HERCULES, CA — Currently with Pro Media/UltraSound in Hercules, Calif, Derrick Featherstone has spent well over a decade working with alt-rock band Primus as both their tour manager and FOH engineer. Though they're noted "analog die-hards," Featherstone and the band recently made the decision to swap out their aging analog equipment for a new digital system and chose Digidesign's VENUE live sound environment to handle FOH duties for the band's U.S. and Canada tour. "I believe the true success of this desk is based on the plug-in software," Featherstone says. "You can create a very solid mix rivaling that of multiple outboard processing racks with analog consoles. I think the plug-ins have allowed the transition from analog to digital to become a viable reality."
For the Primus tour, Featherstone employs a VENUE D-Show console, an FOH Rack and a remotely located Stage Rack that handles up to 48 mic inputs. He uses the D-Show's AES/EBU digital output to supply two-buss audio directly from the FOH Rack to a BSS Audio Soundweb system, which then transmits digital audio via Cat5 to a second Soundweb device that sends analog signals to the system amplifiers.
The system also includes a Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel system and rackmounted Apple Mac Pro computer, which Featherstone uses for recording and Virtual Soundcheck. A single road case housing a Pro Tools HD system integrated to the VENUE FOH Rack routes 30+ channels of audio to the hard disc recorder via HDx interface. Additionally, he routes two front-of-house audience mics to Pro Tools via an Aphex 207D preamp (connected via S/PDIF to the FOH Rack) to capture show ambience for future track remixing. This enables him to keep the audience mics at FOH instead of at the Stage Rack. "Utilizing the Pro Tools session for Virtual Soundcheck really allows you to fine-tune gates, comps, EQ and any other processing with the greatest of efficiency," he says.
For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.
