(09/05/2014) Mixing multiple wedges and in-ear mixes for a large band with a dynamic musical set requires a flexible console that can quickly be operated manually. For this reason, an SSL Live console is on the road with iconic Latin rocker Carlos Santana, whose perennial monitor engineer, Brian Montgomery, is using it to mix both stereo wedges for Carlos and IEMs for his band. Following last winter's residency at Mandalay Bay's House of Blues (HoB), Santana has been globetrotting, making stops at the Dubai Jazz Festival, Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, Cape Town's Grand Arena and the New Orleans Jazz Festival as part of its Corazon tour. Carlos and his crew will then join Rod Stewart for The Voice, The Guitar, The Songs tour this spring and summer.
Carlos is the winner of nine Grammy Awards the most for a single project for Supernatural, which revitalized his career, leading to the first Las Vegas Hard Rock residency and his ongoing HoB appearances each winter. An industry legend in his own right, Montgomery has mixed Santana's monitors for 16 years. I was an analogue guy for a long time, but, it got to where I'd actually outgrown most of the analogue consoles on the market, he explains. I was using a pair of competitor consoles to get 26 mixes, and I needed more space. When we went to Japan, the model I'd been using wasn't available, so we switched to another competitor, which I've used as my primary console for Santana ever since. That is, until the SSL Live came out. I'm an old school guy and I like that SSL has an additional focus channel screen, which gives me all of the control that I need, alongside the main screen. This setup lets me have multiple modes of accessibility to my work surface, which is key.
Montgomery was introduced to SSL Live by Rob Mailman, FOH for Santana and GM of Touring for Sound Image, which supplied the console. I'd been looking to switch consoles, so when Rob started telling me about the way SSL Live's control surface was laid out, I was extremely interested, explains Montgomery. Once I finally got to see the console, it drew me right in. I actually never heard the console before I decided to use it. I know what an SSL sounds like in the studio; they're sonically incredible. For me, it's mostly about design, use, accessibility and how I could lay the desk out for what I need to do. I don't have any static mixes with the band, every song is different, so there's never quite the same setup each night. I have to have a console that I can get around on very rapidly.
With eight stereo wedge mixes across the front of the stage, Montgomery has them set as post-fade mixes that are tapered, so when Carlos is near somebody, the sound is turned down a little to give him an even mix across the stage. With this setup, Carlos can go anywhere and still hear what he wants or move away from sounds that he's not interested in hearing.
I've always liked to have Carlos' setup accessible through post-fade on my surface so that I can do anything for him at any point in time, even if I'm messing around with the mix for somebody else in the band, continues Montgomery. Most of the band members are on in-ear monitors, so I need the versatility to mix Carlos while I'm changing the IEM feed for another band member. With many other digital consoles, that's difficult to do because you have to stop what you're doing for one performer to do something for another. With the SSL Live, I don't have to do that. I tap the screen for the mix and I can change something for someone else rapidly without popping through four different layers.
Montgomery first used SSL Live at HoB Las Vegas during a sound check. I did a line check with the backline members and I started to notice how sonically I didn't need to EQ as much, he says. The preamps sound very nice, very natural, no additional high-end, no tin that I often hear out of other digital consoles, very warm and very forgiving. With our current set, which is very loud, I might get plenty of input gain as well as a lot of output. All in all, with the SSL Live, I don't have to EQ vocal mics to avoid feedback. It gives me a good natural sound and, regardless of the mic placements, I don't have drastic EQ changes on the instruments.
After Montgomery started using the SSL Live, every band member was impressed with its quality. They all came to me and said it sounds brilliant, he concludes. It was something that kind of threw them because it was very natural sounding. Over the years, a lot of them have gotten used to something that was a little brighter or a little thin sounding. No matter what you did to the midrange, you had that digital imperfection. Now that I've switched to SSL Live, all of the musicians have come to me and said that sonically they're very pleased with how it sounds. With a lot of my ear mixes, I don't have to drive the units as hard. The musicians actually have to turn their packs down and I don't have to send as much signal.
Solid State Logic is a world leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals.
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
30/04/2024
CAMPBELL, Calif. Streaming media company Plex and T-Mobile will work together to expand T-Mobile's connected TV (CTV) inventory and advance the connection b...
30/04/2024
SAN JOSE, Calif. & BELLEVUE, Wash. Roku, Inc. has announced an expanded measurement partnership with iSpot.tv, the cross-platform TV measurement company....
30/04/2024
NEW YORK As Paramount Global wrestled with management turmoil and ongoing negotiations for a proposed merger with Skydance, the company managed to report improv...
30/04/2024
Cobalt Digital Receives Trifecta of Awards at NAB 2024
Company adds two 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year awards and one Best of Show from TV Tech to long list...
30/04/2024
arkona technologies GmbH, provider of IP core infrastructure solutions for top-tier broadcast productions, has announced that its BLADE//runner IP Audio Engine ...
30/04/2024
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, announced today that it has joined the glob...
30/04/2024
The first norm conform sustainability service dedicated to the needs of the events industry
Easy-to-use, intuitive platform for venues, event organisers and su...
30/04/2024
Dejero GateWay enables Stream7 to create independent internet connectivity at any venue or location, including UK teaching hospital for live streaming of surgic...
30/04/2024
Excitement is building as farmerswife, a leading software provider for resource scheduling, project management, and team collaboration in the media industry, ha...
30/04/2024
XL8, a leading deep-tech startup specializing in AI-powered machine translation technology, proudly announces the successful completion of a System and Organiza...
30/04/2024
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced that it will exhibit at CABSAT, which takes place this year from 21-23 May 2024 at the...
