Almost two weeks before the Dixie Chicks released their new Home CD, they performed all of the album’s songs for two nights of sold-out shows at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Le Mobile was on hand to record the music for an NBC-TV special to air in December and a possible future DVD release.
The Dixie Chicks studio engineer, Gary Paczosa, took charge of the tracking through Le Mobile’s Neve 8058 console, assisted by the truck’s chief engineer Charlie Bouis. The live concert arrangements of the songs closely followed those in the studio, with the focus on vocals and acoustic instruments—guitars, banjo, dobro and fiddle—with minimal drums and percussion.
“We wanted the best possible tone,” said Bouis, “so we put our good condensers all over the stage, along with some of Gary’s own favorites that he brought along. We had to work closely with the P.A. mixers to keep a good house level without too much leakage into our mics.”
Paczosa said, “This truck, with its vintage Neve board, was the perfect choice for this recording. It gave me everything I wanted. Also, I could hear everything clearly. In some other trucks, I’ve had problems knowing what I was getting, but what I heard in Le Mobile is exactly what I heard when I took it back to the studio for mixing.”
Working the stage end of the recording were Le Mobile techs Ian Charbonneau and Ted Barela, who along with Bouis, also earned kudos from Paczosa. “Those guys were right on top of it all the time,” said Paczosa. “They were quick and met all of my needs, no questions asked. Everything was set up and ready to rock by the time I got there.”
Audio tracks were recorded on Le Mobile’s Studer D827 DASH machines and twin Tascam MX-2424 Pro Tools-compatible hard disk recorders. The overall video production was directed by Joel Gallen and produced by Tenth Planet Productions. Video facilities were provided by the Denali/NEP Supershooter truck.
More information is available at www.lemobile.com.
