LIVE SOUND Mike Rowland is a British-born , Toronto-based monitor engineer who has worked with artists such as AFI , Marianas
Trench , Theory of a Deadman , Black Stone Cherry , and Daniel Caesar .
Cam MacLellan is a musician , live sound engineer , and recording engineer who has worked and performed with prog / metal outfit Protest the Hero for several years . He currently tours as the FOH engineer with Daniel Caesar .
Dominating the Danforth with Daniel Caesar A Q & A with Cam MacLellan & Mike Rowland
Rising Canadian R & B star Daniel Caesar recently performed a series of five sold-out shows at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto . We caught up with his front-of-house engineer , Cam MacLellan , and monitor engineer , Mike Rowland , to chat about this unique and up-scaled production from a live sound perspective .
CM : How were these five Danforth shows different from the prior dates you ’ d been doing with Daniel from an audio standpoint ? What were the most significant changes ?
MacLellan : There was quite a jump up in inputs from the six-week North American run to the Danforth shows . We went from 25 inputs and a [ rack console ] that was self-controlled by the band for their IEMs to over 40 inputs , with an Avid S6L console at FOH and in monitor world . The production definitely jumped up in quality for those shows , and the microphone selection got an upgrade as well thanks to Mike ’ s Neumann and Telefunken mics .
CM : Tell us about the choice of Daniel ’ s vocal mic .
MacLellan : If I ’ m being honest , I simply rented the same IEM unit and mic package that I had used with Protest the Hero , which meant that Danny ’ s vocal mic was by default a Sennheiser e935 , the exact same microphone Protest ’ s Rody Walker used for the longest time . Bringing Mike in for the Danforth shows , I had wanted to do a mic shootout for Danny to see what was best now that I had the option , but Mike agreed the e935 just simply worked best for his vocal . That microphone demands good singing and mic technique , which both singers can boast , even with their drastically different singing styles .
CM : It was pretty cool seeing a choir onstage . How did you decide to mic the 12 choir members ?
Rowland : The more direct the source , generally , the more control you have ; however , after we got our confirmed choir number and stage plot , we decided to use some large diaphragm condensers .
CM : How assertive is Daniel in terms of what he wants from both his house and monitor mix ? Did he have very specific requests on either side , or was it largely left to you guys ?
MacLellan : Danny seems to trust me with his mix at FOH . I like a nice , fat , clean drum sound glued with the bass that doesn ’ t have 100-200 Hz swimming around your head all night , with keys taking up the low mids , guitars with the high mids , carving out any nastiness , and having Danny ’ s vocal sit right on top of everything . The whole camp seems happy with what I get at every show , minus my kick being too “ clicky ” at times – force of habit from mixing years of rock and metal .
Rowland : DC was very receptive to trying alternate things in his IEM mix , but overall , wanted that clean , direct album feel in his ears . The difference in venues on a daily basis has been the bigger thing we ’ ve worked around . Working with Cam to not overly excite any empty concrete or wooden rooms with the PA has definitely helped control the situation and keep the performers comfortable .
CM : What was the most unique aspect of the audio configuration for these shows ? Anything that stood out in relation to your past experiences with Daniel and the other artists you ’ ve worked with over the years ?
Rowland : This is a whole new [ scale of production ] that Danny is quickly coming into , so we ’ ve discussed a lot about what he wants to achieve and how on both an audio and stage level . I don ’ t expect to hear an artist tell me that they would like to have more 16 kHz in their vocal , but I do want them to describe what they need as best they can – “ I want more air ” or “ more top-end or highs .” “ It ’ s too purple and I want it to feel yellow .” “ More kittens ,” whatever that means to them . I would say this is half of the job – getting to know the artist and understanding their needs .
MacLellan : There actually isn ’ t a lot that would ’ ve changed on my end between mixing Daniel Caesar and say , Protest the Hero . Both acts have extremely talented musicians with good tones and good chemistry . The formula is the same : slamming drums that aren ’ t harsh , bassists on autopilot gluing the low end together , getting rid of any harshness in the guitars , vocals sitting on top . My effects are pretty much dialed in the same , with some automation here and there for flourishes when needed .
60 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN