Soundcraft’s Success Above The Arctic Circle Continues As Bodo Kulturhus Invests In Vi6

BODO, Norway – Bodo, the second largest city in north Norway, and home of the Bodo Kulturhus, is located just north of the Arctic Circle.

The Kulturhus, literally “House of Culture,” is a performing arts center known for staging its own theatrical and musical productions as well as being host to touring productions covering a wide spectrum of music and performing arts.

The Kulturhus has recently added a Soundcraft Vi6 console to its inventory, with sale and service provided by local sound specialist Lydteamet Bodo.

Håvard Christensen, sound engineer at the Kulturhus, explained their decision. “To my eyes and ears, the sound quality of the Vi consoles is unmatched. In addition to this most important feature, the console is proving to be very easy and flexible in use.

“I have had many opportunities to work with Vi’s in various applications over the years — and with good reason this platform has become a quasi standard here in Norway.”

Christensen is an avid sound engineer in both the monitor and FOH positions, and is known for his work on prestigious projects like the Nordnorsk Symfoniorkester and the Festspillene i Nord Norge. Besides holding a permanent position at the Kulturhus he also runs his own production studio.

Morten Buvik from Lydteamet Bodo, adds: “Our own Vi6’s have been a great success since we invested in our first console in 2008. The main reason, apart from the obvious requirement for a digital console, was the exceptional sound quality.

“The consoles have been used on many productions ranging from Opera, to Theater Revue shows and Rock Festivals.

“The Vi’s are liked by our own technical staff as well as the guest engineers we supply — so it was almost a logical consequence that the Kulturhus also decided to go the Vi route.

“I am very proud that they chose us as a supplier.”

Lionel Richie And Premier Sound Services Rock Baton Rouge With Soundcraft Vi6™

Premier Sound Services of Baton Rouge, Louisiana recently provided the sound reinforcement system for a Lionel Richie concert as part of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation’s 25th anniversary benefit gala. The system featured a variety of audio products from Harman Professional, including a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console at the front-of-house position. The concert took place at the Baton Rouge River Center and served to raise money for the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.

For the event, PSS provided a Soundcraft Vi6, which the company purchased in late 2009. PSS utilized an expansion card to bring the Vi6 to 96 inputs. “We bought the Vi6 because of its analog feel and the built-in Lexicon effects are superior to the effects in other digital consoles,” says Russ Bryant, co-owner (with Brian Gordon) of PSS. “The expandability to 96 inputs without the need for additional sidecars was a huge benefit and, of course, the sonic quality is amazing.”

The main PA system included 12 JBL VERTEC® midsize line array elements per side, eight VT4887 compact line array elements per side for out fill, with six VT4886 subcompact line array elements as front fill, with two arrays of four VT4886 loudspeakers with two VT4883 subcompact arrayable subwoofers each for side fills. Crown I-Tech 8000 amplifiers powered the VT4888 and VT4887 line arrays, while I-Tech HD amplifiers powered the VT4886 loudspeakers. In addition, PSS deployed 16 JBL SR712M stage monitors, along with four VT4886 loudspeakers and two VT4883 subwoofers as drum wedges. The system was configured and controlled via Harman’s HiQnet™ System Architect™.

With a growing business and an increasingly diverse array of projects, PSS also recently purchased a set of 48-channel Soundcraft Si2 consoles, largely on the strength of its success with the Vi6. “I think the Vi6 is ideal for just about any event, we’ve used it for rock shows, festivals, conventions, you name it,” Bryant added.

For more information on Premier Sound Services, please visit www.psssound.com or call 225.923.0228

Soundcraft is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com). Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

Photo Credits: Thompson Photography

Soundcraft Vi6 Making News In Perth

The guys at Channel 7 Perth’s news control room have put their aging Euphonix 2000 mixing console to rest, replacing it with a Soundcraft Vi6 large-format digital live desk.

“We had a thorough look at the market and I have to admit that originally I really wanted a Studer Vista 5 console, but it wasn’t within our budget,” confessed Colin Graham, primary operator of the Vi6. “However in my researching I came across the Soundcraft Vi6 console and realised that it was really a Vista 5 without as much fruit, and the fruit that it was missing wasn’t what I was interested in anyway!.”

Graeme Pennifold, Channel Seven’s Engineering Manager, states that there were other contenders but that they very soon focused on the Studer from an operational view.

”We liked the Vistonics control on the Studer, in fact that’s what really sold us, but we were amazed to find that the Soundcraft Vi6 also has the Vistonic control but in a console that is much more affordable,” he commented.

“The Vistonic interface on the Vi6 is very intuitive,” agreed Colin. “I would describe it as a fourth generation digital console. Digital consoles very quickly got very powerful but you really needed to know what you were doing with them. They never really told you what you were doing with them all that clearly.

“Ease of operation is aided by simple things like use of colour and who was the genius who thought to drill holes in the monitor so that the knobs were linked to what you were looking at?! When you’re working as quickly as you have to in television, you really don’t want to think that much – you need to be able to react. Paging through things is dangerous to say the least. The fact that everything is only one or two levels down at most is really very helpful.”

Graeme and Colin report that since the arrival of the Soundcraft Vi6 into the newsroom their jobs have been made a lot easier. Whilst Colin operates the Vi6 for the news reports Monday through to Friday, a range of freelance operators are in charge at the weekend.

”They are all experienced guys but may only be doing the news once or twice a month so such an intuitive console was a huge bonus,” Colin said.

“We did a staged installation for the Vi6 training of our casuals,” added Graeme. “They only needed two sessions each before they were comfortable with the operation of the console. When they first went on air Colin sat with them to hold their hands but soon found out that he didn’t need to!”

Colin pointed out that the console also sounds good, stating that not all digital consoles in that range do. He describes the sound of the Vi6 as warm with really good dynamics and EQ.

”They’re a little touchy,” he added. “You don’t want to get too brutal with them, but it sounds sweet and we can get a nice strong sound that doesn’t get blown away by the commercial breaks which is often a problem when you’re live to air."

Lily Allen World Tour Runs On Soundcraft Vi6™ Console

On a worldwide tour in support of her hit album It’s Not Me, It’s You, singer/composer Lily Allen has enjoyed great front-of-house sound on four continents, thanks to the Soundcraft Vi6™ large-format digital live sound console. The Vi6, designed using the proven reliability of Studer’s Vista™ and OnAir 3000™ series of consoles and that utilizes the incredibly intuitive Vistonics™ II user interface, lets Allen and her band effortlessly convey the sophisticated lyrics and dynamic music of her powerful songs.

