NASHVILLE, Tennessee - April 2021 - Although TobyMac's Hits Deep Tour has been an annual late-winter tradition for a number of years now, this year's trek was particularly joyous as it represented one of North America's first proper arena tours following the pandemic blackout year. True to form, Nashville-based Blackhawk Audio, the longtime touring sound provider for the seven-time Grammy Award-winning Christian hip-hop/pop artist, carried DiGiCo consoles-SD10s at both FOH and monitors, plus a smaller-format SD9 support desk at FOH-which were used to mix 18 arena shows in 13 cities during February and March.
In addition to TobyMac, the 2021 Hits Deep Tour featured a full lineup of special guests, including Tauren Wells, We Are Messengers, Unspoken, Cochren & Co., and Terrian. All of the supports acts performed each night in a seamless awards-show format, bouncing between the main stage and a B stage located at FOH, with Toby McKeehan and his DiverseCity Band wrapping up as the headliner.
Although venue seating capacities varied a bit, FOH Engineer Pat Haapanen notes that nearly all of the shows sold out at approximately a third of each arena's original capacity, and every section was open for sale, including behind the stage in some venues. Floor seating was set up in pods with sufficient distancing between them, and the stands were typically taped off or blocked in some way. Although it was kind of different seeing so many empty seats in the stands and spacing on the floor, the crowd energy was very much business as usual,' which was really exciting to experience again, he says.
First working with TobyMac in 2015 as a Blackhawk Audio system engineer, Haapanen has been manning the artist's FOH mix since 2018. I started on DiGiCo pretty early when I joined the Blackhawk team, and my first touring experience with Toby was on the SD10, he recalls. Although I had previously mixed on other console brands, DiGiCo is definitely my favorite now, not only for its fantastic sound quality, but also its adaptability and configurability. I've been able to get behind most of the SD line-the 5, 7, 9, 10 and 12-and have used them on many different types of gigs, from corporate meetings and conferences to award shows, all of which have performed great.
For the 2021 Hits Deep Tour, Haapanen and Monitor Engineer Heath Mahon each worked on an SD10 desk deployed at their respective mix positions, while an SD9 production console located at FOH additionally accommodated the two smaller B-stage acts' FOH and monitor mixes. The SD9 handles all of the pre-show videos/music, emcee, and transition videos. We have almost always had something in that role, except in 2017, when we did it all on the two SD10s. Having the extra desk really helps alleviate the workload for the SD10 and allows guest engineers to have their own files and be able to hit a quick line check before they play.
Haapanen calls out the SD10's customized layouts, macros, matrix mixer, and fiber optics as a few of his favorite amenities. I really like the way you can lay out the desk in any way that the operator wants, and it's really easy to move things around, which is nice for adapting previous files, or when you change your mind part of the way through a gig. I've really gotten to lean on macros more and more as well, using them for triggering effects, firing snapshots, and viewing certain banks and plugins, as well as fun stuff like brightening and dimming the lights, which is actually pretty handy for outdoor shows. The SD matrix mixer is one of the easiest and most versatile I've used. I use it for routing talkbacks/com to various places, group mixes to PA or Rec outputs, and solo bus routing. And the Optocore network is a big plus for us as well-not only for the redundant communication to the tour's three SD-Racks, but also for super-easy console-to-console routing. There are typically a few inputs that Heath and I send back and forth to each other that way.
The FOH engineer runs a Waves setup on Toby's show, as well as a TC2290 and Lexicon PCM90. I do use the onboard channel strip elements on most inputs as the primary, and use Waves on some other channels. All of my primary delays and 'verbs are onboard-the two outboard units are mostly for fun, kind-of-obnoxious-type effects during the show. As far as plugins go, I like to use the F6 or C6 on vocals to really dial in with their dynamic EQ and multiband compression. I also use some of Waves' distortion and doubler plugins for some vocal effects, as well as the API for bus compression.
On the other end of the Optocore loop, Monitor Engineer Heath Mahon runs 12 sets of stereo IEMs, a stereo sidefill mix, and two separate wedge mixes. Including Toby, I have nine performers on stage, six instrumentalists, two background singers, and one guest vocalist, describes Mahon. The opening acts playing the main stage average about five musicians, and they all love the mixes that monitor engineer Wil Thornton is giving them.
First introduced to DiGiCo via a D5 Live years ago, Mahon has worked with TobyMac for nearly a dozen years, and the SD10 has been his worksurface choice for more than half of them. I'm very active when I mix, and I like having three banks of faders, so smaller-format desks tend to not work as well for me. The size of the SD10 isn't huge, but it gives me everything I need to get my job done well. I'm using a lot of both the Dynamic EQ and Multiband Compressors on many channels. I appreciate both the accessibility and ease of use that having those on the desk give me.
I still like to treat my SD10 like it's an analog console, and having encoders on every channel strip gives me easy access to make changes without having to switch to flip to faders. I make small changes through
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
04/03/2026
Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the governing body for Italy's premier basketball...
