SEATTLE – Karrie Keyes, who has been mixing monitors since 1991, opted for a Midas PRO6 console supplied by Rat Sound for the band's 2010 tour in support of its Backspacer album. This represented a change for Keyes, a longtime devotee of Midas' Heritage desk and other analog consoles.
"This is the first tour I have used a PRO6 on," she said. "I found it extremely easy to learn, and felt comfortable on it after the first show."
Between in-ears, sidefills and wedges for six band members and three members of the tech crew, Keyes describes her utilization of the 32 outputs on the PRO6 as "nearly maxed out. I am using 29 outs now and have three left, which I will fill up on this next (European) leg."
Several band members augment their stereo in-ear mixes with wedges and sidefills. Vocalist Eddie Vedder's setup is described as "one ear, vocal wedge mix, stereo sides, plus mono sidefill for vocal" – with another channel available should Vedder decide to use earphones in both ears.
In terms of setup and routing, Keyes says the PRO6 handles this relatively complex set-up with ease. "I really love that the matrixes are actually just straight outs. I have the in-ears on the matrixes and my wedges and sidefills on the Aux Sends," she said.
The adjustment to using a digital console was simplified by Midas' analog-style design layout and the PRO6's flexibility. "The key to mixing monitors for Pearl Jam is keeping my eyes on Ed and the band the entire show," said Keyes. "Pearl Jam has a lot of cues, but they are not scene cues that can be programmed. They are mostly EQ and volume changes, and a lot of them are for more than one person at the same time. So I needed to get these cues to the surface easily, not having to look, scroll, or search through layers. With the PRO6, I have everything I need on the surface at the push of a button. That's hugely important to me."
Keyes uses a combination of VCAs and the PRO6's POP Groups to keep everything she needs accessible. "I use POP Groups for certain songs, to put the instruments on the surface for access to the mute and fader," she said. "But I mainly use the VCAs, set up by band member, with a couple more for riding gain on guitar solos and such."
For channel equalization, she is using the Klark-Teknik DN9331 Rapide graphic controller, a rack-mountable PRO6 accessory that gives her a traditional 31-band surface for dialing in the console's on-board KT graphic EQs.
"The sound is great," Keyes said, of the PRO6. "In the past, we have not been able to get Ed [Vedder] on a digital because of the sound, but he has been on the PRO6 with no issues. We have found no issues with latency, and the band loves the sound."
Keyes' experience with the PRO6 has proven to be relatively painless, too. "There are lots of little things that let me know this product was really thought through when Midas designed it," she said. "The video screens are wonderful. I can see them even in the sun, but they are not distracting either." She also notes that her setup time is much faster when working with the PRO6, attributable in part to eliminating the 500 feet of cable required for the analog console – now handled with a single Cat5 cable.
For the European leg of the 2010 tour, Keyes also specified a PRO6. "I felt pretty comfortable with it after the first show," she said, "and the factory support from Midas is amazing. The main thing for me was learning how to get it to act as an analog console, and I'm happy to report that the PRO6 can do that with ease. After one tour, it's already like I have always mixed on it."
For more information, please visit www.midasconsoles.com.
