GRAMMY®-nominated and Eurovision-winning Italian rock band Måneskin continues its global ascent to stardom with a world tour and dozens of festivals in every corner of the globe.
To ensure the band’s sound is impeccable for every show, Måneskin puts its trust in Sound Engineer Enrico La Falce, whose experience spans the panorama of Italian pop and rock music. Building off his first role as a studio assistant in London and his career as a mixing engineer and producer in Italy, La Falce knew he wanted a natural and uncolored microphone to support the band’s glam-rock sound on tour. For this, he selected DPA Microphones’ d:facto 4018V Vocal Microphone.
“When we were planning the rehearsals with Måneskin for their first ‘big’ concerts, I met with the band’s Monitor Engineer, Remo Scafati, to exchange ideas regarding gear,” says La Falce. “He suggested that I test the DPA d:facto 4018V for vocals. I have other colleagues enthusiastically using it as well, so I decided to give it a try. From the moment I connected the d:facto to my Sennheiser Digital SKM 6000 transmitter, I fell in love with the microphone; primarily for the sound quality, but also for being a truly valuable tool. Since then, Lead Singer Damiano David’s voice has always been entrusted to DPA Microphones’ d:facto.”
Måneskin chooses not to use AutoTune or any other pre-production effects, instead opting for a raw sound reminiscent of Blink-182 or Green Day, making the neutral tone of the d:facto 4018V an ideal addition to the group’s gear lineup. “The d:facto has a nice sound that is warm and thick, and it has crazy detail unlike many other capsules,” La Falce continues. “I especially like it for the range around 5,000 to 6,000 Hz. Usually this range remains glassy and you have to play with the EQ to correct it, but the d:facto doesn’t have that problem. Plus, it presents the voice naturally. You can always add character from the console, but the d:facto provides a clean, precise translation of the voice.”
Unlike the clean sound and sleek design of DPA’s mics, Måneskin’s glam-rock sound and style result in metallic leather vests and flares, eyeliner, shimmering details and metal studs. “Damiano is moving and dancing a lot on the stage, and often ends up cupping his hand over the grille,” adds La Falce of the singer’s style. “The d:facto doesn’t bring in weird sounds, but to obtain this quality, the mic must be used correctly, meaning the grille must never be covered. To avoid this, Remo and I came up with a simple idea: we put a studded bracelet on the microphone body, and when Damiano feels the studs, he knows his limit. Damiano brings this ‘punk-rock-mic’ with him all the time, and it has become an iconic accessory.”
The band’s unique style combines elements of dark and glam rock, something that has been missing from the contemporary music scene for some time. Its musical style is explicitly reminiscent of 1970s rock, like Queen and Elton John, mixed with Franz Ferdinand and Aerosmith, which gained the attention of later generations. “Of all the bands that I have worked with, this one is the most powerful commercially and simultaneously the most ‘indie’ production I have ever mixed,” says La Falce. For that complete “indie” production setup, La Falce connects the d:facto to the mic pre of a Yamaha Rivage mixer, which goes through a first equalization stage from the desk, and then into an UREI 1176 compressor and a Pultec EQ to sculpt the sound, and ends at an Universal Audio Teletronix LA-2A Amplifier to get a good thickness of the voice.
La Falce was recently able to push the d:facto to extreme conditions, relying on it for Måneskin’s performance at the Circus Maximus in Rome, which featured 27-meter-long catwalk. Damiano ended up singing in front of the PA for most of the performance — yet La Falce found the distance and bleed to be a non-issue. “Zero problems, not even any feedback,” he finishes. “The d:facto is a standard microphone for me now, one which must always be considered.”
With their song “Zitti E Buoni” (Shut Up and Behave) topping the leaderboard at the Eurovision Song Festival, Måneskin became a global sensation. They became break-out stars in America, where they toured with the Rolling Stones, played on Saturday Night Live, and were nominated for the “Best New Artist” category at the 2023 GRAMMY Awards. After completing the North American run of their world tour in December 2022, Måneskin will wrap up the European leg on July 25.
