MUSE
FOH Engineer, Marc ‘MC’ Carolan; Monitor Engineer, Adam Taylor.
MC’s outboard hardware included a series of studio worthy analogue gear such as Empirical Labs, TUBE-TECH, Rupert Neve, Maag, Midas, BSS, dbx, GML, Andiamo converters and various software plug-ins but, notably, no Waves. “There’s a lot of pieces I’ve used for a very longtime with Muse it’s a hybridisation of both digital and analogue approach.” For the drums, kick, toms and snare, MC utilised dbx Professional Audio 160as Midas XL42 channel strips and a touch of transient designer. A TUBETECH LCA 2B Stereo Tube VCA compressor / limiter and an Empirical Labs Fatso EL7x full analogue tape simulator and optimiser was purposed for the bass. On vocals, the FOH Engineer used Midas XL42 channel strips and trademark distressor. MC specified the GML 8200 EQ and the TUBE-TECH SMC 2B stereo multiband compressor, which “tickled half dbs here and there”. The other significant bit of outboard gear was the Rupert Neve Designs Portico 5024. Effects wise, an Eventide H3000, a pair of the old school, SPX 2000s, which predominantly cover snare reverb and doublers. And finally, the “venerable” Bricasti M7s - “there’s nothing that can beat them.” For radio mics, a mixture of Neumann KMS 105s and Sennheiser MD5235s were spread across six positions for Matt Bellamy and four positions for bassist Chris Wolstenholme, along with spares. As well as supplying all audio equipment, desks, microphones, speakers, comms, the team provided a maximum configuration of 116 d&b audiotechnik GSL on the main, side and field delay hangs. “The GSL allows me to develop a mix which I know will sound fantastic. I’m not afraid to get into the details because I know there’s a constant platform for output. Both the S6L and GSL, for me, as an engineer are seamless,” MC stated. “Muse projects always present a challenge because of its out of the box nature,” Systems Engineer, Joachim Dewulf, said. “Fundamentally, it’s a basic left/right PA but MC and Muse are famed for their innovation and live sound, so we’re not afraid to try new things. Even if it gets half a percent better than the previous show then it’s worth it.” The 220˚ hangs and ring delays boasted 88 d&b KSL while the pit comprised a mixture of 25 d&b audiotechnik SL-SUBs, 12 d&b audiotechnik Y10Ps, 8 d&b audiotechnik J12s and 120 d&b audiotechnik D80 amps. “It’s the first tour I’ve used the KSL,” Dewulf explained the PA had “a lot more body” than other PA systems. “It goes a lot deeper and there is much more detail in the high mids and the directivity of the system is amazing.” Network was achieved by dual redundant fibre Dante / R1 via Cisco switches with real-time network monitoring software. “Over the years, because technology is getting heavier and heavier, traffic is naturally getting heavier. For my main rack, I use a control cable so if anything feels suspect I can unplug the controls for damage limitation, which thankfully, has never had to happen.” Between FOH and monitors, Skan PA provided the infrastructure of Muse shared control – which boasted a pair of Avid S6L-32D systems sharing two STAGE64s, two Avid ProTools at FOH and monitors for archiving / virtual soundcheck, a 128-channel line-system and an Avid S6L-24C system with one STAGE64 redundant system in case of catastrophic failure of main control. In the caverns of monitor world, TPi located Adam Taylor who has mixed
the band since April 2001. Like MC, the longstanding Monitor Engineer made the transition to an Avid S6L console on this tour cycle. He reflected: “I was late switching over to digital, I was waiting for the Midos Pro console to settle down and when it did, we switched to the Pro 9. Our ever-expanding input count exceeded the capabilities of the band-owned Midas platform and this prompted a move over to the Avid S6L.” Taylor’s approach was to mainly mix hands-on, he said: “There are some more complex songs but I try to keep it one scene per song but a lot of my mixing is hands-on, partly because I’m old school but I also have more confidence in manually mixing and this console allows you to put anything anywhere, I can programme it so everything is on the surface.” The band all donned Sennheiser 2000-IEMs. “The level that everyone is listening to is much more manageable and cleaner when there’s no wedges,” Taylor said. “The band are very mobile so they’re running around so I give them a balanced mix with whatever they’re playing sat on top.” Barring Chris, who doesn’t have any ambient mic noise as a preference, Taylor rode the ambient mics in and out in between songs, “topping and tailing at some points of the songs for the band, where the audience sing along.” Sennheiser SKM5200 handled the RF mics. While Taylor’s hardware included Aphex, GML, Little Labs and converters by Andiamo. A 40-station GreenGo network - half wired and half wireless provided show comms. Skan PA’s support control came in the shape of 2 Avid S6L-24C systems sharing one STAGE64, a 64-channel line-system, Sennheiser 2000-IEMs and d&b audiotechnik M2 wedges. “The thought put into preparing the Skan PA gear is exceptional, I don’t think you can get that quality and level of finish from anyone else,” Taylor concluded. Audio Crew Chief and RF Tech, Liam Tucker, FOH minder, Eddie O’Brien and Advance System Designer, Matt Vickers were among the friendly Skan PA faces. “Skan always provide a mega crew and kit, and this tour is no different,” MC said. “The quality of Skan’s prep means we rarely have to call the warehouse but when we do, we know that the support is there if we need it. They even custom built the top piece of the S6L, their service is absolutely second to none.” SITE INFRASTRUCTURE A familiar face on Muse’s stadium-sized tours, Head Electrician, Paul Traynor checked-in with TPi: “It’s slightly changed this year, we’re using a lot more 208v, meaning using a lot more transformers, running 1.5mW of power across five generators, which is an average output for an event of this size.” With generators comes a lot more cabling: “Our generators lead from the car park all the way to the stage. On average, we’re 100m from the stage so there’s a lot more cable. We put in about two and a half miles of cable for every show,” Traynor explained. For Traynor, health and safety of the crew is paramount. “Our main concern is ensuring the safety of the band, performers and the crew. An open top production is the ‘in thing’ at the moment so we have to make sure that everything is bonded properly and making sure the RCDs are set properly,” he furthered: “The only problem we have is water and we all 36
