Both Maxwell and Scott's monitor needs are in the hands of a DiGiCo SD7, provisioned by Clair Global. For Maxwell's Clay Hutson - who has employed DiGiCo consoles extensively on tours with artists such as Garbage, Marilyn Manson, Pink, Prince and Velvet Revolver - this was his first opportunity to lay hands on SD7. For Jim Roach, who has worked with Scott for 3+ years, as well as Brian McKnight Joe Cocker, Keisha Cole and Boney James, his previous experience on DiGiCo consoles was limited to one-off, fly dates in the past.
Hutson says, while Maxwell's group isn't particularly input-heavy, they are chock-full of output requirements. "Oddly enough, we don't really have a lot of inputs, even though it looks like a lot of stuff on stage. I think we're around 56, which is pretty normal and Jill Scott has about 70 inputs.
"Where the console is really critical is when it comes to the amount of outputs that I'm using up on the desk, around 40. I probably have an output for every input right now. I'm at 24 just with the ears alone - not including wedges, side fills, drum-fills and reverb sends - and there's still another 70 groups or busses available on the desk. Because I have them, I'm going a bit crazy with them, bussing stuff to groups and then compressing them and sending it back to the ears."
(Jim Evans)