News

LOS ANGELES – Behringer’s X32 Digital Mixing Console and S16 Digital Snake are pulling double-duty for indie pop band Capital Cities as they tour in support of their multi-platinum single, “Safe and Sound.” The X32 not only serves as a live and studio mixing console, but also includes a number of effects processing and digital routing options. FOH Engineer Jason Stiegler noted that with the X32’s remote control capability, band members can use iPhones to adjust their mixes. As a result, “we are able to tour without a monitor engineer,” he said.

SPRING HILL, FL – Spring Hill Baptist Church, based here, recently installed a VUE Audiotechnik al-4 Subcompact Line Array System as part of a major audio system upgrade. Predictable pattern control was an important factor in choosing the gear, helping Atlantic Pro Audio overcome acoustic challenges that included a relatively narrow sanctuary space, a rear balcony and lots of reflective surfaces.

BELGRADE, Serbia – Live Monitor Engineer Daniel Gonzales has been using the Waves Mercury and SSL 4000 Collection SoundGrid bundles when mixing monitors for Beyoncé.  He credited the plug-ins for helping him to “compress things subtly and take the edge off many of the inputs; this way I can even out Beyoncé’s mix and create space for the ‘loud’ moments while keeping her vocal on top the entire time.”

WESTBURY, NY – For her current world tour, jazz singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux and her supporting band members are using Sennheiser and Neumann microphones, with Peyroux opting for a Neumann KMS 104. Peyroux and her band are touring throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Far East and the U.S. in support of the artist’s latest album, The Blue Room.

LOS ANGELES – Javier Colon, who won the first season of The Voice, has been using the Tonebone PZ-Pre acoustic instrument preamp from Radial Engineering. “Before I had the PZ-Pre the sound quality of my acoustic guitar would always vary from venue to venue,” Colon said. “The PZ-Pre allows me to dial-in my acoustic once, and bring those settings with me wherever I go.”

DENVER – Jeremy Wecker, audio visual services manager at Sports Authority Field, has been using a Shure Axient system at the home of the NFL Broncos. He credited the new system as being far superior to the previous setup, keeping challenges from severe weather conditions and a chaotic RF environment to a minimum.

CALGARY – First Alliance Church, which hosts productions involving full orchestras, choirs and bands in addition to its elaborate Christmas musical, recently upgraded with Harman’s Soundcraft Vi6 digital console. Pictured here with the console are, from left, technical associate Wayne Jeschke and technical director Paul Nadeau-Bonilla. They credited the console for both form and function.

LOS ANGELES – For the second run of Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman’s Harmony, staged at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles from March 4 to April 13, sound designers David Patridge and John Shivers turned to Masque Sound for gear including a DiGiCo SD10T digital console, new L-Acoustics dv-DOSC speaker arrays and a Sennheiser Digital 9000 wireless system with eight 9000 series radios.

ROHNERT PARK, CA – AVDB Group recommended Community’s Distributed Design Series loudspeakers for 340,000-square-foot Graton Casino, a Native America casino based in this town not far from the vineyards north of San Francisco. Scott Oosthuizen, AVDB Group CEO, credited the Community gear for sounding better and costing less than other options they had considered.