I completely isolate them from any recall and end up with kick, snare, hat, toms, overheads, a bass channel, guitar channel, keyboard channel, lead vocal and backing vocal stem faders that are always beneath my fingers. ‘I have all my input channels as a sub-layer,’he says.
#WINCHESTER MODEL 25 12 GAUGE FULL#
Wooster’s approach to the console surface configuration takes full advantage of the L500’s Layer & Bank approach to layout, as well as the expedient Super-Query (Q) function – a forward and reverse interrogation feature with fast-assignment feature. ‘The channel compressor is the first layer of dynamics control, just to help take out any real big peaks then across her stem- which includes her reverb and delay returns, as well the main vocal path – I put an SSL Bus Compressor it’s very good.’ The standard EQ helps calm down some resonances, though there were only two cuts with low and high-pass filters that I needed to make with that. I use a dynamic EQ from the internal FX rack to sort that out. ‘Of course, it’s natural that when she whispers I get a load of low end from the microphone that I don’t need, and when she’s screaming down it there’s too much high end and not enough lows. The way the SSL input section handles that is fantastic. ‘The mix has to be able to go down to almost nothing and then build to everything.
‘With Leona, I have to deal with a massive dynamic range within every song,’ he continues.
I think the 96kHz operation makes a difference, but the preamps make a huge difference as well, and whatever it is SSL has done on the EQ is stunning. ‘The effect on Leona’s vocal was very noticeable in the system. ‘The drummer has two mics on the bass drum, three snares – each with at least two mics on, four toms, all the cymbals, electronic kick and snare – so he was up to about 20-odd channels on his own.’Īccording to Wooster, the show’s sound directly benefitted from the L500’s 96kHz signal path: ‘What really separates the L500 from the competition is the sound,’ he says. The I Am show provides Wooster with around 65 inputs from the stage: ‘It’s a full-on set-up,’ he says. Completing a 14-date tour of the UK, vocalist and performer Leona Lewis has been using a Solid State Logic L500 mixing console and K-array Slim Array technology chosen by celebrated FOH engineer Dave Wooster.