June 2011 G www.prosoundnewseurope.com live 29 Outline GTO arrays were used at the Royal Albert Hall gig UNITED KINGDOM Mike’s mechanics Mike & the Mechanics are on the road again. As Kevin Hilton reports, the tour uses the latest in loudspeaker and computer technology to get the songs across Quintessential ’80s/’90s pop/ Cifelli began following the develop- has a very long reverb that create a con- rock merchants Mike & the ment of the GTO system during his trip fused sound, so you don’t want to push fMechanics are back after a to the Outline facility outside Brescia. the level too much. We were very care- seven-year absence with a new line-up, He says the last time he heard the box ful in pointing the PA right in front of a recently released album and a in 2010 it was an array of six loudspeak- the audience to avoid reflections. I’ve European tour relying on line array ers. This year he had a demo of what noticed that other people like to fly the loudspeaker technology to reach fans became the final version and was sur- PA very high in the Albert Hall but I old and young in a variety of venues. prised by how it sounded. “I was expect- asked to have it as low as possible, so Led by Genesis guitarist/bass play- ing it to be much harder and mid heavy we could have the speakers really fac- er and founder member Mike than the Butterfly but it sounds even ing the audience because I hate to see Rutherford, the band now features cleaner and more defined,” he com- the band on the stage and have the vocalists Andrew Roachford and Tim ments. “It has the big energy in the low sound coming from the roof, I find it Hawer, taking over from Paul Carrack mid, which the Butterfly is missing.” very unnatural.” and the late Paul Young (ex-Sad Café), The majority of venues on the tour The out-front console for the tour is who shared vocal duties during the are small to medium-sized arenas, such a 96-channel Digidesign (Avid) Profile group’s 1985-95 heyday. as the Brighton Centre, and theatres, running a Pro Tools card. This allows The Hit the Road Tour 2011 came to including the New Theatre in Oxford. the big Genesis Pro Tools system to be the UK in May, playing arenas and the- For these 24 Outline CDH 483 Hi- connected to the live set-up during per- atres around the country, with a centre- Packs, eight Manta downfills, 12 SUB- formances. Cifelli says that because piece gig at the Royal Albert Hall in TECH 218 subwoofers and four DVS there are still some plug-ins that can- London. This featured an Outline GTO 15 in-fill cabinets were used. The Royal not be ported directly into the Profile line array, while the other concerts have Albert Hall is noted for its intimate he is using the DAW to run four proces- been using the smaller Butterfly system. atmosphere but is still substantially big- sors for main effects on the guitars, Front of house engineer is Italian pro- ger than the other spaces the band is which are routed using assignable HDX ducer and studio engineer Matteo Cifelli, playing, so a larger GTO rig was cards into the desk. who also tours with many of his artists, brought in. Further computer contributions although he did not work on the This comprised 30 GTO cabinets come from two Apple laptops (one Mechanics’ latest album, The Road. and four Mantas for the main rig, the main, one back-up), which work with Cifelli recommended the Butterfly sys- entire Butterfly FOH touring system as a MMC (Mini Machine Control) inter- tem to Rutherford but is quick to empha- side hangs, although Cifelli says this face commissioned by programmer and sise that this had nothing to do with was nearly redundant as he used only keyboard technician Kevin Jacobs to national loyalty. “Using it is absolutely one-fifth of its power, eight Mantas for trigger loops and additional keyboard not because it’s an Italian system – it’s the rear sides, six CDH 483s as ground effects. Each laptop is controlled and because it sound good,” he says. stacks and eight SUBTECH 218s. All running individually so that if one fails Being a studio engineer, Cifelli touring equipment is supplied by hire the other is still operating. observes, influences his work on the company Britannia Row Productions. Cifelli adds that although the Profile road, making him more conscious of Cifelli has worked at the Royal is not the best sounding desk it gives frequency response and details in the Albert Hall with other systems and him a lot of flexibility, particularly with sound. “I find all these things in the found it a difficult space to mix in. He Pro Tools and laptop interfaces. Outline systems,” he says. “They says using the GTO helped solve some The Mike & the Mechanics Hit the respond very well to the EQ and the of the problems he had encountered Road Tour is now in Germany, return- compression. I understand why previously: “The GTO responded bet- ing to the UK for the Isle of Wight because I had the chance to visit the fac- ter, the directivity of the speaker is bet- Festival and Hard Rock Calling at the tory and see the way they work. I have ter than what I used before. In a venue end of June, with European festival other PAs that I use and I like but like the Albert Hall you don’t really mix, dates during July. Q Outline is really my first choice.” you compensate for the room, which www.outline.it.