The Long-Haul Machine
Pearl Jam christens a new system, keeping things under control

By Daniel Keller

While the “grunge” music scene that spawned them has seen many of their brethren flame out and disappear, Pearl Jam has survived and grown to become a long-haul machine. The recent Riot Act tour saw singer/frontman Eddie Vedder and crew - guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron - appearing in large venues across North and Central America.

Carlson Audio Systems, based in Seattle, handled sound reinforcement for Riot Act, with the company’s technical director, Allen Bagley, traveling with the band, serving as lead system tech.

Notably, this tour took the concept of live taping a step further than normal, with the recording aspect actually becoming part of the live signal chain. All stage lines fed, via Grace Designs preamps, directly to a Midas XL4 console built into a production trailer parked outside each venue.

A look from above one of the FOH processing racks.

There, Pearl Jam’s long-time live and studio engineer Brett Eliason mixed the feed, with a stable of dynamics processors (Manley, Alan Smart, dbx, BSS and others) available. These tracks were then sent along to a 48-track Digidesign Pro Tools HD rig with 120 GB FireWire drives. These AIFF files, in stereo, were uploaded the following day to Seattle for mastering, with the resulting live double CD’s of each show available (for a fee) via the Pearl Jam web site. An MP3 two-track mix of each show could be downloaded free within 24 hours for those who ordered the CD.

CHRISTENING A RIG

Meanwhile, at the more traditional indoor front-of-house (FOH) mix position, mixer Mike Scerra received 22 sub-groups of the mix from the truck, routed to his Midas Heritage 3000 console. Specifically, he received nine channels of drums; all guitars, bass, keys and vocals, plus effects, as well as a stereo room mix to cue in the “cans.”

“Although there’s a fair amount of processing in the racks for the opening acts, the Pearl Jam setup is pretty basic,” explains Scerra, “It’s the Heritage, four BSS FDS-388 Omnidrive loudspeaker processors and a couple of computers running Soundbench and SIA Smaart Live 5. Oh, and an iPod (from Apple) for the walk-in music.”

Plenty of QSC power, racked stage left in the shadow of a whole lotta guitars.

The tour provided the first opportunity for Carlson Audio to christen a new Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) KF760 line array. The loudspeaker set included 24 KF760 long/medium throw modules as well as 24 KF761 modules, with wider dispersion pattern, positioned toward the bottom of each array, handling coverage to the front of the audience area. Twenty-four EAW SB1000 18-inch-loaded subwoofers were generally split 12 per side, ground stacked. In addition, small arrays of EAW KF750 three-way loudspeakers and KF755 downfill loudspeakers worked in tandem with compact EAW JF200e loudspeakers to cover rear and side areas, as well as to provide fill.

“We’re been EAW fans ever since we bought our first 850 rig in ‘93. It was a natural progression over time to the KF750 and now, a KF760 rig,” comments Bagley. “We like the fully horn-loaded type of line array box because it gives us better pattern control down in the lower frequencies, as well as really good attack and punch.”

A speaker set including EAW line arrays as mains and horizontal arrays for supplemental coverage.

Bagley has done some custom modifications to the carts used to transport the KF760 systems in and out of the truck on site. “We put some fairly hard fabric panels on the ends, strapped across the back of the speaker, and moved the wheels,” he explains. “This enables us to spin and stack them, and helped cut our set-up and tear-down to about an hour.” Powering the loudspeaker rig is a selection of QSC PowerLight Series amplifiers, including 24 PL 6.0’s for the subwoofer and low/mid-frequency range of the mains, nine PL 3.4’s for mid frequencies, three PL 4.0’s for the high frequencies, and three PL 1.8’s on the rear and side fill cabinets.

CLEAR MIX AND SEPARATION

The monitor system was supplied by Los Angeles-based Rat Sound, with monitor engineer Karrie Keyes, who’s been touring with the band for 12 years, noting the system design has evolved through the years to meet the band’s needs.

It now includes custom-designed wedges powered by Crest amplifiers, with Keyes sending up to 16 separate mixes from her Yamaha PM4000M console. “By using separate wedges for vocals and instruments, we’re able to get clear mixes and better separation. The vocal EQ doesn’t mess with the instrument equalization,” she notes.

