TAMPA, Florida - December 2022 - When the late composer, producer, guitarist and music entrepreneur Paul O'Neill first conceived Trans-Siberian Orchestra, his goal was as straightforward as it was ambitious. The whole idea, he explained once, was to create a progressive rock band that would push the boundaries further than any group before. Way, way further. Since the release of the band's first album, Christmas Eve And Other Stories, in 1996, TSO has become a de facto staple of the holiday season, embarking on often-grueling months-long excursions.
In fact, the band has become so much a part of the Christmas season that, like Santa, they've figured out how to be in two places at once. This year, TSO hit the road in November with two bands and two identical productions, often playing as many as eight shows a week, with two shows a night on weekends. For instance, this year's outing, The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO and More, began in both Green Bay, Wisconsin and Council Bluffs, Iowa at the same time and will end on December 30 in Cleveland and San Antonio. Billboard proclaimed TSO as one of the top touring artists of the past decade, a $20 million-plus multi-dimensional art-rock opera that has played to over 100 million people in over 80 cities, selling more than $280 million worth of tickets.
There are two TSOs currently on the road and there are six DiGiCo Quantum7 consoles between them, supplied by Clair Global, the SR provider for the tour. Two are used to mix front of house and two for monitors, with one spare for each iteration of the band-not that they've ever needed them. The Q7 has so much redundancy built into it; if one engine were to fail, it would seamlessly switch over to the other engine on each console, explains Adam Robinson, monitor engineer for the eastern cities on the itinerary, who has been with TSO for four years amidst tours with Josh Groban, St. Vincent, and Bebe Rexha. Reliability is a given with DiGiCo.
What DiGiCo has also done, however, is spanned all of TSO's recent odyssey. Dave Wittman knows-he's been the band's front-of-house engineer from day one. He met O'Neill when the guitarist brought his first progressive rock band, Slowburn, to Electric Lady Studios where Wittman worked in the mid-1970s. The two would later work together on the heavy-metal band Savatage, which would become the Petri dish for O'Neill's rock opera/rock theater ideas. Wittman happily worked on TSO's albums and tours using analog consoles until 2011, when, at the recommendation of Clair, they decided to transition to digital. It's been seamless ever since, says Wittman, who says the SD7 they began with was able to give him and the band the sonic warmth they'd enjoyed with analog consoles, but with the tremendous boost of productivity that came with the SD7's automation and routing capabilities.
Then came the Quantum engine. I like to keep the work surface simple, and the Quantum7 has made that even easier, he says, noting that over time he's moved almost completely away from outboard processors and has come to rely completely on the Q7's own processing, using the console's EQ and compression on every instrument and vocal input. I'm amazed at the amount of control the Quantum upgrade brought with it, says Wittman, who also remains the band's studio engineer at its Tampa-area private facility, the former heavy-metal temple Morrisound Recording. And the level of clarity I'm getting from the processing is excellent. I like to keep things simple, and I like how DiGiCo helped us make the transition from analog to digital years ago but still lets us have our sound.' My goal from day one was to be able to make the show sound like the record on stage. We get compliments that tell me that we've accomplished that, and DiGiCo helped us get there.
Robinson is also a veteran DiGiCo pilot-he still has a vintage D1 console in his office-and has been especially pleased with the Quantum software's features, including 128 aux/subgroup busses and 48 48 matrix, all with full processing; 64 insertable Mustard processing strips; and snapshots for seamlessly changing multiple parameters at once.
When asked what it's like managing monitors for TSO, he replies succinctly, Busy, citing the 18 performers on stage, each with their own specific preferences for the JH Audio IEMs the tour uses. The show runs like a theatrical performance, very scripted and with lots of automation and multiple cues within songs, he says. At the same time, it's a rock show, so it can also meander a bit in parts. Much of the time I'm chasing timecode, so the performers can count on specific level changes always happening in the exact same spots. Even as I'm following the automation script, I am still riding a handful of levels. I have over 90 snapshots for the show and another 100 for other songs we've done in the past, ready to be fired whenever those songs reappear again. Since I'm riding faders the entire show, I really appreciate the 52 physical faders and three 15-inch, high-resolution LCD touchscreens. The flexible routing and the assignable channel layout means I can stay on specific faders but still have complete awareness and control over the entire monitor mix. It lets me hear things coming before they happen.
