NIN Venue System

[JonnyGinese]

thats awesome... Yeha I haven't gotten to see the VENUE yet because I got hired after the NIN tour was going.. but i can't wait to see them at Madison Square Garden when i get to go and see how everything is done.. and then get the consoles back and start learning how to use them. I'm pretty good with using the plugins in protools so i should catch on pretty quick with this board.

I do have a question though.. how many DSP cards are in the systems that are on the NIN tour? is it like an HD3 or something? I have to still get the manual for it from Bryan Olson... But I'm sure they will have some stuff for me at AES when I head down next week. talk to you later.

Jonny

[Sheldon Radford]

Hi Jonny,

how many DSP cards are in the systems that are on the NIN tour?

I believe both consoles are equipped with three of the dedicated D-Show Mix Engine DSP cards (which are different from Pro Tools Core and Accel cards). Jim's using a separate Mac rig w/ HD2 to record each night's show directly from the console via HDx and DigiLink. Slick!

[JonnyGinese]

Thats awesome... I can't wait to see this stuff when it comes back to the shop.

[Eric L]

I work in film sound now, but for years I worked as a FOH mixer. Back when PM4k or Midas were the desks of choice. I just saw NIN last night at the Hollywood Bowl and I was blown away by the sound. I've mixed my share of shows in big venues and seen plenty of shows in large venues, but I must say that the sound last night was the one of the best I've heard for a rock and roll show.

First, the bowl is a great place to "hear" a show. No closed in arena to give you problems. Their P.A. (Vertec I think?) sounds fantastic, and the back video screens are even delayed to stay in sync with the sound. Nice. Not everyone does this.

What impressed me the most was how similar the live performance was to what is on the albums. I've been a NIN fan since 1990 and have seen them perform about 8 times, and I have never heard a performance match the albums like last night. The vocals were exactly where they were supposed to be and I could actually understand what he was singing. (Unlike other shows I've seen lately, U2 for example) But more importantly, the same vocal effect from the intro of "Gave Up" off the Broken LP, was identical to what is on the album. Knowing that Trent is a huge PT user, I'm sure it is the same plug ins and settings from his album that was used on the Venue. This is exciting. I'm often disappointed when I go to a concert and the show sounds completely different than the recordings.

My compliments to Digidesign, NIN and the sound crew for finally bridging that gap. Alas, it came a few years too late for me, but I know if I was still mixing live sound, the Venue would be my console of choice. Keep up the good work, Trent and crew.

[JonnyGinese]

THe PA speakers weren't Vertecs... I don't remember the name of them but they are "French and really heavy... But sound really great". They were bought buy Firehouse Productions for the NIN tour.

[Sheldon Radford]

They're using an L-Acoustic V-DOSC rig with dV-DOSC for fills and d&b subs.

Jim and Mike are both using some of the same plug-ins used in the studio, including the TL Space convolution reverb. Some of the really wild vocal effects are triggered by Trent himself using a special touch-sensitive controller mounted to his mic stand and connected to a MUSE Recepetor box running various plug-ins.

Sheldon

[JonnyGinese]

heh heh... Thats why i didnt' remember the name... V-DOSC... its not a real word... Anyways... I know Firehouse Productions loves working with Digidesign and I'm sure you guys know that. See you at AES.

Jonny

[Eric L]

Yep, V-Dosc and dv-Dosc. Details here. That is obviously the house P.A., which is what looked like to me was used the other night with added subs. It was hard to tell from where I was sitting, all the boxes were white as in the picture of the house system. What are the chances that the Firehouse rig is white?

I saw the touch controller via the I-Mag screen at one point, but it wasn't on Trent's lead vocal mic stand. It was back upstage right in keyboard land. Considering his mic stand ended up in the audience a couple times and thrown over the drum kit, I'm gonna say it wasn't attached there.

Regardless of where it was and how it was triggered, I was impressed with the use of the plugins.

[JonnyGinese]

I'm not sure the color of the setup that we sent since I was hired after the were already out... But I could find out... And I'm sure they have our monitors though... I can ask Bryan Olson or Mike Bove the official specs of the FOH setup that we sent of you want it(and if they will release it).

[Sheldon Radford]

The tour is carrying its own V-DOSC rig (in rock and roll basic black), but likely opted to use the house rig at the Bowl. It sounds like they may have supplemented with their own d&b subs.

Trent uses several mic stands (and mics) throughout the course of the show, one of which has a ribbon strip style controller on it. You can bet this is the one stand that doesn't get tossed into the crowd or at the kit!

Sheldon