Slash Hits The Road With SD8 Paving The Audio Way

With his trademark top hat and ever-present darkened shades, Slash is indeed

the portrait of rock & roll iconography. Last year, the master guitar-slinger

broke out from beyond the shadows of his past (Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver),

with an eponymous solo release and new tour. Slash’s audio arsenal on a roster of

tour dates through the spring (some opening for Ozzy Osbourne), will include a

DiGiCo SD8 at the hands of longtime audio vet, Martin Walker of Audio Analysts.

With over 30 years of credits spanning EMF, Judas Priest, Whitesnake and

many others, Walker is steering the audio course as Production Manager and

FOH engineer for the 2011 tour. No stranger to DiGiCo digital desks, he’s

logged many hours at the helm of a D5, as well as a few outings more

recently on an SD7. For the Slash run, he opted for an SD8 based on quality

of sound, ease of use, footprint and price, and was able to conveniently

load his SD8 files from 2010 tour dates onto Audio Analysts’ newly acquired

SD8.

For the quartet live, Walker’s handling a total of 35 stage inputs - all

effects and processing is managed from the console’s internal super FPGA

processing. Output-wise, he¹s using only a left and right main PA, a

separate sub feed and an infill feed. As far as source material, the show

intro comes off his iPod and other than that, he says, “it’s straightforward

rock and roll from two guitars, bass and drums, and this is a one of the

best bands out there!”

Being a straight-ahead rock and roll show, Walker’s running the board in an

equally clear-cut manner. Slash and his band are extremely straightforward

and are an absolute joy to mix! Life is easy with them and an SD8; no fancy

trickery is needed.  I’m running the SD8 at the moment in an analogue style,

no snapshots - just busking it song by song. I find this a very easy desk to

do that on, although I will be adding snapshots into the way I work over

this next leg. There are no great fancy changes from song to song; the band

very much rocks out and creates its own space and dynamic. Once I have my

sounds together, it's really a matter of getting the feel and groove of the

mix and having some fun. I pretty much get a free hand to do what I like

effect-wise and whilst it doesn't call for too much over the top type

effects, there are songs that have room and cry out for nice reverbs and

repeating delays.²

Live shows often present challenges with changing situations and venues on a

daily/nightly basis. On a date last year, the console succeeded in passing

audio after receiving a “beer hit” at a show. Even though the desk

temporarily lost control, it continued to pass audio. It was a little

frustrating, but I was more than happy that I got through the end of the

show without having to pull the band offstage early due to “technical

difficulties!¹”

With tour dates stretching into the spring and to destinations around the

globe, Walker will be no doubt be riding soundly with the SD8. “I feel it is

way ahead of most of the other makes of digital consoles, and certainly

great value for money. It's a whole lot of desk for what you actually have

to part with financially, whether buying or renting... I started my digital

life on a Yamaha PM5D, and whilst I do like that desk, it really isn't in

the same league... Sonically, I think the SD8 is a great console, and is

very close to its more expensive cousin the SD7. I love the desk and have

decided to use it for Judas Priest when they go out later this year, though

it will be put through its paces a little more with those guys!”

For more on Slash, go to: slash.ultimate-guitar.com