DiGiCo SD8 - Mixing In A Beautiful Light Posted: March 2013 | For Immediate Release
After playing festivals last summer, multi award-winning Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald has spent February and March on a European tour to promote her latest album Life In A Beautiful Light. Front of House engineer Fabrizio Piazzini is mixing the shows on a DiGiCo SD8.
Fabrizio is a long-term DiGiCo user, having started on the D1, not long after the company was founded. DiGiCo consoles are my favourites, he says. They go to places where other consoles don't. The automation is so in-depth and so easily editable that I can edit it during the show. Even at a really busy gig, I can still do really geeky things and make sure they work. It's very simple to do.
Fabrizio's choice of the SD8 has been based on a number of factors, all of which he believes the SD8 excels at.
I love the SD8 for many reasons. Firstly it is a very clear, crisp, natural sounding console - the preamps are very clean and it doesn't colour the sound at all. It's also a very sexy surface - it just feels right', he says. The multi input channels and the dynamic EQ that you can dial in as and where you want are great. I also like the fact that it's all on MADI, which makes it very fast and easy to do virtual soundchecks. Literally one button click allows me to tune the room with the show file, rather than with some well recorded music from the 1970s or whatever.
The SD8 uses 53 inputs on the shows, which Fabrizio is outputting to a basic left/right mix. While Macdonald's guitar and vocals are the obvious focus, he also has to bring out the dynamics of her album recordings, which means he has to stay on his toes.
I want people to see and hear Amy, but without her being overpowering, he says. The production on the albums is very clever, there are lots of little melodies coming from different instruments - one second the piano has a really interesting melody, the next second the bass does a cool line, then a Hammond organ comes in, then a guitarit's very dynamic. I have a Snapshot per song, but I am riding the faders throughout the show.
The shows includes an acoustic interlude, for which Fabrizio has found the Set Spill feature - in the SD8's latest Overdrive 2 software - exceptionally useful. Set Spill is a great feature. For the acoustic segment, I can dial up all the faders of the channels being used in those four songs, rather than having the whole lot, so I can re-populate the surface as I want it, he notes.
Another feature he is a big fan of is the Waves SoundGrid integration, which he uses extensively. I do the drum bussing and compressing using the Waves SSL G-Master Buss compressor, the phase plug-in for the kick and snare and multi-band Waves TransX modulation for the toms, which keeps them prominent without being too loud, he says. The Abbey Road REDD Consoles plug-in gives the bass a huge sound, which is amazing, and I also use transit modulation on the acoustic guitar. For the vocal I use the C6 multi-band compressor and the Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter.
These are all tools which I could not afford to take the hardware versions of on tour, but with the Waves integration I can, he continues. Being able to use effects out on tour that everyone knows in the studio is fantastic. It's just a matter of choosing what tools I need for that day, loading the file and I'm done. And access to all of them is on the console's surface.
Waves with DiGiCo perfectly complements the consoles, because the whole chain is super high quality. DiGiCo consoles sound good and the Waves plugins make a show sound better. The combination is of a really, really high standard and has revolutionised the way I work on tour.
Press Contacts:
David Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email:webby@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digico.org
Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1372 471472
Email: info@gasolinemedia.com
Web: www.gasolinemedia.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sarah_gasoline
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
14/11/2026
Longtime MLB Network employee David Maybrown passed away Thursday at the age of 57. David joined MLB Network in 2009 shortly after its launch, beginning as an i...
14/11/2026
Modular innovators introduce two guitar-based products
ADDAC System's recently introduced Four String Series makes it possible to integrate physical str...
14/11/2026
Marcelo Dai's Live Session Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
Artist takes viewers on an immersive journe...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
DiGiCo SD8 - Mixing In A Beautiful Light Posted: March 2013 | For Immediate Release 
