GPA Hire is supplying its Funktion One Resolution Series system, comprising 10 mid-high cabinets a side, along with five under-hungs and downfills and up to 12 subwoofers - depending on the venue size - all powered by QSC PL2 and PL4 amplification. TC2290 delays and Lexicon PCM80 and PCM91 reverbs complete the hardware inventory.
Gary Young, mixing front-of-house on a Midas Heritage 3000, specified five DP324 SiDD dynamics processors for compression and dynamic EQ on the low end of the vocals and bass guitar. He comments: "We’re really just grabbing hold of stuff and sorting it out, which you can do easily with a SiDD because you have everything there in one unit, rather than just being a gate or a compressor. It’s really like a multi-effects device, which is why I like it. I’ve used SiDDs so long now that I don’t want to use anything else. And I can do so much with them because I really know how to play with them."
Clarity on stage has been aided by the decision to go for all-in-ear monitoring using Shure PMS600 and 700 wireless systems, with no wedge monitors to muddy the sound. Monitor engineer Howard Smart specified XTA Series 2 processing to help keep everything pristine, beginning with a G2 gate for the kick drum. He says: "I’ve tried other manufacturer’s gates, but the G2 is really controllable; you can get really fine increments out of it."
He’s also using XTA’s new C2 digital compressor, and says: "It’s a really nice compressor, and doesn’t detract from the audio quality in any way. I’m using two SiDDs across the two lead vocals with a little bit of side-chain compression as well as standard compression and limiting. I’m using the last SiDD for the Korg Kaoss pad - and the name says it all, it really is chaos. Lots of mad stuff comes out of that, so the level needs to be kept in a safe little pocket for the in-ears, otherwise people would be having their ears fried. And there’s a little bit of EQ going on, using the parametric on the front end."
(Lee Baldock)
