Rihanna's much anticipated Diamonds World Tour kicked off in early March for 27 dates peppered across the U.S. and Canada through May with more dates on the global horizon stretching into the fall. With Eighth Day Sound at the production helm, the audio kit included a pair of SD7s and a d&b audiotechnik PA provided by Eighth Day Sound, with Kyle Hamilton at FOH and Ed Ehrbar on monitors.
Last October, the group undertook an intense promotional tour ( 7-7-7 ) hitting seven countries in seven days for seven shows. Eighth Day supplied four complete control systems two in Europe; one in the U.S. and another in Mexico City so the engineers were able to simply walk in and mix. Although Ehrbar was working on an SD7 for the whirlwind week, Hamilton had to make do with another digital desk and was happy to be back on the SD7.
Getting back on the SD7 for the Diamonds tour was like a homecoming Yes, I'm back on my desk!, Hamilton laughs. When I was first introduced to DiGiCo, I was using D5 on Mary J Blige and Lionel Richie. Then the SD7 came out, I used it with Lionel Richie, Janet Jackson, Prince and now Rihanna. I've had many years on the desk. The SD7 just feels right. It's the digital desk that feels analog to me; it sounds warm. I don't have to do a whole lot to make what I want to accomplish happen. Some desks color your sound and I like the fact that the SD7 is transparent. What you put in is what you get out of it. Also, this console has tons of headroom.
Each SD7 is in an Optocore fiber loop with 2 DiGiCo SD192kHz racks along with one mini SD rack to wrangle the mass of over 96 inputs for the 4-piece band and backup singers. The majority of the inputs were taken up by three drum kits and two keyboard rigs, with 24 channels of Pro Tools. The set list, comprised of 35 songs, is broken into acts, each representing a different facet of the singer's repertoire from Reggae to rock and more.
There's a lot going on, Hamilton adds, and Im taking complete advantage of all the effects I have onboard. Every act' within the show has a different kind of sound, so I couldn't mix this show in a static form and create all the different variances of sound. I have to rely heavily on snapshots from song to song. Typically, as a rule, I don't like to mix using snapshots because it can get tricky and confusing. Unfortunately, in this show, there's so much going on between mutes and key settings, I couldn't possibly do it without using snapshots. We're running a lot of Pro Tools tracks, so in this situation, where we had 10 weeks of rehearsal time, I was able to make that transition easily and clearly think it out.
Also, I do have a little outboard rack with some Avalon mic pre's that I like to use on her voice, but other than that, everything I need is within the desk.
Hamilton multitracks the show every night using an RME MADIFace interface to Pro Tools. We record 96 channels to Pro Tools a two track mix to a hard disc recorder strictly for archival purposes. Although, you never know if she'll want to do a live record from this I have ambient mics set up and everything so she definitely could make a live performance out of it. Rihanna's music director, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, listens to everything every day. They are very hands-on with what goes on with the sound Happily, the comments have been all positive!
Monitor engineer Ehrbar, who has toured with the artist since 2010, has worked with DiGiCo consoles over the years, including SD10s and SD8 during his tenure with Tom Jones. These consoles sound amazing and are very easy to use. I was able to set the basic parameters on the SD7 during the 5-6 weeks of rehearsals for this tour and now can fine tune from there every night to give some dynamics to the set. The beauty of the console is you can put everything where you want. I like to keep my banks organized, so I'll have banks of keys, guitars, vocal, talkbacks and can label them so they're very easy to get to. The new software is very cool There's so much it can do and I'm excited to start getting into it.
For Rhianna, who uses a single in-ear monitor and d&b side-fills and downstage wedges, Ehrbar's making use of the internal effects including several onboard reverb and delays. I'm using a plate reverb for her to thicken up the vocals. She likes a full, punchy mix she likes to be able to feel it. So I give her a full mix in her ears, with a lot of vocal, and the same for the side fills.
Im also loving the SD7's matrix system. With everyone band and crew on ears within the shout system (talkback), I can have it on a PFL and still move around and be reachable in case anyone needs anything. But so far, it's been pretty smooth. I'm loving working with these musicians, too, who are all spectacular and real professionals. They're so good and make it way easy to recreate the sound of the albums because she's such a musical chameleon and they're all very different. Another beauty of the console is that you can save the mix, making it easy to recreate the integrity of the song. And the feedback we're getting has all been great.
The Diamonds World Tour continues through May in the U.S. and heads to Europe, Australia and New Zealand in the fall.
Crew:
James Corbin, Monitor Tech/Crew Chief; Trevor Waite, FOH Tech/Systems Engineer; Lauren Crowley, RF Coordinator; James Lamarca, Show Coms/PA Tech; Eoin Collins, PA Tech; Edward Ehrbar, Monitor Engineer.
Links:
Eighth Day Sound: www.8thdaysound.com
Rihanna: www.rihannanow.com/live/
DiGiCo Press Contacts
David Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: webby@digiconsoles.com
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
03/06/2026
iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...
03/06/2026
The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...
03/06/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...
03/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...
03/06/2026
Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...
03/06/2026
According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...
03/06/2026
Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca.
By Jessica Herndon
This year, the Tribeca...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
Rihanna's much anticipated Diamonds World Tour kicked off in early March for 27 dates peppered across the U.S. and Canada through May with more dates on the global horizon stretching into the fall. With Eighth Day Sound at the production helm, the audio kit included a pair of SD7s and a d&b audiotechnik PA provided by Eighth Day Sound, with Kyle Hamilton at FOH and Ed Ehrbar on monitors. 
