Keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman, best known as a key member of the legendary band Yes, is currently on tour with singer Jon Anderson (also a founding member of Yes) and guitarist Trevor Rabin; this project has been named ARW.
Wakeman has chosen a Qu-32 digital mixer to complete his complex stage rig. The artist has trusted Allen & Heath products on previous occasions, specifically the iLive digital mixing systems that have handled FOH and monitor sound at several of his spectacular solo concerts.
Wakeman's onstage rig includes eleven keyboards (some modern and some classic), four sound modules and an Allen & Heath Qu-32 digital mixer, which brings a new level of control to Wakeman's performance.
Previously, an analog mixing desk provided the artist with a fixed mix, routing and basic DSP functions. Now, the scenes provided by the Qu-32 mix and route specific keyboards to the FOH console, along with selected DSP effects that help create Wakeman's highly personal performance style for each song.
Engineer Erik Jordan controls Wakeman's rig using a complex MIDI system designed especially for this tour, built around a Sycologic M16 MIDI patch bay acting as the master controller. As Wakeman's performance progresses, he uses a simple keyboard to select various Sycologic configurations. Each of them sends specific MIDI commands to Wakeman's keyboards and to the Qu-32 mixer, in a complex "dance" that reconfigures the entire system for the next song. Jordan points out that Wakeman can make changes on the Sycologic unit during any song simply by triggering a scene change on the Qu-32.
"For any sound source, and for any song," he says, "we can adjust input gain and signal routing, EQ, noise gates and compressors, and three or four different effects. That's why it's vital that the mixer responds very quickly and consistently, and the Qu-32 does that very well."
"The Qu-32's internal DSP is excellent," Jordan adds. "It has allowed us to simplify Rick's rig, eliminating a lot of outboard effects. In every respect, the Qu is a phenomenal console. It's completely reliable and surprisingly powerful. It performs like mixers that cost ten times as much. It's also very intuitive. I just plugged it in and started working right away. The Qu is the most important change in Rick's rig; it's a real pleasure to use and it inspires me to do more with the sound," he concludes.
For his part, Rick Wakeman commented, "The Qu-32 has become a fundamental part of my rig. It gives me total control over the mix and shapes the sound just like any of my other instruments. This console opens up new possibilities for my music."
