The fifth series of 4Music’s hugely popular weekly music programme The Shockwaves Album Chart Show was recorded live in London’s most flamboyant and historic music venue – Koko. Over the eight week series some of the world’s hottest artists performed live at Koko to over a 1,000 strong audience every week.

Benefiting from KoKo’s state-of-the art technical infrastructure, including its JBL Vertec rig, 30 world-class artists and their crews including Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Pet Shop Boys, The Enemy and Kelly Clarkson deployed Koko’s in-house FOH mixing desk – the Soundcraft Vi6.

As a workhorse and leader in its field the Vi6 proved extremely flexible and easy to use by dozens of Sound Engineers some using it for the first time and under a great deal of pressure during the tight filming of the series.

The Vi6 is a unique platform that integrates Studer Vistonics II ™ user interface and powerful processing in the shape of built-in Lexicon and BSS FX, which proved highly useful on the show.

Koko’s in-house Technical Manager, Tim Hamper, enthused: "This is the third series of The Shockwaves Album Chart Show that I’ve been involved with using the Vi6. Its on-going success is largely down to its ease of use, mainly because it’s been designed to work logically and in-tune with how a live sound engineer has to operate on the night.

A further advantage is that there aren’t hundreds of ‘pages’ to scroll through. The desk’s ergonomics are more like an analogue desk in a digital domain; as you don’t have to get involved with a mouse and a keypad - unlike other digital desks - it doesn’t feel like you’re using a computer.

He also notes that the sound is excellent and features such as the in-built Lexicon reverbs are a real bonus. “But the main reason to champion the Vi6 is its straight forward functionality, which has been proved over and again, with first time users only needing 15 mins alone with the desk and one rehearsal before going live. “The Vertec rig produces a great sound throughout too and underlines my personal preference to opt for a total Harman solution.”

Summing up, Tim says, “The Vi6 proved its reliability as a true workhorse throughout the series, underlining its value to us as London’s leading music venue.”

Watch the video of the Vi6 alongside presenter Sara Cox as part of the programme's opening credits: (Video courtesy of 3DD Group).

A 3DD production in association with Channel 4

 

Soundcraft is distributed in the UK and Eire by Sound Technology Ltd. For more information, including details of Soundcraft digital console training, please contact Sound Technology on 01462 480000.