DURHAM, U.K. — Sting recently performed two concerts at the Durham Cathedral in northeast England, including songs from his upcoming album, If On a Winter’s Night… Sting recorded the performances live for DVD release and audio supplier Audio-Rent Clair provided the sound system for the event, which included a Studer Vista 5 SR digital console for FOH mixing.
Completed in 1133 AD, the Durham Cathedral is well-known for its Norman-style architecture and was featured in the Harry Potter films.
Sting’s performances featured a 16-piece string section, multiple percussionists, a brass section and backing vocals, as well as a large selection of traditional English instruments such as the Welsh harp, lutes and Northumbrian pipes. Rehearsals took place over a two-week period in the Chapter House adjacent to the main cathedral.
Howard Page, Clair senior director of engineering, mixed the performances, using the Vista 5 SR to overcome the challenges of a 62-input orchestra in a cathedral setting. “The transparency of the Studer Vista 5 SR was certainly a great help to achieve a breathtaking experience for the invited guests,” Page said.
The compact Studer Vista 5 SR digital mixing console is a road-ready version of Studer’s Vista 5 console and combines Vistonics-based technology with a competitive price. The Vista 5 SR comes with preset configurations for front-of-house and monitor use. A stand-alone Config Editor tool allows the channel/bus structure to be customized, all of which can be saved for each particular show setup and instantly recalled from memory or a USB stick at a later date.
The expandable I/O system allows the range of available Studer D21m Series I/O cards (including CobraNet and Aviom A-Net) to be added to the system. The MADI standard is used as optical snake link from stagebox to FOH rack, with the possibility to add a redundant snake for increased security. The Vista 5 SR also comes with numerous facilities to aid production, including Studer’s VSP panning system, which can be used to great effect to control panning without level shifts.
Studer is a unit of Harman International Industries, Inc.
For more information, please visit www.harman.com.
