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MARCH 1979
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Source: Modern Recording Magazine
Travels With Yes
An essay concerned with the technical achievements of a Yes show should be
prefaced by a few brief observations on the band itself and its history.
When at last in 1968 Jon Anderson met Chris Squire in a Soho drinking club,
it seemed unlikely that the pair would father a genre of such singularity
that it should qualify as suigeneris. Anderson, performing on the road
since 1956, had whiled away a singing career in a regionally popular group
known as the Warriors. Chris Squire, a bassist of urbane dispositions, had
heretofore briefly been a part of the Syn. At the time, Anderson was 24 and
Squire four years his junior, which meant, as far as musicians go, that
both should have already begun their ascent. Now, more than ten years
later, we look apon a vocalist at 35 and marvel at a voice of matchless
dimension which fails to succumb to mounting years of strain, and a bass
guitarist who transcends the normal limits of that mode of instrumental expression.
It is interesting to note that in 1969 when Yes released its first album
that "techno-rock" was being born. Perhaps only Keith Emerson's keyboard
compositions two years earlier as part of the Nice were the movements only
predecessor synchronal with the advances of Pink Floyd experiments. As the
Beatles were bringing their act to a close, popular music steeped in classical traditions was on the upswing.
The Yes debut album received much more attention than did the fledgling
project by Genesis in that same year, but both were overshadowed by the
epic Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson. Yes seemed to choose to
play it safe by covering material by the Beatles, Byrds, Richie Havens and
Stephen Stills on their first two LPs while others took added chances on popularizing their lyrical significance.
Instrumentally, Yes did not mature until as late as 1971 when guitarist
Steve Howe replaced Peter Banks and Rick Wakeman arrived and soon after
invented a new style of playing electronic keyboards. Wakemanm whose
credits were as diverse as the Strawbs, Cat Stevens, T.Rex and David Bowie,
attracted the critical acclaim that previously eluded the band. The Fragile
Album featuring the theme song "Roundabout" generated sellouts for the
first Yes tour. Yes as we now know them became complete when in the next
year drummer Bill Bruford, having departed for King Crimson, was replaced
by Alan White, a veteran of sessions with George Harrison, the Plastic Ono Band, Joe Cocker and Alan Price, among others.
In 1973 Yes entered the first of two blue periods when Rick Wakeman, having
had enough of too much pretty, decided to go it alone. By 1975, Yes had
nothing better to do than release a compilation, Yesterdays, and divide so
that each member might record a solo album, none of which garnered much attention or acclaim.
For whatever reasons Wakeman decided to reunite with Yes, it is for sure
that he did not do so for love or money. As one key member of the entourage
explained, "This band stopped talking to each other a year ago." And
Wakeman, who at last count was director of more than eleven companies
(including one which manufacturers instruments) does not need the work. We
then suppose that when on his own, Wakeman tends towards self-indulgence,
as exhibited with Myths and Legends of King Arthur, recorded while part of Yes.
The members of Yes choose to rarely see each other off stage which normally
results in travelling in separate limosines, dining alone and marathon
sound checks. Steve Howe is locked away in his own dressing room where his
array of guitars has previously been meticulously assembled and tuned. He
will step out onstage to play odd scales and exercises for an hour, all the
while punching [foot] pedals. Alan White is content to leave whatever work
there is to be done to his drum roadie to handle as are Wakeman and Squire.
On the Road
The design, staging and staffing of a Yes show is a fine science which has
been nearly perfected by Clair Brothers Audio, Inc. during an association
spanning over eight years. Clair Brothers has handled audio matters for Yes
since its first tour and Roy Clair still travels on the road in his
supervisory capacity. G. Michael Roth has spent eight of his nine years
with Clair Brothers in the capacity of engineering stage sound for Yes.
The man we've come to Atlanta to see is sound engineer Nigel Luby, a
mild-mannered individual who prefaces most answers to questions with a
quiet smile. We are predisposed to believe that the Yes engineer must be an
incredibly strong man-he has a band of volatile prodigies to pacify and a
staff of mad dogs and Englishmen to cohabitate with. Above all, he must be
endowed with a marvelous ability to manuever sophisticated custom-designed
equipment and to mix a highly complex signal. His credits include one album
and an assist on another. He has never mixed sound before in his life.
