MIX AND MADGE Q' at the heart of X'
12/08/2020
From its beginnings the SD7 has continued to evolve into the desk that can meet the needs of the most complex show environments, he says, acknowledging that the Quantum is an organic development of DiGiCo's flagship model. I've used the SD7 since the 2008 Madonna tour, and having redundant engine capabilities, timecode, MIDI I/O and so many banks of inputs were always some of the strongest selling points.
Now with the Quantum 7 we re able to use an abundant of audio port I/O device types - including SD-Racks, Con and DD4 Series - on one fibre-optic loop, then adding a second loop just for FOH effects.
MADAME-SON SYSTEMS
Headroom was the main benefit as the expansion of mixing capacity was married to a more modest FOH configuration. Mixing the Madame X tour required choosing a system that was compact and light, and one that could be flown and-or stacked, Colvard says. The Adamson S10 was the final choice. We carried 18 S10s per side, flying 12 and stacking six with four Adamson E119 subwoofers per side. There were some venues that had installed systems: we supplemented those with our system.
The stacking of six S10s with four subs per side for most of the theatres was a strategy to maintain consistency from venue to venue, Colvard adds. The tour started at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, where we used a full array installation of boxes to cover everything - under balconies, opera boxes and so on. Providing audio in historical theatres such as this required patience in order to get speaker placement approval by the venue. Along with those challenges was that Madonna has never performed in theatres before. She's been in large arenas and stadiums her whole career, so that took time to adjust to.
In monitor world, engineer Matt Napier supplemented his own Quantum 7 with two DiGiCo SD11i compact consoles with Stealth Core 2, which dovetailed into the workflow in order to pay particularly close attention to the lead vocals. One was operated by Sean Spuehler, Madonna's long term live vocal FX engineer, Napier explains. On previous tours myself and Sean have effectively shared a console, with myself on the SD7 and Sean using an EX-007 Fader Expansion Unit. Sean mixes Madonna's vocal sound not only for her in-ears but also for everything else: those FX stems are sent to FOH and broadcast.
My role is to mix the music side of her mix and take care of the band. As space was always going to be a premium on this tour we moved Sean onto an SD11i and it sat on the optical loop. He then sent his vocal mix to the monitor Quantum 7, which I then merged into her final mix. This gave us great flexibility as, if need be, we could be up to 350m apart. The second SD11i was on the same optical loop and located in monitor world. As everything was wireless, and we ran close to 100 channels of RF, the second SD11i allowed the RF engineer Ali Vile to listen in on the RF inputs and actually check with the musicians before they went onstage that everyone was happy.
The Quantum generation introduces the new Nodal processing workflow, which provides unprecedented flexibility for the routing of individualized patches to each musician. Nodal is a very powerful tool, agrees Napier. Quite often you are in a situation where a musician wants to hear the instrument fairly raw and uncompressed, yet in the final mix it needs to be shaped to fit the overall mix. Nodal is ideal for this. As it was my first time with Nodal processing I approached it cautiously but had some great results. You do need to be careful as it's such a powerful option but used correctly it's a great asset. In this situation with so many musicians - 28, in fact - and such a variety of music to replicate from Fado to Dance, the ability to EQ and compress independently was fantastic.
TRUE BLUE
Likewise, the True Solo function enables Napier and all monitor engineers to understand better the experience of each individual musician. It really does, he says. The ability to hear how your buss compression is driven' into gives you a clearer picture of how changes on an input effect the final mix. Meanwhile with Napier enthusing that the two DMI cards and increased MADI ports are a godsend , and looking forward to experiencing the new generation screen technology now deployed on the latest 338 console, it's clear that the Quantum 7 enables Colvard, Napier and their colleagues to get into a whole new groove while retaining the classic DiGiCo console experience.
The Quantum is basically the same as the old SD7, Napier points out, apart from its quicker and faster Nodal processing and greater flexibility, especially the I/O options. The Waves DMI cards were particularly great to use for multitrack recording. All 128 channels on a single Cat-6e cable!
[ENDS] Press Contacts:
Maria Fiorellino at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: maria@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digico.biz
Sarah James at Gasoline Media
Tel: +44 1483 223333
Email: sarahj@gasolinemedia.com
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
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 and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
04/05/2024
Nielsen: Asian American Audiences Spend as Much Time on Mobile as TV
NEW YORK As the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month kicks off in May, Nielsen has released an extensive new report diving into their media habits with data sh...
04/05/2024
Comcast Makes $1M Commitment to Military-Serving Nonprofits
PHILADELPHIA As National Military Appreciation Month gets underway, Comcast has announced several new initiatives to help veterans, service members, and their f...
04/05/2024
FCC Unveils Agenda for May Open Meeting
WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a tentative agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled...