Despite the complexity of the monitor setup, she adds, it’s sonically very straightforward. “We use Ramsa preamps and Lexicon PCM60 on Ed’s vocals along with BSS 690 equalization. No compressors or gates - we don’t need them. It’s pretty organic, raw, clear and fun.”

A Midas Heritage 3000 holding down the front-of-house position.

On stage, McCready’s and Gossard’s guitars were miked with a Shure SM57 and Audio-Technica 4050 on each cabinet, while Vedder’s guitar cabs were captured with an SM57 and Sennheiser 409. On drums, the mic kit was comprised of a mix of A-T and Shure tools, while all vocal mics were Audix OM-7’s with Rat Sound modification. “Eddie sings well and has really good mic technique, but his vocal range sits in a place where it could potentially get buried in guitar midrange,” relates Scerra. “I’m not sure exactly what the (Rat) modification is, but I get more gain out of the vocals than with a stock OM-7.”

Scerra is quick to add that the show wasn’t all that deafening. “We ran at around 100 dB to 102 dB, A-weighted, with peaks around 104 dB. We didn’t push the PA too hard, and we practiced good gain structure. And even though we had a slew of monitors on stage, the overall stage volume remained pretty manageable.”

Gear to create a Riot Act

House System

Loudspeakers - Front Hang

24 EAW KF760 - long throw
24 EAW KF761 short throw
24 EAW SB1000 (subs)
6 EAW JF200 (near fill)

Amplifiers - Front Hang

6 QSC PowerLight 3.4
30 QSC PowerLight 6.0

Loudspeakers - Side & Rear Hang

10 EAW KF750 (side & rear coverage)
8 EAW KF755 (side & rear coverage)

Amplifiers-Side & Side Hang

3 QSC PowerLight 1.8
3 QSC PowerLight 3.4
3 QSC PowerLight 4.0

House Console

1 Midas Heritage 3000 48+4
56-channel console
2 Midas H750 PSU

System Control

1 Klark Teknik DN3600 stereo EQ
1 Aphex Dominator 720
4 BSS FDS-366 Omnidrive

Front of House Processing (for support act)

1 Lexicon PCM80 effects processor
2 Yamaha SPX900 effects processors
1 TC Electronics D-Two delay
2 BSS 404 (Comp/limiters)
2 Klark Teknik DN514 quad noise gate

Splitter/Snaking package

1 Whirlwind Concert 56 (in addition to the mix room)
1 300ft. Whirlwind W-4 (from stage to FOH, for support & 20 PJ channels)
1 3ft. Whirlwind W-4 to Male XLR (into Heritage 3000 @ FOH)
5 12-channel stage boxes with CPC mults

 

Recording System

Consoles

1 Midas XL4/48+16
2 Midas XL490 PSU

Dynamics

4 dbx 160X
6 dbx 160A
2 BSS 404
1 Aphex Dominator
2 UA 1176
8 Empirical Labs Distressor
2 Manley Variable MU
1 SSL stereo comp
1 Allan Smart

Gates

1 Aphex 622

Effects

1 PCM-60
1 Eventide H3000
1 TC Electronics M3000
1 Roland SDE3000
1 TC Electronics 2290

Playback/Record

1 Panasonic SV3700
1 TEAC 2000CDR

Power

1 120V 60hz 20amp drop at stage left for the preamp rack
2 120V 60hz 20amp circuits in the control room

Splitter/Snaking

1 Whirlwind Concert 56 splitter systems (stage left)
1 300ft. Whirlwind W-4 mass connector to W-4 mass connector (from pre-amps to mix room)
1 3ft. Whirlwind W-4 to 56 Male XLR connectors (into console)
1 300ft. Whirlwind W-2 connector to W-2 (return to splitter)
1 3ft. W2 to male XLR fan-out (mix room into splitter)
1 3ft. W2 to female XLR fan-out (Midas XLR 4 to stage return)

 

Based in the Seattle area, Daniel Keller has regularly covered a variety of professional audio applications.

August 2003 Live Sound International