Overview

 

It's no understatement to describe “Viva Radio 2” – the radio show hosted by eclectic Italian showman Fiorello and his inseparable “stooge” Marco Baldini before a live audience in the historic RAI studios in Via Asiago, Rome – as a real media phenomenon. This is a radio revolution based on fantasy and fun, with wisecracks, hysterical gags, and hilarious imitations. The latest season of the successful show has become a daily routine for countless fans, and has led to the release of a DVD and a series of top-selling CDs, as well as being used as the basis for a high-profile Fiat advertising campaign.

A Yamaha M7CL digital mixing console had the important role of mixing what Fiorello, Baldini, the resident band, and all the show’s guests heard during the program.

Web site:

http://www.radio.rai.it/radio2/vivaradio2/ 

Owned by:

RAI 

Installed Products

Mixers:

M7CL-48

Details

M7CL Monitoring for “Viva Radio 2”

The audio team of Viva Radio 2. From left Sasà Bellistri, Marco Cristilli, Genesio Di Iacovo

The RAI audio team on the show consists of Sasà Bellistri, Marco Cristilli, Genesio Di Iacovo, Paola Bray, Mauro Tonini, and Pino Berardi. The last of these was responsible for using the M7CL during the transmission, then Cristilli and Bray alternated on monitor engineering duty, while Berardi and Di Iacovo were in charge of the audio played out, and Tonini handled sound reinforcement for the studio audience. Bellistri was the microphone specialist.

Berardi explains: “We use the M7CL for monitoring and have sixteen feeds. To do this, we added outputs to the slots on the rear of the desk and use the console’s matrix capability for three additional mixes, giving us a total of three stereo and thirteen mono feeds. The various mixes are fed to a series of amplifiers for hard-wired headphones used on-stage by the musicians, and to the table where the hosts and their guests are seated, each of whom also has a separate headphone amp. We also installed a pair of monitor loudspeaker enclosures on stage, to be used by guest singers who prefer them to cans.”

Flexible and Intuitive – the Right Console for the Job

Berardi enthused regarding the mixer’s performance: “I enjoy working with the M7CL, because it has the right features for this type of job, as well as being very flexible and intuitive. The functionality of the touch-panel is also very useful, as it enables us to carry out all the necessary work very rapidly.”

The touch-panel, combined with Yamaha’s acclaimed selected channel concept and a straightforward navigation system – no layers, one-function physical controls, and all digital controls accessible through just two main display screens – lets you focus in on any operation directly and instantly. In fact, the entire console can be easily operated from the 44.2 cm. Centralogic section alone.

Berardi continues, “One of the most exploited features was constant control of the separate mixes. There are twelve user-definable keys, and each was used to recall a mix of the various musicians and the people at the tables. Changes are quite often requested for individual mixes, and this system allows us to change the parameters of individual settings very quickly.”

Easy Accommodation of Multiple Monitoring Requirements

The first show of the new series was preceded by a week of rehearsals, during which the best mix was achieved for everybody and the desk’s settings stored. “We made a few changes as things proceeded,” continues Berardi, “but these were just details such as post- or pre-fader mic sends. For the main monitor feed sent to Fiorello’s headphones we use the console’s stereo output mixed in real time, as the artist is very demanding and wants to hear exactly what is going on air. The others have the auxiliary and the pre-fader mix outputs, and some people, such as Baldini and the guests, have post-fader mixes with all the faders at the same level so any changes made for Fiorello also affect their signal.”

The band’s musicians don’t need to hear what’s on air. Above all, they’re interested in hearing what each other is playing and the monitor engineers were able to meet numerous requirements with the M7CL: the brass players generally prefer to hear the drummer’s ride cymbal for the tempo, and the piano for some harmony, whereas the drummer wants to hear himself and the bass. Bandleader Enrico Cremonesi wants a bit of everything. The stereo feeds are dedicated to Fiorello, Baldini and the guests, who have also included singers of the calibre of Zucchero, Fiorella Mannoia and Elisa, so need top grade monitoring.

Berardi explains, “On last year’s show we used an analogue desk which obviously didn’t have the flexibility of the Yamaha console. The M7CL has made a huge improvement. Having memories at our disposal greatly facilitates work and we also put the M7CL’s on-board effects to extensive use.”

The M7CL provides an outstanding range of top-quality effects: from ambience and echo to modulation and distortion. Whether you simply need to add a touch of natural-sounding reverb or manipulate a sound for other-worldly effects, the M7CL offers everything you need. The M7CL also comes with Yamaha’s Add-on Effects REV-X package, providing some of the best, most natural-sounding ambience effects available anywhere.

A Carefully Considered Purchase that has Proven its Worth

Claudio Conti, in charge of the Development and Test Laboratory of RAI Radio Productions’ department of Automation, Engineering, Systems and Process Development, states, “The choice of new products to be purchased is normally left to us, so we have the job of examining them and making certain they meet our needs from the point of view of quality and practical operation.”

The national broadcaster needed a console that wasn’t too large, but one that was very flexible and user-friendly. The M7CL is compact and light, providing up to 48 channels in the space and weight normally required for 24.

Conti confirms, “On paper, we saw that the M7CL could meet our requirements. As we already had several other Yamaha mixers in house, from the 02R to the DM2000, we were familiar with the quality of their products: they’ve never given us any problems and perform very well. We used a Yamaha DM2000 console in 2004 with Fiorello when we successfully experimented with taking the audio of his television show “Stasera Pago Io – Revolution,” remixing it, and transmitting it via radio encoded in Dolby ProLogic Surround.”

Conti and a colleague submitted the M7CL to various tests and the technical manager adds, “We immediately realized it was very intuitive. You can use it for the first time without any explanation or manual. Since we purchased it, it has always been used on “Viva Radio 2,” and we were particularly struck by its immediacy and user friendliness – indispensable aspects for us, since various engineers have to alternate on the consoles for our shows.”

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