Procol Harum with the BlackBox recorder
Photo: Geoff Dunn
The first AES/EBU digital variant of the JoeCo BlackBox Recorder debuted on the recent Procol Harum North America tour, linked to a Yamaha PM5DRH console. Front-of-house engineer Graham Ewins explains how the 24-channel multitrack live recorder proved itself on the road:
“Hookup was simplicity itself: Connect the looms, connect the hard drive, power up and off you go! We had to configure our new hard drives for FAT32 file handling, but once this was done, we were up and running very easily. Procol Harum [total channel count was] 22, with channels 23 and 24 used as a stereo pair for audience capture, so it’s ideal for creating a one-scene 1- to 24-layer on the PM5D and for capturing the whole show using a single BBR unit.
FOH engineer Graham Ewins
“The BlackBox Recorder remembers all the shows and puts them into a file by date. It also tells you how much disk space you have left and just gets on with it. I had fun telling the system techs how much 24-track audio you could record with a Terabyte hard drive—80 hours. Unbelievable! I recorded at 24-bit/48kHz because that’s what we archive at, and it’s also what my studio runs at. I am looking forward to hearing the results and quality of the WAV files. A very easy-to-use and configure piece of kit, it also proved easy to transport, fitting into a 1U rack bag with the looms still attached.”
