My thoughts this week have been very much to do with the financial pressures of touring. I start a long European and UK tour soon and planning for it has been taking place over the last few months. Working for a large arena sized acts, most people would presume that budgets are huge. And indeed they are – but the audio slice is small and has to be fought over constantly. My problems are the same as any tour. What do I need to take? Can it be reduced and how expensive will it to be to transport it?
On this tour I will be taking out a combination of old and new. As a main speaker I am using L’Acoustics V’dosc with D&B B2 subs. Both these cabinets have been around for over 20 years. I will also have the newer D&B Infra subs and the J system cabinets for side hangs and delays. My choice is practical and personal. I love the sound of V’dosc and the B2 is still my favourite all-round sub. Combined with the mighty 3 x 21” driver Infra it should be a mammoth wall of sound. Being older cabinets the rental price is not that great but they are large so trucking becomes a minor issue. I did look long and hard at other systems but have gone for a well-tried set up.
We are taking just enough equipment for the dates, but even so, we are still filling one and a half of the total 5 trucks budgeted for. But it will be worth it by giving every paying guest a good blast of thumpunderous sound.
We have an all-digital control system once the signal leaves my ancient Midas XL3 mixing desk and this time we have switched to a Meyer Callisto for system control. Part of the reason for this is the AD converters sound good but also they have iPad control – enabling me to get a system overview at the desk via an iPad mini.
Hopefully it will all work and the marriage of old and new technologies will work well. I will let the audiences judge!
If you come along please drop over and say hello and let me know. See you all on the road soon!
