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Venue’s Key Role on Italian Rockpolitik
One of four Digidesign Venues purchased by rental firm Agorą of L’Aquila recently played a key role on Rockpolitik, a mini-series of nationwide prime-time TV shows hosted by one of Italy’s longest live pop phenomena, Adriano Celentano, and screened on Italian state television’s flagship channel, RAI 1.
11.5 million viewers followed the first of the four shows, directed by the outspoken star himself, with a peak of almost 15 million (a 49.84% share of the audience). The second show, whose guests included dynamic unpredictable comedian Roberto Benigni, fared even better, with 15,625,000 viewers (a share of over 60%).
Venue’s D-Show mixing console, manned by sound engineer Enrico Belli, was installed in the broadcast audio control room and used to mix the sound for the show’s guest stage, which was then fed out to RAI’s huge OB van, parked outside the ICET Studios in Brugherio (Milan).
Belli, who mixed broadcast sound for Santana, The Eurythmics and Italian headliners Subsonica and Negrita, received 96 input channels from an active splitter in the studio and — in addition to the on-air sound feed — sent four stereo pre-mixes to the studio’s FOH desk, manned by Massimo Mannunzo.
The unique show, on which Celentano and some of his guests were backed by a hard-hitting 22-piece band, featured a large sound system (designed for Agorą by Daniele Tramontani) and, from behind the console, Belli enthused, “I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the VENUE system sounded so good and, thanks to the fact that everybody knows how to use ProTools (which is the basis of the desk) was also easy to use.”
Belli was one of the engineers invited to the Agorą HQ for a course on Venue, as the company’s Vittorio DeAmicis explained. “The first two Venues arrived in September and, with the support of Digidesign and the Italian Venue dealer, we staged a course for about 15 FOH and monitor engineers, from whom we received positive feedback. It’s of key importance for engineers to have the plug-ins offered by Venue at their disposal, so they don’t have to worry about outboards and can get on with work on the desk.”
Veteran live sound engineer Ian Nelson conducted the Venue course. He explained, “Having configured the two consoles that had originally been purchased, and provided engineer training, when the second pair of consoles was purchased, I configured these as well, and assisted the two engineers mixing the live event with set-up and operation.”
At Rockpolitik, Nelson was on hand to provide support for issues that cropped up, but added, “I have to say that Agorą were all over the desk, so I’d actually very little to do.”
DeAmicis stated that the Digidesign brand was a guarantee for the firm, thanks to its studio track record, and application of the system’s technology – such as plug-ins; in the live event field this made the learning slope very easy. “As well as enabling top grade results to be achieved, the fact that engineers and artists know they’re working with the same technology as used when recording is also a point in its favour psychologically speaking.”
Using a desk purchased just a couple of months before, to mix broadcast sound for top level artists on such a high profile show, might have seemed rather risky, but DeAmicis opined, “We were absolutely convinced of Venue’s reliability and quality – there are several already on the road with big tours abroad.”
Belli continued: “Although they’d never seen it before, all the engineers on the course really liked its sound and features – the key factor is that you’re working with an industry standard – Pro Tools – so you know just what to expect.
“Another positive aspect is the user-friendly interface, not cluttered with dozens of tiny knobs and keys, but with channels well divided – a lot of thought has obviously gone into its design.”
Paolo Montagnini, founder of Italy’s Digidesign Venue dealer (A/D Systems), initially helped Agorą understand what made the desk tick, and the results speak for themselves, as he explained, “They’ve already bought four consoles, and will soon be taking delivery of another pair. Other rental firms have already shown interest, having seen that Agorą’s got them out on tour and thanks to positive feedback from the owners, engineers and artists themselves.”
Montagnini is also convinced that one of this desk’s key strong points is the fact that it uses Pro Tools plug-ins, so virtually eliminates the need for outboard units. “It’s got a small footprint and has signal processors by Drawmer, Focusrite, dbx and much more on-board. Live shows and recording work are getting gradually closer and closer, and in some cases already overlap technically speaking.
“The possibility of transferring a great deal of the work done during recording to a live desk is obviously an enormous advantage for engineers, as they find the exact same units and settings as used in studio. If they’ve worked on ProTools – and who hasn’t these days – engineers immediately find themselves in a familiar environment, which enormously reduces time-wasting and risks of problems.”
Coinciding with Rockpolitik, two of Agorą’s Venues were out on the latest tour by Max Pezzali (on FOH and monitor duties) and the fourth was at work on a production in Rome’s Ambra Jovinelli Theatre.
In picture: Enrico Belli at the Venue desk and tThe studio showing the house band.
16th December 2005
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