"Actually, I'm an illustrator," begins Luby. "Went to art school. The same
as Bill Bruford, although we did not meet then. Seven years ago I began
working with Yes primarily out of a friendship with Chris Squire. I was his
personal road manager-looked after his instruments, etc. About three years
ago I felt the need to progress into engineering to fulfill a creative urge
and a desire to move ahead. My first job was assisting on Going For Tke One
where I did little more than watch and acquaint myself with the equipment."
Perhaps we are a bit hasty then to judge the merits of a decision to employ
an art student as an engineer. A cursory investigation of the educational
history of English popular musicians reveals more than a few who once
pushed pencils and twittered with paint brushes. John Lennon, David Bowie,
Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton (Stained Glass Design, Kensington School) Ian
Anderson, Jimmy Page, Keith Richard, and the original Genesis were all art
students. We may then deduce that an English artist may be, in some cases, twice blessed.
Luby, who still reflects more of the pensive nature of an artist rather
than the hyper deportment of most engineers, relates what it is about sound engineering that he finds gratifying:
"The immediacy of mixing sound in concert is exciting, much more than
studio work of course. The changes in venues each with their particular
problems is an exciting element. The repetition in performing the same job
with the same music needn't be boring. The creative aspect involves getting
sound which pleases the band and the crowd.
"Surprisingly, very few bands have discovered the advantages or have been
able to take advantage of the benefits in taking their studio engineer on
the road. The band is much more comfortable with the same engineer and no
one else could be more familiar with the music," says Luby. Nigel Luby will
not tell you that he is the genius he is attributed to be. He is just
interested in the learning process of mixing sound and finding a stage for
his creative talents. It is now less than one hour before showtime, a UREI
1176 LN Limiting Amplifier is causing a very strange buzzing crackle over
the system's speakers. In comes Dove who pops the top off the limiter and
with clocklike and deliberate precision
rights-wrongs-case-closed-lockher-up-go-home. Steve Dove, by profession,
designs and commissions radio stations in Britain and finds himself in his
present employment quite by accident. "I once designed a mixer for Jethro
Tull," Dove relates. "Within a few days after delivery they called to tell
me that no one could figure out how it worked and would I please come to
Australia with them the next week for a tour." Lastly in this cast of
characters is Trip Califf, a Clair Brothers employee who administers to the
mixing board alongside Nigel and is in charge of bad jokes and also has the
responsibilities of after hours social director.
Readying for Showtime
Luby points to the semi truck loads of equipment pouring into the Omni and
claims that on a good day by getting a start at 10 a.m., the Yes show will
be assembled and ready for a sound check by 4 p.m. In a rush, four hours at
the very minimum. In the very center of the floor, the sides of twenty
large rolling cases drop to reveal housings for tools and cables to
assemble the stage and sound sysem. Later, when the stage is set and
speakers hoisted, these same cases will surround the circular stage and act
as a barrier between band and crowd. Construction of the show is happening
in four places simultaneously. Luby is uncrating the mixing console while
the crew is erecting the stage out of a network of fitted steel beams on
wheels which roll easily into place. Another crew is setting up instruments
on stage while Michael Roth sets up his stage monitor mixing console
beneath the stage. In the center of the room, two crews ire connecting a
circle of speaker stacks around an eight-point star of stage lights.
Thirty-two Phase Linear 7OOs grouped in stacks of four are bolted behind
the stack they service. The entire production moves into place effortlessly
once everything is unloaded and assembled. [Those readers tuned into Modern
Recording back in December 1978 will recall our cover story on Bruce
Springsteen and the notes on the Clair Brothers mixing console, but
similarities between the shows generally end here.]
The Clair Brothers 32 x 6 mixing console is a marvelous design which is one
of only four in use. The other units have served other prominent touring
acts such as Elton John and Fleetwood Mac, so take note: Each input module
contains its own 15 dB pad, preamp gain control, submix selector, echo send
bus selectors and pan. Each parametric equalizer provides each
section-highs, low and midrange-with frequency selection, dB cut/boost,
curve-shaping control and a push button EQ in/out switch.
The stereo output of each module can be assigned to any one of six stereo
submix buses and each channel is manipulated by dual faders. Each module
contains a 100 segment neon glow bar graph wherein average levels and peaks
are displayed over a 50 dB range simultaneously, the average level readings
being brighter than the peaks. A flat, multi-conductor ribbon cable
provides internal cabling, but lacking a shield, cannot then be used to
connect the console to the stage. Therefore, Clair Brothers custom orders a
40-pair shielded cable with a connector that has required periodic replacement.
