Although Martin Walker has been Judas Priest's sound engineer over a long period this will be Major Tom's first outing with the veteran band. "Martin is Yamaha through and through and wanted to move into the digital domain," reports Chris. "As far as I was concerned there was no alternative to buying the RH version of the desk - there is no point having a digital desk if you are not going to have the Recall facility. Also, with some theatre shows on the tour, Martin wanted a desk with a tidy footprint, which the PM5D certainly offers."
Walker responded: "I finally took the jump into the digital world after using the PM5000 last year; the new Yamaha head amps on that are fantastic and when I learned the PM5D had the same amps it finally convinced me that I would have something to work with." He continued: "Being a 'meat-and-two-veg' engineer I was a little daunted by the thought of moving into the digital domain, but I have been amazed at how easy the operating system is to pick up - I feel that by the end of this run of shows I will feel comfortable enough with the desk to be able to give lessons!"
Working behind the second PM5D on stage is monitor engineer, Kevin 'Tater' McCarthy.
Marquee has also announced the sale of a new Yamaha PM5D console to top London rental company, Canegreen. Already used on the Radio 2 Folk Awards and the advertising industry's annual NABS charity event, the PM5D is now heading out across the UK on tour with Michael McDonald after which it travels to South America with Placebo. According to Canegreen's Pete Hughes, this is exactly the work profile that this dainty 48-channel mixer is best suited for: "Marquee Audio has already supplied us with two Yamaha PM1Ds, which are all-singing, all-dancing mixers but fairly bulky nevertheless. The compact footprint of the PM5D is much more conducive to awards ceremonies and small tours, and, because it's a stand-alone model, it slots easily into any analogue system, which gives us great flexibility.
(Lee Baldock)
