Jan 1, 1999 12:00 PM, Chris Michie

SOUNDCRAFT BROADWAY DEBUTS WITH CELINE DION In its much-anticipated working debut, Soundcraft's Broadway console is now being used by FOH engineer Denis Savage to control up to 80 mic channels and tape cues on Celine Dion's current world tour. Savage has chosen to configure the modular, digitally controlled analog console with one 20-channel input "surface" and one VCA submaster/aux group/master output surface. Savage can easily access any 20 of the 80 inputs at any time, and has programmed the console to recall essential channels to the working surface as needed. All group assignments, send and return levels, fader levels and mutes are separately programmable, though Savage chooses not to recall preset EQs, since he often modifies them during the show.

Savage had been in consultation with Soundcraft for many months before Dion's longtime sound system provider (Solotech Inc. of Montreal, Quebec) took delivery of the console last summer, and he quickly became comfortable with its innovative design. "It's just like a normal board," says Savage, who has previously mixed Dion on Soundcraft Europa and 6000 consoles. "[The Broadway] makes so much more sense than running around on two or three consoles," he says, pointing out that the console's instant resettability is useful when Dion appears with other artists. "In two weeks we'll be doing an awards show-I'll mix all the bands on this console," says Savage.

In addition to instantly recalling Savage's presets during the show, the Broadway offers eight 20-input banks, or pages, which may be instantly recalled with the touch of a button. "I typically keep my first four banks for the show and use the other four banks for inputs 1-20, 21-40, etc.," he explains. "I can get to any input really fast if I have to."

The Broadway is just one of many technical innovations in the Solotech sound system. For the first time, Dion is appearing in-the-round, and the all-Meyer Sound system, designed by Solotech system engineer Francois Desjardins, is entirely self-powered (except for 48 Crown-powered DS-2 bass cabinets). The Meyer cabinets are typically hung in eight clusters made up from two standard configurations, one of which includes two of Meyer's new PSW-6 cardioid subwoofers, and all 57 powered speakers are constantly monitored via Meyer's RMS system. Desjardins has implemented a BSS Soundweb system to control the distribution of audio signals to the various cluster components and also uses the PC-based Soundweb application to dial in EQ and delay as prescribed by the Meyer Sound SIM system.

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