(27/08/2014) Montreux Jazz Festival takes place annually on the glorious setting of Lake Geneva. It has played host to the whos who of music since its inception, almost half-a-century ago, with acts as eclectic as Miles Davis and Marcus Miller, to Alicia Keys and, this year, Pharrell Williams, and they always come back for more! DiGiCo consoles a key component across the Festival's audio system, with Pharrell also bringing in his own SD7.
This is year 48 for Montreux, and be it on the modest, yet ultra-cool outdoor Music in the Park stage; the 1,800-capacity Music Club (formerly the Miles Davis Hall); or the quite majestic Stravinsky Auditorium, where Montreux debutant, Pharrell Williams, had the crowd begging for more during week one, DiGiCo is always in control.
In fact, all the leading DiGiCo models are in play, from the flagship SD7, which holds fort in the Stravinsky, to the ultra-compact SD11, which sits in the same venue providing talkback, alongside the house SD5 in monitor world. Furthermore, SD8s, SD10s, and SD9s all have their part to play, in the Jazz Lab, the Jazz Club, the Rock Cave, and Montreux Palace.
My relationship with DiGiCo has always been strong, not only because of the quality of product, but because of the personal service we always get from their team, says sound coordinator at Montreux, David Weber. Incidentally, Weber made his Montreux debut the same year as DiGiCo, in 2009. I was brought in here as they needed someone who wasnt going to be heavily involved with the business side of Montreux just the music; they needed someone that was into the festival, and would concentrate solely on the audio. So, I specified in DiGiCo consoles, Meyer Sound loudspeakers, and Shure microphones, which together is a fantastic mix. DiGiCo is on all of the stages here at Montreux; its the perfect solution, and the reliability has been superb, weve had no issues at all. In fact, I like the consoles that much Ive even bought my own SD9! Its on one of the festival stages at the moment, and when weve wrapped the event up, its coming home with me!
Its not just Weber that thinks like this. Pharrells FOH and monitor pairing, Kyle Hamilton and Jeremy Peters, are adamant that they could not deliver their show accurately using anything other than DiGiCo kit and brought in their own pair of SD7s for Montreux.
Its about finding a consistency with Pharrell and using the SD7s, were able to do that, reveals Hamilton, adding that the effects inside the desk are of the highest order. Pharrells vocal chain just hits an Avalon 737 compressor, then heads straight into the console, where I do my EQing, effects, and compression. Because the preamps and processing are great on the SD7, thats really all I need to do, which suits me, as less is more is always my preferred approach.
Peters has a similar theory, and cites the SD7 as the perfect tool for his job at stage left.
What I really like is the versatility of the DiGiCo, he explains. The SD7 gives me the luxury of quality dynamic processing and multiband compression, so I have no need for much else just some cool Waves plugins to give a little extra colour to the sound.
Both engineers are also benefitting from using DiGiGrid at Montreux, which has been transforming their workflow.
What we did on this gig was a lot of fun, and also amazing, smiles Peters. Kyle and I used the DiGiGrid MGB and both multitracked every song every day, so that when the band leaves, we can come back and make any changes we need to to the mix. Since Pharrell is so serious about the record, we took the live elements and the non-live elements, and did an A-B test with the record, and made them perfect. So when Pharrell hears Kyles FOH mix, its the record, but with a live feel. It helps us create the perfect sound.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
(27/08/2014) Montreux Jazz Festival takes place annually on the glorious setting of Lake Geneva. It has played host to the whos who of music since its inception, almost half-a-century ago, with acts as eclectic as Miles Davis and Marcus Miller, to Alicia Keys and, this year, Pharrell Williams, and they always come back for more! DiGiCo consoles a key component across the Festival's audio system, with Pharrell also bringing in his own SD7.
