{"id":71937,"date":"2022-06-27T05:59:19","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T09:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solotech.com\/?post_type=achievement&p=71937"},"modified":"2023-05-30T12:40:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T16:40:11","slug":"heavy-is-the-head-from-stormzy","status":"publish","type":"achievement","link":"https:\/\/www.solotech.com\/uk\/our-work\/heavy-is-the-head-from-stormzy\/","title":{"rendered":"Heavy Is The Head from Stormzy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SSE Audio supplied an L-Acoustics K1 system for British Rapper Stormzy’s UK and Ireland arena tour ‘Heavy is the Head’<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Renowned rap artist Stormzy released his second album Heavy is the Head in December 2019 with a UK arena tour booked in for early 2020. Like all Live Production projects it fell a victim to COVID and as the pandemic dragged on dates were rescheduled time and again with the tour finally heading out in March 2022. Read the full cover feature in the latest issue of L&SI magazine here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Joel Stanley (Production manager for Stormzy): \u201cI have a group of preferred vendors and specific people who I know can be relied on. Over the two years of COVID, I have always kept those companies and people informed at least six months in advance about what dates we were booking. The dates might get cancelled, as it transpired, but that meant the vendors could bank that chunk of time well in advance. In total, this is 42 days of work including band, build and production rehearsals, and the 15 shows\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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He continues: \u201cThat didn\u2019t mean our needs were precise gear-wise. We didn\u2019t have a lighting plot then, let alone a conceptual framework, but they all knew what the scale of the production would be and the length of the commitment. There is always a pressure to get fresh quotes from other vendors, but you have to weigh that against those magic ingredients, reliability \u2013 a mutual flow in that they can also rely on us \u2013 and consistency. I know our vendors will try their utmost to deliver. That\u2019s something to be cherished. If I call Dan Bennett at SSE and say, \u201cLook, we need to try something out\u201d, they would bring the tools. There\u2019s no nickel-and-dime attitude, no \u201cwe\u2019ll come but we\u2019re going to have to charge you.\u201d They get on side, and if what we\u2019ve proposed to trial doesn\u2019t add up, they will proffer alternatives. You can\u2019t put a price on that; they\u2019re first class on that score.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Luigi Buccarello (FOH) has an L-Acoustics K1\/K2 system with all the fidelity that system promises. \u201cIt\u2019s a great rig, and I have a great tech in Richard Kemp. I\u2019ve never worked with him before but he\u2019s very flexible, has great knowledge of the system and got to know what I wanted very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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He mixes from an Avid Venue S6L. \u201cI\u2019m comfortable with this, it sounds amazing and I really like the workflow, I find it\u2019s much like the Avid Venue Profile, just with smaller buttons and knobs, but it does so much more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Stage tech David Courtney and RF tech Patrick Taghavi ran through the nuts and bolts of monitor world. \u201cRaphael (Williams, Stormzy\u2019s usual sound engineer) produces 21 mixes on his DiGiCo SD7 Quantum,\u201d says Courtney, \u201cThe IEM system is Sennheiser EW G4 with the Digital 6000 series for the wireless mics; there are 12 handhelds. Every earbud is custom \u2013 Stormzy and the band all use Ultimate Ears, the rest have Cosmic Ears.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Meanwhile, Taghavi looked after RF. \u201cI do a lot of monitor work in France and RF is far less regulated there. Here it\u2019s much more stable, not that it means I can be less vigilant. There are two separate RF antenna systems, one upstage of the LED back wall where the band and BVs mostly live, and one downstage. That makes things much more secure.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Williams has been with Stormzy since 2017. \u201cI did FOH initially, that\u2019s the end of the snake I prefer, but what\u2019s needed is some TLC from this end, so here I am. The first hurdle is the voice and the band being separate. Then there\u2019s the room and the audience, which all have an effect. Stormzy has great projection, so the BVs, but if you\u2019re not careful, that BV detail can get lost.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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He continues: \u201cWith Stormzy, my process is to get it correct for me. He\u2019s not looking to pitch from his IEM \u2013 he\u2019s listening to the full show and needs to hear the band and the audience. That\u2019s probably the key difference between what Luigi is doing out front and me \u2013 I bring balance to everything, just keeping the vocals present. He will bring more emphasis to the voices where needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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He concludes: \u201cThere\u2019s not much treatment on the mixes for the performers in the desk \u2013 a bit of EQ, a bit of compression I needed the SD7 for the output channel count. If I need extra, I need it immediately; the SD7 has that flexibility plus the Quantum gives me the Mustard Processing for a more powerful EQ. I use the UAD-2 racks post desk to finesse what goes to each of them.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Dan Bennet managed the project “With the project being so delayed it was great to see this tour finally go out and be the great success it turned out to be. While we managed to ressurrect our festival work last summer, indoor events have taken longer to come back online and Stormzy was one of our first full on arena tours to head out the warehouse. It was great to collaborate with the Stormzy production team and we look forward to working with them again.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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