Fronted by Irish singer Rae Garvin, Reamonn first found fame in 2000 with the hit Supergirl. For the Satis&Fy sound crew, led by sound engineer Sven Bonse and system technician Stefan Holtz, the disparities in size between the different locations made theirs a far from easy task. However, as Stefan Holtz pointed out, "with preparation and the right material, we succeeded in mastering it completely."
He continued, "In this way we were able to prepare at least a rough sketch of the configuration with which we would be working in each hall several days before we got there. In addition to the X-Line as the main PA, we had 16 XLC 127DVX modules on hand for use wherever the X-Line would have been too big, or for out-fills in the larger venues. Four additional EV QRx 112/75 boxes served as front-fills."
Whilst Stefan Holtz relied on digital technology at his workstation, analogue technology held sway with tour soundman Sven Bonset. "I can actually hear the difference between analogue and digital consoles," Bonset said, explaining his choice of an analogue Midas XL4 for this tour. "Obviously digital consoles can't be beaten in certain respects - at festivals, for example, when you can save a great deal of time by simply loading presets straight into the console from a stick, giving yourself a basis, at least, to work from. Nonetheless, I prefer analogue desks." The XL4 from Midas is a particular favourite of Bonse's - "It sounds so genuine and influences the sound from the stage the least; after all, when I'm mixing, I want to be able to control the sound, not transform it."
(Jim Evans)
