TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, August 13, 2013 — Waves Audio is seeing leading cutting-edge live engineers turn to WavesLive tools, including Peter Keppler, an in-demand front-of-house, broadcast and post-production mixing engineer (David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Rufus Wainwright, David Byrne/St. Vincent, Katy Perry). On David Byrne and St. Vincent’s 2012 tour, Keppler used a WavesLive SoundGrid® system with a DiGiCo SD10 console, and he plans on using a similar rig on their 2013 tour. On tour with Katy Perry in 2014, he will use a SoundGrid system with DiGiCo SD7.
Keppler has been using plugins in his shows with VENUE consoles, and now, having switched to Digico, he was able to take his plugins with him to the new platform. Keppler states, “Waves MultiRack SoundGrid with Waves plugins has been vital to my sound and workflow with the DiGiCo desks. My go-to plugins are the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor, CLA-76 and TrueVerb, and of course I use several others as well. Using C6 on vocals works beautifully. I can use much more gentle compression on the channel, because any of the ‘peak-y’ frequencies are taken care of beforehand with C6, and subsequently retain more of the singer’s dynamics. Also, I do some basic EQ with the C6, and that leaves more of the console channel EQ available to me if I need it.”
He continues, “The CLA-76 and PuigTec EQP-1A are both great on acoustic guitar. I use it to make an acoustic much more aggressive for a rock and roll show, so you can really hear and feel it without overtaking the mix. Shorten the attack time and lengthen the release a little, and it will work great for more acoustic-based music, too. It also proves to me that true and accurate modeling of vintage analog gear IS possible! TrueVerb has been a favorite of mine for years. To my ear, it is the best plugin room-style reverb I’ve ever heard. I use it for a short-to-medium room on drums. And with David Byrne and St. Vincent we have eight horn players, and it’s a beautiful complement to their sound.”
He notes a few other favorite Waves plugins: “The other Waves plugins I am using are H-Delay, which I love to make a kind of lo-fi slap echo for vocals, and Doubler, which I’ve been using more as stereo thickener than an actual doubler. In stereo, with just a little pitch and slow modulation on each side, it emulates a Harmonizer-style stereo thickener really well.”
Peter Keppler is part of the growing trend among live sound professionals who are making the move to the next-generation workflow with Waves plugins and WavesLive SoundGrid. Visit www.waves.com and www.waveslive.com for more information.
