Potters Bar, United Kingdom (August 15, 2012)—Chris Leckie, sound engineer for indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, used Harman Soundcraft Vi Series consoles for all FOH and monitor needs during the band’s recent international tour.
Leckie was able to use the Soundcraft Vi6 during the European leg, but chose a pair of more compact Vi1 consoles for the U.S. portion of the tour.
Many challenges come with being a sound engineer for Kaiser Chiefs, according to Leckie. “They don’t play to a click track, which adds difficulty to my job,” Leckie said. “There isn’t a rack of equipment sending me identical program material at the same level every night, and if I’m going to keep a handle on the somewhat unpredictable, wriggling beast that is a Kaiser show, I need to see what is going on at all times and have access to everything as quickly as I would on an analog board. Soundcraft and the Vi Series does that, and at any point, I can see EQ, gates, compression, effects, etcetera on every channel, rather than having to negotiate my way through multiple tiers and screens.”
Leckie added that the EQ quality allows lead vocalist Ricky Wilson to use any of the three microphones while Leckie maintains consistency in the sound. “I’m grateful to be mixing on a Soundcraft board and continue to love my job, which is the most important part. With the help of Soundcraft it only gets better,” Leckie said.
Harman
www.harman.com
