Avid Venue Profile desk tours with Peter Gabriel and Robert Plant

Audio engineer Ben Findlay selected Avid‘s Venue Profile console for Peter Gabriel’s Back to Front tour, as well as Robert Plant’s 2012 live gigs.

Having started out as a recording engineer at Real World Studios, Findlay is a fan of the Venue Profile’s integration with Pro Tools, and enjoys having the option to bring some of his favourite studio tools into the live space.

“That environment is reflected beautifully in the Venue’s workflow. It’s so logical, incredibly easy to learn, and the ability to save and retrieve settings is really powerful," he said. "I bring my own Pro Tools rig whenever I can and multi track almost every show. I’m also a huge fan of Virtual Soundcheck. In some ways, it provides even more control than a live-sound check environment. It’s extremely powerful and freeing.”

Plug-ins are an increasingly important part of Findlay’s live sound arsenal. “I use Venue’s onboard processing extensively. I also really like the Sonnox Oxford plug-in, as well as the Sonnox Inflator for drums and the mix bass on occasion. On the vocals I tend to use the LA2 emulator quite a bit, as well as Bomb Factory.”

Findlay is also particularly pleased with the number of creative options the console provides. “It’s just so intuitive and powerful. I’m constantly finding new and creative ways to work with it,” he continued.

“Avid continues to set the standard for live sound gear, and our customers put on some of the world’s best performances,” added Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of products and services, Avid. “We are thrilled that Ben has chosen Venue to bring his ideas to life on stage.”

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