I hear that Train a-comin’ – bizwire project news
As their name might imply, Train has been touring relentlessly over the last several years, building up a following and honing their chops. The latest arrival on the alt-rock scene, Train recently released “Drops of Jupiter,” scoring a top-10 hit and selling nearly one million CDs. After several months touring with Matchbox 20, the band settled into a month-long suite of live broadcast Christmas radio shows at smaller venues. Everyone from the Ben Folds Five to O-Town to Jewel has shared the bill.
Cramped monitoring space subdivided among several “headliners” inspired monitoring engineer Bryan Beck to call in the InnovaSon Compact Digital Console. At less than 4′ long and 2 1/2′ deep, the Compact fits comfortably in any venue, providing Beck with all the in-line dynamics processing or equalization that he needs (the once standard rack of outboard processors is no more). Moreover, two loaders can move the Compact in contrast to the old console’s five.
Using the InnovaSon’s software operating program, Beck programmed Train’s Compact before it arrived. “We were able to program the input list, the gates, and just about everything else before he even got the console on a laptop,” recalled Jack Knoebber, FOH engineer for Train.
Beck often makes full use of InnovaSon’s instant recall of all parameters, including input trim, assignments, and processing. He explains, “When you have a band like Train or Vertical Horizon, who are all on in-ears, you can save different cues on different songs. I’ll turn instruments off for some songs or tweak the mix so that a musician can hear this instrument in his head for this song. I’ve also had situations where different individuals use the same vocal microphone, but neither one wants the other in their mix. All I have to do is save the cues ahead of time and then hit the `next’ button and my mix is in place.” Before each show, the band hands Beck a set list, which he programs into the console.
Train headed to Europe in January, and Beck will again use an InnovaSon Compact on monitors. He’ll carry a disk on the plane with his mixes and cues that will turn whatever InnovaSon he happens to get into a replica of the Compact he’s using now. The band will return in February and then head out on a headlining tour of their own.
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