ROUND AND ROUND

Posted by Rich Spillberg
On November 12, 2013
0 Comments

Hi Good People!

Well, well, well… a new entry at long last! On that note, I want to put out a little hello and thank you to the wonderful people I met after our show in Toronto, as they have reminded me to get back into my blog, and I greatly appreciate it!

I’m here in Pensacola, Florida, en route to Houston for our next, and what will be the second to last show of the Josh Groban “All That Echoes” world tour. It has indeed been a long year – although I must admit, despite the somewhat incredibly hectic schedule that I have had this year, for the most part it has not felt like a “long” year. It’s only now, as the finish line is rapidly approaching, that the vastness of our accomplishment is in ways becoming more apparent.

I can remember from the last tour that I had similar feelings as we neared the final shows. It’s actually a mix of feelings – on one side, there is the excitement of being home – of becoming reunited with loved ones. On the other side, that rhythm – the one I have talked about many times in length – the rhythm of the tour comes to a screeching stop in one fell swoop, and although most on the tour are ready for a break, it can take a little time to readjust.

Over all, this leg has been fantastic. The production of the show is by far more exciting than any of the other legs – or for that matter, any of the other work that I have done with Josh. The “In The Round” setting by definition calls for a lot more on the production side than we have seen before. For example, when comparing this leg’s production to the “Straight To You” arena tour of 2011, we are now using twice the amount of PA and twice the amount of lights to accommodate the multiple angles of audience viewing.

RICH AND MICKEY BECK – JOSH’S FRONT OF HOUSE SOUND ENGINEER, TOYOTA CENTER, HOUSTON, TX – 11/12/2013

On that note, Mickey Beck, our Front Of House Mix Engineer has been using the beefed up PA in a most spectacular way, receiving more accolades for his work than I have ever seen. His talents are constantly growing, and this tour has greatly benefitted from his amazing ears and knowledge of his craft. As an engineer, I hold Mickey in high regard, and I greatly look up to him.

RICH AND MAC MOSIER – JOSH’S LIGHTING DESIGNER, TOYOTA CENTER, HOUSTON, TX – 11/12/2013

The same goes for the lights – the light show on this tour is exceptional. Designed and run by our LD (Lighting Director) Calvin “Mac” Mosier, it is a sight to behold. He really outdid himself on this tour.

So I think I should try to catch up from where I left off…

REMOTE RECORDING STUDIO – THE ILLUSTRIOUS AND HUGELY COVETED NEVE 1073 EQ AND PREAMP FOR MASTERCLASS DEMO AT JOSH’S PLACE. ONLY THE BEST FOR JG… – 9/2/2013

REMOTE RECORDING STUDIO – COMPRESSORS USED FOR MASTERCLASS DEMO SESSION AT JOSH’S PLACE – 9/2/2013

In my last entry, I was headed to Josh’s place to set up a remote recording studio. It went well. I couldn’t really talk about it at the time, but the story is out now, and I can explain. Josh shot an HBO special called Masterclass, in which he mentored three young musicians. He essentially produced a song for them, and it was very impressive to watch, indeed. Josh is a great producer, injecting his ideas while at the same time allowing the kids time to really flourish with their music along the way.

Music production in the studio, as I have alluded to in the past, is about give and take. An artist (in this case, the three young musicians) will come to a producer with a song. At that point, a good producer will be able to pick out the strong points in the music, and then recognize where the song’s not as strong points missed their mark. The producer then tries to encourage the artist to fill in the weaker parts. The producer uses musical knowledge along with a bit of psychology to get song ideas in place, and then, in the recording studio, to get masterful performances out of the artist.

AVATAR STUDIOS – 9/3/2013

As I said, Josh did this to a high level, and the final song is a testament to that. After we did the initial writing sessions at Josh’s house, We went to Avatar Studios in Manhattan to do the recording sessions. I always love going to Avatar, and this time was no exception. The night before we were to start recording, I met Dan Chase, the head engineer on the project, and we set up the instruments and microphones so we could be ready for the next day’s music.

SETUP FOR MASTERCLASS SESSIONS AT AVATAR – 9/3/2013

SETUP FOR MASTERCLASS SESSIONS AT AVATAR STUDIOS, NYC – KICK DRUM TREATMENT. THAT’S AN AVATAR MADE SUBKICK. THE COMBO OF THE D112, RE20, AND SUBKICK WAS GREAT – 9/3/2013

SETUP FOR MASTERCLASS SESSIONS AT AVATAR STUDIOS, NYC – INITIAL KEYBOARDS SETUP, WHICH WAS EVENTUALLY MOVED TO A DIFFERENT AREA – 9/3/2013

MASTERCLASS SESSIONS AT AVATAR STUDIOS, NYC – JOSH’S MUSICAL DIRECTOR TARIQH AKONI (Right) REVIEWS THE SONG WITH (right to left) KEYBOARDIST RUSLAN SIROTA, DRUMMER SHAWN PELTON, AND BASSIST BAKITHI KUMALO – 9/3/2013

In the next two days, some great musicians (including Tariqh and Ruslan from Josh’s band) came in to learn and then lay down the basic music tracks – the bed if you will – for the song. After that, overdubs were performed by the kids on their respective instruments. After that, the vocals were performed – all the while under Josh’s tutelage and direction. Finally, a rough mix was performed, and we were finished… for the time being…

RICH, TARIQH, AND ENGINEER DAN CHASE AT AVATAR STUDIOS, NYC – 9/5/2013

The next day after the session, we flew directly to London for a one-off performance at Hyde Park, for BBC2 radio. Rehearsal on Saturday, show on Sunday, and fly home on Monday…