Five of the six submix channels are assigned from the main console. The
drums, spanning inputs 3 through 13, comprise the first submix (inputs 1
and 2 are reserved for cue tapes). The second submix contains Chris
Squire's bass on inputs 14, 15 and 16, Steve Howe's guitars on 17, 18 and
19 and Jon Anderson at 20. The third submix is for the vocals by Jon,
Chris, Steve and Alan. Submix four devotes inputs 25 through 32 to Rick
Wakeman's keyboards. The fifth submix oversees everything including special effects.
Luby also uses a 16-channel board solely for the odds and ends sparsely
used in submix six. Assigned here are special effects such as the drum
synthesizer, electronic gong and Wakeman's Keytar (a guitar shaped keyboard
worn like a guitar. At the console, Luby uses an Electro-Voice RE 16
dynamic cardioid mic and an AKG C 451 EB during his sound check. Headphones
put to use are Koss Prol4AAA and Beyer Dynamic DT 109S.
Now that Luby has his system erected, he shoots in white noise to "voice"
the system and then plays a 1-inch reel-to-reel tape with a lot of
dynamics, vocals and bass on one of two professional tape machines.
"I choose to mix in stereo," says Luby, "primarily because certain effects in dynamics can be enlisted."
From Luby's command post, he oversees three racks of auxiliary signal
processing equipment. In a rack furthest from the console, there are four
White Instruments Series 4000 equalizers, five dbx 162 Stereo
Comoressor/Limiters and two Clair UBrothers Audio electronic crossovers. Luby's use of limiters is sparing.
"I refrain from using limiters and compressors because I don't like what
happens acoustically," he says. "I will use them only on something like a
bright guitar passage where I do not mind losing some of the brightness.
"Frequency crossover is something Clair Brothers would rather not discuss.
Where this system crosses over tends to make sense only when referring to
this particular system. It wouldn't make much sense as part of another system."
The second rack contains the White Instruments model 140 Sound AnalyR'zer
and four UREI 1176 LN Limiting Amplifiers. Effects such as the dbx 160
Compressor/Limiter, Marshall Time Modulator model 5002A1, and the Eventide
digital delay 1745M are housed here along with an SAE 2200 solid-state stereo power amplifier.
The third cabinet has the goodies which will set the Yes show apart from
whatever else is currently touring concert halls. Aside from the Eventide
Clockworks H910 [the HarmonizerrM], a Technics M85 cassette player, the SAE
2700B stereo half-octave equalizer and the Lexicon Prime Time digital
delay, are the panning and flanging devices. Clair Brothers has developed a
very interesting technique in areas of flanging and panning. The B.E.L.
electronic flanger BF-20 and the Survival Projects stereo panner are used
in conjunction with two foot pedals. All oscillators can be linked enabling
Luby to add flanging while panning from left to right by flicking a switch and locking the panning unit.
Speed is controlled by the DeArmond volume pedal which also pans back and
forth. A second pedal interlocks the speed of the oscillators into the
panning device and phases them back and forth. The effect is akin to a
sonic tidal wave washing from one side of the room to the other.
Set-up Continues
Talk then turns to the suspended sound system that has been hoisted into
place by eight two-ton hoists. "The suspension of the system has three
basic advantages, aside from [simply keeping the system out of the] line of
sight," says Luby. "Suspension allows [the sound] much better travel over a
distance and reduces reverb times. Also, the low frequencies tend to become omni-directional."
The speakers are constructed in eight small sections, each [section]
powered by four Phase Linear 700s. Included in each stack are two large "W"
boxes which house two l8Anch speakers each. On each side of these are two
"Roy" (Clair) boxes which hold two 12-inch speakers. Above these units are
four JBL horn boxes utilizing the 2482 2-inch driver, the 2440 60-watt
driver and the 2405 ultra-hi driver. All speakers are made by JBL.
The stage can be best likened to a carousel. Unobstructed by cabinets the
stage revolves one complete revolution in one minute so that everyone gets
a good look at each member of the band. Jon Anderson stands on a riser at
the very center and because of its small radius, he must constantly turn
counter to the stage's movement to avoid dizziness. His Beyer Dynamic M88
[cardioid] microphone is suspended from above and hangs at his eye level.