Front-of-house engineer Shan Hira has found the Soundcraft Vi6 to be a comprehensive mixing and processing platform: he’s using all onboard effects except for a Manley Voxbox and an XTA ⅓-octave graphic EQ on Allen's vocals. “I especially like the onboard effects package,” he says. “Having eight Lexicons to play with is a rare old treat!”

Hira, who has also mixed for the Chemical Brothers and The Streets, has been a fan of the Vi6 for some time. “I had used it before and liked the layout, ease of use, and most importantly the sound of the desk,” he says. The Vi6 delivers a lot of power and features, including 64 mono inputs into 35 outputs and a 32-group/aux matrix, plus main LCR Mix and LR Solo busses. But it does so in a very compact amount of space. “As we were doing a sold-out club tour, the footprint at FOH was an issue, as was truck space,” Hira explains. “So its small size fit the bill perfectly. It made FOH very quick to set up, and it was very reliable—never let me down once. It’s a great console.”

Soundcraft’s first large-format digital live desk, the Soundcraft Vi6 is a third-generation console, thanks to a joint development with sister console company Studer, and is part of the extensive Vi Series of consoles. Its patented Vistonics II interface uses a sophisticated touchscreen color TFT monitor with integral rotary controls and switches mounted on the glass to provide a “where you look is where you control” user experience. The Vi6 offers 64 mono inputs (expandable up to 96) into 35 outputs. Pairs of mono inputs can be linked to create stereo channels. Its 24 insert send/return pairs can be configured (using available I/O) and assigned to any of the 64 inputs or 35 output channels. All 64 input channels can have direct outputs in addition to their internal bus routing, assuming sufficient I/O is available (via an optical MADI card). There are 16 GPIO contact closure inputs and outputs on the local rack, and 8 inputs and outputs on the stagebox, as well as one MIDI In and two MIDI Outs on the rear of the control surface.

Artist Photo Credit: Fay Woodford, faywoodford.co.uk

Two Soundcraft Vi6™ Consoles For Friendly Fires Homecoming

The Friendly Fires recently performed a riotous ‘homecoming’ gig in their native St. Albans, turning the austere civic centre of Alban Arena into a party venue.  The show was sold out within a week, and with just an 850 capacity (1,150 standing) FOH sound engineer Richard ‘Bars’ Barling would have been grateful for

the compact footprint of the Soundcraft Vi6 digital desk through which to mix the band as would Colm 'Meado' Meade down in Monitor City. The two Vi6’s were supplied by SSE Audio Group, which has supported the band since Bars’ introduction to the rental company by sound engineer Rampton. Harman’s UK distributor, Sound Technology Ltd., sold the Vi6’s to SSE Audio Group.

It was an emotional return for the trio, led by Ed Macfarlane, and their rare brand of dance-oriented music with an indie pop feel, featuring tracks from their eponymous, Barclaycard Mercury Prize-nominated 2008 debut album.

The band mix up the dynamics within a ‘retro disco’ lighting stage environment created by Mark Video — swapping instruments and ensuring Bars would need to call on the versatility and rapid access of the Vi6’s surface.

Delphic were the support band on this occasion — but along the way Bars has led many support band engineers around the desk, demonstrating just how easy the Vi6 mixing system is to come to terms with.

“Previously we couldn’t have taken the support band's show file — as you could only isolate on a scene. But with the V3.0 software, we can now load up the show file and the desk's isolate button works; I can save all the masters and the other engineer can load up his own file easily.”

Like a number of sound engineers, his first exposure was to the prototype version of the desk at the Mean Fiddler three years ago. “Although it didn’t have the Lexicon and BSS FX loaded on at that time, I was urged by the resident engineer to try it out and could see then how easy it was to understand after just a ten minute run through. Instantly I could also hear how good the preamps were — and wherever I have used this desk since I have known I could depend on that warm preamp sound.”

Working extensively at Vi6’s in venues such as KOKO and the O2 Academies, he progressively got hooked on the Soundcraft platform.

“The FX are great,” he says. “The gates are accurate, the reverbs fantastic and the compression is great — really transparent. I have three reverbs going on — including a Drum Plate and Vocal Plate — a long tap delay and sax delay.”

Bars also works extensively with stereo groups. “I find using stereo compression on groups on other digital desks a pain because you have to cycle through pages to get to the compressor parameters; in fact on some digital desks you can’t actually do stereo group compression at all.

“I also love how there is a graphic and parametric EQ on all outputs of the Vi6 and I save loads of time not having to programme everything.”

With the Friendly Fires the standard channel list is around 28 inputs — but this can rise to 35 when they get into their Brazilian vibe (with carnival dancers and percussionists). All the backing tracks are run off a Pioneer CDJ — but Bars hopes to convert to hard disk in the future.

The Vi6 has been configured for fast response and maximum access, with features like the Gang function and Copy & Paste proving a huge benefit to the engineer. “I have copied all my input channels into the library so I can easily move them around anywhere on the desk.”

AES-EBU dual/split inputs and channel sharing are other advantages, saving a lot of the surface space, as is his use of board’s last screen. “I can select what I want from the eight banks of faders; I have all my channels on the first layer and FX on the second layer down but by touching the last screen can flip my FX up with my channels. You can then see what every channel is doing at a glance without filtering through layers.”

Richard Barling has been working with Friendly Fires since coming across the band while mixing Fear of Flying (now White Lies) and a one-off with the Noisettes during a War Child benefit at KOKO just over two years ago. A few weeks later he was recommended to the band.

A feature of the next production tour will be the multitracking of every show. “I have already done a recording with the 64-channel optical MADI out on the Local Rack and it’s so easy.” He will also be using Virtual Soundcheck having seen it used successfully by another band during the Lollapalooza festival in the States.

Lead singer, Ed Macfarlane, says: 'It puts my mind at ease knowing that Bars has the ability to attain a great sound efficiently and rapidly — especially in festival situations. The Vi6 gives him the freedom to be creative with effects without wasting time scrolling through menus.  It has become an essential part of our live show.'

And Richard Barling  sums up by saying, “I’m so happy with this desk that it's the only console on my Friendly Fires tech rider. It just seems to make me mix so much better.”

http://www.wearefriendlyfires.com/

http://www.sseaudiogroup.com/

http://www.soundcraft.com/products/product.aspx?pid=145

http://www.soundtech.co.uk/soundcraft/news/

Atlantida Festival Rocks With Soundcraft Vi6™

Brazilian radio station Atlantida FM recently hosted the Atlantida Festival, a 12-hour live music event held at the Fiergs Exposition Center in Porto Alegre. The largest indoor festival in Brazil, this year’s event featured performances by Claus and Vanessa, Strike, NX Zero, Capital Inicial and Charlie Brown Jr. Porto Alegre- based sound company Lugphil Audio provided the live audio reinforcement system, which included a Soundcraft Vi6™ console.

