wireless Mics: (14 channels) Shure UHF-R with (9) handhelds and (5) beltpacks with Beta 98’s on horns; (4 channels) Shure Axient; (3) Shure antenna distros.
Frequency Coordination: Shure Spectrum Manager
Mics: Crown CM311 headset (Usher); Telefunken M80 WH (Usher); Heil PR30’s (guests); Audio-Technica, Heil and AKG on drums.
Direct Boxes: Radial Engineering JDI’s
