Recently, demand for Suburban Legend's production expertise expanded to the point where the company had clearly outgrown its Allen & Heath GL3300 analogue console. "In shopping around for a larger board, I knew that going digital would provide a lot of advantages, both in terms of operational flexibility and being more portable and self-contained," states Wade. "The expanded audio capabilities, sound quality, and lower cost made the iLive-T Series an obvious choice."
Suburban Legend took delivery of its new iLive-T 112 with iDR-48 MixRack in May and, with a large outdoor musical theatre production looming, Wade set about the task of learning the system. "I had experience with digital, both from mixing at my local church and in the recording studio, but this was my first time using an iLive," he relates. "I felt very comfortable with it right away. It's very intuitive, very easy to learn."
After a few small initial shows, Wade's first large gig with the iLive was Twilight Theatre's production of the musical Les Miserables at The Frederick Brown, Jr. Amphitheater in nearby Peachtree City. "We had a live orchestra and a cast of 85," recalls Wade. "We also had 24 wireless mics and some people playing multiple roles, so there was a lot to keep track of. With the iLive, I was able to programme the entire show, scene by scene, in advance. When rehearsals started, the audio was 90 percent done, which was incredible.
"After Les Mis, we went on to do Guys and Dolls. Then we're doing Fiddler On The Roof, and one week after that, Fame. To do four live musical productions in different venues, with different people, in that time frame, is extremely challenging. By using the T Series, I can literally sit down at home with my laptop and a script and use the Offline Editor to program the entire show. That's a huge plus."
(Jim Evans)
