SSE's then project manager Rob Hughes - now working for Midas and Klark Teknik's UK distributor Shuttlesound - won the contract to supply the PA and crew for the three shows at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, Manchester Apollo and London Collisium respectively.
Having previously worked with the show's producer Tim Pottier. Hughes had no hesitation in spec'ing the XL8. "Its large channel count, ease of navigation to channels via the VCA and POP groups and high quality audio was such an important factor for such a large show," he says. "I also arranged to use the KT DN9696 to record the show for later broadcast by Sony TV."
This was the first time mix engineer and orchestral specialist Huw Richards had mixed a show on an XL8. He says: "The Indian extravaganza was challenging, there were to be absolutely no rehearsals and no music to reference at all, and the first show in Birmingham Symphony Hall was my introduction to the whole project.
"The XL8's POP groups and VCAs saved the day. I realised that speed was of the essence, and when using XL8 you don't have to look through layers to find your mix, you summon the mix and it comes to you. The XL8 sounds fantastic as one would expect, and I look forward to using it again."
(Jim Evans)
