Mann's Neumann KMS 105 mic goes directly into the InnovaSON Sy40 digital console without any outboard processing. "Aimee sings centre stage for the whole show and at one point she sings a new song called King of the Jailhouse, where she moves over to the piano player's position and plays and sings using her Sennheiser wired Evolution Series 903," said Cecil.
"The InnovaSON Sy40 is ideal because it's a compact console that has everything on board. I found the scene recall especially handy, as Aimee would jump from acoustic guitar, to bass, to electric guitar and keyboards."
Ryan, who has previously used the original InnovaSON Compact Live consoles for the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops, also rates the Sy40's ability to provide the band with the same mix every day. "I would walk on stage and all I would have to do is tune to different wedges and then the guy's mixes were all set," he says. "Aimee's mix never changes. The onboard compression and EQ are really helpful, especially on an output for in-ears."
Innovason's Sensoft software includes a feature which is invaluable when using stereo in-ear monitors: an independent pan for each input routed in each mix bus/output allows each musician to have their own mix with the required stereo image.
Cecil uses the onboard recallable mic preamps on 32 inputs of the Sy40, as well as mixing to 16 outputs for the five musicians on stage who all experiment with personal monitors, requiring both the on-stage wedges and PMs to be sent all 16 mixes. "To be able to have 32 inputs and 16 outputs going on a console that's not more than four feet wide by three feet deep is pretty impressive," says Cecil. "I don't know of any board out there I can do that on."
Before the advent of the Sy40, Cecil remembers playing at similar venues where the available consoles were not only too large to run in allotted spaces, neither would they fit in standing-room-only set-ups. " I could position the Sy40 almost anywhere that there was standing room," he explains. "I mixed one venue down in Atlanta where I was actually standing in a staircase mixing - that was where the space was."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
