When the full system is deployed for
arena dates, the standard configuration
is main left-right hangs of 12 Meyer Lyon
cabinets per side – eight Lyon-Ms above
four Lyon-W (wide) boxes. The side hangs
are comprised of eight Leopard enclo-
sures per side, with an additional eight
Leopards spaced evenly across the lip of
the stage for front fills.
Eight Meyer 1100LFC subs handle
the low end, evenly spaced by 10 ft. in
four stacks of two, splitting the centre.
“The outside stacks of subs are delayed
to achieve a subtle sub arc and spread
their coverage a bit wider,” notes VER’s
Ben Malone, the tour’s FOH systems
tech.
That said, the system configura-
tion varies from date to date – “from a
straightforward arena deployment to a
sideways arena to a 2,000-cap theatre
where we flew Leopard only” – and
for that, Malone says Meyer’s MAPP XT
system design software has been a big
help.
When it comes to tuning the rig, he
has developed an interesting trick. “I’m
pretty much sticking to fairly standard
practices and trusting my ears,” he says,
“but one thing that perhaps not many
people do is, for some of the tuning
where a stimulus is running for awhile, I’ll
use music with pink noise underneath
it, just high enough that it noticeably
cleans up the Live Impulse Response in
SMAART. That’s usually a nearly inaudible
level of pink – just a little nicer than hear-
ing pink blasting for 15 minutes!”
Malone’s original plan was to tune
the rig to the point that it provided con-
sistent coverage throughout the venue;
then, he’d leave the “to taste” EQ to the
two engineers.
“It became apparent that there
wouldn’t always be enough time for
either of them to do that, so on a couple
of shows, I’ve done that step as well,” he
explains. “Fortunately, Sean and Aaron
have liked my subjective EQ, so that’s
been an ongoing thing to leave more
time for their soundchecks.”
They’re also making use of a Meyer
Galileo Galaxy network processor where-
by each engineer can save his respective
EQ settings post-soundcheck for a given
venue.
“Lyon and Leopard were a great op-
tion for this tour as we’re bouncing back
and forth between rinks and theatres,”
begins Sean Palmer, FOH engineer for
Our Lady Peace. “The individual box monitoring and control suits this perfectly. We’re a bit
short-staffed out here, and these boxes are also super easy to fly, so Ben and I can grab a
few loaders and each tackle a side and get it in the air quickly.”
With this being a co-headlining run, Palmer adds that both bands get a good amount
of soundcheck time, so the ease of getting the Meyer boxes in the air and properly config-
ured leaves them ample time for that. Plus, he says, “The boxes sound killer, too.”
Touring vet Aaron Brody is at FOH for Matthew Good, and adds that his endorsement
of the Meyer rig was born partly of wanting to satisfy a curiosity. “I’ve never had the plea-
sure of touring with Meyer,” he says. “I’ve had some great festival experiences and always
thought it would be fun to get on some of the product more consistently.”
Now that he’s had the chance to put the rig through its paces in an array of venues, he
says the “box size and angle of fire are awesome for this tour,” again referring to scaling from
clubs to theatres to arenas. “I know VER was really excited to bring up the Meyer rig from
State side, because up until this point, they haven’t sent one across Canada.”
Brody and Palmer are working on different desks at FOH, with the former opting for an
Avid S6L and the latter a Digico SD12.
MATTHEW GOOD
Brody says that, as with the Meyer system, his choice of the relatively new S6L was also
partly informed by his curiosity. “I’ve always appreciated the workflow, flexibility, and ease
of use of the [Avid] Profiles. They can also sound fantastic,” he begins. “When this tour came
up, I asked my main contacts at VER if they had an S6L and if I might be able to give it a try.
I feel it will become as ubiquitous as the SC48 and the Profile, so why not take an opportu-
nity to get in some solid mix time?”
Several of his friends in the industry had toured with the desk in recent months an