ON THE ROAD: Michael Forever
Below: ER Productions created a tunnel of light effect using a white laser light laser to project a cone onto the back of a circular truss; additional LED video screens were positioned at the back of the stage; the view from FOH; three Sony HXC-100 cameras were used to film the epic show; constructing the stage was a mammoth task.
cabinets each made up the main hang, while the two side hangs comprised 14 i-5’s - each with one i-5b. Furthermore, 94
Lab.gruppen PLM 2000Q’s which combine a four-channel amplifier platform with the digital sound manipulation features of Lake Processing were used. “The show was designed almost in the
round, so we had to put the upstage side hang in to cover people that were seated further to the back of the stage. This made it the biggest PA I’ve flown yet,” explained Trystan Forbes, PA Technician from Concert Sound Clair. Added Systems Technician Thomas Spring:
“There was a great distance between left and right speakers due to the stadium’s size. We tried to keep everything as direct as possible, flying the main PA pretty low. The vast expanse of the stadium, required a special configuration, so we put in a huge system.” On the ground, 32 Clair BT-218 subs were
positioned - with 12 on each side and eight in the centre. Concert Sound Clair’s standard low profile front fill speakers - the FF2’s - were placed on the top of the left and right stacks to project the rest of the sound to the front rows. The slightly smaller sub stack in the centre was then enhanced using Clair’s larger two-way box, the P-2, to fill any gaps. Said Forbes: “The i-5 is our flagship system
designed for medium to large venues and perfect for the requirements of this gig. Our delays consisted of four hangs of eight i-5’s without the i-5b arranged in a very slight arc left to right so that every last piece of detail made it to each seat.”
34 • TPi NOVEMBER 2011
MULTITUDE OF CHANNELS Due to the enormity of the show and variety of acts performing, three FOH engineers were required – Paul ‘Pab’ Boothroyd, acting as an Audio Coordinator for Clair; Andy Walker, handling FOH on the Digidesign Venue for playback, effects and announcers and Doreonne Stramler, who mixed at FOH for the house band and general show content using the Midas XL-8 console. Meanwhile, the Digidesign Profile was chosen specifically for the performance from Alien Ant Farm, with a Dolby Lake Processor used out front as a system matrix. Walker, an employee of Clair Brothers and
FOH Systems Tech for Guns N’ Roses, ran 10 inputs on his console. He explained: “We have over 30 designated RF microphones for the artists - which are Shure UHFR or wireless Sennheiser - with dedicated channels for each performer, so you don’t need scenes as much because you can just turn off each microphone and all channels are set.” Boothroyd, who is known for his work
with Paul McCartney and ACDC, oversaw FOH and helped back-up members of the team; reminding them who was coming on stage next and whether there was VT playback or announcements beforehand. “The concert was obviously going to be a digital set-up due to the multitude of channels we have to deal with,” said Boothroyd. Having mixed for Gladys Knight, Katharine
McPhee, Living Colour and Kelly Rowland, Stramler is experienced in working with a variety of timbres and tones of vocal. The Midas XL-8 was his console of choice due to its user-friendly
features and analogue sound. Commented Stramler: “I like the digital consoles, but sometimes I just need to hear some more noise. On the XL-8 I had close to 56 inputs for the band and RF mics and I love the choice of compression you can use.” Lewitt LCT 540 and LCT 640 microphones
were used on backing vocals for the house band and also for the drums. “You can tell a lot of time and effort went into designing the microphones. I used four 540’s in the stadium on the choir performing with Yolanda Adams and it made them sound amazing,” said Stramler. Over in monitor world, 28 Clair SRM bi-
amped wedge monitors were selected along with four Clair FF-2H compact monitors for strings, four Clair BT 218 subs and six Clair I-3 line array elements as side fills. Monitor Engineer Chris Trimby was working with the Yamaha PM1D as the main console whilst the Yamaha PM5D handled playback effects and announcers, a Digidesign Profile handled Alien Ant Farm and strings and a Midas Venice 320 was used for the choir and comms matrix. Wireless equipment comprised 28 channels of Sennheiser Series 2000 IEM, 36 channels of Shure UHF-R split between hand held and guitar systems and four channels of Sennheiser Series 3000 Radios for key performers and announcers.
SAFETY FIRST The success of large shows hinges on the safety of the public and crew. Explained Will Hodgson, Co-Director of safety company Symphotech: “A
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