LOS ANGELES, California - March 2019 - Mixing just four inputs in an arena show is one of the greatest challenges of my career, shares Ken Pooch Van Druten about his gig with rapper Travis Scott, who is currently touring in support of a pair of Number Ones: his latest album, Astroworld, and the single Sicko Mode. Now on the second North American leg of the Astroworld Wish You Were Here Tour, Pooch reports that audio for a pair of DiGiCo SD12 consoles for both house and monitors is piloting Scott's sonic voyage.
Pooch is best known for nearly three decades supporting heavy rock artists including System of a Down, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and almost ten years with Linkin Park but, as the music world has changed, he's moved into pop, supporting Justin Bieber's last tour, and hip-hop with Jay-Z before joining up with Scott. He's been a noted DiGiCo user since the latter part of his time with Linkin Park, so although this latest gig may seem like part of a continuum, it's very different in one way: channel count.
Starting with Linkin Park, input needs started to increase rapidly, and with both Bieber and Jay-Z, that kind of exploded, he says. The DiGiCo SD platform has been a crucial part of my toolbox for dealing with shows that often seemed to be bumping right up against the max channel count of the consoles. But, with Travis, I have just four consistent inputs: a left and right from the DJ and vocal mics for the DJ and Travis, plus occasional guest vocal mics.
Modern pop production has become incredibly dense and there is an ever-increasing pressure on artists and the engineers who support them to recreate every nuance live. On past tours, Pooch has pointed to the quality and depth of onboard tools, plus workflow and Waves integration, as big reasons for choosing the DiGiCo SD platform. When one is wrangling close to 200 input channels, workflow and the ability to access tools almost instantaneously are self-apparent.
In some important ways namely the density of production Travis' music shares some basic characteristics of the artists I've been working with for more than a decade. But this tour is different and, in many ways, a lot more difficult. When you have 192 inputs and there's a sonic issue with one of them, there are ways to make the issue less apparent. When all of the density is coming to me as just a left and right input, if there's an issue, there's no place for a humble sound guy to hide.
Making a challenging gig even more so, Pooch had no time with the artist and more important in terms of the sounds coming into the SD12 the DJ. He joined the tour on its third show when a decision was made to replace the engineer who had done all of the production rehearsals and the first two shows. That meant no time to work with the DJ to custom craft his tracks to make them more big-PA-friendly. Also, despite the compact size of the SD12, there was no room for audio at a traditional front-of-house position.
This is a 20-truck tour, he explains. There's a lot of PA. The sheer number of double-18-inch subs is pretty stunning and, just from a hearing fatigue standpoint for engineers, that kind of low-end energy presents its own challenge. But the stage has multiple thrusts and there is a B Stage right where front of house would usually be.
For Pooch's first gigs, the SD12 was situated on one side of the room, on the concourse that separates the lower and upper seating areas in a typical arena. When the tour got into some arenas where even the concourse was not a viable option, Pooch opted to move backstage using a pair of near-field monitors as his sound source. It worked well enough that it's become the default mixing position. The only audio gear out front is a single stereo measurement mic. The stage design also means that Scott spends almost the entire show with an open vocal mic working in front of a Clair PA that regularly clocks in at around 130 dB C-weighted.
Between the constant danger of feedback and the nature of Travis' music, which is very dense, probably the most important tool for me is the onboard DiGiCo multi-band compression. Pooch is a well-known Waves user, and he does use some of their plug-ins for Scott's often-extensive vocal effects, but he's currently using only DiGiCo onboard multi-band compressors, which are available on all input channels and output busses as standard. They are probably the most important tool I have for this tour, he says. The hip-hop world and increasingly the pop and country worlds are all about collaboration and constant change. Between remixes, guest appearances and even some artists re-sequencing the tracks on an album after it's been released, this music is never really finished.
Scott is as well known for his work with other artists as he is for his own songs he recently guested with Maroon 5 for the Super Bowl halftime show, as one example so some of his ever-changing set material might come from a single verse, or even a full lyrical track, that he contributed to a hit by Drake, Kanye, or someone else. Collaborating with his DJ, Scott often weaves these vocal snippets into brand new tracks, so the first time that they're ever heard is by tens of thousands of fans and Pooch in front of a massive PA.
One of the hardest things about working with songs that have never had a life outside of the studio is that there is often a hard disconnect between what sounds great in a pair of studio monitors or headphones and what works in a big PA, he continues. That means that there are multiple snapshots for every song and the EQ and level changes can be pretty extreme. The multiple instances of multi-band compression on the outputs are, in many ways, my only safety net. The DiGiCo compression is smooth and musical. Even if, out of nowhere, I get a
Most recent headlines
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
LOS ANGELES, California - March 2019 - Mixing just four inputs in an arena show is one of the greatest challenges of my career, shares Ken Pooch Van Druten about his gig with rapper Travis Scott, who is currently touring in support of a pair of Number Ones: his latest album, Astroworld, and the single Sicko Mode. Now on the second North American leg of the Astroworld Wish You Were Here Tour, Pooch reports that audio for a pair of DiGiCo SD12 consoles for both house and monitors is piloting Scott's sonic voyage.
