Jennifer Owens

SFL provide full d&b Audiotechnik and QL1 multi-tracking solution for Jennifer Owens at Portsmouth Guild Hall for EP release.

Jennifer was accompanied by a string quartet and classical Steinway grand piano. The gig was filmed and recorded for the upcoming release of her EP. Working alongside the video crew to ensure aesthetics were optimal meant discreet mic placement and cabling, while also maintaining high quality and isolated audio feeds for the multitrack.

The main PA was carefully chosen to maximise level for the audience while minimising on-stage noise to keep recordings as clean as possible. Y10P was chosen as the dispersion pattern is 110° horizontally (with a constant-directivity horn controlled down to 500Hz), allowing great coverage across the audience. V-Sub provided the low end extension that gave the FOH PA system a fantastic range from 37Hz up to 18kHz, with fantastic fidelity to accentuate all the detail of the strings, piano and vocal. The 40° vertical dispersion of the Y10P meant that, with careful angling, the tops covered the front to back row with clarity and depth, but minimised the spill onto the back wall and thus reflections back onto stage. Rigging was simple with a swivel bracket and manfrotto adapter.

V-Sub also is a cardioid subwoofer which meant less spill to the rear, reducing the effects of the main PA in the ambient mics. Both the V and Y series have incredible headroom on D12 amps, up to 133dB/134dB (1m free-field) respectively. A quad D12 rack was used to power FOH and monitors, which helped in reducing cabling needed because each side of the PA could be run in Mix Top/Sub mode. The discreet nature of the black boxes and their size helped to reduce aesthetic impact on the video shoot that was being filmed live for the EP launch.

Monitoring duty was given to four d&b M4 wedges which gave the musicians clarity and reinforcement, allowing them to hear one another despite distance across stage (to allow for visual appearance and sonic isolation for the live recording) and over the main PA. They were discreet on stage, keeping visual appearances optimum.

The QL1 handled all the needs of the show, from monitoring, front-of-house, stage box / head amp control, and Dante integration. The Rio-1608 stagebox gave ample channels at stage, with a redundant network line for backup in case of primary failure for any reason. The flexibility of the QL1/Dante network meant we could take inputs from both the stage box and also the Local IO from the QL1 and feed them all to multiple laptops for multi-track recordings.

The QL1’s premium rack was indispensable for the mix, as the carefully modelled internal processors such as the Portico 5033/5043 helped maintain audio purity from source to end. The Rupert Neve emulations and Yamaha’s VCM (virtual circuit modelling) technology helped the FOH mix become ‘transparent’, allowing a natural performance and allowing the detail in Jennifer’s voice to really shine.

Using classic microphones alongside the premium control infrastructure and PA further helped keep the quality to a maximum. A selection of Neumann, DPA and Shure microphones were chosen and performed brilliantly. The challenge on this gig was keeping stage noise to a minimum, and isolating sources as much as possible to achieve a clean recording while also ensuring musicians can hear each other, and that the audience of 150 clearly heard the band. This event was about sound reinforcement and accurate reproduction of all instruments and supporting the release of the upcoming EP.

Through the use of d&b amplification and QL1 control, the event was a huge success and have helped support the release of the EP.