Having recently mixed the 2014 UK Tour for recording artist John Newman, sound engineer Aaron Buck supported each show flawlessly with HARMAN’s Soundcraft Vi1 and Vi6 consoles at the monitors position, coupled with a Soundcraft Stagebox. Thanks to the sound quality and onboard features of the consoles, the team enjoyed consistent success throughout the tour. SSE Hire provided the consoles for the tour.
Photo Credit: JoeJoeJoe93 (Wikimedia Commons)
As he is heavily involved in the production and mixing of his own sound, Newman has strict requirements for what he hears in his in-ear monitors (IEMs). Therefore, it is crucial for Buck to dial in on the exact settings that are perfect for Newman’s performances. This is where Soundcraft Vi consoles shine, as they combine powerful effects with a simple layout of the board.
“I like the sound quality of the Vi desks and the onboard reverbs,” said Buck. “Before we used the Vi consoles, it took us quite a while to settle John into a vocal reverb that he was comfortable with for his IEMs. After switching to Soundcraft with the onboard Lexicon effects engines, it became a matter of minutes to get it down. We haven’t felt the need to tweak the raeverbs for almost 100 shows.”
The Soundcraft Snapshot system allows the operator to store records of the console’s settings, which in turn, can be recalled during a performance. For Buck, Snapshots are now an integral part of each show, as both Newman and his band have become reliant on them.
“At first John was wary about the concept of taking Snapshots per song for his IEM mix, because the band members all required changes for each song,” said Buck. “I decided not to recall John’s individual sends and reverbs, and mix them on-the-fly every night, while still having the band and tech mixes stored and recalled for every song. This gave John peace of mind, while giving the band and techs what they needed as well.”
“Thanks to tech support from Pete Russell and Chris Courtney at SSE, I was able to get a look at these consoles and learn a lot of new software features I have not previously seen before on the Vi6"
Soundcraft is distributed in the UK by Sound Technology Ltd. For more information please call 01462 480000 or visit www.soundtech.co.uk/professional-audio/soundcraft
