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Four D5 Lives Keep Legends On Song
1970s legends Chicago and Earth, Wind and Fire are currently enjoying a co-headlining US tour, playing to packed amphitheatres across the North American subcontinent.
With Earth, Wind and Fire’s legendarily expansive line-up, the front of house consoles were always going to need a large amount of inputs. And this requirement was enhanced by both bands playing together during part of the show. To fulfil this demanding task - as well as ensuring unsurpassed sound quality in the cavernous venues - no less than four DiGiCo D5 Live consoles are being deployed at every show.
With venue capacities between 10,000 and 20,000, the tour used a large L-Acoustics / d&b rig, comprising main hangs of 14 V-Dosc, six d&b Q1s and four ARCS per side, with 3 DVs for underhangs and 18 d&b subs.
“This tour is unusual in that both bands perform at the same time. This meant that the input requirement was for over 100 channels,” says Earth, Wind & Fire front of house engineer Kevin Harvey. “But they also play separately, so it was necessary to have two monitor/FOH set ups.”
The D5 Live’s flexible architecture has been a key part of the setup, the desks being linked to allow both bands FOH engineers access to all inputs. “With Gain Tracking enabled, full control of each channel is available,” says Kevin, adding: “The same method is also being used with the monitor consoles.”
The monitor engineer for Chicago is Ken Parkin who, like Kevin Harvey, is another Englishman plying his trade in the American sound reinforcement industry. Both are new to the D5 Live, but have been pleasantly surprised at its qualities. “I’d never used a D5 before,” Kevin admits. “But with all controls readily available, the surface has an analogue feel about it. That makes it very friendly and intuitive to use. With many moves to make during the show, it makes life very easy once those moves are programmed into snapshots.
“The user friendly interface, flexibility and reliability made it the right choice of desk for this tour,” he continues. “Its compactness was also a definite advantage, combined with the excellent separation, tonality and stereo imagery.”
23rd September 2005
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