Eclectic mix of d&b for Scouting for Girls.
For a band that gets a lot of exposure on MOR stations Scouting for Girls manage to sustain a pop credibility that sees them fill halls around the UK with hoards of adoring girls. Their recent tour saw them play universities, large clubs and town halls; it will not be long before they hit the big three thousand seaters.
Chris Ekers, the band's sound engineer, took one look at the itinerary and realised it would be a strong influence on his choice of system. "I was really keen to use a d&b audiotechnik J-Series, but quickly realised it wasn't suitable for many of the venues." Ekers, a sound engineer with broad experience, spreads his time between theatre, special event and rock bands, "probably less on the latter category; hence my eagerness to use the J loudspeaker system". In light of the sell out nature of the tour he'll probably get his wish next time around. "So I changed my spec' to d&b's Q-Series loudspeaker range; it's very flexible and ideally suited to the variety of halls. Dobson have supplied the system and they've been very supportive towards me, over and above in terms of what they've given me." Ekers was provided with a D5 and all the outboard equipment he wanted by Dobson.
"The main aim for me is a great live experience for all the punters. These kids love to sing, and extremely loudly at that; I regularly see house levels reach 110 dB; despite which I've never run out of system headroom." Ekers has an eclectic mix of subwoofers and fills alongside his core Q1 loudspeaker PA, comprising B2, J and Q subwoofers, plus Q7s for fills. "My system tech, Mark Isbister, has been fantastic; he does the best job in terms of coverage." Ekers is no shirk himself, applying extra EQ and delay to the various elements of his subwoofer system through Auxs on his desk. "I ensure the different elements are in sync; maximum two milliseconds delay, it keeps frequencies aligned. The B2s are just for infrabass." Ekers you'll note, creates a full bandwidth show for Scouting fans and that attention to detail really makes for a great experience.
Monitors are mixed by Matt Simmons from a D1, "Although no one is yet persuaded to use in ears the general stage level is controlled, so I'm able to give the band clarity, rather than fight for power. The d&b M4 monitors are an ideal tool; I give each band member a pair, they're so light it's an easy rig for me, and the delivery potential is huge. Even when we move up to bigger gigs I don't see it running out of headroom. My only concession to level is side fills. As a musician and studio technician I like to put a full mix in with reverbs, delays etc. so the guys on stage can feel completely involved with the music but not isolated from their audience. The Q7 and two Q subwoofers a side gave me what I was looking for. Not being massive side fills, this set up wasn't overwhelming to the ear and with fantastic reproduction, smooth response and plenty of headroom, I was able to achieve what I wanted with ease."
The band is currently playing the festival circuit and will embark on their next tour in November.
