BUENA PARK, Calif.⎯Thousands of women are expected to meet this year in over 29 Cities across the U.S. for two one-of-a-kind events as part of the ‘Women of Faith' tours. ‘Over the Top' and ‘Imagine” tours are two-day weekend events focusing on music and uplifting presentations. 14,000 women are expected to attend each event, taking place at arenas and coliseums nationwide throughout the year. This is the first time that two ‘Women of Faith' tours will take place simultaneously. East Coast ‘Over the Top' dates include musical performances by Sandi Patty, Mandisa, Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman. ‘Imagine' West Coast tour dates will feature Mary Mary and Natalie Grant.
This year and for the past ten years, audio production will be provided by CTS Audio (Franklin, TN). Mike Taylor, Director of Performance Audio, was tasked with putting together two separate EtherSound rigs that will move from venue to venue across the U.S. The system includes dual Yamaha DM2000v2 digital consoles, two Yamaha SB168-ES Stage Boxes, and Yamaha AD8HR mic pres. CTS will staff both tours. ‘Over the Top' crew include Ed Crippen – front of house engineer, Tim Olson - monitor engineer, and system tech Peter Streiff. ‘Imagine' crew support is provided by front of house engineer Jon Schwarz, monitor engineer Weston Smith, and system tech Dave McMullin.
“Back in 2001, we decided to go all-digital as a company,” states Taylor. “Our crew became very familiar with the Yamaha DM2000 since it was one of the first consoles that could provide the functionality we needed at its size for the first ‘Women of Faith' tour. We have come to rely on its flexibility through the years, and our ability to get around on the console quickly is very important in a live show. Its reliability is unmatched in the market. By the time we started our second ‘Women of Faith' tour, we already owned quite a few DM2000s so it made sense to replicate the existing system in case artists flipped to other cities, we would have consistency for them and the engineers.”
Taylor says that the production package for the ‘Women of Faith' tours make the Yamaha consoles very favorable in terms of how CTS packs the truck. “We are able to get an arena in the round packed into 40 feet of truck space. Nobody else is doing that. Our crew is able to load in the complete set up in eight hours.”
The decision to use Yamaha Stage Boxes is their ability to get 16 inputs and 8 outputs per stage box, notes Taylor. “Since our system is in the round, and unlike most touring systems, our front of house and monitor mixing consoles are in one location. We are able to put our SB-168ES at the stage and run one cat5 cable to front of house as our snake. We then utilize Yamaha MY16-ES64 and MY1EX-CA cards to split the signal to the two consoles. The stage boxes interface with the DM2000 consoles so easily and make a digital snaking system a cost effective solution.”
For more information on the ‘Women of Faith' tours, visit http://womenoffaith.com/events/line-up/.
For more information on CTS Audio, visit www.ctsaudio.com.
For more information on Yamaha products, visit www.yamahaca.com.
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PHOTO ID: ‘Women of Faith' East Coast Tour Crew L to R: Tim Olson - Monitors, Ed Crippen – FOH, and Peter Streiff - System Tech
About Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc.:
Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. (YCAS) provides a full line of integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for the broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production markets. With the addition of NEXO to the product line, the company remains the official U.S. and Canadian distributor for all NEXO speaker models. YCAS offers comprehensive in-house and field product training for its customers, a dedicated dealer network, and 24/7 technical support.