HARMAN Soundcraft Vi1 Delivers For UK-Based Celtic Rock Band IONA

NORTHRIDGE, California — U.K.-based Celtic rock band IONA has released over 10 albums since forming in the late 1980s and recently finished a successful tour throughout the United States while deploying a HARMAN Soundcraft Vi1 as its front-of-house console.

During a similar U.S. tour in 2010, Mark Jarrell, Owner of Dogwood Audio Sound Company, provided the sound reinforcement system for IONA. Preparing for the 2012 U.S. tour, IONA remembered Jarrell’s work and brought him on board as the audio engineer for the 11 tour dates spanning a 2-week period. After a conversation with Dave Bainbridge, IONA’s lead guitarist, the two decided the Soundcraft Vi1 console would provide them with the most flexibility.

“There are many challenges of traveling during a 2-week tour,” said Jarrell. “The stretches between gigs are not long and there isn’t much time to set up at the various venues. I have to be able to have everything up and running in no time and with the ability to recall the presets with the Vi console, I never have a problem.”

Another challenge for Jarrell is the varying size, acoustics and equipment of each venue. “We see everything from a large theater to a small club,” he said. “With the Vi1, all I have to do is adjust the EQ in the different venues—it’s straightforward. What I love is that once I adjust the settings for each venue, I can then save it as a file for when we come back.”

The custom channel layers also help Jarrell to have a smooth show, as he is able to arrange them to suit his needs. “The desk is a lot of fun to mix on,” Jarrell stated. “It’s such a warm sounding console! I use the Lexicon effects pretty heavily, the tap delay, reverb and more. It has the feeling of a nice analog desk; making an adjustment is always easy to do.”

With such a dynamic group, Jarrell appreciates the flexibility the Vi1 offers. “IONA likes to change up the set list sometimes. The road manager is also a percussionist so every once in a while they call him up to play along. I am able to easily control each microphone individually and it is really easy to adjust gain and the high pass filter if needed.”

“Overall, it has been a pleasure to tour with IONA and a lot of fun using the Soundcraft console,” Jarrell summed up. “I can’t wait until the next U.S. tour comes around. I already have all my presets and files saved so I’ll be ready.”

For more information about Dogwood Audio, please visit: http://dogwoodaudio.com/

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets – supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 20 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.
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