Quantum shift for Andrea Bocelli’s engineers
- Details
With an average of 45 concerts a year, the renowned tenor maintains a busy touring schedule. Reportedly the biggest selling solo classical artist of all time with 85m worldwide album sales, Bocelli sustains an ongoing tour programme for his legions of international fans, selling out arenas across the globe.
“My colleague Francesco and I started working with Bocelli in September 2006,” comments senior FOH engineer, Andrea Taglia. “We started with a DiGiCo D5, but digital technology was still in its infancy, and we moved back to analogue when Bocelli decided to hire local orchestras and choirs, as, at the time, analogue desks were faster and more familiar to set up on a channel-by-channel basis than digital.
“However, it was not long before digital technology was advancing rapidly and the SD7 became our mixer of choice. By this stage, the number of channels on the production was too large for analogue to manage. Thanks to DiGiCo’s Italian distributor, Audio Link, the transition was effortless.”
The latest world tour series called Believe showcases songs from Bocelli’s latest album ‘Si’ as well as a wide repertoire from across his 15 studio albums. The show format comprises a classical program of his most well-known operatic arias during the first part, with the second part containing his most popular hits. Supporting Bocelli are soprano and pop special guest vocalists including his son, Matteo, additional instrumental soloists, and a supporting pop band. They are accompanied by a full orchestra and choir, often some of the world’s finest orchestras, resulting in an input list totalling 116 channels.
The decision to upgrade the system came during planning for an autumn tour of the UK. Working with rental house, Britannia Row Productions, the team specified two of DiGiCo’s flagship Quantum touring systems, comprising two mirrored Quantum 7 consoles, plus accompanying SD Racks, all connected on a fibre optic loop.
The two engineers divide mixing duties, with FOH engineer, Francesco La Camera, mixing the orchestra on one Quantum 7, whilst Taglia manages all other FOH requirements from the second Quantum 7, comprising the pop band, solo artists and instrumentalists, choir, Pro Tools tracks and additional services, such as audio from video footage and playback music, as well as stage monitoring.
