Held in late June at Kings Hill, Kent - a mixed residential and business development ton what was formerly the RAF West Malling aerodrome - Music On The Hill was a family-friendly three-day festival, all proceeds of which went to two Kent-based children's charities, the Demelza Hospice Care for Children and The Children's Development Trust.
The live music was divided into a distinct theme on each day - classical/opera on the first, pop on the second and tribute/'heritage' acts on the third - which made it an ideal test for Subfrantic's latest acquisitions.
"We found ourselves working more and more in situations where we had to meet other engineers' specifications," says Subfrantic general manager Steve Davies. "ThePM5D is still the most commonly accepted desk on most riders. We looked at every option, but the rider friendliness of the PM5D made it the obvious choice."
By also investing in the DSP5D, Subfrantic now has a complete digital mixing system which can cope with the biggest events, covering both the front of house and monitor positions.
"We invested in the DSP5D so we could do away with the need for a multicore at most of the events we do," says Davies. "We also do a lot of orchestral shows and theDSP5D, running alongside a conventional line system, is perfect for that."
Orchestral music was just one of the many styles on offer at Music On The Hill. The first night featured the National Symphony Orchestra, mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins and tenor Wynne Evans, while the second had a more teenage audience in mind, with performances by McFly, the Sugababes and a couple of up and coming rock/pop bands. On the third, tribute acts Bjorn Again and Simply Rod appeared alongside 80s veterans ABC.
OnePM5D was at FOH and the other on monitors, Steve Davies and Subfrantic's Howard Smart at respective positions, either mixing or being there to help the visiting engineers.
"I spoke to all the production managers or guest engineers in the weeks leading up to the show and everyone was happy with the choice of consoles," says Davies."No one asked for any outboard once they knew we were using PM5Ds, which was nice. Another of the benefits was that Howard and I had to do very little 'babysitting' because everyone knows their way round the PM5D."
(Jim Evans)
