Midas-fest as first PRO6s head to Glastonbury
Despite being less than a year old, the Midas PRO6 live audio system made multiple debuts across the Glastonbury festival this year, joining the XL4 and Heritage packages which retain a familiar and much-requested presence at festivals across the summer.
APR Audio deployed two PRO6s at front of house for the Jazz/World Stage, alongside an H3000 for engineers preferring to use an analogue console. One PRO6 was used for mixing the bands while the second was connected to the stage via AES50 tie-lines. This allowed engineers to practice mixing the live band on headphones prior to moving to the ‘hot’ PRO6 for their own show, and for APR and Midas staff to demo the console to interested parties.
“We thought the usability and the audio quality of the PRO6 were second to none,” says Andy Reed from APR. “Nearly half of the visiting engineers of the acts playing on the Jazz/World Stage chose to use the PRO6, including Rolf Harris, Jamie Cullum and Lamb.”
On stage, APR provided a monitor system of a Heritage H3000 with a Klark Teknink Helix digital EQ system including DN9331 Rapide for instant access to graphic EQs. There was also a KT DN1248 active mic splitter system providing high-quality audio to the two Heritage 3000s, the PRO6s and the 021 OB trucks.
Over at The Park stage, now in its third year as a performance area organised by Emily Eavis, the South West Group brought along their brand new PRO6, the first time the company had deployed it. This was the only FOH console at this venue, and the South West Group’s MD Alister Pook – who took delivery of the PRO6 just days before the festival – was delighted that engineers were taking to it with a minimum of training before their sets.
A further PRO6 was brought in by FOH engineer Robbie McGrath at Kasabian’s Saturday night performance on the Pyramid stage.
Skan provided its customary pair of XL4s at FOH and two H3000s on the Other Stage, while the Pyramid stage also featured two XL4s at FOH, provided by R G Jones, who were also using a Heritage 1000 as the central signal matrix serving the main system drive racks, with KT DN360s for grab EQ. The team opted for an all-analogue set-up at FOH this year as the XL4 proved the majority choice in discussions between RG Jones audio production manager Steve Carr and this year's bands' engineers.
"This years Glastonbury festival, the largest ever held, was a resounding affirmation that, analogue or digital, Midas is still the world's favourite live audio console,” says Midas and Klark Teknik’s brand development manager Richard Ferriday. “Comments from engineers and production staff working on stages where PRO6s were deployed confirmed that this is the most intuitive, best sounding mixing option available."
Photo: Two Midas PRO6s and an H3000 at FOH, Jazz/World, Glastonbury 2009
Photo: APR’s Audio’s Andy Reed (left) and Midas and Klark Teknik’s Richard Ferriday with the two Midas PRO6s at FOH, Jazz/World, Glastonbury 2009
Photo: Huw Richards mixing Maximo Park at the Other Stage, Glastonbury 2009, on a Midas XL4