Live FOH engineer Jon Garber (The Band Perry, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, Brian McComas, Julie Roberts) uses DiGiGrid MGO and Waves MultiRack to run Waves plugins on tour with The Band Perry.
Garber notes: “In this production I am using a Studer Vista 5SR. In order to use Waves tools in low latency on my console, I’ve incorporated the SoundGrid® technology using a DiGiGrid MGO optical MADI interface, SoundGrid DSP Server One, and a Mac Mini with the Waves MultiRack SoundGrid application to host the plugins.”
Describing his use of Waves plugins on The Band Perry tour, Garber remarks: “I first started using Waves plugins in 2010 on the Rascal Flatts tour, and haven’t looked back since. I have several favorite Waves plugins that I consider must-haves. First of all, there’s the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor, which is very user-friendly. I put it on pretty much everything, including all my acoustic instruments and vocals. I can just pinpoint the frequencies that I don’t like and then compress or EQ those points out without destroying the original signal. I also use the Waves SSL E & G Channel strips a lot—the Waves SSL E-Channel on my snare inputs, and the Waves SSL G-Channel on both of the kick drum inputs to keep them natural-sounding, punchy and clear. Another favorite is the Waves L2 Ultramaximizer, which I use as a limiter on my master bus and video input lines: this way I can keep my mix ‘in-your-face’ without killing people with loudness. I try to mix around 98–102 dB A-weighted, and the L2 keeps me right in that pocket. The Waves CLA-2A Compressor/Limiter is definitely another must-have. I am a big fan of vintage compressors: I think they sound great, and this plugin sounds just as good as the original. It’s especially great on acoustic instruments.”
He adds: “With The Band Perry we have a lot of vocals on stage, yet I am able to keep my vocal chain on all of them. At many points during the show, the three band members and the other players on stage will sing on any given microphone. My solution is to use a chain starting with the Waves C6 Multiband Compressor and the Waves Renaissance Compressor, followed by the Waves Q10 Equalizer, and ending with Waves’ MaxxVolume.”
Garber sums it up: “Wherever I go in the world, there’s one thing I take with me, and that is my Waves plugins.”