Currently touring their new album Truth is a Beautiful Thing, Trip-hop trio London Grammar are complementing an atmospheric performance with a cinematic set and audio to match. ‘Because of that, we chose DiGiCo consoles for both FOH and monitors,’ says Ross Cornwall, MD of Triplex Productions, which supplies the band’s audio system.
Triplex became involved with London Grammar when they wanted to raise the production values of their live shows, and called on company owner Mark Sunderland to production manage technical requirements.
‘The collaboration has worked really well and the tour has gone everywhere – the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Asia,’ Cornwall says. ‘It’s so successful that don’t always know where we’re going to be, as dates keep getting added to the bands diary. The venues are a real mix from large festivals [Glastonbury, Pukkelpop] to the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith and O2 Academy Brixton. It’s been a real challenge for the team to deliver constant results no matter what territory or venue they are in.’
Sunderland not only production manages, but mans the monitor position on a DiGiCo SD10, with Dan McBean at FOH using the newest of DiGiCo’s consoles, the SD12, with both running Stealth Core 2 software.
‘The sound of DiGiCo consoles is great and their flexibility is almost unlimited,’ Cornwall comments. ‘A major benefit is the Optocore networking tool. Triplex relies on it for the implementation of this project. With Recording and playback to both desks via an Optocore DD4MR, the network is super flexible and FOH and monitors can send audio between themselves, too, keeping the multicores totally digital.’
Cornwall notes that SD10 has a plenty of I/O and gives Mark the flexibility to expand when needed. ‘It also has a great worksurface and is his preference when it comes to layout. As Mark is also the production manager for the band, he needed a system he can walk up to and just mix, so giving him loads of faders so that he has good access to all the channels is essential. The SD12 was Dan’s request. He started off with an SD8-24, which he liked, but when we changed that console for the SD12 he was keen to stick with it.
The Triplex team is happy with the SD10 and SD12: ‘They’ve been on the road since March now, they’re working extremely well and anything that has cropped up has been a minor, quick fix. The band are very happy with the sound and if you ever get a chance to hear the show, you’ll agree that it sounds stunning.’
The tour continues with further dates scheduled in Europe, Australia and the UK.
More: www.digico.org
