José Carreras’ A Life In Music tour has seen sold out shows around the world, but a particular highlight for FOH engineer Peter Schneekloth were the concerts Brazil – mixed on a Yamaha Rivage PM10 console.
Schneekloth has been live sound engineer for Carreras for 16 years, mixing hundreds of shows in concert halls, arenas and stadia in more than 50 countries. The A Life In Music tour opened in 2016 at London’s Royal Albert Hall and has included dates in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the US, Central and South America, Australia, Russia and other territories. Sell-outs and ovations have been regular features, and more dates are planned for 2018.
The size and complexity of the tour has made it impractical for Schneekloth to use his own mixing console, so he has used desks supplied by local rental companies. The four Brazilian shows in May 2017 saw behind a Yamaha Rivage PM10.
Schneekloth attended an early Rivage PM10 presentation at Yamaha Commercial Audio’s European HQ in 2016. ‘Peter immediately understood the potential of the console, even at that early stage, and he promised to add it to the requested consoles list for Carreras shows,’ says Yamaha’s Arthur Koll, who ran the sessions. ‘He’s long been a fan of Yamaha consoles, and we enjoyed frank discussions about features for upcoming firmware versions.’
The Rivage PM10 for shows in Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza and two in São Paulo was supplied by Gabisom Áudio Equipment, with Peter Racy as Head of Sound. Giuliano Quiqueto of Yamaha Brazil was on hand to assist, if needed, but Schneekloth found the console so intuitive that Giuliano had a few very quiet days.
‘I think it was a bit boring for him, because there was not much to explain,’ Schneekloth says. ‘It was a great pleasure working with the Rivage PM10, after a few minutes I felt completely at home on it. It is very simple to handle, and I found it easy to get a full, warm, detailed sound. The new preamps with the Rupert Neve Designs Silk option are amazing.’
More: www.yamahaproaudio.com