With so many artists playing over the course of the day, Lugphil Audio needed an audio system that would enable easy transitions between musical acts. “We were looking for a console that would not only perform consistently over the course of a full day of music, but could also handle the rapid changes from one performer to another,” says Luiz Gonzaga, Lugphil Audio’s owner.

Gonzaga found the ideal solution in the Vi6, which features a Vistonics™ II touchscreen user interface, facilitating intuitive operation. “Beyond the traditional faders, there are diverse parameters controlled via the Vistonics II touchscreen,” Gonzaga says. “With the Vi6, we can create several different ‘scenes’ within one large project. When changing scenes, all the parameters automatically adjust. The Vi6 allows me to create, edit and modify each scene intuitively, quickly and reliably. This is vital for live events with numerous acts.”

Additionally, because of the Vi6’s intuitive user interface, other engineers on-site quickly familiarized themselves with the console. “The technicians quickly learned the technology and were operating the console within a few minutes,” Gonzaga says.

For more information on Lugphil Audio, please visit http://www.lugphil.com.br

New House of Blues Boston Has Plenty To Be Happy About With New Soundcraft Vi6™ Consoles

A pair of 64-Input Soundcraft Vi6 digital live mixing consoles for FOH and monitor mixing offer digital signal path advantages with an intuitive analog-style user interface.

BOSTON, Massachusetts — Boston, one of America’s greatest music cities, got a new music venue earlier this year that lives up to the expectations created by bands like the J. Geils Band, The Cars, Aerosmith, Till Tuesday and of course, Boston. Live Nation’s new House of Blues club was christened with a performance by the J. Geils Band, and 2,400 people got to hear the classic rockers with the kind of clarity and power only dreamt of decades ago, thanks to the Soundcraft Vi6™ digital mixing consoles, two of which are installed there to handle front-of-house and monitor mixing duties. The Vi6 is Soundcraft’s first large-format digital live desk and is the flagship of the widely heralded Vi Series of digital consoles from Soundcraft. Furthermore, the Soundcraft Vi6 consoles are part of a technologically advanced and sonically stunning PA system that uses components from Harman’s JBL, Crown and dbx brands to create a perfectly scaled sound system that fulfills the House of Blues’ longstanding commitment to great sound for great music. The sound system for the House of Blues Boston, as with all club systems in the Live Nation chain, was designed and installed by Sound Image of Escondido, California.

Sited in the shadow of the famous Fenway Park, on Lansdowne Street, the club’s floor is wide and the stage is high, offering much-improved sightlines. A second level is ringed by colorful folk art and several bars; there is also a seated balcony area on the third floor, but even standing room areas on the sides offer great views. And, as the Boston Globe reported (Feb. 20, 2009), “Most importantly, no matter where you were in the club, the sound was clear and clean.” Credit the Soundcraft Vi6 digital live mixing consoles for much of that. Both consoles are configured identically, with 64 inputs and a total of 32 output busses available for use as masters, groups, auxes or matrices. Operational features of the Soundcraft Vi6 include the highly acclaimed Vistonics™ II touch-screen user interface and Soundcraft FaderGlow™ fader function display. Rich Davis, Audio Engineer with Sound Image and who is supervising the sound systems installations for the Live Nation Fillmore and House of Blues venues, describes it as, “A wonderful-sounding console with a highly intuitive user interface. It’s still a rather new console, so not a lot of live sound engineers may have had experience with it yet. But every engineer who has visited the House of Blues Boston has figured it out almost immediately. It’s a digital console that’s laid out like an analog console, so it offers the best of both worlds.”

House of Blues Boston’s PA system fills the house with incredible sound using 10 JBL VerTec® VT4888DP powered three-way mid-size line array enclosures and three JBL ASB6128 dual 18-inch subs per side powered by Crown IT4000 power amps, and four JBL VRX932LAP powered side fill speakers. The stage monitor system employs 12 JBL SRX712M 12-inch stage monitors and four JBL VRX915M 15-inch stage monitors. The system is controlled via a dbx Drive Rack 4800 processor. All of the PA components are networked via Harman HiQnet™ System Architect™, an industry-acclaimed protocol that enables seamless integration and communication between Harman system components. “This was a complex system to design and install,” says Davis, noting that the consoles also interfaces with the club’s distributed audio system, which includes over 60 JBL Control Series wall- and surface-mounted installed audio system speakers and powered by Crown CTs Series amplifiers. “By being able to network all of the systems together with HiQnet, we’re able to send any music source anywhere in the venue. It’s a great way to experience music, because the quality of the sound is remarkably consistent everywhere in the venue.”

The House of Blues Boston is operated by Live Nation, the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing more than 22,000 concerts for 1,600 artists in 33 countries. The company sells more than 50 million concert tickets a year.

Soundcraft and Studer are units of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (www.harman.com).

Soundcraft Vi6 For Brian Eno's Apollo 11 Live

Former Roxy Music member Brian Eno celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, by introducing the first of two live performances of his 1983 composition Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks in the IMAX Cinema at the Science Museum in London.

Mark Hornsby’s company Headtec were appointed by the Science Museum to provide the sound, and Icebreaker’s FOH sound engineer Alexander Bossew requisitioned a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console as his first choice.

“I specified this, because it is so easy to produce a warm sound without having to EQ like mad,” he said. “Also the few compressors that I used were working very discreetly.”

Bossew admits with only time for a quick run through ahead of the performance — rather than full rehearsal — there had been little time to purpose-configure the desk, which was plugged straight into the cinema PA. However, this hardly concerned him as the musicians were so experienced. “They were all aware of their own dynamics and so there was little for me to correct at the desk end.”

However, the composition adapted by Jun Lee, required the use of a lot of reverb. “The IMAX is completely dry and I had to use six different internal Lexicon reverbs, which sounded excellent,” he said. That task alone consumed most of the one-hour desk programming time that was allocated.

Unsure up to the last minute whether his favourite desk would be made available Alexander failed to order a MADI soundcard — something he deeply regretted.

“It would have been great to multitrack the show. I have had great recording experiences using the Vi6 in the past — particularly during a music and performing arts festival in Austria (Donaufestival, Krems) in 2007; the stereo recording turned out to be of amazingly good quality.”

