Commercial Audio News
Yamaha PM5D Achieves Success on CATS Asia Tour
Posted on 21st November 2007
Head of Sound backs the PM5D-RH for the hit musical’s 2007-2008 tour of Asia
Alan Mourant, Head of Sound for the CATS Asia Tour, has been employing the Yamaha PM5D-RH digital mixing console for each leg of the long-running Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical. He says the PM5D has handled the productions’ mixing and processing functions impressively and will continue to be an integral component of the audio system throughout the tour.
Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Alan has worked as a sound engineer for 18 years, the majority of which have comprised freelance appointments. His major fields of experience in audio production include live sound, theatre, broadcast and corporate applications. In addition to the PM5D, Alan has had previous experience operating the Yamaha DM1000 and DM2000 digital production consoles as well as Yamaha’s flagship PM1D digital mixing system.
Alan explains: “CATS has been very successful in Asia,” recalling that the Taiwan and Korean seasons were particularly memorable and regularly attracted near-capacity audiences and standing ovations each night.
He says the PM5D has been the mainstay of the quality, versatility and dependability of the tour’s sound production.
“The PM5D is great for mixing theatre,” he says, praising the console’s faders and dynamics processing. “The audio quality is exceptional. It has plenty of outputs - ideal for theatre - and the console is extremely reliable.”
The compactness of the audio set-up throughout the tour was another major consideration. “As with most theatre shows, the amount of ‘real estate’ you take up in the mix position is an issue,” Alan explains. “Seats equal dollars and invariably the producers will squeeze you for space - if they can - to sell a few more seats. The PM5D’s compact footprint makes it easy to accommodate producers and the theatre space available,” he adds.
Alan says he was impressed with such invaluable features as on-board effects and EQ, seamless scene changes and overall ease of programming which gave the PM5D a major advantage over analogue mixing consoles.
The PM5D’s eight SPX2000-class digital effects processors and on-board 31-band virtual graphic EQ units proved more than sufficient to meet the CATS Asia Tour’s effects and GEQ requirements. “No outboard gear was required as the Virtual Racks eliminated the need,” he recollects, making particular mention of the PM5D’s sought-after REV-X reverb programs.
In addition, the PM5D-RH handled the show’s frequent act and scene changes effortlessly. “CATS has 112 scenes,” Alan explains. “The changes were made with ease, with the majority of the scene changes affecting channel assignment to the DCAs and EQ and input channel delay settings.”
“The Recall Safe, Selective Recall and EQ Library functions of the console are great,” Alan adds. “These allow you to selectively recall only certain parameters while others will remain unchanged from scene to scene.”
“The traditional analogue theatre consoles do not have this versatility,” Alan continues, stressing that analogue desks would make it virtually impossible to make all the required changes while mixing at the same time. “The amount of outboard gear you would need to achieve the same result is not ideal for space in stalls or the truck,” he adds.
Alan notes that the PM5D’s ‘Fader Flip’ function made the console particularly versatile. “The Fader Flip function was very useful for quickly setting up AUX mixes,” he explains. “There are multiple ways to do this, but the Fader Flip function allows you to view the output to the AUX send as a fader level.”
Alan has also made extensive use of Yamaha’s Studio Manager software to program, save and re-load his PM5D-RH console’s settings and scene libraries.
“The Studio Manager software is invaluable. Primarily, it was used to back up the console, secondary to the on-board PCMCIA card slot. Studio Manager can load the PM5D console file, therefore allowing you to see the actual file the console is using."
Alan explains that the production’s audio set-up achieved a high level of sound quality while minimising A/D and D/A conversion.
“The PM5D’s expansion slots were used to a maximum,” Alan recalls. “A Yamaha DM1000 was cascaded to the AUX and Stereo outputs of the PM5D, while the slots accommodated all the inputs into the console and a majority of the outputs. The signal from the stage inputs to the PM5D and back to stage remained in the digital realm,” he says.
Overall, Alan was delighted to have been able to rely on the PM5D as the backbone of the audio system throughout the CATS Asia Tour.
"I am always confident that when I get behind the PM5D it will deliver,” Alan declares. “The fact that the console is well supported through Asia is comforting and I consider the PM5D to be among the most reliable part of the touring system."