Sound System

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PA & Soundboard...

"Vital Stats" from an article by Kathleen Murphy in the Feb. 1998 Pro Sound News (posted by Adam Schneider 10/22/98), from which much of the info for this page comes:

• FOH Engineer: (except for 1/3/02, which was Paulo Rodrigues of Snow Sound; see below)     FOH Console: (2) Crest VX-40, with 56 inputs Monitor Engineer: Mark "Bruno" Bradley (since fall 1996)     Monitor Console: Yamaha PM4000M     Monitors Equipment: Aphex; two Yamaha SPX900s (for drum and vocal reverb)     Monitor Amplifiers: Crest 7301     Microphones: AKG 414, C3000, D12ES; Neumann KMS-150, U87; Sennheiser 409; EV RE27; Shure Beta57 Sound: Snow Sound (who've toured with the band since summer of 1993 and built Paul's rig) Crew Chief: Bob Neumann System Engineer: Paul Rodriques (of Snow Sound) Technician: Peter Luther     House Speakers: Eagle E1, E3, E4, E8; JSI J63 delays     Monitor Speakers: MS DP1, double 12'"s; Future Sonics In Ear Monitors     House Amplifiers: Crest 9001, 8001 Effects: 2 Eventide H3000s on the vocals (for stereo delay) & quad speakers (2 clusters in mix area, for reverb). FOH Equipment: Lexicon LX; Summit limiters; Aphex gates, limiters; Eventide H3000, Grace Design 8-channel mic preamp

Monitors: Mark Bradley (monitor engineer since fall of 1996) mans a Yamaha PM4000M console, feeding the band sound through Maryland Sound double 12 wedges, plus two MS DP1 single 12s for Trey, as well as Page's Future Sonics in-ear monitors (which get a full front-of-house mix).

Stage Microphones: Page, Trey, and Mike sing into Neumann KMS-150s, which are hand-held versions of Neumann's KM-140s.

Soundboard recordings: Paul Languadoc (the "soundman" for the band) got a Panasonic SV-3700 (DAT) Fall 1992 and used it to record soundboards until the summer of 1995, when his system was significantly upgraded. (An analog deck was used for some uncertain length of time prior to 1992, so that a fairly comprehensive "vault" exists, though not for public consumption.) Every show since the summer of 1995 has been recorded to 40 tracks via five time-synchronized (to 100th seconds) 8-track Tascam DA-88s (not Fostex machines, and not Alesis ADATs) via a submixer that sits next to Paul. (DA88s were used rather than ADATs because Phish's shows are so long and ADATs can hold only 60 minutes, while the DA88 format can hold 120 minutes.) Two of the 40 tracks are from two type II AKG C3000s (not 414s) in an XY configuration and omni setting, aimed at the back corners of the venue, (to get audience feed, not music), plus a Shure VP88 for single-point stereo input. (The mic feeds are sent through a digital converter -- look for the box on the mic stand -- presumably to reduce delay.) Additionally, a direct two-track board feed is sent to a the Panasonic SV-3700 DAT used since '92. (To note, Mike uses DAT portables, including a DA-P1, for his movie, and Fishman listens to shows via a D7.) Thanks to an August 1997 discussion on digiphish. See also, soundboards in circulation.

PA: According to Paul, the "typical arena hang is 68 Eagle full boxes with 12 subs a side, powered by Crest 9001 and 8001 amps. However, we did do something extra for the [12/31/97] New Year's show. We brought in delay speakers for the middle of the venue because we were afraid that the tarp [a huge, white, circular enclosure hanging from the ceiling on which lights were projected] would block some of the rear seats from the PA." See also, PA music during setbreaks and after shows.

Thanks also to Jordan Shapiro 8/20/00.

"There are no set lists. You just have to ride with the show. Sometimes I can tell what they are planning on doing just by the way they count off. I have to set a generic mix at the end of each song and then when they go into a song, I make the necessary adjustments. ... It remains a challenge staying on top of everybody, but the improvisation and surprise of each song keeps every show full of energy.""
-- Paul Languadoc to Pro Sound News 2/98"