The current tour by Beck merges mix skills, digital developments and well-conceived system techniques

“None of the bands I do are that loud,” says Jon Lemon, who is currently touring at FOH for Beck, using the new DiGiCo D-5 Live console. “I wouldn’t work for loud bands. Every band I work with knows that my idea is to get the biggest 3D imagery you can, with no pain.” Jon was preaching to the choir, as far as I am concerned - I cannot get over how many shows I go to nowadays where the mix hurts my ears. When Beck launched into the first song of his soundcheck, the mix was, excuse the expression, majestic, in an understated way that matched the song, which had a dramatic atmosphere that reminded me of classic Bowie, or Bryan Ferry.

Beck as a musician seems to have moved universes past the charming trashcan-ism of his first hit, “Loser,” and I would say that Jon Lemon is helping showcase his new direction very fittingly.

I had peeked at the new digital contender, the DiGiCo D-5 Live, at AES, and that very console is the one that Jon Lemon has out, with the remainder of the rig provided by Showco. (DiGiCo director Lars Brogard is also currently using a D-5 Live to mix Rod Stewart.) The day I met Jon and Showco engineer Jim Ragusa, they had plugged their D-5 into the massive Clair Brothers S-4 system installed at the Universal Amphitheatre, although normally they use Showco Prism speakers.

Many touring mixers still mention a fear of digital boards possibly dumping mid-show, as a reason for not going to digital. But, as I was discussing that with Pete Kudas, the Clair engineer from the Amphitheatre, and Jim Ragus, they each mentioned instances in their experience where traditional analog FOH desks totally failed, at pretty sizeable shows. In both cases, a stereo mix was quickly generated off the monitor board, those sends patched into the house amps, and the show went on. But that is an interesting point - sure, it is a disaster if a digital board fails, but it has never been a picnic when an analog one does!

MANY GLOWING SCREENS

External display screen for DiGiCo console, on EFX rack at FOH position

For Lemon, the last gig he did before the Beck tour was mixing some live Oasis telecasts, on a Euphonix board, so his mind was pretty well in digital land already. When I walked up on him at the mix position, not only were there the glowing screens on the DiGiCo console itself, but also his laptop (running Metric Halo’s Spectrafoo,) a small remote for the TC System 6000 reverb, an extension flat-screen monitor for channel functions of the D5, and a small screen for the Clair Brothers digital I/O, which is quite a multi-function controller. There are a set of icons representing different types of EQ shapes, at the top of the screen, and I was amazed to se Jon click on one, then drag and drop it onto the range of the system, and use it to choose a frequency, and the Q, to parametrically reduce it. Clair also supplies a small infrared keyboard that communicates with the brain, so you can walk a room and make adjustments wirelessly. In a rack next to the desk, Jon pointed out the 56 channel digital recording rig that he is using, attached via a MADI interface.

“It sees what the preamps see,” he explained, which allows him to go into a venue and play the previous night’s show back, to check out the room, and also scrutinize his mix, through the pair of active Tannoy AMS 10A nearfields to the left and right of the D5. The 42 GB recording device is made by Pyramix, a Swiss company recommended by Lars Brogard.

As someone who has been mixing for many years, Jon is a wealth of anecdotes. In years past, he was affiliated very closely with the Turbosound Flashlight system. “There’s no metal in that system,” he explained, “it’s all paper cones.” In other words, a man who appreciates warmth, rather than blacksmithery, in his mixes. A veteran of travels with The Cure and Depeche Mode, Jon talked a little about his days with Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails.

MORE LIKE A REAL SHOW

After being asked to come to New Orleans and be involved with the pre-tour production rehearsals, Jon found out they would be at the Sanger Theatre, a venue with acoustics he had experienced before, and not enjoyed. So, he asked that the FOH desk be set up out in the foyer, and he would work on constructing his mix on nearfields. Naturally, this limited his interaction with the band, although he did put up a small PA in the theatre itself, as well, so they would feel more like it was a real show.