In conclusion, the sound engineer says his love of the Vi6 is based on its amazing sound, and the fact that he can work quickly on the surface “even when setting up more sophisticated patches that would be almost impossible to realise on analogue (and many digital) desks.”

He says he feels particularly privileged to have mixed the sound for this landmark event. “Usually my colleague Ernst Zettl mixes their sound and for the performance at the IMAX I was only substituting for him. “But I hope it won’t have been the last opportunity I get to collaborate with this astounding collective of excellent musicians.”

Sound Engineer Harry Bishop Hits The Festival Circuit With Soundcraft Vi6™ Consoles

This summer, London-based sound engineer Harry Bishop has enjoyed tremendous success providing live audio systems for a variety of festivals in England, including the One Taste festival in Hyde Park and several festivals in association with Chai Wallahs, an organization dedicated to providing an eclectic blend of high-quality musical acts, coupled with an emphasis on healthy alternative lifestyles. At the heart of Bishop’s success is the Soundcraft Vi6™ console, which has helped him confidently make the conversion from analogue to digital during the hectic festival season.

At the One Taste festival, Bishop deployed Soundcraft Vi6 consoles at the front of house and monitor positions. “We decided to use them in part to compare them to their analogue counterparts in terms of operation and sound quality,” Bishop says.

Bishop used the board as he would have an analogue system and worked off a generic ‘festival patch.’ According to Bishop, the Vi6 proved to be a pleasant departure from other digital consoles. “My usual complaint with digital systems is a lack of transient dynamics, sharp and uncomfortable high/mids and unresponsive EQ,” Bishop says. “With the Vi6 I immediately felt that the sound it was producing was pleasing to the ear, accurate and musical in the warm and typically analogue way that other digital boards have been unable to emulate.”

Christian Bailey, monitor engineer at the One Taste festival, concurs: “It was a pleasure to use the Vi6 for monitors at the One Taste festival in Hyde Park,” he says. “The board was simple to set up and although we were very pushed for time, with a quick line check for each band all the mixes were dialed in fast and musicians were soon smiling. The sound quality was excellent and the vocals sounded smooth and natural.

“The whole console is very intuitive and great to use in a time-pressured situation,” Bailey adds. “I would confidently recommend it to any monitor engineer who is thinking of taking out a digital board.”

For the Chai Wallahs events, Bishop relies on a touring marquee with full in-house production. Chai Wallahs attends a minimum of six festivals a year including Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Green Man and Electric Picnic. With at least 10 bands a day for four days with no sound checks, providing live audio is no easy task. “Four monitor mixes are mixed from front of house with up to six extra zones, three analogue external effects units (for a visiting dub band), with eight record output groups, talk-to-stage and shout boxes between me and the stage,” Bishop says. ”I use a 30-channel festival patch which covers a massive diversity of acts ranging from singer/songwriters to African drumming bands to 10-piece funk bands and the odd beat-boxer.”

Bishop has used a variety of consoles for Chai Wallahs in the past, but has found an ideal solution in the Vi6. “The analogue solutions sounded great, but lacked the recall ability that I required given the number of repeat artists,” Bishop says. “Finally I was able to get my hands on a Vi6 and instantly it was apparent that it ticked all the boxes I needed. I think I have found the desk most fit for my purpose. There is nothing in the market that comes close without doubling your budget.”

Bishop has a multitude of reasons for the Vi6’s superiority, not the least of which is the console’s user interface. “The user interface is impressively simple and intuitive,” Bishop says. “The multiple touchscreens add much-needed benefits to quick navigation and control of functions and their parameters. Plus, spread over one bank of faders, the 1/3rd octave graphic is just as grab-able as its analogue counterpart. In combination with the changing fader colours depending on their designated function, the interface makes for a quick and intuitive experience with a drastically decreased ‘digital panic’ factor.”

Moreover, the Vi6’s ‘de-esser’ function has proven to be a lifesaver for Bishop. “The de-esser function strikes me as a much more versatile tool than the name suggests; its centre frequency can be tuned to any frequency in the audible spectrum and can be applied to a signal in much the same way as dynamic EQ,” he says. “It is a very powerful tool for perfecting tweaks to wayward or slightly harsh source sounds.”

Bishop also cites the Vi6’s zoning capabilities as a high point in a long list of beneficial features. “With 32 output busses with parametric and graphic EQ on every one, I have an endless ability to zone different areas, set delay times, assign record groups and monitor sends,” Bishop says. “The two stages of EQ allow for a much more precise and musical approach to monitor and FOH mix EQ. There is a tremendous amount of processing power available, all processing is available on every channel and buss at all times.”

Most importantly, Bishop has found the Vi6’s sound quality to be top-notch. “I found the sound quality to be of an excellent standard—miles above some of the Vi6’s more widely seen competitors,” Bishop said. “I also think this is probably the most intuitive digital board on the market. A visiting engineer needs only a quick run-through of the touchscreen and the buss sends and they can usually be left quite happily. I would recommend this desk to anyone.”

Soundcraft Vi6™ Consoles Live And Uncut At Latitude

Adlib Audio sent out two Soundcraft Vi6 digital mixing consoles — and two excellent sound technicians to babysit the systems — when they took over the production of feature stages at this month’s Latitude Festival.

In charge of the highly influential Uncut Arena was the experienced Walter Jaquiss, while simultaneously the same furious schedule, with back-to-back changeovers, was taking place in the Sunrise Arena, where Otto Kroymann was based.

While bands were turning round within 15 minutes at the stage end, sound engineers were setting up their patches with equal alacrity at front of house — no doubt relieved that in each case a Soundcraft Vi6 digital mixing console awaited them alongside their two mentors.

The Vi6 is quick to repatch and even quicker to jump onboard and start mixing for any sound engineer still to receive his induction.

“Adlib were conscious of having to put out a desk that everyone could mix on easily,” stated Walter Jaquiss. He set up a regime in the Uncut Arena where all show files were created off-line. “For those (engineers) who arrived with no show file I would take the patch from stage and create the file on a laptop,” he said.

“I had already created a generic festival set up and this allowed us to mix things around, move layers, change effects etc and save to key. You wouldn’t have time to reconfigure the gates, comps and VCA’s on an analogue desk.”

With 27 out of the 30 bands using the resident desk, the advantage of being able to create offline was paramount — and once the engineers had taken up the pilot’s seat they found the operating experience intuitive. “The desk is laid out visually and everything they needed was right in front of them — any fear factor would evaporate straight away,” said Walter Jaquiss. “It all becomes easier when it’s assigned offline — and the freedom to then be able to reassign later is fantastic.”

