Yamaha plays key role at Coachella

9 May 2011

USA - This year's Coachella Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California may now be over, but the success of Le Mobile Remote Recording Studios and its Fly Pak System that includes a Yamaha DM2000 console lingers on. Le Fly Pak was used for mixing the live webcast at the Mojave Stage.

"With shows and projects getting bigger and bigger, Coachella being one of them, we thought it would be important to make our Fly Pak system as flexible as possible," states Ian-C. Charbonneau, mixing engineer LeMobile. "We added four MADI cards to the DM2000 allowing an all-digital interface between our Pro Tools rig, Apogee converters, and the console. The MADI cards also provide more flexibility when using the console with our other recording systems, like Le Box or even Le Mobile."

"I had used MADI previously with the Studer digital recorder and knew this format was one of the most flexible ways to connect digital products together, and the best sonically," notes Le Mobile owner Guy Charbonneau. "When I found out Yamaha was making MADI cards for the DM2000, I approached the company about upgrading our console. Both Le Fly Pak and Le Box systems interconnect very easily and quickly, especially with the addition of the Yamaha MADI cards. 64 channels, one BNC cable, and Voilà."

The Mohave Stage performances included Scissor Sisters, Hurts, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Cold Cave, The Drums, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Yatch, Sleigh Bells, Cut Copy, The Aquabats, Fistful of Mercy, and many more.

"Le Mobile's Fly Pak System is one of the most versatile, complete, and high-end systems on the market today," says the younger Charbonneau. Contained in eight road cases, it offers great flexibility for recording projects, records, audio for live concert DVD, television, and broadcasts.

"The system consists of 64 channels of microphone preamps (48 channels of Grace Design 801 and 16 channels Millennia HV-3D), ProTools HD, Apogee Converters, Apogee Big Ben, RME ADI 648 MADI converter, a video sync and time code generator for video interface, full 64-tracks of redundant hard disk recording system, and JBL LSR monitors."

One hundred and twenty inputs and tracks of recording were used on Le Mobile's Fly Pak System with the Yamaha DM2000 to deliver live mixes for video at the 2011 Barbra Streisand, Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year Tribute. The event included a rare performance by Streisand with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Faith Hill, Tony Bennett, Barry Manilow, Jeff Beck, LeAnn Rimes, Nikki Yanofsky, Diana Krall, Seal, Leona Lewis, the cast of Glee, and a top-notch band and orchestra, all paying tribute to this year's honoree.

(Jim Evans)