Press Release
Maestro
Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 838
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 Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:18 am Post subject: David Gray Rocks to Focusrite |
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Hectic tours can put pressure on both performers and equipment – indeed David Gray’s recent world tour promoting his superb new album, Life In Slow Motion, was so strenuous that the singer had to postpone some shows due to ill health. Fortunately there is one thing that he can rely on while touring and that is the gear used to record his performances. Gray’s live sound engineer Mark Jones, who has also worked with Embrace and Morcheeba this year, chose a list of Focusrite products for the task including a couple of Producer Packs and no less than eight Platinum Octo Pres.
“I am using the two Producer Packs [supplied by Chris Fitch at Skan PA Hire Ltd] on David’s piano, guitar and vocals,” reveals Mark. “Overall, when I am mixing live sound I am looking for a round dynamic sound, something I feel is achievable with the right combination of tools. I will always aim for a warm vocal sound, something an ISA 430 certainly helps achieve.”
“I use the mic pre amps on the Producer Packs to give me ‘that sound’. I also utilise the compressor, parametric EQ and De Esser before it gets to the desk. Effectively this means all vocal processing is done on the Producer Pack. Without any doubt the EQ is one of the best sounding EQs I have come across, precise yet musical, it just nails anything down to give it that sweet sound. If I don’t get a unit like an ISA 430 nothing else will replicate the sound I hope to get.”
And when he decided to record all of the shows, he looked at various combinations before opting for the eight Octo Pres in combination with a hard disk recording set-up.
“As we are currently running 52 inputs, we have eight Octo Pres in one rack,” says Mark. “We also added the 24-bit /96KHz AES /SPDIF/ADAT interface cards as we connect to the recording setup via optical. The results have been impressive; the pre amps are ever so quiet and transparent. I also love the fact that each channel has a limiter on it, an extremely useful function. This takes care of any sudden peaks and spikes that might result in clipping and also means we don’t need to be constantly keeping an eye on the set-up.”
And as for the reliability, no problems there either… “We bought the eight Octo Pres two months ago [from Gavin Miller at Kazbar] and so far they have been rock solid, no problems at all. I have been using the Producer Packs since July on this tour. I chose the Octo Pres based on my positive experience with other Focusrite products, the main factors being how good they sound and how reliable they are.”
Mark will be back on the road with David Gray next year and you can bet the Focusrite gear will be there too and just as reliable as ever.
Further information
www.focusrite.com
www.davidgray.com
www.skan-uk.com/
www.kazbarsystemsinc.com
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