REHEARSAL FOR BBC2 SHOW, LONDON, ENGLAND. BASSIST TREVOR BARRY IS SECOND FROM THE RIGHT – 9/7/2013

BBC2 RADIO SHOW, HYDE PARK, LONDON, ENGLAND – 9/8/2013

It was again a textbook promo gig, where we went in, set up, played a short set, and got out of town. Total time in London for this one – three days. One cool side story from that gig is that we used a stand in bass player for the show – Trevor Barry – as Andre Manga (Josh’s bassist) couldn’t make the show. As it turns out, Trevor has a long history with Josh (I did not know that), and he is in fact one of the bassists that played on the Awake album. He in fact played the cool bass harmonics at the beginning of February Song. I was blown away to know this.

TARIQH WORKS WITH “FORTE” PRIOR TO AMERICA’S GOT TALENT TAPING, RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, NYC – 9/16/2013

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT MIX ENGINEER EVAN ALDERMAN, RICH, AND PLAYBACK ENGINEER ERIC JOHNSTON, IN THE BROADCAST MIX TRUCK, RADO CITY MUSIC HALL, NYC – 9/16/2013

From London it was back home for a week (Yeah!), and then back to NYC for an appearance on Amercia’s Got Talent, at Radio City Music Hall. All went well, and my work as Josh’s broadcast mix advisor once again kept me close to my love of mixing music. In that hat, I am the one who goes into the broadcast studio and advises the mix engineer of how we want Josh to sound. In most cases, I give the broadcast mix engineer a basic understanding of what we want in the balance, but in some cases, I have to get very specific, as there is not a clear idea in the engineer’s mind about how it should sound. In this case, Broadcast Mix Engineer Evan Alderman got what we were looking for, and only a few minor notes were given to him for reference.

RUSLAN’S VIEW AT THE ELLEN SHOW – BURBANK, CA – 9/17/2013

RICH AND ELLEN’S BROADCAST MIX ENGINEER TERRY FOUNTAIN AT THE ELLEN SHOW – BURBANK, CA – 9/17/2013

From NYC it was then off to Burbank, California, where we made an appearance on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Thanks to Broadcast Mix Engineer Terry Fountain, the sound was (as usual) great. We have done the Ellen show a handful of times since I have been with Josh, and I have a good relationship with Terry. He knows what we want, and I basically make fine tuned adjustments to the mix as I hear it necessary. The show went well, and we were then back to start rehearsals for the “In The Round” US tour.

REHEARSALS FOR THE IN THE ROUND US TOUR, BURBANK, CA – 9/19/2013

REHEARSALS FOR THE IN THE ROUND US TOUR, BURBANK, CA – 9/20/2013

We have seen a lot of Burbank this year for rehearsals, and the routine for Burbank rehearsals (set-up, rehearse, tear down – all in the matter of a week) is somewhat second nature. The real questions for all of us at that time were centered around how the stage, lights, PA, and full production would come together. It’s one thing for the band to rehearse the music, but it’s an entirely different story to determine how we will get in and out of arenas each day for the next two months.

SEEING THE PIECES OF TE STAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME – PRODUCTION REHEARSALS. TACO BELL ARENA, BOISE, IDAHO – 9/24/2013

All of that is sorted out in what is known as “Production Rehearsals”, which we went into right after the Burbank rehearsals, at the venue in which the first show would be held – the Taco Bell Arena, in Boise, Idaho. This was where all of the logistics were to be ironed out. We had another week there to run through the setup of lights, PA, video, and stage setup.

PA IS HUNG FOR THE FIRST TIME – TACO BELL ARENA, BOISE, IDAHO – 9/24/2013

Also important in these production rehearsals was the need to run through the show, and determine HOW to best use the stage. That might seem a little odd to some, as we of course know that Josh is a consummate professional, and he knows how to use a stage, but when using a circular stage, there is a need to work out how to best cover all sides so as to not alienate audience members.

JOSH AND TARIQH WORK OUT SOME PARTS. PRODUCTION REHEARSALS, TACO BELL ARENA, BOISE, IDAHO – 9/27/2013

The “In The Round” stage concept is really interesting in that it gives audience members a chance to be close to the artist no matter where their seat is. The challenge in using a circular stage is that the audience members could be very far from the artist and musicians if they don’t make it over to the side in which they were sitting. This is why we very meticulously worked out starting points and general stage movement for each song. This way we don’t have a situation where all of the people are in one area of the stage for an entire song, and audience members can get the optimum viewing. Over time, as we get where we should be at any given time, the stage show takes on a life of its own, and becomes very natural.

Also due to the circular configuration of the stage, some of the technicians, such as Monitor Engineer Chris “Cookie” Hoff and myself, had to be stationed underneath the middle section of the stage during the show. As it turned out, this was logistically speaking the only place we could be without being an eye sore or being in the way of audience members’ viewing. This initially took some getting used to, as that section of the stage is five feet tall, but as there were no other options, you find as comfortable a spot for yourself and you just get in there and do it.

So production rehearsals went well – it all came together, and we had our first show in Boise on the second of October, and the show was great – we were once again officially on tour.

You can probably imagine that this writing thing takes some time (as it must also have taken time for you to read!), and as it is, I’m now in Houston on show day, getting ready to head to the Toyota Center to do our show. I’ll post some more shortly to fill you in on how the rest of the tour has gone.