latest news headlines
iLive is Machine of Choice for Florence's Debut Tour
UK sensation, Florence and the Machine, carried a combined iLive FOH and monitor system on its European tour in September, which included dates in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Holland and Austria. iLive was subsequently specified on dates in the USA and Canada, and hired in from SRD Systems in Kent by management production company, Brit Row, for a special performance as part of the Electric Proms at Camden's Roundhouse.
Dave McDonald, FOH engineer, discovered iLive on the discussion forum of audio professionals' website, www.crewspace.com. It led him to pursue the idea of using iLive on the Florence tour. He said:
"With iLive, I can turn up to any type of venue and just plug it in. It's so simple and it's got expensive-sounding FX, good gates and good compressors. The pre-amps are really great and the headroom's amazing. I don't use outboard gear at all and I like having everything in one box, plus promoters love it because you're using the smallest footprint possible."
Monitor engineer, Cam Blackwood, commented on his first impression of iLive: "On our pre-production day I couldn't believe how intuitive and simple it was. All the menus are on one button; with other desks there are lots of buttons and you can't get back to the page you were on."
iLive has only one version of firmware, so it is possible to transfer show files between systems via USB key. iLive-T systems were used in the USA and Canada but a majority of the time, FATM's engineers used an iDR10 MixRack linked to an iLive-112 FOH control surface using Allen & Heath's proprietary 64-channel bi-directional ACE (Audio and Control over Ethernet) link, providing control and audio over one cable, with an EtherSound digital split to an iDR0 minirack and an iLive-112 Control Surface on monitors.
Blackwood used the system to create 6 in-ear mixes for the band. He said: "It's so easy to flick between everyone's mix. If you want to get to the graphic of any channel you just listen to the mix, hit the EQ button and it changes the board into a graphic EQ, then you hit the button again and it takes you back to the mix. It feels like I'm actually mixing - it's just brilliant! When you're on other desks it takes a little time to hear the EQ's but on iLive it has a totally analogue sound and the EQ is so smooth."
The engineers highlighted one small but impressive feature whereby when the PFL button is pressed, a light indicates which channel to plug into on the stage rack. McDonald said:
"If you're at a festival, the majority of the problems come from people patching at speed and that's what creates delays. That little light is genius!"
"When you really start pushing the desk it's not digital and it's not analogue - it's something completely different!" McDonald concluded.
In picture: Dave McDonald at the iLive-112 Control Surface during FATM's performance in the SBE, London.
17th December 2009
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
