"I've always been a Midas guy," states Chirnside. "Whenever I had a choice, I would have my XL4. But then I had the chance to test drive the XL8." That opportunity came with an invitation to visit Metallica FOH engineer Big Mick Hughes during preparations for Fall Out Boy's autumn 2008 tour of the UK and Europe. "We were at his house, sitting around mixing Metallica tunes on the XL8, which was huge for me. I fell in love with the console. So when I heard Midas was developing a smaller, more affordable digital desk, I was totally into it."
Clair Global supplied a PRO6 for Fall Out Boy's spring US tour, which featured four support acts. "Even with five bands, we only used one desk," notes Chirnside. "It was easier and more cost effective than alternating between two consoles. It saved us a lot of money in renting another console and having a huge rack of outboard gear. It was a great opportunity for all these young engineers to be in a big show and mix on a digital desk. It was amazing to watch these rookie engineers just jump right in and get it."
When mixing live, Chirnside relies on the PRO6's POPulation groups for instant access to any part of his mix. "I use the POP Groups constantly," he says. "I have a drum group, a bass group, a guitar group, a vocal group and then my effects. That way, everything is right in front of me on the left-hand fader bank. It's a super simple setup, easy to set up and easy to run."
(Jim Evans)
