Trilogy takes on trio of KLANG:konductors
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Following a successful first leg of sold-out concerts that ran into mid-December, the second half of the Live Nation-produced, Sound Image/Clair Global-reinforced run picks back up in late-January with four performances in California before sweeping east across the continent. The tour is enjoying a tremendous amount of success thanks to the talent and charisma of its headliners, but three unseen performers - a trio of KLANG:konductor immersive IEM mixing systems - are also doing their part to help the three bilingual superstars and their backing bands deliver a four-hour fiesta at each stop.
Eddie ‘El Brujo’ Caipo has worked with Enrique Iglesias as his monitor engineer for 11 years and is currently using his KLANG:konductor paired with a Mac Mini running KLANG:app and an Avid S6L-32 console. Sending pre-fader/post-mute direct outs via MADI to retain all of his plugin processing, he creates his mixes - 21 in total, with a number of them in KLANG:app - then feeds them back to a stereo pair of inputs, which are sent to the desired aux mix to the IEMs. His console receives timecode to trigger snapshots simultaneously sending MIDI to the :konductor to trigger the snapshots in KLANG.
“I’ve always made it a priority to help my artists and band members feel as if they aren’t wearing IEMs by using a mid-side processing spreader, et cetera, but with KLANG, it’s a whole different ball game than just me trying to use a stereo imager or spreader,” Caipo says. “KLANG literally removes that factor and allows me to separate instruments in such a way that it allows them to run the overall volume quieter, making it a much better experience for the listener.”
Ricky Martin’s monitor mix has been in the hands of César Benítez Seilhamer since 2021, when he first used a DMI-KLANG card with a DiGiCo Quantum5. A year later, he upgraded to a KLANG:konductor loaded with two MADI-B DMI cards connected to the same console, plus added a :kontroller onstage for the drummer to have quick hands-on access to his own IEM mixes. Creating 16 immersive mixes and 48 total mixes from 124 input channels, he notes that “the :konductor and Quanum5 are able to easily handle this amount of processing and still leave me room for more”.
As The Trilogy Tour’s third monitor engineer, Matt Holden has been an integral part of Team Pitbull since January of 2015, and is using a DiGiCo Quantum5, recently upgrading from a DMI-KLANG card to a :konductor with the optical card. He primarily controls KLANG via his console, using the external touchscreen monitor for setup and the visual representation. Holden shares how the :konductor has been a step up: “Using KLANG has made my job easier just by making it easier sonically to provide a great-sounding mix naturally without having to use more plugins to enhance the stereo image, and by using less EQ to clean up the muddiness of the mix.”
