Since that Invisible Invasion tour, Marshall has remained the band's first choice, taking Adlib Audio's production across Europe - punctuated by stints in the US and Japan.
But it was the less likely location of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London this summer during the iTunes Festival that provided his first opportunity to mix on the Soundcraft Vi6.
"I had already seen Dave Kay using it at FOH on the Scissor Sisters tour, where it was also used as a recording console," he reports. "I really enjoyed using the desk at the ICA but it wasn't until the latest full production tour (to promote the band's fifth album Roots And Echoes) that I could really get my hands on it properly."
Tom Marshall has been mixing sound for 13 years, the first decade working in West End theatres before moving into live concert touring with PJ Harvey and then The Coral. He has gained wide experience of digital consoles from the early days of the idiom. "I have always been keen to try different desks and get my head around the different operating systems," he says. "I have always loved the Lexicon reverbs especially the PCM 91 so to have eight Lexicon FX engines built into the desk is great."
In deference to his background, the sound engineer tends to mix gigs in a theatre style, creating a snapshot for each song. "Within a snapshot I will change levels, FX, routing and panning. With the Vi6 it has been very easy storing, loading and saving to USB."
Soundcraft's Vi6 has enabled Marshall to emulate the "old style sound" which The Coral favour, but at the same time make it exciting for a modern audiences.
(Jim Evans)