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Open Air Gampel in the middle of the alps is one of the biggest live music events in Switzerland. The four-day festival near Bern presented a popular lineup of top acts such as Sido, Mark Forster and Robin Schulz, attracting up to 30,000 attendees at the end of August. Since its foundation in 1986, local rental company FreepowerEventtechnik is in charge of the sound reinforcement for all stages of the festival. The team once again relied on a powerful combination of Electro-Voice X2 line-array loudspeakers powered by Dynacord TGX series amplifiers.
The main sound system for the White Stage saw a total of 30 X2 line-array elements plus 24 X12-128 subwoofers driven by four SR20-TGX system racks from Dynacord. The 10U TGX system rack is preconfigured with three TGX20 DSP amplifiers plus two independent network switches for glitch-free operation and offers a variety of professional features such as integrated sliding rack doors, customizable I/O options, and a reversible mounting for the power distribution. SONICUE Sound System Software handled quick and comprehensive configuration and control of the entire PA.
Twenty years after first opening in Italy, the complete original cast of “Notre-Dame de Paris” is back on stage to celebrate the anniversary.
Following the success of the show in Paris, the musical made its official Italian debut at Gran Teatro of Rome in 2002, featuring the translated lyrics of Pasquale Panella. Produced in collaboration with Enzo Product Ltd, entirely curated and distributed by Vivo Concerti, and under the direction of Gilles Maheu, the 2022 tour will include over 180 shows throughout the Italian peninsula.
For this 20th Anniversary production, skillful and experienced sound team members were selected, including FOH Engineer Alberto Alicandro, who was part of the original crew, Monitor Engineer Simone “Zeta” Saccomandi, and Microphone Technician Andrea “Niski” Stanisci. The microphone equipment is entirely DPA, with 16 headsets, consisting of 4066 Omnidirectional and 6066 CORE Subminiature headsets, and two pairs of 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioid and 4018 Supercardioid microphones to capture room audio and feed IEM mixes.
“I often use room audio to make actors’ in-ear mix feel more natural, but we also use them to record ambient sounds and audience response. The pair of 2011s is arranged in A/B narrow or binaural configuration at the FOH position with a Jecklin Disk and one custom-made support that also houses a camera depending on the venue, while the 4018 in wide A/B configuration is positioned on the stage front,” comments Zeta. “I am a true DPA fanatic and use their mics for everything from classical to jazz to rock. I have a predilection for DPA accuracy. Using these capsules undoubtedly makes life easy in a complex musical like this one. It helps us keep standards high in many different theaters, from large auditoriums to far-from-ideal acoustic spaces, such as sports halls or outdoor venues. I hardly need extreme equalizations or unnatural interventions.”
Alberto also has no doubt: “DPA capsules always provide optimal intelligibility, even in the most articulated songs. Whether increasing or decreasing, EQ interventions are never harsh or dull. For example, when you emphasize high frequencies, they are always very natural. DPA is always the first choice in Notre-Dame de Paris!”
The collaboration between Producer David Zard, and Musical Supervisor, Composer and Singer Riccardo Cocciante, ”Notre-Dame de Paris” has been a global success, with 1,419 productions in nine languages, to 13 million spectators worldwide. Among the many awards the show has received, one notable mention goes to the strong partnership between the protagonists Giò Di Tonno and Lola Ponce, which earned accolades at the 2008 Sanremo Music Festival (Festival della canzone Italiana). It has also been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest sales of tickets ever in the first year of operation, with more than one million tickets and over three million albums sold.
George Relles Sound Brings Six Generations of Meyer Sound Technology to Exquisite Hillside Pavilion
Photo: Matt Honnies
George Relles first brought Meyer Sound MSL-3 loudspeakers to the Britt Pavilion in 1986, and in 2022 he flew his new PANTHER large-format linear line array loudspeakers in the wooden shell on the verdant Southern Oregon hillside. In the years between, George Relles Sound introduced four other generations of Meyer Sound technology in the same venue, adding up to 36 unbroken years of Meyer Sound systems at the summer-long Britt Music and Arts Festival.
