"In the past, I have made purchasing decisions based on who could offer me the best deal," admits JSP owner, John Saunders. "But sound designers have very definite ideas about what they want and they tend to stick to that, so it's hard to compete if you don't carry the kit they want to work with. It's all about quality."
Working in tandem with d&b loudspeakers, Sennheiser in-ear monitors and Shure microphones, all shows the company services claim to sound as good, if not better, than the originals they are based on.
Running since 2006, Thriller Live provides Michael Jackson's vast European fan base with an authentic recreation of many of Jackson's career high points. The show currently is running as two simultaneous productions, one at London's Lyric Theatre and a European tour.
The latter's schedule is relentless, with multiple night runs in venues interspersed with one-off shows in others - and a great deal of travelling. Days off are few and far between.
Sound designer Chris Whybrow made the decision to use the SD8 when the previous touring production outgrew its original desk.
"We'd got to the point where we couldn't expand that console any more," he says. "It was the SD8's expandability and the fact that it does so much more than the one I was using before that appealed to me. We can still expand the SD8 if we need to as it's nowhere near full and, because we were going to be doing a variety of different venues - theatres, arenas, concert halls - that was extremely important. It has proved the perfect choice."
Thriller Live features two SD8s, one at FOH and one at monitors. One has also recently been put in to the West End production of The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas.
(Jim Evans)
