YAMAHA DM2000 HELPS REO SPEEDWAGON TO
"ROLL WITH THE CHANGES"

—Digital Mixing Technology Proves Smooth Transition for Established Band and Engineer—

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 5, 2002)—Along with contemporaries Styx and Journey, rock icons REO Speedwagon ruled the arena rock scene of the 1980's. Twenty years later, the venues may be smaller and the audiences a bit older, but no less loyal. And, according Neil Schaefer, REO's resident front of house engineer since 1988, part of what keeps the band viable in an ever-evolving market is the ability to, as one of their many hits admonishes, "roll with the changes."

On the road with REO: Neil Schaefer, resident front of house engineer for REO Speedwagon, poses with the newly-acquired Yamaha DM2000 digital production console.

At a recent stop at Long Island, New York's Westbury Music Theater for a co-headline date with Styx, Schaefer described one of those changes affecting both established artists and engineers—the transition from analog to digital mixing.

"This is a unique time in audio history where we're transitioning from analog to digital—not only with hardware but with humans, and some of us 'older guys' are struggling with that," he explains. "It's clear that the manufacturers see and understand that, and that it's going to become necessary to come out with products that maintain some familiar features to help that transition, until the next generation—those who were born and raised in the digital realm—step up."

Schaefer's foray into the digital realm was a desire both to simplify his front of house rig and to keep up with the latest technologies. "Being one of those 'old analog guys,' I was interested in stepping up my game—and always have been—to make my road and corporate work more efficient," he says. "Digital is the next logical progression, so it's best to meet it head on, rather than rebel against it.

"While doing corporates, I had been paying attention to what was happening, and had been looking at the way digital consoles could make life easier. Audio Analysts supplied a Yamaha PM1D system for two of Tommy Shaw's (of Styx) 'Volunteers for America' shows, a fund-raiser for families of 9-11 victims. There were a slew of bands involved, but with the PM1D, we could easily interface and do quick turnarounds. All our meetings were conducted with laptops, and everybody worked out the configurations based on the templates they laid out for us. It went very well."

Schaefer also notes that, after seeing ads and press for the Yamaha DM2000 and investigating its capabilities, he and Audio Analysts did some collective investigation for the upcoming Summer and Fall REO dates. "I had initial doubts that it would be usable for live sound mixing, but my philosophy was, if we're going to try something new, let's take out a product that's built on a 20-year foundation of digital mixing, rather than an analog/digital hybrid that doesn't have a track record. I got to spend three days at Audio Analysts' facility in Colorado Springs auditioning a DM2000, hooking it up to a PA system, playing with the patching, listening to the EQ, getting comfortable with the recall, the effects, the functionality, and realized that it was much more than a recording console. We were sold."

Schaefer's next hurdle convincing the band to make the transition from analog to digital. "We had had a nice vibe going for a long time, and this was like starting over," he says. "Unlike a lot of artists, this band is very in tune technically, and they really drilled me, especially [lead singer] Kevin Cronin."

The REO Speedwagon front of house rig now includes a new Yamaha DM2000 digital production console which sits on a rack containing five Yamaha AD2424s. Custom patch cabling is routed through rack slots, terminating in three W6 low-cap connections. An additional rack contains playback and recording devices, plus a dbx 480 DriveRack used for EQ. As a backup, the original analog Yamaha PM3500 is on hand as a backup, but according to Schaefer, has not come out of the truck. Two computers, a Dell Latitude C800 and Sony Vaio 505 laptop, are dedicated to running the DriveRacks and for backing up DM2000 data to SmartMedia. "I back up everything, everyday to disc," Schaefer explains. "The idea of saving things gives me a measure of comfort, knowing that if I make a goofy change or silly mistake through a couple of keystrokes, I can be where I was 10 minutes prior."

Schaefer notes that since all the internal processing, gates, compressors, and effects are being utilized, the biggest 'learning curve' is not having a visual reference of an external effects rack. "There's no quick-visual-glance that all of us have done for many, many years," he says. "There's more to remember, and you can't write too many cheat sheets."

"Regarding mix layers, the idea of pushing a button to change a layer seems to unnerve some people. But if you vertically link channels, you're really working off layers One and Two simultaneously, with only having to see the single layer, which, from a live standpoint, makes sense. Even though every channel isn't stereo, you have the equivalent of 48 channels available on one layer, and I think a lot of guys will warm up to that.

"Additionally, the DM2000 has capabilities to really help out bands and engineers because of the unbelievable routing, and the way that you can simultaneously record while mixing a show, and not have one influence the other.

"The last three or four shows have been really comfortable," he continues. "Everything functions in an expected way, and I'm actually mixing shows without going, 'Now wait…where was that again?' Also, I'm able to get to the functionality at least as quick as before—if not quicker—than on an analog counterpart. This is a great opportunity, being with the same band every night, to be able to ramp up, and get some 'seat time.' This would never have happened without the support of the band, and Audio Analysts, who made a solid commitment by giving us every opportunity to be successful on the road. I realize that there are those out there who don't subscribe to my way of thinking, but that's OK. Whether you're making a record or doing a show, at the end of the day it's the result of the project that matters."

For more information on the DM2000, visit Yamaha at the 113th Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention, Los Angeles Convention Center, Booth 1401; write Yamaha Corporation of America, Commercial Audio Systems Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/proaudio.