INSTALLATIONS CBS Radio’s Live Performance Stage in Chicago By Kevin M.Mitchell retty much since the invention of radio, could possibly be. I approached this whole recording artists have always jumped at thing as if I was the artist going to perform Pthe chance to perform live on the air. Yet here, and not only did we put thought and where they actually perform is afterthought care into the performance space, but also the — if it’s a thought at all. CBS radio’s Sam Cap- green room, and how the artist would get pas, a regional director of engineers, had an from one to the other.” idea about creating a live performance space worthy of the talent that comes to play. The Sound Choices newly installed live room at CBS Chicago is a “I wanted to y speakers, and went with beautiful looking — and sounding — 85-seat the JBL VRX932,” Mendicino says. “For the size space that is turning heads. The room hosts Built for live (and of the room, the JBLs were a no-brainer, be- a wide variety of genres, because it’s used by recorded) radio cause I didn’t want to overpower the place.” a total of four stations: a Top 40, an Oldies, performances, the 85- He also picked up the 918S matching subs. a Country, and of course, rock station WXRT seat room has proven Four QSC K10s handle stage monitoring du- 93.1. “So we had to build the room to be good popular with both local ties, along with a Shure PSM1000 IEM system. for [all] kinds of music,” says engineer Dominic and national artists. The mics are standard: lots of Shures — 57, Mendicino. 81, Beta 91a. The console of choice was the The Chicago studio was so successful the Behringer X32. Another issue was being able team went and did a similar install in New to multitrack to Pro Tools, because once a year York and Washington D.C. They are also cre- installations at station support- 93XRT puts out a “Best of” album of live per- ating similiar live spaces for radio stations in the bigger clubs ing the music, but formances (“93XRT Live from the Archives”). Baltimore and eyeing sites in Houston and around town. it would be awk- “We wanted the versatility to go back and mix San Francisco. “This is a trend — these studios After Mendici- ward to perform it from the ground up in Pro Tools.” Then he make a lot of money for CBS, and now they no took a job with in a corporate con- has yet another separate stereo mix for video want them everywhere,” says Mendicino. “And CBS Radio, Cappas ference room,” he and on air. “You need a separate mix with dif- now that the standard has been set [with the started cooking From left, Dominic Mendicino and Sam Cappas. says. “It was great ferent EQs and processing for the live video Chicago station], there’ll be more.” up the concept for to brainstorm and on-air feeds.” the studio. “It was Sam’s idea to set up a venue with Sam about what kind of atmosphere we Now that the word is out, artists are asking Acoustic Challenges appropriate for the artist that came to play,” could create that would be great for playing to come perform there. When The Black Keys’ Mendicino is the man at the console, Mendicino says. As Cappas shared his vision, live and for the radio.” Dan Auerbach brought his band The Arcs in, saying he’s done over 300 shows now. Even Mendicino saw that all his varied past expe- Acoustically, the challenge of creating it was one of the very rst times the band had when a band brings their own FOH engineer, rience was right for the call. “I’ve done audio both a room that was equal parts live space played live in front of people. Mendicino says he’s there to assist and manage other aspects and video, live and in the studio. I’ve ripped and recording studio was daunting. The room he was in the thick of it, cutting in and out for of the production. He then stands o to the apart recording studios and rebuilt them, and itself is in a high-rise building with executive commercials, going live for two songs and side with his iPad and mixes what he needs worked on installs for live rooms large and oces right above. “There was no margin for then streaming video, when he paused for underneath what’s happening in the room, small.” A key component of bringing this to fru- error, as we had to literally create a ‘oating’ just a moment, looked up, and thought, “Man, because he manages a whole lot of mixes for ition was V3 Studios of St. Louis, an architectur- box within a box,” Kerns continues. “There are I’m mixing Auerbach right now!” Then it was every live performance that could include al rm that happens to be headed by one Kurt ve layers of drywall and staggered studs, back to work. “So for two seconds, I thought FOH live; stream/video feed; on-air; and up Kerns, who was a founder of the industrial rock and the ceiling is spring isolated.” Of course, how cool this was, and that was the most I to four independent monitor mixes and four band Gravity Kills, which sold over one million moving from plans to reality had the natu- ever let myself get starstruck!” Others include independent in-ear mixes. “There’s a lot going records and played more than 1,000 shows in ral hiccups as mundane things like electrical Nick Jonas, Fifth Harmony, Lady Antebellum, on,” he laughs. 16 countries. conduits and ceiling sprinklers knocked specs Chris Cornell, Of Monsters and Men and X Mendicino’s background makes him Kerns has, in fact, been playing music all o a bit, but adjustments were strategically Ambassadors, among many others. uniquely suited to handle all of this. In his his life, including a lot of time in studios and made on the y as needed. “There were peo- “What’s really impressive to the artist is how teens, he started working in Chicago record- on stage, slowed only by a stint in architec- ple on the site every day, and things like mak- professionally the studio is run,” Mendicino ing studios, including Medicine Man Record- ture school. Since founding V3 seven years ing sure kick drum frequencies were going says. “From the studio manager Rich Wyatt to ing. He got an unusual oer to record audio ago, the rm has increasingly gotten the op- to be as they were needed meant that some- the studio creator Sam, the team makes sure for documentaries in exotic locales like Ken- portunity to put their acoustic expertise into thing even as small as two or three percent everything is done right, on schedule, and art- ya, and when he returned to Chicago in 2012, play. They’ve taken on the student media o needed to be corrected.” Windy City-based ists are just blown away by it.” he went back into studio recording, spending center at prestigious Washington University Bulley & Andrews were the contractors. Mendicino does a thorough job advancing time at Chicago Recording Company. “With- and a theater at the school as well. Kerns has “Tuning the room right was needed to so when a band shows up, they just plug in in three months, I was oered to go on the been doing work for CBS on a variety of proj- capture the great performances, and we real- and play. Live concerts: Coming to a radio stu- road mixing monitors for Andy Grammer, ects for 16 years, and he is particularly excited ly made sure the band shell was right,” Kerns dio near you. which was something I couldn’t pass up.” He to be working on these studios. “When I was adds. “We really spent time with the acoustic returned to the studio, and then moved into an artist touring, I really appreciated the radio panels to get the room sounding the best it Reach Kevin at [email protected]. in the US from: MADI REDUNDANCY SWITCH www.josephelectronics.com „A real game changer for us, a very elegant, reliable solution.“ Will Sanderson, Ellie Goulding www.directout.eu 36 OCTOBER 2016 • fohonline.com.