A bonus for Walter Jaquiss has been the arrival of Soundcraft’s v3.0 software, and the ability to take the generic festival patch from an Excel spreadsheet (using .csv files) and copy and paste channel labels. “To be able to do this with all 40 channels and then export them to your USB key — having already had them in another spread sheet — is fantastic. This would normally take a lot of time and it helps if [engineers] can see a personalised layout.

Over in Sunrise Otto Kroymann was undergoing a similar manic routine — but again, his knowledge of the Vi6 won the day.

“Quite a few sound engineers were using the Vi6 for the first time but everyone said how absolutely brilliant the experience was.

“None of the sound engineers brought their own show files and so we had a rolling template and incoming engineers would build on [the sound structure] the engineer before had created. Everyone who walked away from the desk commented on the Vi6’s ease of use and how simple it was to bring up any parameter. They all left the desk with a good feeling.”

In view of the lack of time, many engineers used the board like an analogue surface with the digital features added on top. “This worked brilliantly,” he said.

For Walter Jaquiss and Otto Kroymann there had hardly been time to draw breath over the three days — and both men were delighted that, thanks to the user-friendly features of the Vi6, they were able to get over the finishing line unscathed.

Further information from: http://www.soundcraft.com/products/product.aspx?pid=145

From A-Ha To Turandot: Soundcraft Vi6™ Versatility In Norway

For sound designer and FOH engineer Dag Stephen Solberg, a trip from one end of the musical spectrum to the other could be made in the company of one Soundcraft Vi6 digital audio mixing console.

Well, more than one, if you count the additional desks being used for monitoring and submixing tasks. But it is the impressive sound quality of Soundcraft’s front of house console that made it first choice for Scandinavia’s largest outdoor pop concert, the VG-Lista Topp 20 in Oslo, as well as the epic outdoor production of ‘Turandot’ by Opera Ostfold, with nearly 450 performers.

Solberg took charge of FOH mixing duties at both events, working with one of Norway’s leading concert services companies Frontlite AS to overcome some significant concert sound challenges.

In Oslo, despite appalling weather, 90,000 people packed into the Radhusplassen for a free concert of the best pop music that Norway has to offer, including Eurovision winner Alexander Rybak, the country’s most popular live band BIG BANG, and the legendary A-Ha as headliners. Sponsored by the largest Norwegian newspaper, and broadcast live on NRK, the one-day event is staged in the centre of the city on a site bordered by the harbour as well as civic offices.

Although the VG20 concert is well-supported by the local administration, Frontlite’s team can’t let rip! At FOH, Solberg is limited to 103dB (weighted). He describes his objective at the desk as “trying to make it sound fat so that you can feel the SPL without it tearing your head off!” His tools are a substantial and highly directive line array system, and a Soundcraft Vi6 handling 48 channels of digital audio.

“Although I’ve tried and liked all the other digital consoles, my first choice is the Vi6,” says Solberg. “It is a third of the size of some alternatives, and perfect for a festival situation like this where we have visiting engineers. People find it really intuitive to use, and it’s still possible for two engineers to work on the surface – one can grab the band, the other the vocals. And it offers excellent automation.”

Solberg’s colleague Espen Andersen works the monitor mixes from another Vi6 stage-side, a partnership that was repeated for the Ostfold Opera’s season of ‘Turandot.’ Staged in an old fort in Halden, near the Swedish border an hour from Oslo, this year’s production featured 350 people on stage, in addition to an 80-piece orchestra.

Once again serviced by Frontlite, one of the only companies in Norway capable of handling a production of this size, the FOH platform included a Soundcraft Vi6 delivering 96 inputs, and a Soundcraft Si3 as sub-mixer handling another 56 channels. Solberg mixed sub-groups of the orchestral string sections to the 96-input Vi6 monitor console.

“I must emphasise the sound quality of the Vi6,” says Solberg, “I believe it is one of the best-sounding boards on the market. It’s become my number one tool for mixing. This was my first chance to use the new Si3, and I was very impressed, both for its ease of use and for its audio performance.”

For this production of ‘Turandot,’ Solberg and his team needed a large number of wireless channels. “In Halden, there is a big problem with the availability of wireless frequencies because of the digital TV transmission. Bearing this in mind, I consulted with LydRommet, the Norwegian distributor of AKG, and we were able to specify the new AKG DMS-700 digital wireless system for the shows. With very little prep time, we were still able to get 44 wireless channels up and running satisfactorily in less than 30 minutes. I believe we were one of the first users in the world!”

Gert Sanner Wraps Up Successful Deep Purple Tour With Soundcraft Vi6

On a recent trip to the Soundcraft Studer factory in Potters Bar, Deep Purple FOH man Gert Sanner, talked about the recent Deep Purple tours of Japan and Russia and his experience with the Soundcraft Vi6.

That region is a strong heartland for the UK rockers, as the tour took in 12 shows in venues of 5,000 and above including Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Osaka and Nagoya – some of the same venues that played host to the recording of the band’s most famous album, Made in Japan, some 37 years earlier!

“The whole thing was a great success,” says Gert. “Purple has a huge following out there so the band likes to revisit their fans as often as is practical for everyone.

“This is my second tour with the Vi6, and I plan to keep using it,” he continued. “It’s compact and so easy to use with the Vistonics shared with the Studer range, it’s the best user interface for fast reaction gigs like ours in the business. Purple don’t use a set list, so I have to be on my toes all the time ready to make adjustments in a split second, the Vi allows me to do that.”

“There was a special moment in the 2nd Tokyo gig, when I had the biggest surprise, we’d just started ‘Perfect Strangers ’ and, unannounced, Jon Lord walked on stage and started playing keyboards, it all seemed a bit Spinal Tap mixed with Still Crazy, I certainly had to react fast to that!”

The Soundcraft Vi6 and Vi4 have found favour with many high profile global tours this year as well as prestigious theatre and performance venue installations including Benaroya Hall in Seattle, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and The Turin Royal Theatre (a full list is available on www.soundcraft.com.

“I enjoy using the Vi6,” continued Gert. “We hired the desk for the Japanese leg of the tour from Hibino, I took my show file from the European leg and loaded all the settings from the USB into the Vi6 in minutes, this saves two to three precious hours of setup time. Most nights I used 32 inputs, which is only about a third of the Vi6’s capacity and four of the eight Lexicons and onboard processing, which means I need no external outboard racks keeping the footprint compact and the weight right down.”

You can meet Gert and learn more about his travels and the Vi Series at Soundcraft, date and details yet to be announced.

