Make a Difference Tour 2010 with Midas PRO6

Hitting 20 US cities in a month, the recent Make a Difference Tour 2010 featured Grammy-winning Christian recording artists TobyMac, Michael W. Smith, and Third Day, along with best-selling author Max Lucado. To ensure both sonic accuracy and fast changes between acts, all bands shared a single front-of-house console, the Midas PRO6 digital mixing system.

Front-of-house engineers for the tour were Ryan Lampa and Dave Jacques. Nashville-based Lampa mixed TobyMac and also acted as tour manager and production manager, roles he has filled for the past six years with the band. Jacques handled the mixing duties for both Michael W. Smith and his long-time client Third Day. Jacques is also head of application support for National Audio Systems, a major pro audio supplier in his native Australia, where his first used Midas Digital.

Both Jacques and Lampa are longtime Midas users, with a preference for the XL4. This was the first tour for both engineers with the PRO6, which was selected for its combination of analog sound quality and full digital functionality. "It took me about a day of mixing at rehearsals to get acclimated, just to feel comfortable that I could find everything, understand the patching, that kind of thing," reports Lampa. "After that, it was off to the races."

Jacques required even less time on the learning curve. "I've always been a Midas guy," he says. "Fortunately, I'd done a show with the XL8, so I was pretty much feeling right at home within ten minutes. I took to the PRO6 like a duck to water. The layout and workflow makes sense to me. It follows how I mix rather than forcing me to operate within a set surface."

Both engineers were enthused about the layout and functionality of the PRO6, which offers an independent Area B, which enables two-person operation. Combined with the desk's snapshot automation, this is perfect for making quick, seamless transitions between acts, the company says. "It was a two-stage show, and for that we needed Area B," explains Jacques. "The moment TobyMac says 'good night' on the main stage, we would go to the B stage for an acoustic set with Michael W. Smith and Mac Powell from Third Day while the main stage is reset. There's no break at all. The second operating zone on the console allows instant transition between two engineers, two stages, and two bands."

"We used the automation to change setup between bands, with a different scene for each act," adds Lampa. "I also use automation cues to recall effects settings -- very convenient."

Both engineers use traditional VCA-based mixing techniques, but also made extensive use of the PRO6's POPulation Groups, allowing them to create one-touch access to six additional input groups. Lampa used VCA groupings as POP Groups, with a 'money' page for lead vocals/vocal effects, along with Groups for intro, outro, acoustic instruments and horns.

Like Lampa, Dave Jacques has a POP Group for vocals and vocal effects. But with his separate needs and mixing style, his other POP Group choices were quite different. "I have an 'on the fly' POP group where I drop in channels, returns FX, etc. to avoid the need to page through inputs for various changes," he notes. "I can jump from guitar solo to keys solo to vocal delay to snare reverb, all in a matter of seconds."

Jacques has another innovative POP Group application that is actually more visual than sonic in nature. "I have one POP Group that throws the click track to Area B," he explains. "That way, I can see the tempo on the metering and tap in delays during the count-in before the song starts."

Of course, for veterans of Midas analog mixing, the real test of the PRO6 was how it measured up in sound quality. Lampa says that Midas Digital "absolutely measured up to my expectations. I loved the dynamics and warmth of the console, and the way you can really push the preamps aggressively. I really enjoyed the feel of the PRO6 as well, like the fact that when you touch a knob, the screen highlights that parameter. The knobs were responsive to minute changes, and I never experienced any latency. This is a great console."

Jacques agrees. "I knew it was a great-sounding console, but using it with the same bands in venues I've played before, I was seriously impressed," he states. "I had really high expectations from working with Midas analog all these years, but I have nothing but great things to say about the PRO6. The EQ just sounds awesome, and I always found something I liked in the onboard dynamics. I found that I didn't have to work hard to make things sound good. It sounded every bit as big and warm as I could have imagined."