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The Sound of The Smile

Brit Row has been on the road, running Radiohead spin-off The Smile through an audio system that looks to the past and the future.

The Smile’s audio crew (L-R): Simon Hodge, J Walton, Ben Phillips, Giacomo Gasparini and Bart De Witt. Photo: Belinda Enthoven.
The Smile audio crew (L-R): Simon Hodge, J Walton, Ben Phillips, Giacomo Gasparini and Bart De Witt. Photo: Belinda Enthoven.

United Kingdom (May 30, 2024)—A rock trio requiring more than 100 inputs at the FOH desk isn’t something you see every day, but The Smile — based around Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood plus Tom Skinner — isn’t an everyday band. The group of multi-instrumentalists has a considerable European run kicking off in June, but it just finished a UK tour in March with the help of Britannia Row and a seasoned production team.

Britannia Row Productions’ Simon Hodge, who is both production manager and FOH engineer for the band, oversees an audio system that looks back—packed with plenty of analog outboard gear—and forward, such as using L-Acoustics’ flagship L2 P.A. system at key stops. Overseeing a DiGiCo Quantum 338 desk, Hodge records each show with a Waves L2 system, but leans on analog effects throughout the night.

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“I’m very busy while mixing this show—spinning in a lot of live tape echoes, delays, spring reverbs and all manner of things,” he said. “Everything is analog in the FX rack [apart from a Bricasti M7] so there are no pre-sets. I spent some time in the studio at the start of the tour with my FOH set-up and had the band listening to make sure that we were on the same page….  I’m using some unusual gear including the Great British Spring – a real 4ft long old school spring reverb, a TC 1128 delay, the Gamechanger ‘Light’ spring reverb, a Galaxy Tape Echo and perhaps most unusually, an Eurorack set-up incorporating a Rossum Electro-Music Panharmonium.” The unwieldy named unit is a sound design tool that allows the user to analyze the spectral content of any audio signal.

The L-Acoustics L2 system used at London's Alexandra Palace. Photo: Belinda Enthoven.
The L-Acoustics L2 system used for a The Smile show at London’s Alexandra Palace. Photo: Belinda Enthoven.

While the band played a variety of venues on the UK tour, it was the premier stop—a night at London’s Alexandra Palace that saw Britannia Row bring out the L-Acoustics L2 P.A. The audio provider’s head of engineering – event support, Josh Lloyd, fielded a pair of main hangs with two boxes of L2 over a single L2D per side, supported at the delays by a single L2D for each.

Lloyd explained, “The L2 is a cardioid box, and it sounds great. It helps to get rejection on stage, and keeps it clean as the band uses a lot of open mics. The PA design may seem minimal—the band even noticed how small the system was—but the L2 performs beyond its size and weight, making it a flexible choice. There was no spill off the back of the box at all, and the band were happy.”

Hodge was duly impressed, noting, “When Josh first told me about the L2, with my Production Manager hat on, I was particularly interested to see how it would save on rigging time and truck space. However, as an engineer, I was absolutely blown away by how it sounds. The forward rejection is amazing, and I have never heard such control at lower frequencies. The Smile has quite a complex sonic footprint in the low mid and bass, so to have directional control in that area is hugely helpful…I was speechless myself at how good it sounded.”

The multi-instrumentalists of The Smile, onstage at Alexandra Palace. The L-Acoustics L2 system used at London's Alexandra Palace. Photo: Belinda Enthoven.
The multi-instrumentalists of The Smile onstage at Alexandra Palace. The L-Acoustics L2 system used at London’s Alexandra Palace. Photo: Belinda Enthoven.

Below the P.A. at stageside, monitor engineer Daniel Scheiman mixed the proceedings on a DiGiCo Quantum7 desk, sending mixes to a variety of in-ear monitors and d&b audiotechnik M4 wedges. “Jonny relies entirely on wedge mixes, while Thom and Tom choose Shure PSM1000 IEMs,” he noted. “In total, with tech mixes, we run eight in-ear mixes, seven wedge mixes, and a sub. In addition to these mixes, there are a few FX sends returning to the stage from the monitor console, as well as some returns from Simon at front of house.

With the March run behind them and a busy summer ahead, Hodge and the rest of the audio team find the tour is in a good place: “It’s interesting working with this band—the fact that they are fully invested in and connected with their sound makes it such a pleasure to mix. I love their music too, so I feel like I’m in a good place to be the one mixing it!”

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