ADLIB Supply John Barrowman Tour With Soundcraft Vi6™

Seasoned sound engineer Walter Jaquiss recently joined forces with ADLIB Audio and Lighting for the latest John Barrowman tour and two Soundcraft Vi6™digital consoles were used for the production.

Production used two Soundcraft Vi6 consoles, run in 96-channel V3.0 mode, which Jaquiss effortlessly filled with around 80 inputs, 56 of which were stage alone, including guest vocals and assorted media. "The Vi6 is a brilliant desk, great sounding and with a very small footprint for this style of tour," he comments. The existing console was upgraded to 96 channels via an additional DSP card, while the sound engineer immediately identified the advantages of the latest software release.

"With both desks upgraded to V3 software, along with the increase in channels, the snapshot and scoping functions had been improved as well. This has now made it a totally usable function of the console in combination with the improvements to the isolation features. The ability to export names as an Excel file is useful when typing up long channel names in the offline editor."

Walter Jaquiss has worked with ADLIB for the last 15 years, but has been around Soundcraft analog boards for a lot longer.

"I think a lot of engineers started on Soundcraft, whether on a 400 or 800 Series. That's certainly what I learnt on, and it was a sensible platform."

"Today, a lot of colleagues are using 'real' desks because the learning curve is easier, yet the Vi6 invites the move from analog to digital. They have provided a control surface that I think most experienced analog engineers can just walk up to. The desk really spoils you, as one of the big advantages of the Vi6 is that everything you need is right there in front of you on the Vistonics screens...it's as if everyone else has missed a trick."

The Barrowman shows could not have been mixed on a surface offering less than 96 channels, he stated, adding how easy the Vi6 is for file-building. "Using the offline editor is fantastic as it's identical to the desk itself."

Walter Jaquiss discovered the full potential of the Vi6 at the recent twinned two-day Give It A Name (GIAN) Festival, held simultaneously at Brixton Academy and Manchester Academy, and then flipped overnight.

"There were seven bands a day at each venue and we were just able to email the show files overnight between myself and Steve Pattison in Manchester. The show mixes came up exactly as they had been created the night before - we had the files loaded into the desks before the band's engineers walked in the next day."

"In fact, I was able to program all the bands' files in the back of the car on the way down to the Brixton É and I could do the same with John Barrowman."

Festival work offers similar advantages, he says. "You can email your file ahead, and by the time you turn up on site the session files have been loaded into the board."

For the Barrowman tour, Jaquiss spent the two production rehearsal days at Shepperton Studios creating snapshots that are essential for a theater type show. "Everyone has a different style of using snapshots. Even just being able to automate the mutes and FX changes is now essential for a show like this."

Aside from BSS's trusty multiband DPR-901 dynamic equalizer, he used all the onboard desk effects. "The advantages of keeping everything within the box outweighs that of having a rack of outboards. I used all the Lexicon onboard FX engines and add to that the gates, processors and graphics on every output and it adds up to an incredible amount of facilities on the Vi6."

The monitor setup was mainly all in-ears - Barrowman, band, crew and guests - with James Neale mixing on another Vi6. ADLIB's Hassane Es Siahi and Kenny Perrin completed the audio team.

But the final message to digiphobe engineers comes from Walter Jaquiss. "Anyone who thinks they can't get to where they want to on a digital mixer as quickly as an analog set-up might find the Vi6 a lot easier to use than they think."

For further information go to www.soundcraft.com

Soundcraft Vi6™ On Tour Down Under at New Zealand’s Hottest Summer Concerts

College Hill Productions, Ltd. a leading sound rental company based in Auckland, New Zealand, has recently selected a Soundcraft Vi6 digital console for its versatility and robust design, making it an ideal selection for mixing a diverse lineup of summer concerts and music festivals throughout New Zealand. The most recent tour, ‘Big Day Out 2009’ took place in Auckland, New Zealand and hosted a number of world-renowned artists including, Neil Young, My Morning Jacket and The Prodigy. Director of College Hill Productions Ltd. Chris Tate founded the company in 1996 and is responsible for introducing the first Soundcraft Vi6 to New Zealand.

The versatility of the Vi6 is demonstrated as the console has been consistently deployed by College Hill for its ability to operate at both FOH and monitor positions for large events such as Auckland’s Big Day Out Festival and the Parachute Music Festival. Large festivals in New Zealand, similar to festivals around the world, pose countless challenges and Chris Tate claims the Vi6 overcomes those challenges very well. “The console has been out on tour non-stop all summer and the engineers required a board that had a very fast turnaround time in between shows.” Tate continues, “The Soundcraft Vi6’s capabilities also helped us in a couple of other ways including a few instances where the console was almost a kilometer away in a broadcast compound and the fiber connection to the stage box was very effective.”

Chris Tate and the College Hill Productions engineers have taken full advantage of the digital console’s capabilities and Tate has streamlined his mixing abilities with the Vistonics™ interface. “Vistonics are simply an analog console shelved neatly away and ready to be mapped out exactly where you are touching,” comments Tate. “If you have been used to mixing with the controls right in front of you, a la analog consoles, then you are used to being able to do things without having to stop and consciously look through the manual. The Vi6 is actually faster than analog, which is something that I thought I would never say about digital,” Tate concludes.

The majority of College Hill’s work consists of American and British performances that tour only two or three shows in New Zealand before moving onto to different countries. This rapid transition of performances is difficult for the College Hill engineers, as they are required to set up and prepare for multiple native shows each week requiring a digital console that is capable of saving shows, and mixing for a wide range of genres.

For more information on College Hill Productions Ltd, please visit www.collegehill.co.nz or contact Chris Tate at cjtate@ihug.co.nz.

Soundcraft Vi6™ Digital Console On Tour With Modest Mouse, Mixes To Thunder’ous Applause!

A Soundcraft Vi6™ digital mixing console was recently selected to tour with the famous American alternative and indie rock band Modest Mouse. The United States and Canadian tour required a versatile mixer and the FOH engineer, Phillip J. Harvey, selected the Vi6 for its Vistonics™ II easy-to-use touch-screen user interface and its vast array of capabilities. Tom Hejnicki, Project Manager for Thunder Audio, supplied the console to the Modest Mouse tour and labels the Vi6 as one of the most “analog-user-friendly” consoles available.

Tom also adds, “The compact footprint of the Vi6 makes it an ideal console for live sound and tour applications. The Vi6’s ability to eliminate the need for external processing racks is a major benefit and the Lexicon reverbs and effects as well as the BSS EQ suite provide outstanding sound and versatility to the performance.”

