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Greetings,
I came across your comments regarding the Versaille concert at the Anime USA event last week, and
I'd like to offer a few corrections, which you may share with your readers if you'd like.
1) Contrary to your statement,
it is common and standard practice to
combine inputs from percussion, strings, keyboards, and vocals into a
single
amplified system known in the industry as "Front Of House". This
is done, as you correctly said, using a mixer. Some small
venues such
as bars or coffee-houses may use small-format mixers, many concert
venues use larger-frame ones. But again,
this happens at all levels of
music except for the very smallest houses. Any local concert venue will mix to a single
Front Of House.
2) Anime USA specifically ordered and required the use of one of the
better upper-scale mixing
consoles in the marketplace today, for its
venue size. The Yamaha Digital Series is the de facto standard for
major
touring acts around the world, and has the capability to create
any mix or sound required by the performance.
3)
The primary reason for the 5-hour sound check was the insistence of the band to tailor their sound themselves, to very exacting
specifications. Many international acts will tour with their own
engineer, often bringing the EQ and other preferred
settings on a USB
key to upload directly into the mixer. As Versailles did not do this
and did not trust an American
engineer, they chose to build their own
mix. While it may be laudable for a musical act to take such care in
crafting
its sound, the necessity of band members to move from stage to mix-position and back multiple times, and without translators
versed in engineering jargon, this becomes a lengthy process. Many disagreements were had between Versailles and the AUSA
engineering team over the specifics of their required mix and programming. Suffice to say that the final processing and mix
were built specifically by the band themselves, leaving the House Engineer to turn reverb on and off between songs, and to
monitor for overall room SPL. The act then succeeds or fails of its own merit; however we did receive comments from fans who
have great familiarity with their music and their live sound, who were pleased with what they heard.
Thank you again
for allowing me to reply. I hope you'll introduce
yourself if I'm at another convention event that you attend, and I'd
welcome the opportunity to share some of this process with you in person before your next review.
Sincerely,
Dr Andy Lange
FOH Engineer
Powerhouse Sound, LLC
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