PM1D IS A "REALITY" FOR CURRENT DAVID BOWIE TOUR

—Veteran Engineer Mans Digital Desk at Front of House—

BUENA PARK, CA (December 12, 2003)—The current David Bowie tour turned heads all over Europe and is rolling through North America, confirming what the critics have said about his latest album Reality: Bowie is back on top form. Veteran front-of-house engineer Peter Keppler keeps the rock legend in that top form by using Yamaha PM1D digital mixing desks from Firehouse Productions in New York, and a JBL VerTec PA system.

"I first mixed live for David when I engineered at the Tribeca Film Festival," Keppler explains. "That event was organized to get people in New York going again after the tragedy of 9/11. The festival gear had already been selected, and for the first time I was presented with a Yamaha PM1D, and yes, I had a few reservations. For example, just one center for all the EQ, etc., seemed limited at first, especially when you’re used to desks with hundreds of separate controls."

Veteran front-of-house engineer Peter Keppler keeps Bowie's live shows going with Yamaha PM1D digital mixing systems.

Keppler is now a firm believer in the PM1D. "After that first show for the Tribeca event, and considering I had a very short sound check due to some onstage wiring problems, I knew that I would very comfortable with the desk. I got an instant 'solid' feeling—it's responsive in every area, especially the EQ. You barely have to move the knob to get an audible response. Now I find the central control aspect very easy to work."

He continues, "The desk is very forgiving. If you've mispatched or even pull something out when it's running, the screen will tell you what you've done and let you know if there's a problem. They've done tests where liquids have been poured all over the control surface, and since the audio processing happens elsewhere, the console will continue to run. You can't pour water on an analog desk and expect to get away with it!"

On the actual mixing side, Keppler is equally enthusiastic, "From the outset I found the PM1D to be very intuitive," he says. "For example, I used no presets at all. When the tour actually started, I hadn't had any production rehearsals, and therefore had no chance to create scene presets, but mixing on-the-fly with the desk came very easily."

Keppler uses mostly onboard effects and dynamics, but still uses a lot of his favorite outboard devices. "The effects on the desk are excellent," he says, "and they're getting better all the time. "David's vocal reverbs are coming from two TC Electronics 3000's, but the PM1D effects are great for percussion. For example, there's a snare effect from the classic Low album which was recorded in 1977 with an Eventide 910 to make the sound drop off quite abruptly. I can recreate that on the PM1D very easily. I also do all the usual things—delays, doubling and the like—onboard, but I do use a BSS DPR901 MkII dynamic EQ on David's voice, and a Tube Tech CL-1A limiter. For maximum fidelity, I'm running David's main vocal channel at line level from the stage through a Focusrite Red 1mic preamp. Because the PM1D doesn't color the signal in any way, you can really hear the benefit. It's apparent if you watch David closely that he uses his mic technique to profoundly alter his vocal sound, and the audience gets to appreciate this fully."

In conclusion, Keppler returned to what is arguably the biggest reservation any engineer has about switching to the digital route for live sound mixing. "Reliability. If I had to identify one defining characteristic that makes me chose a PM1D over other touring boards, it would be reliability."

For more information on the PM1D, contact Yamaha Corporation of America, Commercial Audio Systems Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622, telephone 714-522-9011, email infostation@yamaha.com or visit www.yamaha.com/proaudio.