OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA — From New York City to Indonesia, the Charlie Hall Band has been on a world tour that’s brought them to a variety of venues including large outdoor festival stages, high school and college auditoriums, and a number of churches. While there are five members of this Christian rock group visible onstage, Aviom’s Personal Monitor Mixing System has clearly become a vital part of the band.
The Aviom gear, in fact, has been something of a godsend for the members of the band; the monitoring system has been a part of the setup since 2005. As the band’s popularity has increased and its schedule has become more demanding, Aviom has been with them every step of the way, and the members’ appreciation for the gear has grown as well.
According to Dustin Ragland, drummer for Charlie Hall, the system’s efficient and portable design has made traveling and having to deal with the PA gear less challenging. “Its compactness has been a major plus,â€? he says. “We previously traveled with a digital mixer and a large splitter, and I was in charge of each mix. This burdened us with having to fly with extra equipment and risking it breaking in transit. The AN-16/i-M relieves us of this because it has everything in one place and is flexible enough to travel everywhere, fitting into the myriad of sound systems we use.”
The band’s gear includes Aviom A-16II Personal Mixers that are accompanied by an Aviom
A-16D Pro A-Net Distributor, and an Aviom AN-16/i-M Mic Input Module. The AN-16/i-M acts as an input module to the monitor system while at the same time providing a split to the front of house console inputs. All of the band members use the Personal Mixers with Shure® in-ear monitors. Each band member controls his mix from his position on stage, with the exception of lead singer and guitarist Charlie Hall, who uses an Aviom A-16R rack-mount mixer with a powered or amped pair of monitor wedges controlled by Ragland.
“We consider Aviom’s Personal Mixers a gift. They allow each of our band members to adjust their mix so they can hear themselves at their preferred levels,” explains Ragland.
Each band member has real-time control over channel volume, grouping, pan, stereo spread and master volume. As the band’s bassist, Quint Anderson appreciates the audio quality that the Personal Mixers deliver as well as the ability to create preset custom monitor mixes. “I can get a great low-end response with the Aviom Personal Mixer, and that’s very important for a bass player,� he says. Each Personal Mixer enables users to save and recall up to 16 custom mix snapshots as presets.
Anderson also states that giving each band member control of his monitor mix has enhanced the quality of the band’s performances. “With us having control of our own monitor mix, the front of house engineer can focus on the overall sound, which subsequently delivers the best-sounding show possible,� Anderson explains.
For electric guitarist Kendall Combes, having the Aviom gear at hand restored his faith in his career. It not only improved his sound but the quality of his experience on the road, and for him, it was life-altering.
“Aviom has added years to my career,� he says. “Never having the same monitor gear or monitor engineer from venue to venue can be stressful, and it was wearing on me. The mixers have been giving us consistency from night to night. In fact, we’re often ready to go before the front of house engineer is. I had planned on retiring from the band at 35, and here I am at 38, and it’s still fun. I can’t say enough about the Aviom gear.�
Another “divine intervention� took place recently when the band’s gear was stolen while on the road. Learning of the circumstances, Aviom quickly jumped in to loan the band several vital pieces of equipment.
“Aviom helped us out on our last eight-day run through California, loaning us some equipment so we were not hanging on the unpredictable monitor situations that we sometimes face,� explains Ragland. Since then, the band has replaced the stolen gear and has continued its tour without a hitch.
Ragland recalls the first time he and the band used its Aviom equipment in 2005. They had just returned from an overseas tour. Exhausted and preparing for a big concert that night, Ragland was relieved to discover a simple plug and play solution.
“I still remember pulling the Aviom gear out of the box at an arena in Norman, Oklahoma,� he says. “We were sleep deprived from getting home that previous evening from overseas, and I was very surprised to be able to literally unpack the system and set it up for use that very evening for a show in front of 5,000 folks. It was simple, yet a major improvement on audio quality from the wireless system we had previously been using, and we’ve been using it ever since.�
To learn more about the Charlie Hall Band, visit www.charliehall.com.
