YAMAHA PM1Ds 'RISE' TO THE OCCASION FOR AUDIO ANALYSTS

—Three Systems On Tour With Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band—

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 5, 2002)—With more than 50 stops scheduled in the U.S., followed by a European leg, the favorite son of the Garden State made his third stop at New York's Madison Square Garden in support of his new CD The Rising (Columbia), the first album recorded with the E Street Band since 1984. According to Albert Leccese, VP of Engineering and Tour Sound, Colorado-based sound reinforcement giant Audio Analysts has been providing concert sound support on mega tours for over three decades, and made all decisions as to what system would be used for their client of ten years.

The Audio Analysts crew of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's The Rising tour. L to R: Systems analyst Jon Overton; stage right monitor tech Jubal Reeves; stage right monitor engineer Troy Milner; Albert Lecesse, VP of engineering/tour sound; stage left monitor tech TJ Rodriquez; stage right monitor engineer Monty Carlo; and seated, front of house engineer John Cooper.

"We have a longstanding relationship with our clients and if we say 'this will work,' they trust us," he explains. "There are three basic rules in pro audio: make sound, keep making sound, and make good sound. And, the criteria for any piece of equipment we use—be it amps, speakers, effects or consoles—is reliability, audio quality, and ease of use." Leccese and a team of five Audio Analysts crew are currently supporting Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The Rising tour PA consists of three Yamaha PM1D digital mixing systems, two of which were purchased, with a third rented from Hi Tech Audio. Two PM1Ds are being used for monitors with engineer Monty Carlo at stage left and Troy Milner stage right. A third PM1D at front-of-house is being manned by John Cooper.

House PA consists of 16 JBL Vertec cabinets and 16 subs per side; 12 cabinets are flown house left and right, supported with three rear clusters. All 112 Vertec cabinets are driven by Crown MA5002 and 2402 amps, controlled by a Crown IQ system. Mics include an Audix 013 on Sony wireless for Bruce's vocal, plus hardwire and wireless models from Shure and Beyer. A BSS Omnidrive system breaks out into front, side and rear stereo zones, alternating left and right around the house so every listener has a true stereo image.

A major consideration toward digital consoles was the trend toward multi-act line-ups, according to Leccese. "When you're doing six acts and carrying six different analog consoles, the problem was always how to get back to where you were without having to manually reset knobs," he explains. "With the PM1D, the reset advantage makes the console not one board, but 200 or even 1000. The engineer has the ability to go back to all saved settings, and restore them to exactly where they were. When doing multiple act shows where there is rehearsal time, or a tour with the same multi-artist lineup, it's easy to instantaneously get back to your settings from yesterday, last week, or last month."

"We looked at all the digital consoles on the market, and when the PM1D came along, it was more in line with our thinking about what a digital system should be in the way of features and sound. No matter what type of system, tour or installation we set up, the most important thing is that nothing gets in the way of the audio, so the consoles needed to sound better and be easy to use, but most paramount for us was reliability."

Audio Analysts' experience with Yamaha consoles dates back to 1976 when 25 model PM1000 units were used during the Olympics. "Yamaha has always had a reputation for making reliable products with good audio quality that work day in and day out. So, when we looked at the PM1D, we already knew it would be reliable and have good audio quality."

Band and production rehearsals took place in Fort Monmouth (NJ) for two weeks, Asbury Park, NJ (where a televised spot on the Today Show kicked off the tour) for two weeks, and four days at the Continental Arena in East Rutherford, NJ. "Both John Cooper and I had gone through PM1D training school, and were then able to train the monitor engineers," Leccese adds. "Springsteen had a pretty extensive rehearsal schedule, both for the musicians and for us, but after the first two weeks at Fort Monmouth, everyone was comfortable with the board."

Front-of-house engineer John Cooper prepares everything offline, including labeling and routing, so he's 'ahead of the game' at each venue. "I'm able to focus more on getting sounds as opposed to doing a lot of housekeeping," explains Cooper. "Being able to do that offline is a wonderful advantage."

He continues, "When playing places that were not designed for live audio, having instantaneous access to previous setups definitely makes life easier. The automation also lets me see how I EQ'd a guitar, kick drum, etc. from hall to hall, location to location."

Leccese adds, "So much outboard gear packed into the console factors in with ease of use. We used to carry four or five outboard racks, and now we're down to a drive rack, a playback rack and a small rack with one or two effects and dynamics devices. For multiple acts, we'd carry three effects racks. The programmability in the PM1D eliminates all the patching, multi-cabling, in/out connections and noise, and everyone can have their own custom layouts."

Monitor engineer Troy Milner adds, "With two monitor boards, ten people on stage, individual cues for various songs and instrument changes, there would never be enough time for manual changes. The PM1D makes changes instantaneous, and that allows us to spend more time on getting mixes instead of resetting knobs. Half the band is on one PM1D—stage left takes care of Bruce, Patty, Steven, Roy and Susie, and the PM1D stage right takes care of Max, Clarence, Nils, Gary and Danny. We use the scene captures for all the changes we have, the in/out options, routing, and can throw EQ on anything." A combination of in-ear monitors and wedges are being used for monitors.

Audio Analysts is on tour with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band throughout the remainder of the year. Other systems on the road include REO Speedwagon, Styx, Bad Company, No Doubt, Sammy Hagar/David Lee Roth, Dwight Yoakam, Pallotta Teamworks, Denver City Lights Pavillion, and the Harley-Davidson Open Road tour.

For more information on the PM1D, 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.