Rick Wakeman's keyboard fortress faces toward the center of the stage and
therefore most of the concert presents an adequate view of the back of his
head. He has, after all, eleven instruments to manipulate, including two
Mini-moogs, two Yamaha string synthesizers, a six-foot baby grand piano and
an RMI Computer keyboard. The Keytar attracts the most attention although
used only briefly in comparison with Wakeman's dependency on the Moogs and
Polymoogs. All of the keyboards are taken direct and the Leslie is miked
with a Sennheiser MUj 441.
In the course of an evening, Steve Howe will play seven guitars. His Fender
Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul are used most often. Harp-like tones are
coaxed out of either his Rickenbacker 12-string, Martin acoustic or Gibson
Stereo. For more mystical effects, Howe plays a Portuguese Vacalia and a
Gibson mandolin. Chris Squire plays 4 and 8-string basses by Rickenbacker
and Ranney. Both guitarists sing into Beyer 88s.
Trapper Alan White is hidden among the forest of percussive instruments
springing up around his Ludwig kit. He has a list of assorted devices to
color his rhythms including a drum synthesizer and a tympani. The toms are
miked closely by Sennheiser 421s and the snare is picked up by an AKG 451
condenser mic. Condensers are also used overhead for hi-hats and a lone 88
is used on the bass drum.
The monitoring of these complex signals is handled by Michael Roth from his
sub-stage perch located almost directly under Alan White. He can make eye
contact with band members through an orchestra leader's vent in the stage
floor. For eight years Roth has manned the Midas 24 x 8 console for Yes and
operates extremely effectively for a man who has a difficult time hearing
what he is mixing.
Roth uses the eight mixes accordingly: Anderson on 1 and 7, Chris Squire on
2 and 3, Howe on 4, White on 5, instruments on 6 and Squire's keyboardmix
is on 8. At module inputs 8, 12 and 13, Roth receives effects from Luby's
board. The effects that Roth will administer include the Eventide
HarmonizerTM H910, six dbx 160 Limiters and a Multivox Multi-Echo. dbx
[limiting] is primarily used on the basses, keyboards, drum synthesizer and
Anderson's vocals.
Roth's equipment is powered by four SAE 2600 amps and utilizes nine Clair
two-way crossovers and eight SAE 2700B equalizers. Roth hears sound via a
monitor which he practically sits on. His remedy for feedback is either to
lessen volume or cut it out with EQ.
Roth and Luby have a list of special effects on stage to deal with. Jon
Anderson's vocals alone will require use of a plate reverb, double-tracking
delay, Lexicon, Eventide HarmonizerTM and one technique which will involve
Harmonizing and flanging off V he same mix. Steve Howe's guitars ill be
siphoned through an Echoplex dge]_or pflaser. Utiris b'quire will empioy a
reverb, fuzz and Harmonizer on his bass guitar. Clair Brothers engineers
its own stage monitors using JBL components in arrangements which, like its
crossovers, it considers to be trade secrets. Gene Clair relates that a
standard favorite is two 12-inch spoakers with a two-way crossover or two
15-inch speakers with horns. Variations of this plan may involve using two
18-inch speakers or smaller units of one 10-inch or one 15-inch speaker.
The Recorded Animal
Yes has recorded many of the earlier concerts of this recent tour for an
anticipated "live" album. Whenever taping was desired, Luby simply split
the inputs one into the board and one into an MCI 24-track recorder. No
changes are made in miking. A Yes studio LP is a different animal. The
recent release Tormato was completed in four months, somewhat shorter than
for most state-of-the-art performers. "The only reason it took that long
was that the band came into the studio not knowing the material," says
tuby, so they ended up rehearsing before recording. It required only about
three weeks to mix the album and the work was made easier because many of
the special effects were added 'live' in the studio rather than leaving
those additions for the mix.
"On songs such as 'Freedom,' 'Future Times' and 'UFO,' we were using a
HarmonizerTM on the bass 'live.' When taking a direct feed at certauin
times, Chris had to be limited, which sometimes resulted in him having to
stop using his [in the studio] and I would add on [a HarmonizerTM in the
control room]. One special effect I am particularly fond of was the use of
a reverse echo that comes in before the vocal arrives."
When the Yes World Tour of 1979 closes, the members of the band will be
looking forward to a vacation. Clair Brothers will be returning home to the
drawing board to overcome problems encountered on this tour and begin
preparations for the staging of the next tour. Nigel Luby is headed for
Montreux, Switzerland, where he hopes to begin other involvements and hopes
to spend his vacation in the studio working on a new project.
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