Of all the production departments at a Bocelli concert, audio is the most crucial. The responsibility falls on the shoulders of Davide Lombardi, who mixes FOH and is responsible for the event’s entire audio, from designing the sound system to planning the monitoring setup and coordinating with everyone on stage.
Lombardi has worked full-time with Bocelli for three years, although his relationship with the production team began in 2008. Over the years, Lombardi has held various positions with them. When the previous engineer decided to step down, it was a natural transition for him to take over. It was a big challenge for him as a Bocelli concert is more important than any other gig to make it sound like there isn’t any reinforcement.
“The engineer before me was excellent, so initially, I kept a similar approach whilst adapting it to work for me,” remarked Lombardi. “I’m making changes just because it’s nature and everybody does different things, the same things in other ways.
“My job is not just mixing; I organise everything before that. Because it’s such a different show, it cannot have the same approach as a rock show. So I take over the whole responsibility. Once the concept is confirmed, I go through the seating plan and ensure that the delay positions are exactly where they need to be, and then promoters can arrange the seats around them. So it’s very particular what I do.”
Working with JPJ Audio makes life easier for Lombardi, as they know the venue well. As Australia’s largest audio production company, there was no need for gear substitution. Lombardi describes them as fantastic.
One significant change instigated by Lombardi was changing two consoles at FOH to one. Previously, the setup involved one console dedicated to the orchestra and another to mixing, receiving the mix from the orchestra at the second console and mixing the orchestra with the vocals. Monitors were also done at FOH because monitoring the number of speakers on stage was minimal. Over time, Lombardi realised he preferred controlling the mix of the orchestra himself, as well as the vocals.
“It’s a lot to take on, but I’ve only been mixing in my life, so for me, it’s natural anyway,” added Lombardi. “It’s easier to tell the audience what is in my mind and how it should sound.”
In Sydney, Ben Milton ran monitors at FOH. Although it does not appear much, it requires very detailed attention because the show features several guests, each of whom deserves proper attention.
“We leave the orchestra with minimum monitoring, and we try to replicate what’s in the theatre in a way, so they follow the conductor mainly,” explained Lombardi. “We have a set of wedges on the floor, and Andrea himself has three d&b E8 wedges left, centre, and right. The centre wedge has a direct vocal, and the left and right have a reverb. They are very quiet on stage and are there to make him feel part of the room. And then we have a set of stereo speakers, again E8, and for the soprano, for the same reason. The fifth one is for musician guests such as flautists and violin players.
“The conductor and the pop section – consisting of drums, bass and keyboard – have L-Acoustics X12 monitors and Shure PSM1000 IEMs. Monitor engineer Stefano Serpagli, who was in Taipei rather than Sydney, does an excellent job of minimising the monitoring and making all guests comfortable on stage, including those pop singers not used to playing with orchestras. With Stefano, we can now focus on every little detail on stage.”
Lombardi ran a DiGiCo SD7 Quantum console with only one outboard: Bricasti M7 Stereo Reverbs.
“I only have two of them, and tonight I also have a TC Electronic M6000, another reverb, mainly because we have extra guests, and I want to do a more tailored job for them,” commented Lombardi. “I don’t use any plugins; I want to leave the mix as natural as possible and to reproduce what comes in, especially the orchestra. I want to be as transparent as possible and minimise my presence. It’s not an easy show to mix; it would be easier to do some tricks to make it sound “big”, but I don’t need to do much in that term when we have a good orchestra and fantastic vocals. I compensate and correct how the room is reacting to the sound.”
Lombardi discovered the Sydney Cricket Ground to be a challenging venue with so many sections requiring cover, all different from each other. It’s an asymmetrical venue, and even the position of the delays is asymmetrical, so it’s not a straightforward gig. However, Lombardi says that compared to other stadiums where they play, the roof is not as big, and therefore, they don’t have as many reflections as you would expect in a stadium.
The front PA was an L-Acoustics rig with 16 x K1 + 4 x K2 for each hang, mains and sides. Behind each main hang are 14 x KS28 subs in cardioid mode and a slight centre hang of 9 x KARA. For the front fill, there are 11 x SYVA.
“We have five delay towers that are a mix of 12 x K1 and 54 x K2, depending on how far they throw because of the asymmetrical shape of the venue, and behind each array, we have 8 x KS28,” said Lombardi. “The signal is run via AVB. We have two P1 AVB Processors & Measurement Platforms at front of house, so we have AVB with analogue fallback. The whole system is controlled by our system engineer Alessandro Cestaro.”
There are over 120 condenser microphones on stage, all quite open, so it’s not simple for Lombardi to make it sound that natural.
“It’s not easy mixing,” he admitted. “I replicate what’s coming from the stage, but it’s not easy with 120 condenser microphones close to each other. I don’t want to change too much from my inputs. It’s many challenges as orchestras and stadiums don’t mix well!”
Having so many condenser microphones close to the PA has risks, so the PA design must be accurate. Even half a metre out significantly changes how much is picked up in the back and gives feedback.
“That’s why it takes us three days to set up the audio,” explained Lombardi. “A rock show can arrive the night before, put it up and do it just loud. The difficulty for us is that we deal with a relatively quieter show, and the intelligibility of the sound throughout the venue, the coherence, and the sound image are vital. We ensure the voice comes from where Bocelli is singing, and in big venues, that’s a difficult task to achieve. We must ensure that every seat receives a nice, smooth sound that is still full, with presence. We tune the PA with L Acoustics M1 and SMAART.”
Most microphones are from DPA, the 4061 mainly for first and second violins and violas and the 4099 for cellos and double basses. The latter also has Schertler contact microphones that help give definition where needed.
“For the woodwinds, brass section, percussions, and choir, we use Schoeps microphones, a combination of MK4 and MK21s,” continued Lombardi. “On the harp, we have a Schoeps MK4 and a Schertler. Then there’s a standard Shure package for drums.
“We have the Schoeps Colette microphones again with MK21 capsules for Andrea and the soprano Mariam Battistelli. Pop guests Amy Manford and Tina Arena are on the Shure KSM11 radio microphones. Andrea Griminelli, the guest flautist, has a DPA 4099 microphone on Shure transmitters.”
