"I'd been terribly impressed with how the XL8 was used out in Oslo, and this was an ideal opportunity to get it onto one of my shows," he says. "When I started on the Brits in 1993, it would take around six consoles to run a live show like this, with short changeovers, almost all of which were Midas XL4s and Heritage 3000s. With the introduction of digital consoles, the benefits were huge in terms of space saved and ability to recall what the bands had played in rehearsals, but the thing that people would comment on was the sound quality.
"For me, the sound through the XL8 was almost indistinguishable from the best analogue performance I have heard. Sound-wise, it really has something else to offer. And from an operators' point of view, the use of the POPulation Groups, around which concept the operation of the console is really based, makes setting up and accessing everything very quick.
"As a result of using the XL8 on the Brits I'm now determined to use that console on other projects."
The XL8, supplied by Britannia Row, handled a quick-changing succession of artists including Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine, Dizzee Rascal, Robbie Williams and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. Only two artists' engineers brought their own consoles, one being Robbie McGrath, who chooses to mix Kasabian on a Midas Heritage 3000.
Britannia Row system tech Josh Lloyd, who also mixed some of the artists including Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' brilliant performance, became extremely familiar with the XL8 during Oasis' final world tour. "For a show like this it offers us absolute flexibility, which is what we need, he says. "There were two main reasons for using an XL8 on the 2010 Brits. Firstly, we need a board that engineers can get around quickly and the XL8 is very analogue in its operation. It's easy for people to understand, even those who aren't familiar with it.
"Secondly, it's fantastically quick for patching: you can change virtually every single setting on the console. It's scene specific so there's no need to load in new sessions, you can have multiple patches changing from scene to scene. In addition, the Area B section of the console allows me to operate it while another engineer is mixing. The basics, things like gains and compressor thresholds, are right in front of them. The POPulation groups make everything incredibly accessible and are a feature which people get their head around very quickly, as opposed to other boards which are based on layers, where people can be unsure where they've put something.
"On top of that there's the bus structure; you can change from sub groups to auxiliaries from scene to scene, allowing you to change the setup of the board specific to a band. Finally, we were also able to use a whole variety of onboard effects from band to band."
(Lee Baldock)
