
NASHVILLE, Tennessee At only 25 years old, Kane Brown has already accomplished more than most major country stars twice his age. Case in point, in October 2017, he became the first artist to have simultaneous number ones on all five of Billboard's country charts. Now, with three American Music Awards, a CMT Music Award and four 2019 Billboard Music Awards nominations to his name, Brown very recently wrapped up his first headlining arena tour of the US in support of his second and latest album, Experiment.
Billed as the Live Forever Tour-with Granger Smith as the primary opening act, plus RaeLynn, Danielle Bradbery, and Jimmie Allen all on rotation-the jaunt made 22 stops throughout the Southern and Midwestern states. Clair Global supplied both the PA and console package, which comprised a pair of DiGiCo SD10 desks for FOH and monitors, as well as a single SD-Rack clocking at 96kHz.
Nashville-based David Loy, who has served as Kane Brown's FOH engineer for the past two years, says that the specification of two SD10 desks was a joint decision between FOH and monitor worlds. We were on SD9s for a year, and, at first, I wanted to get SD12s, he says. But once Adam [Hart, monitor engineer] and I began creating the input list, discussing the monitor bussing/matrix needs, and did a couple of flydates on SD10s, it became clear that SD10s were the right choice.
Loy notes that he became a fan of DiGiCo three or four years ago when he first used an SD10 with Sturgil Simpson for his Sailor's Guide To Earth tour. Then, after mixing monitors on a smaller SD9 with RaeLynn for her supporting slot on Blake Shelton's Doing It To Country Songs tour, Loy immediately requested an SD9 for Kane Brown when he signed on as his FOH engineer.
As much as I loved the SD9s, moving from those desks with their 48kHz DiGiRack preamps to the SD10s with 96kHz SD-Rack preamps was pretty impressive and noticeably made a great thing even better, he shares. I was definitely a fan from the beginning of rehearsals. The sound on this tour has been extremely consistent and we've been very pleased. The most important element of this show is, of course, Kane's vocal. It's one of the most surprising things about his music. Most people are shocked when they see him then hear that deep of a voice when he sings, so I naturally do my best to make that as clear as possible each night-all the while keeping an energetic and rocking band just as present in the mix. Good depth, clarity, and separation are what I need from a console and DiGiCo has always provided this from their products. And with Clair's Cohesion rig, every time Kane scoops down low in a verse or bridge, my eyebrows raise because you can feel it in your chest. That's the kind of energy I'm going for every night.
The sonic improvement was also quickly appreciated on the other end of the figurative snake. Once we started using the SD10 at a few shows in 2018, the choice was obvious for me, says monitor engineer Adam Hart, who has also mixed for Aubrie Sellers and Walker Hayes. And the switch to 96kHz was recognized by the band instantly on the first day of rehearsals, too. They love the clarity and openness the improved resolution brings.
On the Live Forever Tour, Hart used his SD10 desk to provide ten stereo IEM mixes-for Brown, lead and rhythm guitars, bass, drums, keys, utility (fiddle, ganjo, banjo, dobro, etc.), two tech mixes, and one more for guest vocalists, as the opening acts each made an appearance at some point during every show. I also sent a backup mix' to front-of-house via an analog drive snake in case there were any interruptions at FOH causing the console to go offline for a moment. Thankfully, we never needed it, but knowing we had a contingency plan in place gave us a lot of peace.
Moving to fiber between FOH and monitors gave us incredible flexibility and we kept finding new ways that it supported us and the openers, Hart adds. David even had access to the last slot of outputs on our SD-Rack so we could send band stems or video feeds independently from out front.
When asked what he particularly appreciates about the SD10, Loy points to the desk's powerful onboard processing. My favorite onboard processors are definitely the Multiband compressors, DiGiTubes, Dynamic EQs, and the Audio Enhancer (FX Rack), he says. I use multiband compression sprinkled throughout my mix on a handful of inputs-acoustic guitars, toms, tracks inputs, and Kane's vocal to name a few. I've also been using the Audio Enhancer inserted on my Kemper and Bass channels to help liven and excite those inputs. Using these elements helps me keep dynamic inputs in check without compressing the entire signal all the time, and also to help make guitars sound more in your face' without us having to use amps on stage.
He is also a self-described huge user of Macros. The Macros on the SD10 are stellar and organized extremely well. I appreciate the fader bank layouts, audio I/O ports available, and the mixing engine in the SD10, too. Given the budget and size of this tour, the desks were definitely the right choice for both worlds.
And both Loy and Hart are effusive in their praise of DiGiCo's support team through distributor Group One here in the US. Ryan Shelton, Kyle McMahon, and Matt Larson are all fantastic guys whom I have called numerous times and gotten help the very same day, Loy shares. DiGiCo is constantly listening to their users, hosting free training sessions around the country and world, and making improvements/integrations to their software. In the end, those are the most important things to me. I'll take a great sounding console any day, but if you back me up with a team that knows their stuff, will train you on it, and make improvements to the software quickly when issues
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...