A Perfect Circle is composer and guitar player Billy Howerdel, who formed the band, lead singer Maynard James Keenan (also lead singer with Tool), James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins, Jeordie White from Marilyn Manson, and drummer Josh Freese, a Stellar Studio musician and has played with many bands. This is the band's second tour, and the shows have sold out all over the world. Their audio crew comprises FOH engineer Stewart Bennett, Jordan Zurr, system tech from Eighth Day Sound, and stage and monitor tech Joe Langholt.
"We started out doing a run of 13 small clubs in the US to publicize the new CD," says Mulé. "We had a FOH package, but were using existing racks and stacks in the clubs before we started headlining in the States. Then we moved on to larger 6,000 - 10,000 capacity venues where we used a V-Dosc PA from Eighth Day Sound. Very often I found myself mixing in small corners, but the D5 fits everywhere. It's perfect for that sort of thing. All of what would be my normal outboard is on the console - gates, limiters, graphics - so it cuts down the amount of space I need. I've been stuck in the smallest holes and have been able to keep out of everyone's way."
Mulé has found that he saves a lot of time in production rehearsals because of the D5's pocket-sized USB key, which can store all the desk settings for an entire show: "I just load my session and I'm done. The console has also proved to be extremely versatile. The snapshot facility has been of particular value, along with panning configurations for background vocals that fire immediately, and all the opening acts can be put onto the D5, which means there's no need to use another console. It's seen lots of use since we started and has not gone down once. I've had a lot of fun, the thing I really like about the D5, is the way it's laid out. Everything is right there where you need it: you call up EQ, there's an EQ section for each screen; you call up comps and gates, the knobs are right below it. You're not scrolling through screens to get to anything. This console is great because you can configure it any way you possibly could ever imagine at just the push of a button."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
