Aug 4, 2011
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Brian Ruggles has been mixing Billy Joel’s live shows ever since the singer-songwriter came on the scene in 1971 with his Cold Spring Harbor LP. Now, more than half a century later, he continues to collaborate with the iconic artist, including mixing Joel’s multi-year, record-breaking, one-show-a-month residency at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden.
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Clair Global’s system in place for one of Billy Joel’s many MSG shows
The last eight years of that partnership have found Ruggles mixing the Piano Man’s shows on a DiGiCo SD5 console. The SD5 meets Ruggles’ needs for a console that can offer him the kind of warm sound that he grew up with using analog desks throughout most of Joel’s lengthy career and on tours with artists like Stevie Nicks, Heart, and John Mellencamp—classic names whose careers have been defined by the special sound that analog can bring to live music. Meanwhile, Josh Weibel...

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