Have Truck Will Travel: HD Roadie Mobile Sets its Sights on Music
(Press Release | Posted 2007-06-17)
HD Roadie Mobile Entertainment specializes in music in both video and audio recording, and is recognized throughout the U.S. for capturing concerts and shows such as Fleetwood Mac, Robert Plant, Chicago, Ringo Starr, Kenny Chesney, Russell Crow, John Mayer, Burt Bacharach, Steve Winwood, Farm Aid Festivals, and HBO Comedy specials. Managed and owned by head roadie Jim Wolande, the HD Roadie truck recently traveled to Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin to record two live Hinder shows for an upcoming DVD (Universal).
HD Roadie Mobile Entertainment has recently completed audio and video production for the upcoming season of SOUNDSTAGE on PBS. The series, which began in 1974, will kick off in June with performances by Rob Thomas (recorded at Red Rocks), Macy Gray, Jewel, Dashboard Confessional and many more. HD Roadie has recorded and filmed all five seasons of SOUNDSTAGE, with past show highlights including the Dave Mathews Band 'Live From Red Rocks,' and Sheryl Crow with a 16-piece orchestra at Lincoln Center. These productions were digitally recorded and pre-mixed in the HD Roadie mobile truck in 5.1 surround using two Yamaha DM2000 96-input digital recording consoles.
HD Ready, the producing and post production arm for all SOUNDSTAGE TV airings, looked to senior audio engineer Frank Pappalardo, who consults on and recommends all audio equipment for both companies for the recording console selection. After much research, the decision to install the Yamaha consoles was based around the fact that their projects require a lot of inputs. "Since the truck is set up for 96 track recording and 5.1, we needed a console that had a lot of inputs in a specific size footprint and the ability to monitor or broadcast in 5.1, and this console can do that. The consoles provide a lot of features, like the various ways you can route signal and the built-in effects – a great feature, one less thing to carry in the truck. We've been very pleased with the sound quality." HD Roadie uses ProTools 7 (with six DigiDesign 192 Digital Audio Interfaces), as well as back up from a Tascam DA-98 and 78 for redundancy purposes.
Pappalardo has had a long history in recording, specifically on large analog consoles, but says that although this is his first experience with digital consoles and there is a little bit of a learning curve, by using the DM2000 "you get a lot more of what you need in a smaller package."
HD Roadie's remote mic pre arsenal includes 11 Yamaha AD8HR 80-channel mic-pre's, an Avalon AD 2022 2-channel mic-pre, several Avalon VT737SP Class A mic processors, and an Apex 1788A 8-channel mic-pre. Audio and 5.1 monitoring is handled by Genelec monitors. Other products on board include a Teletronix 1176LN limiter, a Universal Audio LA-2A compressor, a Mac G5, 12 Glyph hard drives and Light Viper's fiber optic digital audio interface solution.
For a complete list of HD Roadie Mobile Entertainment's audio and video services, call 630-918-7000 or visit www.hdroadie.tv.
For more information, contact Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc., 6600 Orangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90620, call 714-522-9000, e-mail casales@yamaha.com, or visit www.yamahaca.com.
