HOLLYWOOD, California - November 2014 -- The Hollywood Bowl purchased a pair of DiGiCo SD7 digital mixing consoles one for front-of-house, one for monitors for its busy 2014 summer series of concerts, which came to a close in late September, enabling production staff to upgrade the operation of the installed PA system to 96 kHz resolution. This year's 15-week summer series, anchored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, featured performances by major artists from all genres of music, including Gloria Estefan, Yo-Yo Ma, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, Robyn, Steve Martin and a host of others.
The iconic 18,000-seat Hollywood Bowl may have been named Pollstar's best major outdoor concert venue for an unprecedented tenth consecutive year in early 2014, but the team behind its audio technology is not content to rest on its laurels. According to Paul Geller, production director at the Hollywood Bowl for more than three decades, the PA system sounded great at 48 kHz. But when you hear it at 96k, there are certain subtle differences that you pick up, such as the dynamic range of the highs and lows. It also produces a very natural acoustic sound. It's a great marriage between the DiGiCo console and the L-ACOUSTICS loudspeaker system.
The Hollywood Bowl's core audio team includes Fred Vogler, principal sound designer and mixer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which, along with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, makes its summer home at the venue; Michael Shep Sheppard, head of audio/video; and Kevin Wapner, assistant audio/video and monitor mixer.
Vogler reports that the DiGiCo desks can comfortably handle even the largest productions. We're at 96k with 160-something inputs and it still sounds as pristine as with two channels. I think that a big part of the resolution we're getting is the front end of that console. It's got a lot of high quality mic pres, signal paths and processing. It's wonderful to have that kind of front end and feed it out of an L-ACOUSTICS speaker system on the back end.
Vogler addresses the zoned speaker system via the SD7's matrix outputs, separately feeding the main left/right hangs, including flown subwoofers, down fill and front fill speakers, subs and mid-high boxes on the deck, plus various audience fill speakers. On the input side, says Vogler, he typically creates groups. I'll have a string group, woodwinds, percussion, horns or brass, lead vocals or solo instrument group, a band group and an effects group. I like the conductor or the notes on the page to do the balancing. It doesn't mean that my mix is static, but I don't get too heavy-handed with moving things up or down.
The booth at front of house is well equipped with several different outboard high-end reverb systems, but Vogler also makes use of the many DiGiCo effects processers. I use the tap delays and some of the onboard reverbs, he reports. The Hollywood Bowl shell interacts with instruments on the stage, so for orchestral performances, only a sparing amount of reverb is required, he says. I'll pick one based on the piece of music or the need of a particular instrument.
There is one DiGiCo feature that Vogler favors on vocals, the DiGiTuBe, he says: I really like the tube emulation; I like the warmth that it adds, especially if you have a vocalist that's a little on the harder sounding side, or someone who tends to scream more. It definitely rounds out that impact and makes it a little warmer and more engaging.
He continues, I also love the Dynamic EQ, where you can take a frequency band and put it into a compressor and apply it to every channel. You don't have to take all the frequencies; you can just compress a band of frequencies. That's a very handy feature.
The two SD7s are on a single Optocore loop, with all of the DiGiCo DSP located on stage. If I can't see a conductor well and I need specific cues, I put the conductor cam on the console's meterbridge screen. If I'm really bored I'll put the monitor mixer on there! laughs Vogler.
The venue's summer series is non-stop, featuring almost daily concerts by the LA Phil, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, numerous guest performers and lease events that is, concerts organized by third party promoters. Because we're doing one-offs we get one rehearsal, so there's not a lot of time to fool around, says Vogler. We have several console templates that Shep has organized: orchestra, orchestra loud, jazz and rock. We have the basic EQs and onboard as well as external processing figured out for each particular type of presentation or program. Mike puts those together, labels the boards and organizes the session templates.
The SD7 offers so much power and so many features that Vogler is still getting to grips with every facet of its operation. It's a very sophisticated board. I have a lot of flexibility in the way I can assign things or move things. I always chuckle when people ask me if I know what all the knobs and buttons do. I have to tell, them, no, but I'm working on it. I like the fact that I don't know what every knob and button does. I'm still learning new things to do with it. It keeps me on my toes; I'm not bored using it. We've been very happy with it and I'm eager to learn more.
DiGiCo Press Contacts
David Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: webby@DiGiConsoles.com
Chris Shuler at Public Address
Tel: +1 269 815 5055
Email: christophershuler@comcast.net
Related images:
1) DiGiCo_Hollywood_Bowl_crew.jpg The Hollywood Bowl audio crew (left to right) at the FOH DiGiCo SD7 desk: Kevin Wapner, audio/video assistant and monitor mixer; Michael Shep Sheppard, head of audio/video; Fred Vogler, principal sound designer and mixer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Paul Geller, production d
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
HOLLYWOOD, California - November 2014 -- The Hollywood Bowl purchased a pair of DiGiCo SD7 digital mixing consoles one for front-of-house, one for monitors for its busy 2014 summer series of concerts, which came to a close in late September, enabling production staff to upgrade the operation of the installed PA system to 96 kHz resolution. This year's 15-week summer series, anchored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, featured performances by major artists from all genres of music, including Gloria Estefan, Yo-Yo Ma, Elvis Costello, Herbie Hancock, Robyn, Steve Martin and a host of others.
