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Widespread Panic exemplifies the ultimate independent musical success story. Not only has the indefatigable artists traversed the globe numerous times in their 20-year tenure, they’ve been anointed into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, have released 10 albums to date, (including the recent, Free Somehow), but have also sold nearly 3 million live digital downloads in nearly 3 years. Engineer Chris Rabold has guided the band’s sonic path live on tour since 2001, much of that time behind the controls of a DiGiCo D5 console with more than favorable results. A total of 60+ inputs accommodate everything from the 6-piece band’s gear (the percussionist uses 21 alone), triggers and audience mics for recording—plus an allotted 6 lines for guest artists, so there’s a lot to manage at all times. Given the opportunity, Rabold jumped at the chance to take an SD7 out for a spin on Panic’s U.S. fall dates, eliciting enthusiastic raves for DiGiCo’s newest flagship and its overall sonic superiority and powerful processing.
“I’ve been mixing this band for a while now, and am continually looking for ways to improve their sound,” offers Rabold. “I used a D5 in 2005 with very favorable results but spent the past few years on another desk, which was a fine product in and of itself. However, when I went back and listened to mixes I had done on the D5, it reminded me of just how astounding the depth of field was with the DiGiCo—something that I specifically remember commenting on when I first mixed on one. Eighth Day Sound has always been a very strong proponent of DiGiCo, and after a few playful nudges from the guys, I decided to give the SD7 a look. I knew the DiGiCo would give me a better, purer input than anything out there and after flying up to Eight Day’s shop in Cleveland to give the console a spin, I knew my thinking was correct. I literally sat up for 3 all-night mixing sessions, playing back tracks I’d recorded through converters other than that of an SD7, and taking the desk through its paces. The processing power the desk affords you as a mixer is pretty impressive to say the least. My EQ moves were minimal, the dynamics were phenomenal (never thought I’d say that about a digital desk) and the summing busses never had that ‘choked’ sound common on other digital consoles. Needless to say, I was totally blown away by the sonic quality of the desk.”
With a few thousand miles and a bunch of shows under his proverbial belt with the SD7, Rabold says his satisfaction rate has increased exponentially. “Now that the desk’s converters are being put to use live, the inputs themselves have never sounded better. The top end on the desk is so smooth and so distinctly different from any other console on the market. You can just place things so easily within the soundscape without a lot of fuss. I don’t feel like I’m trying to jam everything together; there’s space and there’s depth.”
Rabold also expressed a desire early on to get back to a console where he didn’t need to embellish or augment it with external plug-ins and/or effects to get the sound he was looking for. “I’ve grown tired of ‘dolling up’ my inputs with processing just to get them to the point where I felt satisfied with them. I do have a few of my favorite analog dynamics pieces inserted, but I’ve found myself turning units off that I’ve relied on for years. I just don’t need to go too far to get the sounds I’m looking for with the SD7.”
The band is renowned among fans for their free weekly MP3 and podcast posts, not to mention CD-quality audio downloads for sale of virtually every show since 2005. “We multitrack the shows nightly to Nuendo, which interfaces directly via RME MADI bridges,” he explains. “We also have MADI bridges set up to allow for playback. It’s literally a matter of switching presets on the RMEs to change from the console receiving signal from Nuendo, or the stage racks themselves. For 2-track recording, I provide a Left/Right feed straight off the stereo bus and matrix that with some audience mics. That signal is sent via AES to a Tascam DV-RA1000 and to an Alesis Masterlink hard disc recorder. Those shows are sent to our download folks at livewidespreadpanic.com and are available for download within 48 hours. To date, the band has sold 2.5 million downloads via the site so we take that process pretty seriously.”
With a whole lot of raving going on as to the virtues and veracity of the new console, Rabold sums the utmost desirable feature as the SD7’s basic sonic quality. “As much as the SD7 can do, with all its available features, it’s the basic sound of the desk that I’d cite as my favorite aspect. It just has a very pure, uncolored sound. The sound of the desk could be described as analog in its characteristics. But more so because of the fact that it does NOT sound like your typical digital desk. There’s no upper-mid harshness or high-end brittleness. The low mids are strong and defined. I don’t ever think, ‘I wonder if what’s bothering me about this sound is a result of the converters’ for the individual inputs… I seriously used to think that on other consoles. The way the inputs sum is pretty amazing, too. You don’t lose resolution or depth as you introduce different elements to the mix. That was a major gripe of mine in the past. The version of software I’m using on this fall tour does not include the dynamic EQ and the multiband dynamics. When I eventually put those features to use I’ll officially be in ‘mixer nirvana!’ But for now, I’m a little disappointed because aside from a few more weeks of this tour and a few one-offs, I don’t have anything planned until the spring. I don’t know if I can be apart from my favorite new toy for that long!”
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