AUSTIN, TX – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences & Festivals, a unique convergence that showcases original music, independent films, emerging technologies and a lot of networking, returned to Austin earlier this year, along with DBS Sound engineer Patrick Mundy, who chose a Yamaha M7CL-48 digital audio console as his main source of audio.
"I use Yamaha products for situations that really count," said Mundy. For the Blood Company Showcase on Day 1 with bands that included Dawn of Ashes, Let Live, American Scarecrows, and others, Mundy's audio setup included an Yamaha M7CL-48, a full mic package including Sennheiser and Shure, DBX 4800, Antelope OCX Master clock, Earthworks QTC 40, M- Audio Interface and "more cabling than they should have let me bring on an airplane."
On day two, Mundy used the same setup for Let Live, followed by a second Blood Company Showcase on the third day featuring Skrillex, The Juggernaut, Kill the Noize, Black Cloud Collective, and more (a Yamaha PM3500 was used at this location). Miller Sound of Austin provided extra bass bins for the third showcase.
"I have to say the Yamaha M7 really got me through the first showcase as we had only 53 minutes between the earlier showcase and the start of the Blood Company showcase," Mundy said. "Doing monitors and front of house from front of house, I found the M7's fader flip mode to be indispensable.
Mundy said he set up the console's user defined keys as: 1- SR monitor mix sends on fader, 2- CENTER Monitor mix sends on fader, 3- SL Monitor mix Send on Fader, 4 -Drum Mix Send on Fader, 5- L R EQ, 6- Sub on Aux EQ with additional functions up through channel 12. "I also like to use user definable hot keys 1 – 4 for my EFX sends on fader when I am not doing monitors from front of house.
"I like to put my vocals on the Yamaha M7 on 33 – 40s fader bank as I am right handed and they are easy to reach," Mundy added. "I mix with two hands as everyone should and I am able to ride my VCAs with my left (and other left side channels) while I mix vocals with my right hand. When mixing a festival with artists whose music I may not be 100 percent familiar with, having all 52 faders (62 if you count the master, mono and center section) right at your finger tips without flipping through pages is a boon or advantage."
Mundy said he also makes use of the Yamaha M7CL's ability to use an external master clock as its clock source. "Also, having 16 Omni outputs built in is really handy and being able to choose what parameters you link when you are linking channels is super awesome as well.
"I also like to use the side chain filters and external key inputs that the M7 offers for the gates etc. like on the floor tom for instance," Mundy added. "I use a band pass filter to set my gate so that low mud or high snare or drum fill bleed does not release the gate-super handy. On the kick drum and snare, I put a high pass on the gate as well. l love how compression gating de-essing and expansion are available at the quick push of a button on every channel and that copy and paste for all parameter is so easy and quick, unlike some other consoles." Mundy said he also makes use of many of the console's EFX, and specifically for SXSW, he used st 1 – Rev X Plate, st 2 – Rev x Hall, and st 3 – Symphonic.
For more information, please visit www.yamahaca.com.
