Rivage PM7 makes UK live debut with tube uk
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“Rivage PM7 has many excellent features, the inclusion of the Rupert Neve Designs transformer circuitry and SILK processing through Yamaha’s Virtual Circuit Modelling shows that there is no compromise in quality,” says tube uk managing director Melvyn Coote.
“The extensive i/o count also means it is properly multi-purpose and will fit a wide range of audio scenarios. All-in-all it is a great quality system at a good price and, of course, it is underlined by Yamaha’s rock-solid reputation for reliability.”
Following Yamaha’s hands-on Rivage system demo day at London’s Abbey Road Studios, tube and Yamaha presented a similar hands-on workshop session at Manchester’s Albert Hall, where tube is the resident audio systems provider. However, the night before an opportunity arose to use the PM7 system on a live show, which was too good to resist.
Singer Mali Hayes and her band were supporting Britain’s Got Talent winner Tokio Myers and her front of house engineer Johnny Wharton was happy to mix the first UK show on a PM7.
“I have been a Yamaha digital console user from the beginning of my career and the Rivage PM7 felt how I've always wanted a Yamaha console to feel,” he says. “The familiar workflow means you can get straight into mixing with minimal set up time, but now with a lot of added bonuses.
“The ability to stack up a seemingly endless array of onboard plugins is backed up by the high-power DSP, while the Neve Silk processing really made channels jump to the forefront of the mix when required while, all the time, keeping a true and natural sound. To have that option on every input is something special.
“I also used the Portico 5045 primary source enhancer on Mali's vocal - a tool that I'm not sure how I'll live without when going back to other consoles.”
Mali also expressed her thanks, saying: “I feel really honoured to have been the first artist in the UK to play through this new system. The gig was a such a surreal experience, playing to a sold-out Albert Hall, and we had such great feedback from the audience and crew. The hard work everyone put in really paid off and I know Jonny really enjoyed the experience.”
The hands-on workshop was similarly successful, with Yamaha’s Tom Rundle, Tim Bamber, Chris Angell and Chris Irvine showing the tube uk staff and freelance pool over the Rivage PM7 system, who were suitably impressed.
“All the feedback from both this and the Abbey Road session was extremely positive, so we know it’s a case of right product, right time and right place,” says Melvyn.
(Jim Evans)