04/03/2026
Wrexham AFC co-chairmen Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds will host a first-of-its-kind ...
04/03/2026
The countdown is underway and with just 100 days to go until the world's greatest sporting event begins on Thurs., June 11, FOX Sports, America's Englis...
04/03/2026
No matter where they are in the world, service members and veterans can stream N...
04/03/2026
Telemundo officially releases Somos M s, the anthem for the network's cove...
04/03/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) concluded the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, convening more than 800 industry leaders, technologists, creatives, and execut...
04/03/2026
Smith Entertainment Group transformed how local sports are consumed by creating ...
04/03/2026
The production method, which spans a distance of 36.2 miles, was designed and im...
04/03/2026
Haivision, a global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and...
04/03/2026
When Hugues Meyrath came out of retirement to take the helm as CEO of Quantum, i...
04/03/2026
Last week's launch of Banana Ball Championship League has spurred a significant upgrade of production facilities
The Savannah Bananas, arguably the hottest...
04/03/2026
sldkfjsdlfkjsldkfjsldkjfslkdjfslkdjfsl
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus...
04/03/2026
For many fans, a song's backstory can be just as compelling as the final pro...
04/03/2026
In 2006, Spotify was founded on the belief that technology could bring artists a...
04/03/2026
Spotify is back on the ground for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and we&#...
04/03/2026
Spotify had an energizing week in Sydney, Australia, filled with powerful conver...
04/03/2026
Earlier this year, we launched Directed By, a documentary-style series that pull...
04/03/2026
100 Days to Go: SBS Unveils World Class Team for The Greatest Show on Earth -The...
04/03/2026
KT and Rohde & Schwarz to showcase AI-enhanced radio transmission performance In a joint 6G AI proof-of-concept demonstration, the CMX500 one-box tester from ...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, 3 March 2026 - SES S.A. has today published its 2025 Annual Report, following the announcement of the company's full year financial results for ...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/03/2026
Luxembourg, March 3, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, along with I...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON Partners with GSMA Innovation Fund to Accelerate Digital Innov...
04/03/2026
04 Mar 2026
VEON's Beeline Uzbekistan and Rakuten Symphony Partner for Open...
04/03/2026
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Sky Sports unveils plans for 2026 Formula 1 coverage
Sky Sports is preparing for one of the most highly anticipated F1 seasons in recen...
04/03/2026
Back to All News
Bloodhounds' Season 2 Gears Up for April 3 Premiere with ...
04/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Ads Suite Expands Capabilities
Business
04 March 2026
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to clipboard
After launching the Netflix Ad...
04/03/2026
Scripps Research welcomes healthcare innovator Joe Kiani to the Board of Directors Kiani brings decades of experience in patient safety and public service.
Mar...
04/03/2026
Nanoparticle vaccine approach takes on a new target: Hepatitis C virus Scripps Research scientists reengineer critical proteins on the surface of HCV, paving th...
03/03/2026
Beyond Sports, a Sony group company, and LIV Golf, the world's golf league, ...
03/03/2026
Ilitch Sports + Entertainment announces the launch of Detroit SportsNet (DSN), a year-round broadcast home for two of Detroit's franchises. With flexible op...
03/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media ...
03/03/2026
The PGA of America, NBC Sports and USA Sports extend their media rights agreemen...
03/03/2026
AI device ecosystem company HONOR enters into a strategic technical collaboratio...
03/03/2026
Cleveland's Telos Alliance, pioneers in broadcast technology for 30 years, l...
03/03/2026
The MD 9235 microphone head for wireless handhelds has been a firm favorite with many engineers and artists for its ability to cut through high on-stage levels ...
03/03/2026
Haivision Systems Inc. (Haivision), a global provider of mission-critical, real-...
03/03/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) announces the expansion of its 62,000-square-fo...
03/03/2026
Maroon 5's musical tour in 2025 marked a leap forward in live audio as Monitor Engineer Dave Rupsch utilized Sennheiser's all-digital Spectera wireless ...
03/03/2026
Designed specifically for pro basketball, the renovated space at Gainbridge Fiel...
03/03/2026
As part of the move, former CEO Phillipp Lawo joins the broadcast-tech provider's Supervisory Board
Lawo has announced appointment of Jamie Dunn as chief e...
03/03/2026
A team of legendary announcers and analysts and a classic graphics look will bring the past to life
NBC Sports and Peacock will return to yesteryear for tonigh...
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - April 2021 - Although TobyMac's Hits Deep Tour has been an annual late-winter tradition for a number of years now, this year's trek was particularly joyous as it represented one of North America's first proper arena tours following the pandemic blackout year. True to form, Nashville-based Blackhawk Audio, the longtime touring sound provider for the seven-time Grammy Award-winning Christian hip-hop/pop artist, carried DiGiCo consoles-SD10s at both FOH and monitors, plus a smaller-format SD9 support desk at FOH-which were used to mix 18 arena shows in 13 cities during February and March.