Robinson is additionally keeping an ear on the audience, ready to swell the house mics as their reaction builds to songs and parts, keeping the band emotionally connected to their crowds. I'm listening to those audience mics 6dB hotter than anyone else, so, in a sense, I can predict reactions and make sure the band hears them, he says. I have a lot of nuance available in these faders.
He's also a fan of the Mustard processing, applying tools like op
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
02/06/2024
AE add 3D motion to still photographs
Brie Clayton June 2, 2024
0 Comments
AE add 3D motion to still photographs
May 30, 2024COW Featured Resume: Pa...
01/06/2024
Dustee Jenkins, Chief Public Affairs Officer, Spotify
With billions of people from over 50 countries heading to the polls to cast their vote, 2024 is shaping u...
01/06/2024
Busy this week catching up from the Memorial Day holiday? Our TV Tech weekly wrap-up of all our coverage of new products, services and deployments will get you ...
01/06/2024
Young Sherlock, with Guy Ritchie directing and executive producing, is a go at Prime Video. Hero Fiennes Tiffin plays Sherlock. Prime Video calls it the origin...
01/06/2024
The Los Angeles Sparks-Indiana Fever game on Friday featuring the top two WNBA draft picks, Caitlin Clark and Cameron Brink, was the most watched WNBA game on I...
01/06/2024
Lionsgate, which increased its majority stake in 3 Arts Entertainment in January, said it named Brian Weinstein co-CEO of 3 Arts....
01/06/2024
Netflix is launching four video games based on unscripted series this year. They...
01/06/2024
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates switched from their regular programming to carry live coverage of the verdicts in the porn star hush-money trial of former Pres...
31/05/2024
A U.S. Marine fires an FIM-92 Stinger missile during a training exercise in Yuma...
31/05/2024
NEW YORK The global body that sets technical standards for digital advertising h...
31/05/2024
In a new analysis of what services might make up a good bundle and what services might benefit the most from bundling, Antenna has released new data that highli...
31/05/2024
Global SVOD revenues will increase by $116.6 billion by 2031, a growth rate of 13.3% per year over the next eight years, according to a new report from MIDiA Re...
31/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The FCC Media Bureau has announced that effective August 1, 2024 the Commission's TVStudy software will incorporate the most recent U.S. Ce...
31/05/2024
NBCUniversal has announced that its FAST channel TNBC will be rebranding to NBC Comedy Vault on June 1 and that the free streaming service will officially launc...
31/05/2024
PARIS Ateme has announced that the Indonesian public broadcaster TVRI is making the transition to 4K UHD OTT streaming using Ateme technologies....
31/05/2024
The proposal had received support from James Cameron, Andy Serkis, Paul Greengrass, Richard Curtis, and Jeremy Irons
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: May 31, 2...
31/05/2024
According to multiple reports, the new bid from Skydance offers a better deal to Paramounts Class B shareholders, who were said to be unhappy with the companys ...
31/05/2024
The awards recognise women and companies who are stand-out performers, innovators and leaders in the broadcast media technology industry
By Matthew Corrigan
...
31/05/2024
NEW YORK The global body that sets technical standards for digital advertising has expanded the reach of its measurement software development kit to include Sam...
31/05/2024
The rise of digital platforms is fundamentally changing the broadcast newsroom and its investment in technology according to Jon Roberts, director of technology...
31/05/2024
In a new analysis of what services might make up a good bundle and what services might benefit the most from bundling, Antenna has released new data that highli...
31/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. Fifty state broadcasters associations, including the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, have sent a letter to Congressio...
