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Demon’s Schlager Fest with D-Show Profile
Some 15 years after setting up his rental company in Meerhout, just outside Antwerp, former sound engineer Marc Verhoeven has moved further into digital mixing with the acquisition of a Digidesign D-Show Profile, from exclusive territory dealer Ampco Belgium.
It has been an interesting journey for the company which Verhoeven originally set up as Beat and Sound to specialise in the Flemish rock, pop and schlager band market, small festivals and corporate events.
The two key developments along the way have been the purchase of the rental firm, Demon, who had previously been one of Verhoeven’s clients; this enabled the company to double its size overnight, and force the move to their current 4,000 sq. metre premises in August 2005.
Adopting the name of the Hasselt-based company, they now have a full sized rehearsal room, a large warehouse (stocking lighting, trussing and set design effects as well as their pro audio fleet), and accommodate between 25 and 30 sound & light professionals at any one time.
Demon’s policy has always been to invest in new equipment when requested rather than sub-hire. It was only when former B&S engineer (now Benelux Pro Tools specialist) Marc Geerts, and Ampco Belgium’s Pieter Helsen and Steven Kemland started extolling the virtue of the Digidesign Venue and D-Show console, that Marc Verhoeven’s curiosity about the new platform became aroused.
“We had more or less made the decision to invest in another desk — the only question was which,” he said. “We have always enjoyed a close relationship with Ampco, and when I found out they were distributing Digidesign I asked our engineers to attend Ampco's two-day demo shoot-out last year, inviting over 60 sound engineers and customers to the Ampco training facilities in Boom, in order to assess the merits of Venue against competing desks. Digidesign’s Venue specialists Robb Allan and Ineke van der Voort also supported the event.
Marc Verhoeven and colleague Hans Engelen then attended a Daniel Powter concert to hear Venue in action, since Hassan Chaidi had become the first Belgian sound engineer to specify Venue on this tour.
By the time Demon made their commitment, the new compact D-Show Profile had become available, and so the purchase became axomatic. Ampco Belgium supplied them with a fully-redundant system that included stage and FOH racks, with three DSP mix engine cards, FWx FireWire Protools LE option Card, Ethernet card, iLok and digital snake.
The new rig went straight out with Laura Lynn, the self-proclaimed "schlager-queen of Flanders”, on a major tour.
Says Stef de Pooter: “Her monitor engineer Marcel Corteleven downloaded the software from the internet and Ineke was able to provide desk ‘training’ over the phone. It was that easy — and now the front-of-house guy Marc Luyckx, is getting a bit jealous.”
Marc Verhoeven adds: “We will be touring for the next two years with this desk, and since she is performing sell-out shows in theatre-size cultural centres (of up to 2,500-seaters) and concert halls the reduced footprint of the desk was vitally important so that seats are not lost. It will also be perfect for use on our corporate events, which we are increasingly specialising in.”
In the meantime prominent FOH engineer Erik Loots has also piloted the new D-Show Profile on a Vaya Con Dios show at Brussels’ PSK.
Hans Engelen sums up the value of the desk to Demon when he says: “Although we had long discussions before making a commitment, D-Show Profile was the obvious choice because of its compact footprint, its 24-fader access and Pro Tools plug-in support. We know it will open up new markets for us and prove to be a valuable investment.”
In picture: Marc Verhoeven (right) with colleague Hans Engelen — and the new D-Show Profile.
8th May 2007
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