Having recorded the album A Different Hat with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Carrack squeezed the entire orchestra into the Royal College of Music's 400-capacity Britten Theatre for the sold-out concerts. Playing such intimate shows meant that space was at a premium, so a pair of Yamaha M7CL-48ES consoles was employed for mixing front of house and monitor sound.
"Because of the way we work, we like to carry our own audio system with us," says Carrack. "Previously we had an all-analogue rig, but we were so tight for space at the Britten Theatre that we hired in the M7CLs. And they were fantastic."
Recorded for DVD release using a Yamaha 02R96VCM digital console, the experience of the shows was so positive that Carrack was more than happy to invest in Yamaha digital mixers.
"Apart from the size, which is obviously important in small venues, I really like the sound of the M7CL," he says. "I've been using in-ear monitors for 10-15 years and I love working with them, but it's not like with wedges, when you can find a sweet spot on stage. The in-ear mix needs to be right, it should sound like you're in a recording studio.
"A great thing with the M7CL is that you can store all the settings and instantly change the monitor mixes from song to song, if you want to. Of course, when we play overseas and don't take our own consoles, we've got all the settings stored on a USB stick. We pick up M7CLs locally and we're set to go."
Another Yamaha innovation that Paul is very keen on is the StageMix iPad app. "StageMixis a brilliant innovation, it's fantastic for soundchecks and means I can setup my own mix onstage," he says. "It also allows our monitor engineer to set up mixes without having to stand behind the desk, it's a great little tool.
(Jim Evans)
