NEWS FOCUS: Patrick Wolf
IPATRICK WOLF
A live performance from a musician with the flamboyant creativity Patrick Wolf possesses demanded technical equipment that was not only flexible, but conveyed the quirkiness and rich sound of each track to the audience. And as the fans listened intently as the talented performer belted out new songs and old favourites in the underground East London venue Concrete; it was clear the audio kit had delivered on all fronts. At just 28, eccentric Londoner and
classically-trained musician Wolf already has five albums to his name and lists Arcade Fire and Amy Winehouse in the catalogue of high profile acts he has played with. Categorising the artist’s repertoire of songs into a musical genre is difficult due to the array of instruments that he incorporates and the multitude of influences that are drawn on - from folk through to electro pop.
08 • TPi OCTOBER 2011
LIVE AND KICKING
WHEN PATRICK WOLF PERFORMED IN AN INTIMATE EAST LONDON VENUE, A COMPACT AND FEATURE- PACKED CONSOLE WAS ESSENTIAL FOR MIXING THE MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST AND HIS BAND. TPI’S ZOE MUTTER FOUND OUT HOW ALLEN & HEATH’S ILIVE R72 CONSOLE STEPPED UP TO THE CHALLENGE.
Patrick’s performance at Concrete was
no ordinary gig – the singer-songwriter and his band of musicians were starring in one of a series of intimate shows organised by Q magazine. The East London event, which followed on from a string of festival performances and the launch of Patrick’s latest album Lupercalia, was additionally being recorded for Q radio, making it crucial to capture audio of the highest quality.
CONSOLE OF CHOICE FOH Engineer Fabrizio Piazzini and Monitor Engineer Jamie Hickey chose two Allen & Heath iLive-R72 digital mixing systems for the performance, connected via Audinate’s Dante audio networking solution with a split to record multiple channels. To capture the range of instruments and vocals - from sweeping strings through to the mellow sound of the bass
clarinet - a total of 37 inputs, six stereo mixes for the players on stage, side-fills and a spare stereo mix were needed. “A specific type of mixing desk was selected
to suit Patrick’s style and allow for the fact so many instruments were being played at once on stage. If we were mixing the show on an analogue desk, we would need something much larger. With all the outboards, racks and compressors; it would probably be a truck full,” Hickey highlighted. With the stage racks handling all of the
digital signal processing, the system is digitally split for FOH and monitors, and then the digital interface option ‘Port B’ was used to open up the possibilities for digital mic splitting and multi-track recording. The onstage iDR-64 MixRack was chosen for monitors, whereas FOH made use of Allen & Heath’s iDR-16 as a local MixRack. “At FOH, I have XLR ins and outs for
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