Overview

 

Fast-rising indie rockers The Pigeon Detectives spent much of 2007 tirelessly touring to promote their debut album Wait For Me. With slots at many of the UK's major festivals followed by a headlining tour in the winter and another tour booked for May 2008, the band's following is rapidly increasing, drawn by a unique sound that is mixed in the live environment on a Yamaha LS9 console.

As with all up-and-coming bands, early tours have to be managed on a tight budget and, until the middle of 2007, the Pigeon Detectives crew consisted of a guitar tech and Andy Hawkins, who covered both front of house and monitor mixing as well as helping with backline setup.

Product List

Mixers:

LS9-32

Details

Myriad Advantages Over Analog

"It was a fairly heavy workload and the problem with that is always lack of time to attend to everything," Andy says. "So, coming into the 2007 festival season, I was seriously considering a digital desk."

Originally he was considering a Yamaha M7CL, which he encountered for the first time in 2006 at a one-off show supporting Snow Patrol. "It was very straightforward to use", he says. "I thought the quality of the mic preamps was good and I began to see the appeal of an 'outboardless' FOH position."

He used an M7CL again in February of this year when Pigeon Detectives were supporting the Kaiser Chiefs. "Although I was very impressed with it, I just felt it was physically a little large for what I needed," he says. "I then spoke to Kaiser Chiefs crew again at the Wireless festival and they asked if I'd considered the LS9?"

Enter the LS9

Previously unaware of the LS9's existence, Andy downloaded the LS9 brochure and manual and was impressed.

"There were a myriad of advantages over using an analogue desk," he says. "At the time we didn't have a monitor engineer and Jimmi the drummer was just starting to use in-ears. Having a digital desk meant I could prepare an in-ear mix for him which would be recallable and therefore exactly the same every day, which of course is vital for in-ear mixes."

"So I went to the band's management said 'We can take this desk into the festivals this year (remember we were only in mid-bill positions), we'll sound great straight away and it's so small that festival organizers can't refuse us taking it in'. In addition, I pointed out that when we toured all the support bands could also be on it, and it would take up less space at FOH so it was more likely that venues would allow us to use it in place of an installed desk."

The Fast Track to Great Sound

Matt Bowman

"They went for it and we haven't looked back since. The first gig we did with it was a festival at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. We had no sound check of course, just a line check and it was 'Bang – on you go then'. But everything sounded nice and clear straightaway. It's extremely quick to get a good result."

"I was very pleased. I really like the sound of the LS9. I've used it with other bands on other gigs and it's always sounded excellent. There's a nice 'in your face' quality to the sound, without it being harsh."

The Right Tool for the Job

The Pigeon Detectives 2007 winter tour saw the band headlining a three act bill and the LS9 meant that all three bands could be mixed on the same console, saving a lot of physical space, while instant recall of patches saved a great deal of time.

"It's absolutely ideal for us. Even when we headline bigger venues in 2008, I see absolutely no reason to change it. The LS9 desk is the right tool for the job. Even the guys carrying it into the venue can't complain that it's too heavy – and that's unheard of!"

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