Professional Sound - August 2017 | Page 28

Digico SD12 & Midas Pro 2 consoles at FOH
Using an Outline PA was not the first choice for Matt Blakely , Billy Talent ’ s long-time front of house engineer and production manager . He is a self-professed “ L-Acoustics guy ” and typically pretty strict about getting the PA he wants , which is a K2 . So when Brian Bates said he wanted him to give the Outline a try on this high-profile show , Blakely had his reservations . Despite that , he adds , “ I ’ m always a big fan of trying stuff out and maybe it ’ s the best thing in the world ? I don ’ t know and you never know until you try .”
Sitting down with Blakely in the band ’ s dressing room after line and sound check , he gives his first impressions . “ I didn ’ t do any EQ at all , I think , today . I think we worked on the time a little bit with the subs and just changed the arc pattern a little bit . Between the mains and the side hangs and the front fill , that mid-to-HF frequency response seems to be very linear between the products , which is cool and I love that about L-Acoustics and like it with d & b and with Adamson . You find that those things , all those new brands , it all sounds really close ,” he says . “ I had tons of gas . I mean , my average show , with vocals in , I ’ d say a loud show is 104dBA or 105dBA , but without vocals in it ’ s around 101 or 102 . That is on the high end when we ’ re doing it and it ’ s all there , everything was in the mix . The low-mid sat really well and , again , really flat on the PA as far as what I saw going in the Lake and stuff . I didn ’ t put any pokes in it at all and didn ’ t find anything really sticking out .”
“ That means a lot ,” Bates responds when relayed Blakely ’ s positive thoughts after sound check . “ I ’ ve known Matt Blakely for a lot of years and he ’ s a notoriously loud mixer . I told him what I wanted to do , what the vision was , and normally he ’ d be saying , ‘ No , I want this brand and no , I won ’ t do anything else ,’ but he went , ‘ Yeah , I ’ ll listen to something else if you guarantee us 1,000 per cent .’ Matt is a professional worldwide touring engineer and although we ’ ve known each other for a long time , that doesn ’ t mean he ’ s going to give me a free pass . He ’ s like , ‘ I ’ m coming down the day before to hear it ,’ and he ’ s a happy camper .”
At FOH , Blakely was standing behind a Midas Pro 2 console , while a Digico SD12 was provided for the support acts . “ I ’ m sure everyone says it , but I approach everything in a very analog way . I was an analog guy forever ,” says Blakely of his mixing style . “ Just real standard gains . I ’ m not doing anything crazy , really , and double bus and drums . I do use a lot of outboard gear , just pieces that I love and I find that really makes the dif-
Outline DBS 18-2 subwoofers at front of stage
( L-R ) Jordan Moore , Michael Belluz , Stuart Evans , Max Stewart , Joel Bates , Brian Bates & Debbie Hutchins FOH Engineer Matt Blakely
28 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
Digico SD12 & Midas Pro 2 consoles at FOH Using an Outline PA was not the first choice for Matt Blakely, Billy Talent’s long-time front of house engineer and pro- duction manager. He is a self-professed “L-Acoustics guy” and typically pretty strict about getting the PA he wants, which is a K2. So when Brian Bates said he wanted him to give the Out- line a try on this high-profile show, Blakely had his reservations. Despite that, he adds, “I’m always a big fan of trying stuff out and maybe it’s the best thing in the world? I don’t know and you never know until you try.” Sitting down with Blakely in the band’s dressing room after line and sound check, he gives his first impressions. “I didn’t do any EQ at all, I think, today. I think we worked on the time a little bit with the subs and just changed the arc pattern a little bit. Between the mains and the side hangs and the front fill, that mid-to-HF frequency response seems to be very linear between the products, which is cool and I love that about L-Acoustics and like it with d&b and with Adamson. You find that those things, all those new brands, it all s �չ�́ɕ����)���͔��t����ͅ�̸��q$�����ѽ�́�����̸�$��������䁅ٕɅ���͡�ܰ�ݥѠ)ٽ���́����'�e��ͅ䁄���Ր�͡�܁�̀��ё ��Ȁ��Ց ����Ёݥѡ���)ٽ���́����ӊé�ɽչ����ā�Ȁ��ȸ�Q��Ё�́���ѡ�����������ݡ��)ݗ�eɔ��������Ё�����ӊé����ѡ�ɔ���ٕ��ѡ����݅́���ѡ����กQ��)��ܵ����ͅЁɕ����ݕ���������������ɕ���䁙��Ё���ѡ��A��́��ȁ��)ݡ�Ё$�ͅ܁���������ѡ��1����������ՙ���$������eЁ��Ё�������́��)�Ё�Ё�������������eЁ��������ѡ����ɕ�����ѥ��������л�t+�qQ��Ё����́����г�t� �ѕ́ɕ�����́ݡ���ɕ��啐� ������e�)��ͥѥٔ�ѡ�՝��́��ѕȁͽչ����������q'�eٔ����ݸ�5��Ё ������)��ȁ����Ё���啅�́�������é����ѽɥ��ͱ䁱�Ր����ȸ�$�ѽ������)ݡ�Ё$�݅�ѕ��Ѽ�����ݡ�Ёѡ��٥ͥ���̰݅�������ɵ���䁡��e����)ͅ她����a9���$�݅�Ёѡ�́�Ʌ�����������$�ݽ��eЁ������ѡ������͔��d)��Ё���ݕ�а��ae�����'�e������ѕ��Ѽ�ͽ��ѡ������͔�����ԁ�ՅɅ�ѕ�)�̀İ������ȁ���л�d�5��Ё�́���ɽ���ͥ�����ݽɱ�ݥ���ѽ�ɥ������)�����ȁ������ѡ�՝��ݗ�eٔ����ݸ�������ѡ�ȁ��ȁ�������ѥ���)ѡ�Ё���ͻ�eЁ��������é������Ѽ���ٔ�������ɕ�����̸�!��é�������a'�e�)���������ݸ�ѡ����䁉���ɔ�Ѽ����ȁ�г�d��������é������䁍����Ȼ�t)Ё= �� ������݅́�х���������������5���́Aɼ�ȁ����)ͽ����ݡ������������M�ȁ݅́�ɽ٥������ȁѡ��������Ё���̸+�q'�e����ɔ��ٕ�役��ͅ�́�а���Ё$����ɽ�����ٕ��ѡ���������ٕ��)�������݅丁$�݅́������������䁙�ɕٕȳ�t�ͅ�́ �����䁽����́���)������屔���q)��Ёɕ����х���ɐ�����̸�'�e����Ё���������ѡ�����Ʌ��)ɕ���䰁������Չ�����́������յ̸�$�����͔�����Ё�����щ��ɐ)���Ȱ����Ё�����́ѡ�Ё$���ٔ�����$������ѡ�Ёɕ���䁵���́ѡ������(���AI=MM%=90�M=U9)=�ѱ���� L���ȁ�Չݽ����́�Ё�ɽ�Ё����х��(�0�H��)�ɑ���5��ɔ��5������� ����谁M�Յ�Ёم�̰�5���Mѕ݅�а�)����$$) �ѕ̰� ɥ��� �ѕ̀��������!�э����)= �������ȁ5��Ё �����