Veteran FOH engineer, Rob Colby has mixed for the likes of Ricky Martin, Shakira and Luis Miguel over the past three years. He has now been mixing Juanes since January 2005, racking up 90 shows so far with 17 sold out in Spain.
The sound system for the tour is being supplied by Showco - a company Colby has worked with for 28 years: "The guys are just great and have always been such a great support network, not only for the gear but people as well," Colby said. For the 'Mi Sangre' tour the company has supplied a DiGiCo D5 Live digital mixing console, something that makes Colby a happy man: "I've been using this console for about three years now and I love it. The way in which the console is laid out means I can find my way around the desk without too much difficulty, but the thing I like the most is that it sounds great!" he enthused.
Dealing with a large energetic band means Colby has to be on top of the mix at all times and the D5 is there for support supplying all the dynamics processing for the band, bar two Avalon Design 737s for vocals and two Empircal Labs Distressors on Bass. As well as ensuring the mix sounds great for the audience, the D5 is also used to integrate with Steinberg's Nudendo software on certain shows: "The system interfaces very well with the console. We get this recording package through Delicate Acoustics in LA, which consists of an 112 track system recorded onto external hard drives for archives," Colby detailed.
With seven more months of the tour still remaining it looks a long while until Colby can put his feet up at home, until then a flightcase and the D5 armrest will have to suffice.
(Lee Baldock)