04/05/2024
Enhancements Made to Key 5G Convergence Standards
The Broadband Forum has announced major enhancements to key 5G convergence standards that the group said will help advance next-generation applications, improve...
04/05/2024
Spotify Wrapped Campaign Spot Graded With DaVinci Resolve Studio
Spotify Wrapped Campaign Spot Graded With DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton May 3, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design today announced that Colorist M...
04/05/2024
Three Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alums Nominated for Tony Awards
Three Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alums Nominated for Tony Awards An additional eight alums and two current students performed in nominated productions. ...
03/05/2024
Sudan: New WhatsApp Course Equips Journalists to Report on Conflict Related Sexual Violence
An innovative learning tool to help media and civil society better understand ho...
03/05/2024
Slow Explores an Unusual Relationship With Sincere Romance
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 21: (L-R) Actors K stutis Cic nas and Greta Grinevi i t , Director Marija Kavtaradze and Producer Marija Razgute attend the 2023 Sunda...
03/05/2024
Be Honest With Your Art': Danny Ocean Reflects on Sudden Stardom and His Deeply Personal New Album
If you aren't familiar with Danny Ocean's music, it's only a matter ...
03/05/2024
Spotify and ELLE Collaborate in Celebration of Emerging Women in Music
Spotify has an unwavering commitment to supporting emerging artists across all genres, to helping them launch and thrive in their careers, and to connecting the...
03/05/2024
La Msica Mexicana no es solamente un fenmeno en Mxico y Estados Unidos, tambin en toda Amrica Latina
Como uno de los sonidos de mayor expansi n en el mundo, la M sica Mexicana va m ...
03/05/2024
Msica Mexicana Isn't Just a Phenomenon in Mexico and the U.S.-It's Taking Over Latin America.
As one of the fastest-growing sounds worldwide, M sica Mexicana is more than jus...
03/05/2024
Fubo Loses Subs in Q1 But Exceeds Guidance and Reduces Losses
NEW YORK FuboTV reported that it lost 110,000 subs in Q1 2024 but it exceeded its guidance for the quarter with double digit year-over-year increases across key...
03/05/2024
Only 3 Weeks Left To Enter The Creative Industries Most Award
Only 3 Weeks Left To Enter The Creative Industries Most Award Brie Clayton May 3, 2024 0 Comments Creativepool is giving a last call to the creative i...
03/05/2024
WePlay Studios Transforms the Future of Live Event Storytelling with AJA Gear
WePlay Studios Transforms the Future of Live Event Storytelling with AJA Gear Brie Clayton May 3, 2024 0 Comments By 2032, the esports market is expec...
03/05/2024
The Business of TV News: Shannon Bream Singles Out Key Issue in 2024 Election
WASHINGTON Shannon Bream, Fox News Sunday anchor and chief legal correspondent, sat for a keynote chat at The Business of TV News, with Tom Umstead, senior co...
03/05/2024
ABC News Anchor Martha Raddatz Says Local News Is Everything'
WASHINGTON Asked how important is local news, Martha Raddatz, who has covered foreign conflicts for decades and moderated presidential debates for ABC News, s...
03/05/2024
Paramount Stock Jumps on Report of $26 Billion Bid From Sony Pictures and Apollo Global
Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management have made a $26 billion cash offer fo...
03/05/2024
CBS Shares 2024-2025 Schedule
CBS announced its 2024-2025 primetime schedule, which features the new dramas NCIS: Origins, Matlock and Watson, and new comedies Poppa's House and Georgie ...
03/05/2024
Fubo Continues To Reduce Red Ink Despite Losing 110,000 Subs in Q1
Sports-focused streaming service Fubo said it reduced its red ink in the first quarter, despite losing 110,000 subscribers since the end of the year....
03/05/2024
Walmart Ready to Release 4K Hybrid Streaming/Smart Speaker
Walmart is reportedly about to release a new 4K streaming box/smart speaker hybrid device for Google TV that could retail for as low as $50, according to a repo...
03/05/2024
Limecraft updates content delivery platform
Enhancements to its Delivery Workspace solution provide increased content delivery robustness and security By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 3, 2024 Enha...
03/05/2024
Sony and Apollo submit $26 billion bid for Paramount Global
According to reports, if the bid is successful, Sony would be the significant majority shareholder of the new private company By Jenny Priestley Published: M...
03/05/2024
Global Academy launches Manchester media school
Located in Manchesters Spinningfields district, the course aims to equip students with the skills, knowledge and industry insight for a career in the creative s...
03/05/2024
New Lightbridge C-Move Core
Lightbridge has created a new Cine Reflect Lighting System kit, dedicated to enabling artistic lighting with consideration of today's productivity practical...
03/05/2024
KPBS Modernizes Infrastructure With Major AES67 Control R...