30/04/2024
MRMC Debuts Cinebot Max Camera Robot at NAB 2024
Brie Clayton April 30, 2024
0 Comments
Expands its range of live-action, motion-control camera robots...
30/04/2024
Next Jazz Legacy Announces 2024 Cohort of Women and Nonbinary Awardees The program was created by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender J...
30/04/2024
European telecom satellite company SES announced today that it is acquiring rival Intelsat for $3.1 billion. The deal, unanimously approved by both companies...
30/04/2024
Bob Bakish, chief executive of Paramount stepped down on Monday, effective immediately. Bakish, who was a staunch ally of Shari Redstone, controlling shareholde...
30/04/2024
Hotspring said the breakthrough had been achieved through the acceleration of machine learning technology
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 30, 2024
Ho...
30/04/2024
Speaking about the deal, Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of SES, said: it will bring value-added, efficient, and reliable offerings for both companies media customers
By Je...
30/04/2024
Paramount said the Office of the CEO is working with its board to develop a comp...
30/04/2024
LOUISVILLE, Ky. In another sign that broadcasters are finally using NextGen TV broadcasts to offer viewers new features instead of simply simulcasting existing ...
30/04/2024
OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame will induct Blaise Labbe, a group news director for Sinclair Broadcast Group, May 2 at the 54th Anniversary I...
30/04/2024
ATLANTA and ENGLEWOOD, Colo. Cox Media Group and Dish have ended a dispute over retransmission fees that lasted nearly a year and a half with a new multi-year ...
30/04/2024
Video transport solution provider LTN has announced that it is working with TelevisaUnivision to help the Spanish-language media giant migrate to IP-based video...
30/04/2024
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has released details about how it played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 by NBC K...
30/04/2024
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company is adding Seth Walters to its sales leadership team as head of CTV sales, effective April 29....
30/04/2024
The force was strong at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday night, April 27, 2024, as the night netted the ballpark's first official sellout crowd of...
30/04/2024
Revry, a network celebrating queer culture. said its second annual NewFront presentation will be a cabaret-type spectacle showcasing the spirit of the LGBTQ+ co...
30/04/2024
Family Entertainment Television (FETV) said that the Western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp will be joining the network's afternoon lineup startin...
30/04/2024
Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Paramount Global, will depart the company as Paramount explores a merger, according to numerous published reports. The reports ...
30/04/2024
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 29 April 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soa...
30/04/2024
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lewatle witnesses an explosive fight between Sthoko and B...
30/04/2024
RT News is pleased to announce the appointment of David Murphy as its new Economics & Public Affairs Correspondent. David is currently RT 's Political Cove...
30/04/2024
Concerts in Limerick, Dublin, Carlow and Cork, including Marty in the Evening, Morricone and May the Fourth Be With You, celebrating the remarkable decade of th...
30/04/2024
Value accretive transaction underpinned by 2.4 billion (NPV) of readily executable synergies.
Creating a stronger multi-orbit operator with 60% of revenue in...
30/04/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Order intake: 5.0 billion, up 47% ( 46% on an organic basis1 )
Sales: 4.4 billion, up 9.8% ( 7.9% on an organic basis)
All f...
29/04/2024
(L-R) Mark Gatiss and Polly Walker on set
Monday 29 April 2024 Further casting is now confirmed for Bookish (6x70), a brand-new drama created by Emmy Award-wi...
29/04/2024
A groundbreaking initiative offering training and mentoring to 30 women journali...
29/04/2024
Even though we've been doing this for over 40 years, a spark of excitement r...
29/04/2024
L3Harris is delivering manpack radios to U.S. Army CH-47 Chinooks as part of the Air-to-Ground Networking Radio program, providing seamless, resilient communica...
29/04/2024
He writes in Defense One: Despite the near-universal acknowledgement throughout the U.S. government and defense industrial base of the criticality of resilient ...
29/04/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/04/2024
Codemill aims to revolutionize media workflow efficiency at this years NAB Show by introducing Just-In-Time (JIT) playback technology in Accurate.Video Validate...
29/04/2024
April 29, 2024
-- TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for New...
29/04/2024
LOS ANGELES Allen Media Group (AMG) has partnered with LG Electronics to bring 223 Local Now FAST channels to LG's free streaming service, LG Channels, avai...
29/04/2024
OTTAWA Ross Video has announced the introduction of Raiden, a data-driven weather graphics software that combines data gathering, processing, and visualization ...
29/04/2024
Panalux, a leading rental provider of lighting and power solutions for the motion-picture industry and part of Panavision's end-to-end service offerings for...
29/04/2024
Cobalt Iron Inc., a leading provider of SaaS-based enterprise data protection, today announced that it has received a patent on its technology for dynamic autho...
29/04/2024
SDVI, the leading platform provider for cloud-native media supply chains, today announced that Rally Access Workstation, a fully managed solution for editing in...
(09/05/2014) Mixing multiple wedges and in-ear mixes for a large band with a dynamic musical set requires a flexible console that can quickly be operated manually. For this reason, an SSL Live console is on the road with iconic Latin rocker Carlos Santana, whose perennial monitor engineer, Brian Montgomery, is using it to mix both stereo wedges for Carlos and IEMs for his band. Following last winter's residency at Mandalay Bay's House of Blues (HoB), Santana has been globetrotting, making stops at the Dubai Jazz Festival, Johannesburg's FNB Stadium, Cape Town's Grand Arena and the New Orleans Jazz Festival as part of its Corazon tour. Carlos and his crew will then join Rod Stewart for The Voice, The Guitar, The Songs tour this spring and summer.
