"On the one hand, we needed a small system which wouldn't intrude visually on the production design," says Sound Linear's Kalle Hogrefe. "However, on the other hand, the tour demanded an arena-sized system because of the distances involved in the larger venues. By using the M46 main cabinets and flying some S118 subs on top, we were able to fulfill both criteria perfectly. Any other system which could do that would have had a much larger footprint."
The tour also proved STM's compatibility with other NEXO models, with GEO S12s used as side-fill and out-fill, and PS10s for near-fill. "They sound really good together," continues Hogrefe, a Nexo user since Sound Linear first purchased an Alpha system in 1993.
James Last's front-of-house engineer Paddi Addison was experiencing STM for the first time. "I really enjoyed it and preferred it to the system we've used on the past few tours," he says. "It performed well in all the different types and sizes of venue on the tour. There was a high degree of consistency between venues, which made it very easy to mix on. And using it in combination with Nexo Geo S12s as out-fills worked well for the wider venues."
Addison found the system suited the style of music he was mixing. "James Last is a mixture of easy listening, classical and pop, and the STM system worked very well for this," he says. "James Last audiences demand high fidelity at low volume levels and it can be hard to get a tight, punchy sound under those constraints, especially at the low end of the frequency spectrum. I especially enjoyed the S118 sub modules for this reason. This was the best low end sound the James Last Orchestra has ever had, without a doubt."
(Jim Evans)
