Kay, Booker and the Adlib team have worked with the Scissor Sisters since they were an club band. They too have experienced their meteoric rise to the heights of stardom with their powerful blend of electro club party-pop.
Dave Kay explained how the band's hectic schedule since the launch of the new Ta-Dah album in Trafalgar Square in September, meant they couldn't attend all of the short production rehearsal period in person at Lite Structures' facility in Wakefield. However, in terms of sound, they were replaced by the 'virtual' version - a series of top quality recordings produced during the preceding US tour.
Kay is touring the new Soundcraft Vi6 mixing console in parallel to his Soundcraft Series 5. Running a Technical Earth Pink Pig multi-track system and Metacorder software, he records a 64 channel MADI stream each night via the Vi6, which aurally is almost "the real thing". The recordings proved extremely handy when the band had to do a German TV show during the final production rehearsals - allowing both the audio department and band to get on with their work despite simultaneously being in two different countries and time zones.
For the UK tour, Kay specified a JBL VerTec line array system - 48 x 4889's, 32 in the main hangs and 16 for the side hangs. The subs are Adlib DF418's - and this is combination that Adlib has found really successful in terms of sonic fullness. "It's one of Adlib's standard arena systems," says Kay, who adds a few tweaks of his own to make it sound that extra bit special.
The VerTec's are driven by Camco Vortec 6 amplifiers, with Crown VZ5002s on the subs.
Mixing Scissor Sisters incorporates a wide and hugely dynamic vocal range - from Jake Shears' piercing falsetto and animated vocal range to Ana Matronic's powerful, rich, textured tones. The sound for the latest leg has been further enriched with the addition of a brass section - sax and trumpet.
Kay is using the new Lake Contour DLP (Dolby Lake Processors) for system EQ, which he tunes using a wireless tablet, so he can easily roam around the whole venue. There are some dbx and BSS compressors, Drawmer gates and outboard effects from TC, Yamaha and Lexicon.
The Vi6 is also being used to accommodate guest and opening bands which are of an exceptionally high calibre, including Lily Allen, The Guillemots and Gossip.
Onstage, Ben Booker has everyone including the guitar and keyboard techs on Sennheiser G2 IEM systems. The techs are in the loop so they can immediately hear if something's wrong. The only outsiders to this arrangement are Jake Shears and the two brass players, who prefer wedges. So Booker has sorted them out with two pairs of the famous Adlib MP3s which Booker describes as "loud, clean loud and unbeatable" in the wedge stakes!
For side fills on the bigger stages, he's using two VerTec 4888s a side flat on the floor. Their low profile makes them ideal for arenas, with no sightline issues, and comprehensive stage coverage. There's also a couple of Adlib double 18 subs for a bit of onstage "shake and rumble".
Ana and Jake both use Sennheiser G2500 radio mics with an 845 capsule, which is the older range but really suits both their vocals, and BabyDaddy's has a 935 capsule.
Booker uses a Yamaha PM5D console for his mix - his desk of choice for the last two years - on which he utilises all the internal processing. There's a dbx drive rack processing the Adlib wedges and XTA DP428's on the side-fills.
The band are really pleasant people to work with says Booker. They know what they want, get on with it and also like to have fun which is something everyone cal relate or at Adlib with "happy crews making the best crews" central to the company work ethic.
(Chris Henry)
