Plugin Alliance in the Live Venue

We in the audio industry all have our tools of the trade. As a sonic craftsman, one holds close to his or her heart those go-to standards of engineering prowess, those secret weapons of audio magic. While most of us happily tinker with these tools in the studio or on the laptop, there are some that bridge the gap between carefully calculating a polished production, and taming the vast clouds of organized barometric pressure that fill an amphitheater. Whether centered in front of the line array or stage-side with the monitors, these audio wranglers are known as Live Sound Engineers.

Plugin Alliance had the privilege of meeting some of these professionals on their stop at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Ca. They were happy to explain how the ability to use TDM plugins on their Avid VENUE consoles has helped to meet an unprecedented level of clarity and definition in their live mixes. We followed them throughout the show to get an insider’s look at their workflow, and see the direct result of being able to use potent plugins by harnessing the power of the digital domain.

Germán Tarazona, Monitor Engineer for J. Balvin, uses the SPL Transient Designer to excite the Toms and Snare while keeping a clean mix for his performers on stage. His Front-of-House counterpart, John Buitrago, found a goldmine of Sub Bass dynamics management with the bx_dynEQ V2 from Brainworx. Brad Divens, who runs the mains for Enrique Iglesias, uses the SPL TwinTube to add that rich harmonic character to dual-mono guitar tracks. Enrique’s producer, Carlos Paucar, had a great story about using the SPL Transient Designer to save the mix during a performance at the MTV Music Awards; he was quite excited to get back to the studio and experiment with more of the powerful tools offered by Plugin Alliance.