31/05/2024
EVS has announced the appointment of Richard Katz as senior vice president of operations for the North and Latin American (NALA) region. This appointment is par...
31/05/2024
CommScope has announced that it was selected by Casa Systems, Inc. as the highest to acquire Casa's cable business assets and that the two companies have en...
31/05/2024
Robert De Niro won't be receiving the Service to America Leadership Award from the NAB Leadership Foundation after all....
31/05/2024
Viant Technology said it formed an integration with Google Cloud's BigQuery data clean rooms...
31/05/2024
The CW said it will broadcast the 2024 Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop Last year, The CW aired the game when it was called Bar...
31/05/2024
Allen Media Group said it made a deal with Amazon's Fire TV Channel that will make content from several of Allen's outlet available via Fire TV and Echo...
31/05/2024
Robert De Niro, announced as the winner of the NAB's Leadership Foundation's Service to America Leadership Award on May 28, will not get the award. The ...
31/05/2024
Comcast Technology Solutions was selected by AccuWeather to create, manage and distribute linear and over-the-top video channels....
31/05/2024
Connected TV is becoming a bigger deal for consumers and advertisers, according to a new report from TVision....
31/05/2024
By Craig Anderton
Let's get right to what this sounds like. It's not quite feedback or tape reverse, it's well, listen to what it does in this blue...
31/05/2024
31 May 2024
VEON discloses April YTD trading update at its AGM Amsterdam, 31 May 2024 07:00 CEST -
VEON April YTD 2024 Highlights
Total revenue of USD 1,278 ...
31/05/2024
31 May 2024
VEON Announces Its New Board, Names Founder Augie Fabela as Chairman Amsterdam, 31 May 2024, 16.00 CET: VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam...
31/05/2024
May 31st, 2024
TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND OPEN AI ANNOUNCE SORA SHORTS'
Five Commissioned Short Films Created Using Sora Debut at 2024 Tribeca Festival
New ...
31/05/2024
In-Venue Technology Wrap-Up: How 4K, IP, and More are Changing the Game Pres Gam...
31/05/2024
UEFA Champions League Final 2024: The host broadcast facts and figures for Real ...
31/05/2024
UEFA Europa Conference League Final 2024: Bringing the broadcast to global TV sc...
31/05/2024
Willow Offers Free 2024 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Preview via DirecTV, Verizon, ...
31/05/2024
Women's College World Series: ESPN Brings Live Drone, Two-Point Cabled, and ...
31/05/2024
SVG College Summit Brings Video-Production Industry Together in Atlanta in the M...
31/05/2024
UEFA Champions League Final 2024: CBS Sports' UCL Today Studio Show Is Pitch...
31/05/2024
Back to All News
Master of the House' Unveils a Scandalous Tale of Power and Greed on July 18
Entertainment
31 May 2024
GlobalThailand
Link copied to ...
31/05/2024
Back to All News
JEEtu Bhaiya is Back: Kota Factory' Season 3 Arrives on Netflix June 20
Entertainment
31 May 2024
GlobalIndia
Link copied to clipboar...
31/05/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
With around 9,000 employees, Ground Transportation Systems is a global leader in Rail Signaling and Train Control Systems, Telec...
31/05/2024
RT 2FM is the home of music this summer, entertaining listeners across the day and night, with the best music, chat and interviews providing the soundtrack to ...
31/05/2024
After the 2008 financial crisis and increased risk-management regulations that f...
TAMPA, Florida - December 2022 - When the late composer, producer, guitarist and music entrepreneur Paul O'Neill first conceived Trans-Siberian Orchestra, his goal was as straightforward as it was ambitious. The whole idea, he explained once, was to create a progressive rock band that would push the boundaries further than any group before. Way, way further. Since the release of the band's first album, Christmas Eve And Other Stories, in 1996, TSO has become a de facto staple of the holiday season, embarking on often-grueling months-long excursions.
