MIDAS REIGNS AT T IN THE PARK
The only reigning being done at this year’s Scottish festival T in the Park was by Midas, as local rental company EFX Audio deployed their two Midas XL8 Live Performance Systems at front of house for the Radio 1/NME stage with two Heritage 3000s on monitors. Main stage headliners REM also brought in a pair of XL8s supplied by Rat Sound plus a Klark Teknik DN9696 hard disc recorder which they’ve been using for their European tour, making this a true XL8-fest. In addition, Britannia Row supplied the main stage with two H3000s for front of house and Kings of Leon brought in their own XL4.
“Any misgivings we felt about running a festival on digital consoles were lost after the first day,” says EFX systems tech Bill Laing, who worked with the XL8s alongside EFX’s Stevie Murray. “First time users found the consoles immediately familiar thanks to the traditional channel strip layout and easy channel access. Bands that already had show files were easily integrated into the show using the powerful and easy to use show editor.”
EFX’s XL8s were used by more than 90% of engineers working on the Radio 1/NME stage. The Chemical Brothers’ engineer Shan Hira was just one. “I wasn't a complete novice on the XL8 as I’d spent time at Midas putting together a starting point for the T in The Park show,” he says. “As a long time XL4 user it was nice that the desk felt like a Midas and the metering was the same.
“I found the desk quick to get around compared with other digital desks, and liked the fact that the panpots were always the panpots etc, so I didn't get lost in layers like on some digital desks. Even though it was my first gig on an XL8, I was pretty much able to do my normal show. Jason Kelly from Midas used the control centre’s Area B to work on some of the inputs’ hi pass filters and set up some additional VCAs for me during the show while I mixed the band, which was very useful. I would put the XL8 it straight in at number one as my choice of digital desk.”
EFX used the XL8’s AES50 network to its full potential throughout the weekend. Not only was the network used for the microphone inputs from stage, the audio was transmitted to the PA amps by connecting the loudspeaker controllers to the AES50 network. This meant that the entire system was distributed digitally, from mic input to amplifier input.
The various matrix outputs to the PA system were fed into the relevant loudspeaker processors at FOH. The outputs from these were fed back into the network and then additional DL451 I/O boxes on stage fed the amp racks. This made the whole system very flexible, quick and easy to set up. There was no need for long runs of copper multicores back to stage, improving the overall sound quality.
All inputs from stage were replicated on both XL8 systems at FOH, allowing the upcoming band’s engineer to use the current ‘live’ band’s input signals to dial in basic mic gains and settings. This also allowed them to play around with the dynamics, EQ and effects to get a feel for how the console sounded. Because each XL8 was fed from its own analogue mic preamp via the DL431 mic splitters, it allowed both engineers to work independently, even though they were seeing the same input signals.
BBC sound engineer Simon Askew was working in the BBC mobile at the festival, mixing TV and radio coverage using the transformer isolated splits from the front of the XL8’s DL431 stageboxes. “The splits sounded as transparent as I've ever heard, and not having to patch back and forth between two different systems, which is the case at most festival setups, was a first for me,” he says.
EFX was delighted with the performance of the XL8s at the festival. “We didn’t expect to walk away from the weekend feeling that after the setup the job was going to be as easy and familiar as it proved to be,” says Laing.
ENDS
All brands and trademarks are recognised.
Editors' information:
Midas live performance mixing consoles have been used by the world's most demanding sound engineers, performers and rental companies for three decades. The company strives to raise the standards of sonic quality through its programme of continual research and development, implementing new control functionality and user-friendly desk operation to anticipate and accommodate the ever-evolving needs of audio professionals who specify Midas consoles for their major tours, festivals, international events, broadcast projects and prestigious fixed installations.