The end of 2009 saw the show taken on tour to London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin, Belfast, Liverpool, Warwick and Gateshead, using a different local orchestra at each venue. Featuring a Yamaha PM5D and M7CL at FOH, the audio system was provided by Bridgend-based Sonalyst and designed by company owner Rory Madden with Yamaha's Nick 'Biggles' Pemberton.
With Academy Award-winning conductor Anne Dudley a central part of the show, husband Roger was no less fundamental to the technical production as touring front of house engineer.
Audio from the orchestral instruments was fed to the 48-channel PM5D, via an analogue multicore. Here sound crew chief Martin Walker submixed the orchestra to 16 channels, which he sent via Ethersound to the M7CL.
Meanwhile, three Yamaha SB168-ES stage boxes took feeds from drums, bass and the instruments played by Bailey - guitars, keyboards, microphones and his infamous theremin - relaying them via Ethersound direct to the M7CL.
"The SB168-ES provides a number of advantages," says Pemberton. "Using Ethersound means you have less cable so trucking costs are minimised, load in and out is easier and there's also a brand new mic pre-amp in it, so it enhances the sound quality of vocals and miked instruments."
"The M7CL was a desk I hadn't worked with before, but Nick was there on day one and the crew knew the desk very well, so once the general set up was explained it was fairly obvious. I took to it quite quickly," adds Roger Dudley.
(Jim Evans)
