MORRISON, CO – Ryan Knutson, co-founder of Brown Note Productions, Inc., can claim the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre as his local venue – and recently capped off his sixth year supporting Sound Tribe Sector Nine (STS9) as FOH engineer with a final show for the band's most recent tour at the iconic outdoor venue.
The band chose a d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker system – primarily Q-Series supported by B2 subwoofers. "Ultimately the band made the decision," Knutson noted, and he supported their choice. "For the size, I have not heard a box that can compete. It truly blows me away every time we use it. We spend more time mixing and less time tuning with the d&b.
"Let's face it, the B2s work very well, and there are not many subs that can keep up," he added. The d&b system reality reflects directly to an extremely consistent and easy-to-use PA."
As a local, Knutson knows Red Rocks' quirks, including the extra sound reinforcement that would be required for STS9's final shows for the tour.
"The d&b J-Series is a more powerful box. With the variable weather elements of rain, wind and snow typical of this geographical setting, and the rarefied atmosphere at high altitude, the long throw application of the Js made perfect sense. Quite simply, they out-perform most boxes up here. We now add flown J-SUBs in all of our Red Rocks arrays. They really add sonically to the experience for both the FOH engineers and the fans."
STS9 are a difficult band to pigeon-hole. They don't easily slide into one single genre, and that can present a FOH engineer with certain challenges, as Knutson acknowledges.
"The band plays a wide range of material that keeps me on my toes throughout a performance, but essentially it's all about the bottom end. Well, it's also about the fidelity of the layers and sequences that accompany the live drums, bass, guitar, keys and percussion. So although the band is a big bass, electronic rock outfit, that doesn't tell the whole story.
"To control the bottom. we carry B2 subwoofers," Knutson continued. "They give us the energy and rounded bottom we are looking for. I have mixed STS9 for six years and, with d&b, the sound is definitely more consistent.
"With the d&b systems, I find the PA acts as a piece of transparent glass that projects the audio throughout the listening areas," Knutson concluded. "Coming from mixing in nightclubs and theaters, I have mixed on just about every loudspeaker you can imagine. I honestly love the d&b sound and feel my best nights are achieved using their systems."
For more information, please visit www.dbaudio.com and www.brownnote.com.