Broadcast media systems integrator BeckTV and Lawo worked together on a large-scale AES67 build of radio control rooms at KPBS, San Diego's NPR and PBS memb...
03/05/2024
SmallHD Free PageOS 6 Update Adds Powerful New Capabiliti...
Raleigh, NC, April 12, 2024 SmallHD announces PageOS 6, a powerful software update free for owners of SmallHD monitors, featuring increased functionality, exp...
03/05/2024
SmallHD Launches Quantum 32 Quantum Dot OLED HDR Referenc...
SmallHD announces the Quantum 32 a new 31.5 OLED monitor designed to provide reference HDR/SDR images for post-production final color grading, as well as cri...
03/05/2024
How WePlay Studios is Transforming the Future of Live Eve...
By 2032, the esports market is expected to grow to $9.29 billion, bolstered by a global player count and fan following that both continue to climb. The 2023 Lea...
03/05/2024
Amagis Latest FAST Report Unveils the Rise of a Diverse G...
Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV (CTV), today announced that the 11th edition of the Amagi Global FAST Rep...
03/05/2024
WDR Filmhaus to Implement Riedel Infrastructure
Riedel Communications today announced that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is relying on a media and intercom network based on Riedel technology for the renewal of...
03/05/2024
TF1 Chooses Broadpeak to Power Targeted Advertising for N...
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
03/05/2024
Limecraft Announces New Platform Update and Preview of MI...
Media technology innovator Limecraft will exhibit the latest updates to its online platform on stand G79 at the 15-16 May 2024 Media Production & Technology Sho...
03/05/2024
Prism Sound Announces Partners For 8 Hours At Rockfield 2...
Audio interface specialist Prism Sound is partnering with console manufacturer Solid State Logic, professional monitor manufacturer PMC and acoustic panel and d...
03/05/2024
Intinor brings excellence in contribution streaming to MP...
Intinor, Sweden's leading developer of products and solutions for high-quality video over the internet, is set to join forces with its UK partner Zest Techn...
03/05/2024
NAKIVO Reports 10 Percent Revenue Growth in EMEA Region
NAKIVO Inc., a fast-growing software company dedicated to protecting physical, virtual, cloud, and SaaS environments, announced its Q1 2024 financial results to...
03/05/2024
Hiltron Introduces Field-Upgradable Motorisation Kit for...
Hiltron Communications announces an addition to its range of satellite communication products and systems: a field-upgradable motorisation kit specifically desi...
03/05/2024
LiveU Showcases Story-Centric Workflows and the LiveU Eco...
Visit LiveU at Stand D30 With this year an exceptional one for major sporting events alongside multiple, key elections, the power and flexibility of LiveU'...
03/05/2024
Agile Content appoints Koldo Unanue as new CEO to boost t...
Agile Content, the leader in the development of technology and solutions for the provision of television services over the Internet, announces Koldo Unanue as i...
03/05/2024
Fubo, Dish, DirecTV & Others Urge Congress to Probe New Sports Streaming JV
Eight co-signers representing streaming services, pay TV operators and public interest groups have sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging their Committee...
03/05/2024
Brightcove Integrates AWS-Powered Generative AI Solution
BOSTON Brightcove has announced that it has implemented Amazon Q Business, a new generative AI assistant on Amazon Web Services (AWS)....
03/05/2024
CBS Claims 16th Straight Prime Time Viewing Title
NEW YORK CBS has declared that it will finish the 2023-24 season as Americas Most-Watched Network in primetime for the 16th consecutive season....
03/05/2024
Survey: U.S. Business and Consumers Plan to Increase Tech Spending
A new survey indicates that U.S. businesses and consumers had an overall positive attitude towards their technology spending plans in the first quarter of 2024,...
03/05/2024
Sony, Apollo Make $26B Bid for Paramount
Sony and Apollo Global Management have sent an offer letter to Paramount Global's board of directors making an $26 billion all cash offer for Paramount Glob...
03/05/2024
EMG / Gravity Media Grow Executive Team
EMG / Gravity Media has appointed Charlie Cubbon chief operating officer (COO) and Jamie Hindhaugh regional CEO for the U.K., U.S., Australia and the Middle Eas...
03/05/2024
WRAL-TV Brain Game Producer Randy Mews Wraps Season Taping Before Retirement
Final 2024 Season Games to Air Saturdays on WRAL at 10:30am in May, Championship on June 1 Taping for the final episodes of the 2024 season of WRAL-TV's Br...
03/05/2024
Estrella MediaCo Launches FAST Channels With Curiosity (NewFronts)
Estrella MediaCo said it is expanding its connected TV portfolio by launching three new channels with Curiosity that will first appear on Samsung TV Plus....