Born and
raised in Watford, England, The Staves are known for their harmonies, as all
three sisters serve as vocalists in the group. The Staves released their debut
album, Dead & Born & Grown,
in November 2012 and have grown in popularity throughout the world since that
time.
Given the
delicate balance of harmonies for which The Staves’ performances are known,
quality cannot be spared when it comes to microphones. This led to the group’s
current use of AKG C5 microphones. “We’ve got quite different-sounding voices
and the AKG microphones easily handle our variety of tones and singing styles,”
said guitarist/vocalist Jessica Staveley-Taylor. “We don’t have to think about
the microphones at all, we can just think about singing.”
The AKG
microphones are not only beneficial to the band, but to the audiences as well.
“After using the AKG C5 vocal microphones, I would recommend them for people
with softer voices, as they really pull out the definition in the voice, giving
live shows a recording studio vocal clarity,” said Simon Alpin, who handled FOH
mixing duties for The Staves during a run of shows in the fall of 2014. “They
really cover all aspects of The Staves’ vocal range tonally.”
“I also
found the definition in the high end less sibilant than most other condenser
microphones, without having to EQ much at all,” Alpin added. “In a live
situation this is imperative, with time restraints for sound check.”
In
addition, The Staves have a Soundcraft Si Performer 2 digital console at front
of house. “The Si Performer 2 I am using on The Staves’ European tour is very
user-friendly,” Alpin noted. “After only having spent an hour running through
the essential setup configuration with Ed Jackson of HARMAN, I found the desk
to be very reliable. Even when the Cat5 cable came out of the back of the desk
while someone was moving something during sound check, I reconnected it
immediately without having to restart the desk.”
The Si
Performer 2 delivers the equivalent of 448
rack units of DSP including sophisticated 4-band fully parametric EQ, full
dynamics processing, a comprehensive range of output options, and totally
flexible routing.
“I would
recommend the Si Performer to anyone who is thinking of moving from analog to
digital,” Alpin noted. “The patching is very straightforward, the reverbs sound
great and it’s very easy to load and change parameters.”
Photo
Credit: Daniel Alexander Harris (www.danielalexanderharris.com)
More
information on AKG’s products can be found on www.akg.com/pro
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