Photo above: Monitor engineer Travon Snipes at his DiGiCo Quantum7 console on Post Malone’s current If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying World Tour
In June, Post Malone joined a short list of musical artists—Drake, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and others—by being presented with the Hal David Starlight Award at the 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner in New York. The recognition, which honors “gifted songwriters who are at an apex in their careers and are making a significant impact in the music industry via their original songs,” served as a fitting segue for Malone who was both on the cusp of releasing his fifth album, Austin, and switching between two tours: the final European dates of his Twelve Carat Tour in May and the kick-off of his new 24-date Live Nation-produced If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying North American Tour.
Since the summer of 2019, Malone’s monitor mix has been in the trusted hands of Houston-based Travon Snipes, who has worked with a long list of other artists like Blackbear, Jaden Smith, Swae Lee, Rae Sremmurd, Neyo, Megan Thee Stallion, Fantasia, Brandy, and B2K. Regardless of who he’s mixing for at FOH or monitors, his two consoles of choice are the DiGiCo Quantum5 and Quantum7.
While the Twelve Carat Tour was a solo show with the artist performing to tracks, Malone’s latest shed run is a much bigger, completely reimagined setup. “The previous tour was just Post on stage, featuring a combination of tracks, his vocals, an acoustic guitar, crowd mics, and talkbacks going into the mix,” Snipes recalls. “I only needed to provide six or seven in-ear mixes each night depending on guests. On the current run, however, we have ten musicians on stage, including Post. There’s a four-piece string section, keys, bass, drummer, two guitars, and the man himself, who is playing acoustic and electric guitars. We still have all of our original 16-track inputs, as well as some additional triggers implemented, so it’s a much more complex arrangement. I’m running 16 stereo in-ear mixes, and there are no wedges, but I do have subs on stage for adding some low-end feel.”
Earlier this year, Snipes found himself most frequently seated behind a Clair Global-supplied Quantum5 desk, which has since been swapped out with a Quantum7 for the new run. “I really love the layout of the Quantum5 and have been using it for a long time, so, for me, the muscle memory of how I have everything laid out for monitors helps me be as fast and efficient as possible,” he shares. “On the current tour, having a full band obviously changes things, so I’ve made the switch to the Quantum7. With so many IEMs, I wanted quick access to all of my mixes while still having my control groups right underneath. I did bring parts of my Quantum5 file over to the Quantum7, but I pretty much had to build most of it from scratch since we have never had a band out with Post.”
In the process of transitioning between consoles and tours, Snipes reports that the crew also added “another SD-Rack and a lot more RF, mics, and outboard gear, which I use a fair amount of to get the sound that I’m looking for,” he says. “That being said, I use quite of bit of onboard Quantum processing as well, such as the Mustard EQ and compressors on multiple sources. I love the DiGiTubes—they make everything sound more ‘real’ and full—plus the audio enhancers give me some of the frequencies that I feel like I’m missing. I also love the console’s effects and use a number of reverbs to create space in the mixes.”
Out at front-of-house, Kevin Brown is mixing Malone’s show on a matching Quantum7 console. “Kevin and I are sharing two SD-Racks, with a combination of AES I/O and 32-bit cards, and we have close to 90 inputs,” Snipes notes. “Having DiGiCos at both ends of the Optocore definitely helps our workflow with communication and patching. If I don’t have an input in monitor world, he doesn’t either at FOH, so it allows us to be on the same page at all times. Also, there’s no need for a split with us sharing racks. Both desks have been playing very well together and the reliability and sound quality have been phenomenal.”
After numerous successful tours spent behind a DiGiCo, Snipes is by all definitions an expert on the platform, but he points out that there’s always something new to be learned. “DiGiCo consoles have so many capabilities and amazing features to explore that it almost feels endless,” he laughs. “You can really make these desks do so much. Lately, I’ve been diving in deeper with snapshot scopes, pushing the limit as to what I can program. With so many moving parts and musicians onstage for this current tour, it’s a must. Also, I’m using talkback features a lot more to talk to individual musicians and techs without other people needing to hear me.”
With Malone’s Latin American, Asian, and Oceanian tours all on the immediate horizon, Snipes is thankful that his Quantum-range console will be going with him wherever he heads off to next. “I’ve definitely enjoyed mixing on the Quantum7. The main challenge that DiGiCo helps me overcome is being able to customize my layout to exactly what I need. It feels like this desk was made just for me, having outputs and inputs next to each other. Also, macros are a huge part of my workflow, and I have a ton of them, so being able to program every little detail makes a massive difference. For me, there’s no other console brand out there that can do what DiGiCo does.”
For details on the upcoming international stops of Post Malone’s global If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour, visit www.postmalone.com. Clair Global can be found online at www.clairglobal.com.
