Metric Halo MIO 2882 Recording Interfaces On Tour With White Stripes

Tag : Hardware Assortment

Philip J. Harvey from PilotLight Audio Inc. was hired by the WhiteStripes to mix front-of-house sound and multi-track record theirtenth anniversary tour of 2007 in forty channels of high-resolutiondigital audio. Harvey put together a Metric Halo rig consisting of five MIO 2882+DSP interfaces passing 24-bit/96kHz audio into his MacBook Pro laptopcomputer. This endeavor led to the recording and mixing of twosongs that were released as B-sides on the White Stripes’“You Don’t Know What Love Is” EP.
“We ended up with 36 channels, including two audiencemics,” he says. “I also recorded a four-channel pre-mixwith a separate MIO 2882+DSP unit, utilizing the FOH board mixleft/right, plus a pair of Schoeps CMC6MK4 mics in an ORTF stereoconfiguration at FOH also. I would delay the board mix using theDelay Finder in Metric Halo’s SpectraFoo analysis software toget the time synched to the mics and record those tracksseparately, as well as mixed together at 16-bit/44.1kHz, for aneasily accessed overview of the gig. If the band wanted a CD rightaway, I could burn one or transfer the track to a thumbdrive.”
It may be hard to believe that the two members of the White Stripesrequire four-dozen tracks when mixing and recording their liveshow, but Harvey details the stage setup. “Drums and a fewpercussion things take about twelve channels,” he says.“Then there are three guitar amps and many different stationsonstage that Jack utilizes. He’ll jump on an effected vocalmic that has some strange harmonizer and lots of reverb by the drumset. To the left of the center vocal position he has a Moog stationwith a monophonic synthesizer. On stage right is a keyboard stationwith a Wurlitzer electric piano and Hammond C-3 organ, with Leslie,and another vocal mic. Not to mention the vocal mic behind theguitar amps so that when he runs upstairs he can take it with himonto the walkway.”
Harvey is not aware of any current release plans for themulti-tracked material. “The White Stripes wanted to haveevery show multi-track recorded and archived. Whenever they decideto put out a live concert CD or DVD they can preview the shows withthe four-tracked pre-mixes, as a reference to the multi-tracks, andpick the performances they like and want to mix. There is plenty ofquality material to work with,” he says. “The resultswere outstanding.”
“It was quite interesting how the B-side recordings came intofruition,” Harvey reveals. “The White Stripes’2007 tour schedule was very busy and Warner Brothers needed torelease the second single from their “Icky Thump”album. The band wanted to package the “You Don’t KnowWhat Love Is” single with new acoustic material that couldonly be heard on that EP, so we recorded it while on tour inCanada.”
He continues, “After soundcheck in St. Johns, Nova Scotia, Ifound myself with Jack and Meg on the top floor of a little squareannouncer’s tower located in the middle of a horse racetrack, which was behind the hockey arena the Stripes wereperforming in that night. The announcer’s tower had threefloors and was all wood construction, the only non-concrete placewe could find in the area!”
Armed with one Metric Halo ULN2+DSP and a MIO 2882+DSP, anassortment of mics, stands and cables, three acoustic songs wererecorded in less than two hours. Harvey recalls, “It was sohot in the tower that we had to open the windows between takes, butthe wind would cause the mic diaphragm’s to rumble, so we hadto sweat while recording.” Two of those recordings made it tothe EP. Harvey states, “If you listen to “A Martyr forMy Love for You (Acoustic Version),” all the ambience isrecorded live in the room, there was no artificial reverbs added tothe mix, thanks to the ULN2 and Schoeps combination!”
Philip Harvey’s experience with Metric Halo equipment datesback to the product’s original launch in 2001, when he wasworking with jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood. “MetricHalo founders, Joe and B.J. Buchalter, were fans of theband,” Harvey remembers, “I was an early adopter ofMH’s hardware. I developed a relationship with Joe and B.J.by calling and bugging them so much that they said, “here whydon’t you take these MIO units, bash them around and tell uswhat needs to be fixed.” I was very excited to take part inMH research and development! At that time we were recording 32channels of 24-bit/48kHz with four MIO 2882+DSP units into my 400MHz G3 PowerBook.” All recordings were captured to FireWirehard drives, “During the eight years I worked with MMW, werecorded roughly two years of shows from their tours.”
“The Metric Halo stuff always works. I have such huge respectfor those guys. They’re a small company of seven peoplecompeting with huge companies like Digidesign and MOTU with armiesof programmers, and the MH hardware/software always soundsbetter!” The Metric Halo rig is now touring internationallywith another Jack White project, The Raconteurs, with Harvey atfront-of-house once again, but this time it’s a rigconsisting of five custom units. The tour started in mid-April,with promotional shows in small clubs, then immediately escalatedinto larger venues and appearances at the top festivals in the USand abroad, including Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza andGlastonbury.