“I’ve always wanted to have a gold-standard PA system at the Britt,” says Relles, “because it’s a wonderful venue to show off a PA. For decades I’ve been in on the ground floor of the newest Meyer Sound loudspeaker systems, and this is where I bring them first.”
Although a smaller pavilion — 2,200 total capacity with 949 reserved seats — in a secondary market, the idyllic location, mild summer weather, and top-notch sound have made “the Britt” a favorite among touring artists. In addition to a three-week classical series, the 2022 schedule of 28 pop concerts includes, among the others, ZZ Top, Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt, and Chicago.
The new PANTHER line array system arrived in early July, with the transition from the prior LEO Family system taking place only a couple of days later, just ahead of the Jason Mraz show.
“It was a tight schedule for bringing online a system I had never heard before anywhere,” says Relles, who serves as systems tech for nearly all shows. “But I was confident in the results, and it tuned up very easily. I used maybe one U-shaped filter and a couple parametrics, and that was it. One FOH engineer told me it really sounded great, and that I must have spent a lot of time tuning it. ‘No,’ I said, ‘only about an hour, with just fifteen minutes for EQ and the rest for timing front fills with the arrays.’”
Though the LEO Family system had earned kudos for years, Relles says PANTHER has moved the sound up a notch. “It definitely penetrates more consistently up the hill. It is also a much bigger sound, with a really tight low end filling out the sub area.”
The venue’s production director, Derek Cole, agrees. “There’s nothing I don’t love about the new PANTHER rig. I like the look of it, and from walking around I know there’s not a bad seat anywhere, all the way back to the picnic tables 120 yards from the stage. Also, word is out to the bands, and some like Dark Star Orchestra have told me they are excited about using it.”
Mike Sturgill has been with the Britt Festival of Music and Arts for more than 30 years, overseeing production and booking the venue since 1995. “Over the last few years, I’ve had engineers tell me our LEO Family system was the best rig they had mixed on all summer, and I fully expect that will continue with PANTHER. It’s a PA that will carry us a long way into the future.
“There’s no question that George and his Meyer Sound systems have been integral to our success,” Sturgill continues. “George cares about everything, he pays attention to details, he helps mixers get the most out of the systems, and he anticipates problems before they happen. We don’t have to worry about the sound here at Britt, ever.”
Relles has been the exclusive sound provider for the Britt Music and Arts Festival since 1981 and later acquired six Meyer Sound MSL-3 loudspeaker systems in 1986. Relles immediately bought two more systems, bringing all eight to the Britt later that year — then doubling the count to 16 the following year.
Over the decades, Relles continually upgraded to the newest Meyer Sound systems in the first year of introduction: the self-powered MSL-4 in 1995, M2D line array in 2002, MICA line array in 2005, and a LEO Family system (LYON and LEOPARD) in 2015.
“Because I’m a hands-on owner-operator, I really care about the products I use,” he says. “I design the system and tune it myself, and I want to make sure it’s an easy day for the visiting engineers. I’ve worked with some touring engineers who have a reputation for chewing up system techs, and they’ve told me that every time they come here it sounds great.”
In addition to the unbroken string of Meyer Sound systems, Relles’ longevity at the Britt Pavilion also is attributable to his selection of front-end gear, including an SSL L500 mixing console and a collection of microphones for classical and acoustic music encompassing 40 Schoeps models and 50 DPA miniature clip-on condensers. Relles mixes the classical concert series himself, and he also mixes most opening acts of the pop series.
Established in 1963 exclusively for classical concerts, the non-profit Britt Festival of Music and Arts expanded with a pop series in the 1980s. A sampling of acts heard through Meyer Sound systems over the years would include Diana Ross, Ziggy Marley, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Joan Baez, Steve Miller, Bob Weir and Ratdog, and Wynton Marsalis. The Britt Pavilion is located in the historic former mining town of Jacksonville, Oregon.
