Heading the list of sound sources is a nine-piece band including four keyboards, two guitarists, bass, drums and percussion, 30 Sennheiser radio and hand-held microphones and DPA boom mics. A wide range of sound effects runs on Akai S6000 samplers and DR16 Pro digital recorders, accompanied by a battery of signal effects, particularly delays and reverbs for the surround sound sends. There are also off-stage vocal booths for backing vocals. The system, supplied by Autograph, features a main proscenium PA with the stalls covered by five L Acoustics V-dosc a side, each stack under-hung with a pair of DV-dosc cabinets for near fills. In the centre is a downfill cluster of 10 DV-dosc. Another pair of five DV-dosc hangs covers the circle, and the main system is complemented by a serious quantity of sub bass: eight L Acoustics SB218 cabinets and four d&b B2s. The surround sound system, front fills and foldback are all d&b E3s, with d&b C6s as stage sidefills and Lab Gruppen and d&b amplification throughout.
XTA Electronics’ role in the system is twofold: digital loudspeaker processing and some exotic and imaginative applications of the DP324 SiDD digital dynamics processor on vocals. DP226 processors are used throughout the system for equalisation and time alignment, while DP200s are inserted across a number of vocal groups, adding a few milliseconds of additional input delay as cast members walk upstage. The SiDD (Seriously Intelligent Digital Dynamics) processors perform specific vocal effects. Bobby Aitken takes up the story: "We have eight principal performers, so we’re using four dual-channel SiDDs across their voices. We use them for specific singers to introduce a little touch of third-band harmonic distortion, which is a very useful effect on some numbers, warming up the sound a little. There’s also the provision to include double tracking, which we use on a couple of voices on two numbers, and that’s recalled via the Cadac SAM management software. We have another pair, which are used as effects: a couple of policemen abseil down onto the stage at one point and speak through megaphones. We use SiDD’s digital EQ to narrow the vocal bandwidth, which, along with the double tracking effect, works very well. The SiDDs are very versatile and it’s well worth having them in the system. All the XTA units were set up using AudioCore software on a laptop via a wireless LAN."
In charge of it all is a Cadac J Type fitted with mostly programmable channels and motorised faders. A 48-input Midas Heritage 3000 serves on monitors, and feeds five mixes to a 16-channel Masque PitMix hardwired headphone monitor system, allowing the band to select their own personal monitor mixes.
Although the show doesn’t run to timecode, there are five parts in which code runs from a DR16 to allow video sequences to chase the song, and on a few occasions clicktrack allows the band to lock to the video. Aitken adds: "Queen’s singles have very much the sound of a four-piece band but overlaid with lots of effects such as backwards guitars, delays and reverb. We went back to Queen’s multitracks and sampled a lot of those effects and layers, and we spin them into the surround system from the S6000s. We also use Freddie Mercury’s voice a couple of times in the show, again going back
