Hawthorne Heights was carrying most of their own mics,” Abreu says. “We provided them with SM58s for their vocals and a Shure Beta 52 for their kick mic.”
Photos: Steve Jennings
Despite a few very tough years (including the death of bandmate Casey Calvert and an on-again/off-again relationship with their label, Victory Records), Hawthorne Heights (vocals/guitarist JT Woodruff, drummer Eron Bucciarelli, guitarist Micah Carli and bassist Matt Ridenour) continue to wave the flag for emo-pop. Touring behind their latest release, Fragile Future, the band is playing theaters, relying on in-house engineers and gear. Mix caught up with the four-piece at San Francisco’s Grand Ballroom.
Nick Abreu, full-time engineer at San Francisco Bay Area-based sound company Pro Media|Ultrasound and occasional FOH and monitor engineer/systems tech at the Grand Ballroom, mixed the show on a Yamaha PM5D console. “I like to keep it relatively simple,” he says. “I was mostly using the onboard stock effects on the board: RevX ‘verbs on vocals and guitars, as well as a stereo delay on the backing vocals for some songs. The only outboard processor I used was a channel of the DCL200 that we have at FOH on the lead vocal. Hawthorne’s lead singer has a very dynamic voice, and it was nice to tame it a little bit in such a live room, as well as add a little warmth.”
According to stage manager/drum tech Eric “The Kid” Zintak, drummer Eron Bucciarelli’s kit is miked with mostly Sennheiser models, including e 604s (toms). Snare takes a Shure SM57, while kick has a Shure Beta 91. Overheads are ATPro37s.