“Touring with the Vi6 has saved us a considerable amount of time setting-up for shows and we are able to conserve a generous amount of space in the truck as well.”

“I was instantly impressed with the Vistonics platform,” continued Hejnicki. “The intuitive nature of the control surface is immediately evident and the transition to Vistonics is seamless.”

The Soundcraft Vi6 was developed by Harman companies Soundcraft and Studer and utilizes core processing and user interface technologies, shared with Studer’s Vista Series and OnAir 3000 consoles. It has 96 mono inputs that mix into 35 outputs. The console provides direct outputs on all 96 channels in addition to internal bus routing.

For more information on Thunder Audio, please visit www.thunderaudioinc.com.

La Jolla Playhouse Mixes Effectively With A Soundcraft Vi6™ Digital Console

La Jolla Playhouse selected a Soundcraft Vi6™ digital mixing for “Peter and the Starcatchers,” a new play presented by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theater at La Jolla Playhouse. The show is based on the best-selling book of the same name, written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.



Joe Huppert and Eric Stahlhammer, Co-Sound Designers for “Peter and the Starcatchers,” selected the Vi6 for its ability to simplify workflow and its capability for success in complicated theatrical events, such as “Peter and the Starcatchers.” Huppert states, “The VI6 suits our purposes well, making it very fast to develop and track
manipulations of a sophisticated theatrical design environment.” Stahlhammer says, “This show has really demonstrated to us how powerful the Vi6 can be in the theater as the desk has allowed our team to work faster, more intelligently and more productively. We have been able to do things in this show with the Vi6 that would not have been possible or practical with other consoles.”

La Jolla Playhouse’s Production Manager, Peter Davis, discusses the advantages of working on a Soundcraft board for both engineers and students alike. “This show is a great opportunity to experiment with the Soundcraft Vi6 and to see how applicable the desk is to our market,” Davis continues. “Being able to master the Vi6 in a few hours makes it a desired tool. In an industry where attention to detail is at its highest, it is a critical advantage that an engineer has the ability to execute the designer’s vision without overcomplicating things.”

The Soundcraft Vi6 digital console features a unique integration of Vistonics II technology that allows users to use the console quickly and intuitively. Sam Lerner, the show’s engineer says, “The Vistonics concept is great. Having all of your tools in front of you while you are mixing eliminates the need for paging and switching layers and lets me focus more on actually mixing.” Stahlhammer adds, “The intuitive nature of the interface is showcased in the fact that Sam had never used the console before this show and within a few days he was as comfortable with it as any other console he had used before. In theatrical applications such as “Peter and the Starcatchers,” the engineer needs the ability to be comfortable behind the desk and the Vi6 has been really easy to deal with.” Huppert was particularly impressed with the scene snapshot functions, “The snapshot functions allow for easy changes to particular parameters without worrying about collateral damage to other settings”.

The Soundcraft Vi6 Digital Live Console uses touch-screen color-coded TFT monitors with rotary controls and switches built in and around the glass, enabling direct access to all functions at all times and providing maximum information and visibility. Huppert notes, “The integration of display, touch and physical knobs is intuitive and clear. The lighting is my favorite part, not only is it honestly fun to look at but many functions are understandable without having to read anything, which makes it easy to know where you are, even in the dark and when your eyes are on a stage 100 feet away.”

For more information on La Jolla Playhouse, please visit www.lajollaplayhouse.org

Soundcraft Studer Provides Outstanding Audio Support To The Kennedy Center In Washington D.C.

The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts has recently upgraded its already superior audio system with the installation of Soundcraft and Studer digital mixing consoles into nine of its performance spaces. Equipping one of the worlds most prestigious and respected performing arts centers with new technologies is not an easy task, especially when considering the legacy system was of the highest standards, but three Soundcraft Vi6,™ one Soundcraft Vi4™ and a Studer® Vista 5 are up to the challenge.

The Opera House holds nearly 2,300 guests and is recognized as the official home to the Washington National Opera and the annual Kennedy Center Honors. Also, the establishment conducts ballets, operas and a variety of Broadway road shows. The Terrace Theater, a much smaller venue containing 513 seats, is used for performances of chamber music, jazz and children’s productions. The Kennedy Center’s Production Operations Department selected three Soundcraft Vi6’s along with a Vi4 and a Studer Vista 5 to provide audio support to each of the respective halls in the Kennedy Center.

“The boards sound outstanding and the user interface is great,” commented John Burke, The Kennedy Center’s Production Operations Department AV System Designer. “The audio capabilities at the Kennedy Center have improved remarkably and one thing that I have noticed is that people want the shows archived and the Vi6 allows engineers to record everything in HD. It gives the engineers the ability to take the MADI data streams and put it right into a multi-track recorder without worrying about splitters and it makes recording shows much easier.”

Along with the Opera House and Terrace Theater, the Soundcraft Vi6 was also integrated into the Concert Hall, a space capable of holding over 2,400 visitors and home to the National Symphony Orchestra. Providing sound reinforcement for the smaller venues, such as the Eisenhower Theater, which hosts a wide range of smaller-scale operas, plays, musicals, and ballets is the Studer Vista 5.

“The renovation to the Kennedy Center is very extensive and requires a lot of versatility on the part of the Soundcraft and Studer consoles. In the Eisenhower Theater for example, the Vista 5 is utilized to its full potential, as the entire system is CobraNet™. The success we’ve had in the Eisenhower Theater has led to the expansion into the Concert Hall as well,” said Burke. “These Vi series products and the Vista 5 have been really great in stability and haven’t caused any problems. The much smaller footprint has been a tremendous benefit and the Vistonics are incredible as well.”

Burke concludes, “The opportunities are endless with the Soundcraft and Studer consoles. As an example, in the Concert Hall, we are able to remotely control the racks from all positions and easily ship the signals, which has been an incredible step into the future. The transformation into digital with the Vi4, Vi6 and Vista 5 has increased our production, performance and accessibility.”

Soundcraft Vi6™ Digital Consoles On Display At The 2009 NBA All-Star Game In Phoenix, Arizona

For the third time in NBA All-Star history, Phoenix, Arizona hosted the 58th annual All-Star game that featured a weekend of competition and events, including the 3-point and dunk contests as well as the Rookie Challenge. Two Guys Audio Services Inc. of Rainbow City, Alabama, through Volume Inc. provided FOH audio console support for the event and flawlessly mixed the weekend’s events on two Soundcraft Vi6™ digital consoles.

