> LIVE SOUND SOUL II SOUL
Bumpin bass for a loving race
Jazzy B and FOH Engineer Brandon Knights specified a mammoth Funktion-One system and an analog mixing setup for Soul II Soul’s recent comeback performance at London’s Camden Roundhouse. Andrew Low bumped and grinded to bring you this report…
S
oul II Soul took London’s funki dread movement of the late ‘80s to another level. Producer, artist and frontman Jazzy B was hugely successful with the Keep on Moving album, which sold over two million copies in the US, went triple platinum in the UK and won the group two Grammy Awards.
Over twenty years on, the band got back together this March for a gig at the Camden Roundhouse that featured many of the original members, including renowned crooner Caron Wheeler. And if there is one London musician who is passionate about sound systems, it’s Jazzy B. His musical career began in the depths of the reggae and rock steady scene in the late ‘80s. His group gained mass appeal as a sound system, playing records at house and street parties. As such, Jazzy B and his FOH engineer Brandon Knights know exactly what they want in a PA, and specified a Funktion-One system for the Camden gig, which was supplied by Essex-based rental firm Audio Plus. Based on an analog-centric FOH setup, the system used at the Roundhouse featured dozens of Funktion-One’s Resolution-5 and 4D point-source loudspeakers, and 12 F221A bass bins, complemented by a Midas XL4 and racks of outboard from the likes of Lexicon, TC Electronic, Avalon, DBX and XTA. Monitor engineer, Ben Emisah provided wedge mixes for the band through a combination of Funktion-One’s RM18 wedges, Res-2 and 4s.
Brandon Knights has been knocking around the reggae and dub scene for the past 20 years. Starting his career as the owner of a small PA company that provided gear for Glastonbury, WOMAD and the early UK ‘90’s house scene, Knights got his big break when he met up with Albert Griffiths of The Gladiators, who highjacked him for months of stadium shows throughout Europe. Although his original role was the dub man, triggering delays, gunshots and other noises, he soon found that he liked it better behind the desk than on stage. Since then, he has engineered for the likes of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and Groove Armada. It was while working for the latter that he met Jazzy B. Knights reveals that mixing for Soul II Soul is all about space:
“Jazzy’s music has the same ambient space as reggae,” he explains, “so when you are working with someone like Funktion-One, it’s a dream come true because you can hear the transients. With this kind of music, the system really shines because it is not constrained by the compression-driven mid range typical in line array systems.”
APPROACHING THE MIX
Soul II Soul’s basic roots are in big sound systems, and Knights mixes with that in mind. “I take if from the bass up and always push the system from the kick and LFs. I will always push a system around from the kick and bass to create a foundation,” he explains. “Once you understand the system you can put things where you want without having to hard pan anything. The speakers allow the music to breath and the listener can pick up the transients that are squashed by line arrays; what you put into it is what comes out.”
34 audioPRO May 2011
www.audioprointernational.com
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