Every August, the world’s largest arts festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, takes over Scotland’s capital. Thousands of performers take to hundreds of stages to present shows for every taste. C venues is back for its 25th year, creating and curating more than 20 theatre, performance and exhibition spaces at pop-up venues in and around the city centre. This year, C venues’ visiting designers and technicians are using some of the latest products from ETC for a vibrant and packed programme of theatre, circus, cabaret, musicals, dance, comedy and children’s shows.
“ETC has been supporting C venues for a number of years, allowing us to improve the capability of our venues and exposing ETC products to young, up-and-coming theatre companies and technicians,” says Richard Williamson, head of production, C venues. “ETC has a long reputation for producing well-built, reliable equipment and providing an exceptional level of technical support; and we are thrilled to be using the new ETC ColorSource consoles and lanterns.
“The consoles are a great addition to the market and are perfect for our smaller spaces. We have long been looking for a lighting desk which people new to the industry can quickly and easily pick up and use. We’re excited about the possibilities that the ColorSource consoles give us. They fill an underserved niche in the market for a truly intelligent console for smaller venues.”
To equip the festival’s larger spaces, C has added to its existing stock of ETC Eos® family consoles, supplementing its Ion® desks with Ti and Element consoles. Notably, a Ti is situated in the largest theatre, C scala, controlling a number of high-profile shows including Tipping Point by Ockham’s Razor; Fringe favourites The Rat Pack Live; and the all-male a cappella group All The Kings Men. “The Eos range is the de facto industry standard console so we couldn’t imagine using anything else for our bigger venues,” says Williamson.
Additionally, the issue of heat generated by conventional tungsten fixtures has long been a challenge for C venues. For several years, the company has been looking to move its lighting rigs towards LED to help combat this. This year, several venues are benefitting from the installation of ETC ColorSource fixtures that – as well as their low heat output – are recognised for producing a richer, more natural light output than other LED fixtures at such an accessible price point.
“While LED units have been on the market, we have struggled to find any that properly give the level of control and colour rendering that tungsten offers. The new ColorSource LED fixtures are perfect for our needs and, used alongside ColorSource consoles, we are now able to look to significantly expand our use of LED,” says Williamson.
Hartley T A Kemp, C venues’ artistic director, concludes: “ETC’s support to C venues is invaluable as it enables young designers and technicians the chance to work with the latest kit, developing their skills and experience.”
To learn more about ETC products and services, visit www.etcconnect.com.
The National Arts Festival (NAF) in Grahamstown was the first festival in the world to call on ETC’s ColorSource consoles. In addition to this, NAF put to use an extensive line up of lighting gear from the manufacturer across 16 venues.
The 11-day festival which takes place at various venues across the city is described as the biggest celebration of the arts in Africa. Its main and fringe programmes comprise drama, dance, physical theatre, comedy, opera, music, jazz, visual art exhibitions, film, student theatre, street theatre, lectures, craft fairs, workshops, tours and a childrens arts festival.
‘NAF is a fantastic meeting of technicians from across the continent, it is an honour for ETC to support these talented people with consoles and LED fixtures that will enhance their art and give them a look at the latest equipment available for making theatre,’ said Jeremy Roberts from ETC.
Of the 16 venues to feature ETC equipment, 14 of them have opted for one of the manufacturer’s lighting desks. ColorSource, Element, Eos Ti, Gio and Ion consoles are all in use, with the Eos Ti covering the main theatre. Away from consoles, ETC ColorSource Spot and PAR fixtures have also been called into action.
‘Prosound and Electrosonic are on site to provide support,’ noted Mr Roberts. ‘ETC also provides local support for the larger venues. Benjamin du Plessis from the Fugard Theatre, who is an expert Eos programmer, is on site to support other programmers on the Eos Ti, Gio and Ion consoles.’
Also present were Jannie de Jager and Mac Makhobotloane from Prosound, supporting all the other consoles and LED fixtures that were provided to the relevant venues.
‘The National Arts Festival is a very important event and we are delighted to be part of it,’ said Ian Blair, GM for lighting and structures at Prosound. ‘The festival runs on good quality products that it can trust, so it is telling that there is so much equipment from ETC that has been put to use.’