When the day came for Trent Reznor to join him in the lobby and listen to the mix, Jon remembers being quite apprehensive! But Mr. Reznor’s reaction was total satisfaction, and they went on from there, doing shows all over, that were released as the album “And All That Could Have Been …”

Kick drum with Shure SM91 and Neumann 103

Shortly after I arrived to speak to Jon, so did Lee Stein, Neumann’s Western Regional Sales Manager. It’s quite a Neumann party onstage at this show - there is the handheld condenser 105 on Beck’s vocal, 193’s on the guitar amps and overheads, and 103’s on the kick and toms. The stage feels very stable, even though Beck is the only one on in-ear monitors. Overall, the stage level is very reasonable, and the Neumanns handle it just fine. Looking at the EFX rack at FOH, I saw the Manley Voxbox, an Eventide H3000, and none other than the budget-minded D2 from TC, which I myself have been enjoying on some shows lately.

It is a great little unit and Jon concurs, citing how easy it is to get around on. Now, when someone who could ask for any delay unit in the world, basically, chooses one like this, you know it’s really happening.

The TC System 6000 sounds as amazing as I expected it to, and I learned that in the not too distant future, its parameters will actually appear on one of the D-5 Live’s touch-screens! For now, it talks to the desk digitally through the FOH MADI rack.

Jon Lemon holding down the fort at FOH.

Jon Lemon, like many concert mixers, swears by the Allen Smart stereo compressor, similar to those on the main output buss of SSL boards. He laughed, and described how the people who manufacture that compressor tell him, “We love you because so many people have bought them because of you!” Jon also applies a Summit TLA 100 tube compressor/limiter to the bass channel, and their DCL 200 on background vocals. Many other channels utilize the on-board gates and comps on the DiGiCo D-5. When a couple of stagehands stopped by to stare at the DiGiCo console, they asked how long does it take to get acclimated to one.

Jon functioned again as an excellent salesman/product specialist when he casually replied, “Oh, about twenty minutes.” Well, he is a pretty modest guy, but I would say that Jon Lemon’s ability to get into this particular driver’s seat that quickly might have just a little bit to do with his many years of touring experience, stretching from Level 42 and Sinead O’Connor, all the way to acts like the Pet Shop Boys, The Cranberries and Jane’s Addiction.

Jon describes his clients as being “sonically amazing bands to go see.” He does quite a job of amplifying that amazement.

SHIFTING INTO SYSTEM MODE...

As caretaker of the Prism system for the Beck tour, Showco’s Jim Ragus has more often than not stacked, rather than flown, the cabinets that the tour is carrying. “Some of the theatres are off the beaten track, where you don’t see many rock shows in them.” I was interested to hear Jim elaborate on those experiences – as we all know, a properly set up system in a theatre can result in one of the most controlled and pleasurable mixes possible, certainly a lot more musical than a hockey rink or basketball gym.

“When you don’t have to attain 110 dB, you can really fine-tune the room. We can go for accuracy, rather than sheer volume,” Jim continued. There are ten tops and four subs a side in the truck, but normally, for venues running between two and three thousand seats, the crew brings in six tops and four subs a side. “It covers real well, but above three thousand seats, you need the four subs plus eight tops a side.”

And, the tour is carrying ten degree “kicker-backers,” that are used to tilt some of the Prism cabinets back a little. “We can hit the highest of the balconies – we’ve had really good luck doing that.”

Jim mentioned how great it is that the fiber optic snake running from the DiGiCo split onstage out to the desk at FOH is “the size of a mic cable! We still have to run a drive snake and AC, but someday, we’ll even get away from that.”

Before the tour started, Jim flew from Dallas to Clair’s headquarters in Lititz, PA, to learn the DiGiCo console. There is no formal class available yet, so Jim laughs and says, “It was quite an adventure!” All touring prep for the combined company is now done out of Lititz, as well, the former Showco facility in Dallas is no more.

We talked about how the old theatres were built to acoustically project sounds made on the stage. “You put your PA right on the edge of the proscenium, and use that sound projecting quality – you can use the room as a horn.” It is a shame when the heavier touring bands feel compelled to drive those rooms way too far past the levels they were built for. As Jim put it, “You see so many people beat their heads against the wall.”

On the deck is Showco monitor tech Justin Hoffman, watching over Beck’s monitor mixer, John Shearman, who is using a Midas XL-4. Beck is the only person on ears, and he still has a pair of Showco SRM wedges at his position, as well.

The proprietary SRM design includes a PIP card that is burnt by Showco and crosses over the lows and highs being driven by Crown 36x12 amps. With 3600 watts for the lows and 1200 for the highs, as Jim puts it, it’s a “bi-amp mix in a box!”

Chris Kathman is Live Sound Editor for ProSoundWeb. He can be reached at chris@prosoundweb.com.