LONDON — SSE Audio Group used Soundcraft Vi6 consoles at FOH and monitors for the sixth annual Sunflower Jam, a benefit concert held at Royal Albert Hall to raise money for sick children. The event, which featured Brian May, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Kerry Ellis and Alfie Boe, also served as the debut for Soundcraft’s Si Performer, which controlled narrator mics and interval music.
More details from Harman (www.harman.com) on the use of the Soundcraft Si7 consoles at FOH and Monitor positions:
Sunflower Jam is the brainchild of Jacky Paice, wife of Deep Purple drummer, Ian Paice, and was founded to raise money for underprivileged and sick children via the medium of live music. For this year’s event, SSE Audio Group deployed Harman’s Soundcraft Vi6 consoles for FOH and monitors respectively, each utilizing 64 inputs, while the latest Soundcraft console offering, the Si Performer, received its live show debut. Connected digitally via MADI to the Vi6 at FOH, the Si Performer controlled all narrator mics and interval music.
This year’s Sunflower Jam, the sixth so far, was held at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and featured a star-studded lineup of international superstars including Brian May, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Kerry Ellis, and Alfie Boe.
“This gig is slightly unpredictable in that it’s never sufficiently rehearsed,” said Harman’s Gert Sanner, who has worked FOH at Sunflower Jam for the last five years, after developing a relationship with Jackie and Ian [Paice] from his days as Deep Purple’s FOH engineer. “We don’t change anything during the show, and everything has to be set up, ready to go at all times, which is why we need such a high channel count–it’s 64 real inputs, not hard disk or anything, which of course the Vi6 can deal with easily.”
This show also provided another Harman debut: AKG’s new D12 VR drum microphone was deployed on Ian Paice’s kick drum, which Sanner said worked particularly well.
“The D12 VR is a versatile mic, as you can select various presets—I am using ‘preset three’ which uses phantom power, and the sound quality is excellent,” Sanner said. “Ian has chosen to use a different kit than usual for this show, but we’ve had no problems at all in getting the right sound out of the kick.”
Sanner mixed all of the artists from the Vi6 and used no outboard gear. All processing came courtesy of the console, and everyone involved was happy with the results.
“[Monitor engineer] Ant Standring has an identical channel count to mine on his Vi6, and everything’s wedges and sidefills here – it’s old school, but that’s how they like it; the only complaint I’ll get from this band is that it’s not loud enough!” Sanner concludes. “It’s very much a family vibe, this event, and even more so perhaps this year; most of the crew are extended Deep Purple family, and with the recent passing of Jon Lord, it feels a bit like his goodbye concert too, which is kind of nice.”
More details from Harman (www.harman.com) on the debut of the Soundcraft Si Performer:
LONDON, United Kingdom — Whilst many first-time-out products choose a local village hall or a modest event to dip its toes in the water, Harman’s Soundcraft Si Performer didn’t mess about, and dived head first into a packed Royal Albert Hall for the Sunflower Jam. Sunflower Jam is a live music event with a difference.
Founded six years ago by Jacky Paice, wife of Deep Purple drummer, Ian Paice, it was set up specifically to raise money for underprivileged and sick children. Two years ago the event outgrew its modest Porchester Hall location in London’s Notting Hill, and upped sticks to the unmistakable and prestigious Royal Albert Hall, which has been its home ever since. This year’s guest performers included Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Kerry Ellis, Brian May, and the quite incredible English tenor singer, Alfie Boe.
Sunflower Jam gave Soundcraft’s latest console, the Si Performer, its live show debut. Connected via MADI to a Soundcraft Vi6 at FOH position, it controlled “everything except the live band” according to Harman’s Gert Sanner, who mixed all of the acts on the night. Sanner, incidentally, has mixed the last five Sunflower Jams, a job he took on after forging a working relationship with Ian Paice during his time as FOH engineer for Deep Purple.
“My idea was to bring in the 24-channel Si Performer as my ‘get out of jail’ mixer, as my Vi6 was loaded with all the band stuff coming off the stage,” he explains. “Basically it allowed me to keep the Vi6 completely clear of everything other than the band.” And being a ‘jam’ of sorts, Sanner says the free flow of the event and number of artists involved leaves little rehearsal time, which means he never quite knows what’s coming next. This was another reason for utilizing the Si Performer.
“We don’t change anything during the show, and everything has to be set up, ready to go at all times, therefore we need a very high channel count at FOH; essentially, the Si Performer also took some of the pressure off of the Vi6,” he states. “I used some of the Vi6’s tie lines to get the inputs, and patched in about 12 lines which allowed the Si Performer to deal with the two narrator mics, all of the DJ element of the show, and the VT stuff. Basically, whatever audio was sent from the recording truck came back on this console.” Although Sanner had never actually worked on the Si Performer before, he says it was very easy to get around.
“It’s a great little desk, and I knew how to use it without referring to the manual,” he smiles. “This event’s such a good one to be involved in, and a great test for a brand new product.”
