Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Steve Jennings

Photo: Steve Jennings

In support of her latest effort, Wildflower, Sheryl Crow is out on a short tour, bringing along an 11-piece string section, front-of-house engineer Bruce Knight, monitor engineer Geno Salerno, monitor tech Matt Stager and crew chief Matthew Stahlhut. Mix caught up with the tour at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, Calif.

“Mixing has been great fun and a big challenge in getting the separation with so much midrange information in the mix,” Knight says, “between two to three guitars, a piano and a organ happening at the same time with the 11-piece string section,” which comprises seven violins, two violas and two cellos. The tour is carrying a Clair Bros. P.A. (eight i4s and four T2 subs per side) and a DiGiCo D5 Live FOH console, “which has been great,” Knight says. “I'm using snapshots of fader movements and mutes on a per-song basis. It's the first time I've used a digital console on tour. I've had a lot of inputs with Sheryl in the past, and now with the strings and all the effects returns and playback, I'm up to 90 inputs. It's great to have everything within an arm's reach.”

Front-of-house engineer Bruce Knight

Photo: Steve Jennings

Knight's outboard rack includes a BSS 901 with Summit TLA 100 for Crow's vocal (she sings through a Shure wireless with SM58 capsule), a Summit DCL 200, a Crane Song STC-8 for bass DIs and two Distressors for acoustic guitars. For in-ears, Knight chose Future Sonics and Ultimate Ears, with Sennheiser EW300 G2 Series transmitter/receiver.

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