Donin is out as WE Day ’ s audio supervisor and RF coordinator on this most recent run , though he ’ s been working with the event in various capacities for the past several years . He and Beaudin have a relationship that goes back over the years , having collaborated on a number of projects in the past .
Though he boasts a rather impressive and lengthy resume in live sound , Donin says WE Day still stands out as unique from other projects he ’ s worked on . “ It ’ s definitely a different audience ,” he begins , referring to the predominantly teenaged crowd .
Being that it ’ s essentially a field trip for those students and their teachers and supervisors , the show happens early in the day , with doors typically at 9 a . m . and everything wrapped up by early afternoon .
More significant , though , is the makeup of the show itself , the variety of speakers and acts within it , and how it all affects the audio team . “ There are the hosts and inspirational speakers , then there ’ s WE Day talent that speaks , and then there are the musical breaks ,” he explains . “ There are usually about six performances in a show – three in the morning and three in the afternoon – and those range from bands to dance acts . And then with the music , sometimes it ’ s an acoustic performance and sometimes it ’ s a full performance with a choir or orchestra .”
Donin is speaking with Professional Sound from the floor of Saskatoon ’ s SaskTel Centre the day before WE Day Saskatchewan , using the event ’ s performers – Tyler Shaw , Jully Black , and Brett Kissel – as examples of the various set-ups a show might require .
One of the unique aspects that addresses what would otherwise be a significant challenge is the split at FOH that finds two engineers operating two different consoles : one on an Avid Profile “ performance ” console , mixing all of the live musical acts , and one on a Yamaha CL5 “ traffic ” console , mixing the speech , sound effects , and any other component requiring simple playback .
Engineer Wade Butland , who ’ s been working with WE Day since 2012 , now oversees the traffic console while Eighth Day Sound ’ s Christopher DeLucien , also the systems tech for the tour , mixes on the performance console . Rounding out the touring audio crew are Connor
Sharpe on monitors and Ashoka Kanungo handling patch .
In addition to being the main onsite liaison for all things audio , Donin also subs out the console operators when needed and supervises the various traffic mics – a relatively tall task on a show this varied .
WE Day typically runs 12 channels of wireless , with several hard-wired spares . In addition to speakers going on and off stage , those are distributed to various points in the arena , including the announcement mics at the producer ’ s table and one in the DJ booth for DJ Starting from Scratch , who co-hosts the show along with Kardinal Offishall and their fellow Celebrity Marauders .
The two operators are often busy simultaneously , as when a speaker is onstage , the performance operator is usually conducting line checks ; conversely , when a musical act is onstage , there ’ s an opportunity to refresh and recheck the traffic mic distribution and mix . It ’ s a well-concerted effort , especially at this later stage in WE Day ’ s season .
“ It ’ s like running a live television show ,” Butland offers about the nature of the production for the audio crew . “ Depending on the show , it ’ s anything from 120 to 180 cues throughout , and we have to roll with the punches . If we have to bounce around the order a bit , the mic allotment has to change , so there can be some quick number crunching on the fly .” While WE Day ’ s 2016 / 17 schedule featured some dates in venues with permanent sound systems – including Montreal ’ s St . Denis Theatre and Radio City Music Hall in New York City – Donin says being able to tie in their elaborate control system to the house PA is a saving grace .
The CL5 is new for the 2016 / 17 run , replacing a Yamaha PM5D as the traffic console and moving everything at FOH to the digital realm . “ Going with a digital snake for the traffic desk has really changed the noise floor , which is awesome ,” Donin enthuses .
Another attractive feature of the CL5 is the built-in Dan Dugan
( L-R ) CONNOR SHARPE ( MONITORS ), WADE BUTLAND ( TRAFFIC MIXER ), DAVE DONIN ( AUDIO SUPERVISOR & RF ), ASHOKA KANUNGO ( PATCH ) & CHRIS DELUCIEN ( SYSTEMS & PERFORMANCE MIXER )
automixing function , which automatically adjusts levels to keep everything audible when there are several mics live at once . “ There are a few segments of the show where we have six microphones onstage and two or three in the audience , so following the puck can be a bit difficult ,” Donin explains . “ The Dugan [ functionality ] makes it a lot easier to keep everything together .”
What ’ s more , the Lake processing card for the CL5 puts Lake EQ directly onto the outputs , eliminating a fair amount of outboard gear .
As for the PA itself , Donin and Butland both laud its performance considering WE Day ’ s unique mix of content – especially when it comes to spoken word .
“ We feel that ’ s the most important part of this show ,” Donin says frankly . “ We want these kids to hear everything people are saying and to fully absorb the message , and the music and performances are really there to support that .”
In the full arena configuration , the PA is flown relatively high compared to a standard concert set-up . “ A lot of PA systems will sound very far away with spoken word when you do that , like the PA is in another room ,” Donin shares . “ With the Adamson , it ’ s in your face . It ’ s right there , it ’ s full , and there are
36 • PROFESSIONAL SOUND