Starting in March, the tour has already visited Europe and is currently in the midst of 16 UK and Ireland dates before heading off for a mammoth 60 shows in Australia. It will then come back to Europe, the UK and Ireland for a second round of gigs - with the PM1D at every one.
The PM1D was the first digital console that Horst learned and it remains his favourite. "When I made the transition from using analogue consoles, I had all the usual doubts," he says. "So I approached Yamaha for some training and I found the transition very straightforward. I like the fact that it has enough physical controls, you're not having to scroll through endless menu screens because you've got 200 channels but only 16 faders."
Backing Pink on the Funhouse tour is an eight piece band (drums, guitar, bass, violin, two keyboard players and two backing vocalists) plus a troupe of dancers. On top of that there is both the main stage and a B stage in the middle of the audience, with an ego ramp linking the two. So it's a complex monitor setup.
"Pink is using both wedges and in-ears because she prefers to only have one ear in, although I do her mix in stereo and put it on the matrix in mono, That way if, one day, she decides she wants to use both in-ears then it's all ready," says Horst.
"There are eight wedges for Pink on the main stage and more on the B stage, plus side-fills for the dancers. It's a very dynamic show and I have separate mixes in her in-ears and the wedges, I have to ride the faders for her mix throughout the show. The rest of the musicians have stereo in-ear mixes. I have to make occasional changes for them, but they're not that drastic."
The size of the elaborate set also means that Horst and all the backline techs are located offstage, which could mean communication problems. This is prevented by the techs also all being on in-ears, with Horst running a communication network via the PM1D.
"The tour has been going fantastically well. Everything is working well, the vast majority of the dates are sold out," says Horst. "The performers are all very easy to work with, they're completely professional and know exactly what they want. Together with using the PM1D, it makes my job very straightforward."
(Jim Evans)