Engineers Jerome Fox and Dave Zammit independently operated the desks and provided outstanding audio quality for the event. Fox utilized one Vi6 to drive the speaker systems while mixing the production elements, including video playback rolls, announcer microphones, television feeds and on-court mics, while Zammit mixed the live music elements and delivered the feed to Fox’s console via AES for distribution.

Zammit commented on the development of the event and discussed the selection of the Vi6 consoles. “We started with 2 x 96 input systems, intending to use these as parallel main and backup systems, but as things progressed, it became clear that more than one system would be needed to merely address the input / output requirements of the event.” Zammit continued, “We needed outstanding performance from the consoles and we selected the Vi6 consoles for their great sound, reliable platform and the intuitive Vistonics interface that provides such an “analog” operation allowing engineers to fully exploit all the advantages of a digital system.”

Fox added,” I was sold the minute I discovered the HiQnet capabilities and the ability to mix effectively even without a mouse.”

The versatility of the Vi6 consoles was an integral part of the NBA-All Star weekend’s festivities commencing with the first live performance of Corbin Bleu on Friday at the Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam night and continuing on Saturday with performances by Kevin Rudolph and the dunk contest. The main event on Sunday featured John Legend, and included Latin star Juanes.

“As is the case with mixing any live event, the NBA All-Star games presented a few challenges but the Vi6 allowed us to successfully manage the event on the fly,” added Zammit. “The nature of the event required us to make quick adjustments and the reliability and flexibility of the console enabled us to remain relaxed while mixing a great All-Star game.”

Seattle’s Famous Benaroya Hall Upgrades Sound System With Soundcraft Vi6™

The ease of operation of the Soundcraft Vi6 is being showcased at Seattle’s famous Benaroya Hall. Home of the Seattle Symphony, the 2,500-seat S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium is Seattle’s first facility designed exclusively for symphonic music performances and Soundcraft consoles provide outstanding sound quality and versatility for every performance. Celebrating 10 years as one of the nation’s premier venues for live symphonic music, Benaroya Hall sound engineers chose to upgrade their sound reinforcement system with three Soundcraft Vi Series digital mixing consoles – two Vi6’s and a Vi4 - for the 550-seat Recital Hall.

Soundcraft products are no strangers to the Benaroya Hall and the introduction of the Vi6 was the logical next step in upgrading the quality of the sound system. The hall previously featured analog boards by Soundcraft and the effects of the digital board were instantly felt as the sound quality in the hall was improved tremendously. Audio Director for the Benaroya Hall, Tom Akoury, states, “Installing the Vi6 was an unbelievable upgrade in sound quality and the sound engineers immediately commented on the intuitiveness and versatility of the Vi6. We were able to install the console without any difficulties and within 15 minutes we were very comfortable mixing on the board.”

The Soundcraft Vi6 console is designed to the reliability standards of Studer Vista and has the intuitive Vistonics II interface allowing engineers to control the board exactly where they are looking. “The board is designed with engineers in mind,” continued Akoury. “With other consoles, engineers are sidetracked by paging through multiple books and sometimes losing focus or train of thought. With the Vi6, engineers have the ability to save shows and operate the board without any books. The intuitiveness of the board and all of its capabilities has made my job easier and the overall ease of operation is truly a lifesaver.”

The diversity of the Benaroya Hall’s performances requires sound engineers to quickly and efficiently prepare for multiple concerts in the same day ranging from symphony’s to rock and roll. Akoury adds, “We have a lot of turnarounds in concerts and the timing of everything has to be perfect. With the Vi6 we are able to preprogram the console for the second show, which reduces the sound check time tremendously. We were really killing ourselves for the past seven years without the Vi6.”

The Vi6 is loaded with upgrades and boasts an impressive input-to-mix capacity of 64, or 96 channels mapped out on 32 motorized faders. These can be assigned to 32 outputs, plus a stereo and mono mix, that can be combined in any group, aux and matrix buses. The Vi6 is also HiQnet™ enabled allowing the desk to become a control point for a comprehensive Harman Pro Group system at the Benaroya Hall that includes AKG C414 microphones and JBL VERTEC® speakers powered by Crown Macro-Tech amplifiers.

ESP New York Selects Soundcraft’s Vi6™ For Diesel’s 30th Anniversary “xXx Rock and Roll Circus” Party Finale In Brooklyn

The Soundcraft Vi6 was among the elite attendees invited to the final stop of a 24-hour non-stop party hosted by Diesel to celebrate its 30th anniversary around the world. The “Diesel xXx Rock and Roll Circus” took place in 17 major cities across the world; commencing in Tokyo and moving to Beijing, Dubai, Athens, Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Oslo, Helsinki, London, Sao Paulo, and finally had its grand finale on Pier 3 in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, October 11.

ESP New York chose the Vi6 for its outstanding audio quality and its ability to handle The Rock and Roll Circus that hosted numerous music artists performing in front of thousands of VIP guests.

T.I., N.E.R.D., Franz Ferdinand, M.I.A., Hot Chip, and Chaka Khan staged performed on the Brooklyn waterfront in front of a crowd of 5,000 VIP attendees, including celebrities Lindsay Lohan and actress Emma Roberts. Soundcraft’s Vi6 enhanced each of the performers’ music exemplifying what a fantastic sounding board it is.

All the engineers involved with the show used the boards and programmed individual shows for each performer prior to show time. ESP New York’s Monitor Engineer, Steve Swope, educated the engineers on the Vi6’s capabilities. “The amount of inputs/outputs and accessibility makes the Vi6 perfect for this venue,” said Swope. “The user-friendly interface allowed the sound engineers to operate the console without any difficulties despite having very little experience on the Vi6.”

With the flexibility of the Vi6, engineers had the ability to digitally patch all content ahead of time to any specific location. This preparation allowed them to switch and adjust any problems that may have arisen without any interruption or loss of sound quality. ESP New York’s Glenn Davis and Bill Danilczyk met at Front Of House, and commenting on the potential of the system, Davis states, “I can route signals through this console more than any other digital console. The functionality in terms of outputs, routing, and flexibility is far superior and the sonic quality is outstanding. All of the design work, planning and layout were perfect every time.”

The Rock and Roll Circus went exactly as planned and the mash ups between T.I. /Franz Ferdinand and M.I.A./ N.E.R.D. were successful with the operation of 195 mic inputs. “The ability to pre-label the show ahead of time allowed the show to run seamlessly without any difficulties,” said Davis.

Tony Berger of Relevent produced the show that featured not only popular music acts but also an array of spectacular entertainment. Cabaret performers, fire-eaters, trapeze artists, sword swallowing acts, and female roller derby squads dazzled guests.

For more information on ESP New York, please visit www.espnewyork.com.