Archetypal electronica band Faithless has been on tour since early this year, playing in clubs, theatres and on the summer festival scene across Europe. Such diversity in a schedule requires a mixing console that can adapt to any situation or size of venue and still deliver on functionality and audio quality. For the band’s monitor engineer Ben Milton, there is only one choice – the DiGiCo SD8.
Ben has been using DiGiCo consoles since the company started in 2002, when friend and prolific theatre sound designer Bobby Aitken [We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia, Dirty Dancing, etc] introduced him to the brand.
“I have been specifying DiGiCo consoles when I can ever since,” says Ben. “When I was putting together the monitor spec for Faithless, I wanted to use the best sounding console with the smallest footprint. We were starting the tour in European theatres, some of which have very limited space onstage – the Paradiso in Amsterdam springs to mind – so it was crucial that I kept my footprint small and flexible.”
Ben has seven wedge mixes on stage and eight stereo in-ears, and the SD8’s two solo busses have been invaluable for monitoring both. In addition to this, there are a large set of side-fills, tech mixes and effects.
“I needed a mixing desk that was capable of having at least 60 inputs and 24 output busses and 36 input faders displayed on the surface,” he continues. “There is a large section of the input list that is electronic, so my set-list is very snapshot heavy. As the music never stops during the set the cross-fade function has been invaluable. The SD8 ticked all the boxes.”
Using the SD8 has meant that Ben’s original equipment list was dramatically reduced.
“I started the rehearsal period with a large rack of outboard FX that I was going to use,” he recalls. “By the time we loaded out, I had a big pile of FX units on the floor and was using the SD8’s onboard FX.
“I think the console sounds fantastic. The EQ is especially good. Spill has been an issue for me on stage; I have the side-fills almost flat-out, but also have 16 condenser mics on a percussion/drum set up, so it has been crucial that the EQ was incredibly fine.”
Ben has also found the Gain Tracking™ feature useful for double picking up inputs, allowing him to have a set of input channels dedicated for in-ears and a set for wedges.
“I find the editing functions within the cue-list quick and flexible for writing monitor changes to where I need them,” he says. “Being able to import and export presets between my two SD8s has been very useful as well and the dynamic EQ has been great for using on backing vocals where the artist might be on and off the mic throughout the show.”
He continues, “Damo Pryor of Britannia Row Productions put together a fantastic system for us, which has been on the road now for six months now, running a dual SD8 system over the last couple of months to cope with the schedule of playing 36 consecutive festivals.
“I always want the technology to be as transparent as possible to the performer. Touring the same console and equipment not only brings continuity to the live show, it enables the artist to focus on the show musically, especially in the sound-check free environment of the festival. Throughout it all, the SD8 has not missed a beat.”
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