BUENA PARK, Calif. (August 28, 2018)—Jason Mraz, pop-rock soul singer and two-time GRAMMY® Award winner, has embarked on the Good Vibes Tourin support of his new record Know, with U.S. dates that began in July and will continue through the summer before travelling to the UK and Europe in early 2019. The band consists of five female and five male musicians who are also part of the Yamaha Artist Relations family.
Front of house engineer, Ettore (Et) Dedivitiis, and monitor engineer, Matt Kornick, are both mixing on the new Yamaha RIVAGE PM7 Digital Audio Console deployed by Sound Image of Escondido, CA. “Sound Image has been there for us right from the beginning,” states Dedivitiis. “Great company and dedicated to our needs.”
“We are very proud to have supported Jason, his band, and crew for all these many years,” states Sound Image president, Dave Shadoan.
Dedivitiis has been front of house engineer and production manager for Mraz for 12 years, previously mixing for Natalie Cole and Babyface. Kornick has been with Mraz for 10 years.
“I’ve used Yamaha consoles since the PM4000,” states Dedivitiis. “For our 2017 tour, Matt was using a Yamaha PM10 for monitors, and I liked the way it was laid out, so I decided to give the new PM7 a run for the current tour. I love the console, with hard knobs you can grab, touch, and turn when you want. The console sounds amazing, is easy to work, and was easy to learn. I’m able to adjust layers and customize faders. I use 60 inputs with Jason and no playback; everything is live. During the Hoot section of the show, the female musicians and Jason are all around one mic so I can set up layers for different songs.”
Dedivitiis said he is using the console’s on-board Neve 773 and the 754 compressor on group faders, as well as the Portico 5045. “I like the band to breathe; in a live environment, everything goes by so fast…every song is different, so I am able to set up all my mixes for the drum groups, bass groups, percussion, etc. I’m also using the SILK blue and red features, the SPX, and H3000. I’ve been extremely happy and the mixing compliments have been great.” He also loves the record function and uses a USB stick for quick MP3 files, tracking live through Dante, and multi-tracking.
“I like the reverbs, delays, and limiters,” Dedivitiis says. “The EQs are very responsive, and the choices can be smooth or aggressive, when required. Yamaha has always been my favorite. The ergonomics are comfortable, and along with Yamaha familiarity, the company’s amazing technical support and service staff is very helpful and easy to reach. I’m over the moon with the PM7! Usually, you have to overcompensate with digital consoles, but when you look at a Yamaha RIVAGE, you can really tell the difference. It’s a great, solid, well-built console.”
“I started mixing Jason on a PM5D,” says Kornick. “We eventually outgrew it and moved on to a Yamaha CL5. Last year, for Jason’s 40th birthday show at the Hollywood Bowl with the current band, along with a lot of the past band members, and special guests, I needed a more robust console, so I went with the Yamaha PM10. It was awesome and gave me so much extra flexibility, sounded amazing, and was a lot of fun to mix on. Moving on, the PM7 has more than enough power for anything that gets thrown at us, with the same great sound.”
Kornick said he was most excited to try the RN 5045 on multiple channels and the H3000, since they were previously not available on the PM10. “They are both terrific. I find myself mostly using the 830 compressor and 810 EQ, and like the control and transparency. The texture knob is great for helping to shape sounds, without over EQ’ing. I like what should be the simple stuff as well, like being able to place channels wherever I want, and having the cue button located at the bottom of the fader.”
For more information on the Jason Mraz tour visit www.jasonmraz.com.
For more information on Sound Image, visit www.sound-image.com.
For more information on the Yamaha RIVAGE PM Series, visit www.yamahaca.com.
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PHOTO ID: Matt Kornick, Monitor Engineer; Ettore (ET) Dedivitiis, Production Manager/FOH; Son Nishimura, FOH System Engineer (Sound Image); Standing behind Nishimura – Jacob Lamb, Stage and Monitor System Tech (Sound Image); and Jason Mraz
