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Renowned engineer Rob “Cubby” Colby is no stranger to the DiGiCo D5. Colby has worked extensively for many years on major musical tours with Prince, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Genesis, Shakira, and most recently used the DiGiCo D5 with Latin rock sensation Juanes (on a 18-month-long world tour in 2008-09), and global one-offs with American icon Stevie Wonder in 2009. When he signed on for a multi-city tour with R. Kelly earlier this year, there was never any doubt what console would handle the urban R&B singer-songwriter/producer’s multi-dimensional sounds on his first-ever appearance in Africa. Kelly’s performance closed out the inaugural ARISE Africa Fashion Week June 20th in Johannesburg, and continued in cities throughout South Africa and Nigeria, culminating on a headlining performance at London’s Wembley Arena on July 8th.
Once the production and budget were sorted out, Colby knew that [production house] Gearhouse South Africa would be able to provide his console of choice for FOH and monitors. “For me, I’m very familiar with layout of D5 and structure and I think the sound is excellent,” Colby reflects. “It has been extremely reliable for the tours I’ve chosen to have it on, and it’s what I wanted for this one as well.”
Colby was able to layout the D5 using the DiGiCo RCE (Remote Control Editor) offline prior to the tour rehearsals in Sun City South Africa. Comprising 56 inputs for the full band, those included 2 keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and 3 background singers, plus Kelly. Additionally, there were 5 stereo stems of sound effects and video clips to accompany the show. “It’s a very straightforward, live show,” Colby explains. “I like the R&B/funk attitude of the music and it’s always been something I’ve enjoyed to mix. Robert [R. Kelly] is very involved in the production from the programming to the producing; it’s very clean-sounding audio and the band is extraordinarily good. Using the offline D5 editor, I was able to build all of my VCA, effects, label all my inputs, and essentially turn everything on, before I got there. That way, you’re off to a more comfortable start, at least for me. I’m more prepared and I know where everything is. It doesn't take 2-3 days of production rehearsals to figure out the how you would want to setup the layer/banks of the console because I’ve already done it, prior to arriving for rehearsals.”
Overall programmability was a huge asset for Colby, including recording the shows for subsequent show soundchecks, as well as for archival purposes, using the MADI format from the D5 stage racks. ”That’s what I do with everybody I work with. I had one all the time from 8th Day Sound on Juanes tour and it was a simple, accurate and dependable setup. It’s such a great tool to have. All you have to do is spend the time labelling. No fuss, no muss, you just come off your mic pres. To be able to play back from the show the night before, using the same drum set, the same PA, is invaluable, although most of the time, the artist will still come in and soundcheck every day. That time is mainly an issue for the artist and the monitor engineer to get familiar with the room.”
On monitors is John 'Elmo' Sheldon, whose familiarity with the DiGiCo D5 extends to tours with Marilyn Manson in 2004, as well as the Smashing Pumpkins in late 2008. He’s expanded his understanding of its functionality and sonic qualities teaching students on it as an instructor in Full Sail University’s Show Production department.
“I have used these consoles on multiple tours in the past and have really gotten used to how easy it is to mix for multiple artists on stage using in-ears,” Sheldon recalls. “I do a lot of channel splitting for ears and wedges, and the ease of use and the clean sound that this console brings makes it a easy choice for doing a large band with in-ears.”
Sheldon is managing approximately 60 inputs on this tour and finds the onboard functionality of no compare. “I really think the EQ section is the most accurate of any console I have used before. I know when I pull 3db of a given frequency, it is just 3db. I absolutely love the processor channels; I like using these across the ear mixes to give me quick, complete control of their overall sound. I also enjoy having as many control groups (VCA) as I can get a hold of. When running a lot of inputs through the console, being able to not page through banks to get at channels is a great thing, in my opinion. Also, having 2 cue buses when using wedges in combination with in-ears makes it extremely easy to hear as close as possible to what is really happening on stage and what the artist is hearing.”
At the close of this tour, Colby says he’ll be taking a much needed break for the summer, gearing up for what lay ahead in the fall, which most likely will include another major outing with Juanes to promote a forthcoming album. He’s looking forward to taking out an SD7 this year for the first time, as well, after getting a chance to delve into a loaner in his home studio prior to the Kelly tour. “It’s an unbelievably beautiful sounding console and I’ll definitely be using it on the next tour that I do, not just the one-offs. I feel that it’s probably one of the best sounding digital consoles out there. I think all the digital consoles sound very good; it’s just a matter of how well do you like the way this works for you. For me, I’ve become very friendly with the DiGiCo consoles, and they just happen to be what’s user-friendly for Cubby.”
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