When an event like the Super Bowl comes to town, the sheer number of related events means that every major sound company, venue and entertainer will be extremely busy. Sound engineer Randy Wise found himself and his Lil’ Peanut Productions in great demand, and met the challenge of producing high quality audio under trying conditions by using Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing products.
In addition to a constant stream of rentals and productions handled by Lil’ Peanut, Wise was engaged as sound engineer for the Hunter Smith Band, which played in concert at the NFL Experience, Super Bowl Village, and played the NFL Pre-Game concert along with The Fray and Lenny Kravitz.
Wise based his approach around the Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system. He used the iDR-48 MixRack for all the inputs, outputs and processing power the band would require, handling both house and monitor mixing from one location. “For the actual mixing, I just used my laptop, connected to the MixRack with a wireless router and running the iLive Editor software,” notes Randy Wise. “At bigger shows, I would run a combo of my laptop with the iLive T-112 mixing surface. But it was the wireless connection to the iDR-48 that was the key. I could set up monitors from the stage and actually mix the show from anywhere in the house. It was outstanding.”
Singer/songwriter Hunter Smith, himself a 12-year veteran of the NFL as a punter, was equally impressed. “As a band, we just completed one of the most unique weeks in our history – five shows in eight days in and around the Super Bowl in Indianapolis,” he notes. “For musicians, these shows can be a nightmare, which is why we hired Randy Wise. Thanks to Randy and the Allen & Heath iLive digital console, our shows went off without a hitch. Our in-ear mixes were clear and consistent, and time and again we were approached by people raving about the great sound our shows. The Allen & Heath gear is like nothing we’ve experienced in our history on the road. It’s really cool technologically, and it really rocks musically.”
Randy Wise also used an iLive console to mix monitors for a party hosted by Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay at the Indiana State Museum. An all-star band that included John Mellencamp, Steven Stills, Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Kenny Aranoff entertained. This was a particularly challenging mix, with floor wedges aimed directly at the museum’s glass walls, creating a huge potential for feedback.
“Needless to say, these rockers wanted every usable watt of power I could give them,” recalls Wise, “so I was really glad to have an iLive console. I was able to use a combination of graphic and parametric EQs to gain control over the potential feedback, then engaged a limiter on the output to make sure the transients wouldn’t damage anything. At the end of the night, all of these rockers were happy and the party was a big success. That’s all you can ask.”
