Among the many who responded to the devastation that Oklahomans suffered as a result of the tornado that passed through that state in May was the community of musicians and audio technicians who live or have performed in that state over the years. On July 6, a concert was held at the University of Oklahoma to benefit victims of this storm. Featured performers included Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Willie Nelson, Carrie Underwood, Sammy Hager, Ronnie Dunn and the current dean of classic country, Mel Tillis.
TNDV, a Nashville-based mobile television production company, donated the use of its new audio truck, Vibration; staff; and the expertise it’s picked up over the years as one of the most in demand companies of its kind in Nashville.
“It was an honor and pleasure to be associated with this momentous benefit concert,” said Nic Dugger, TNDV’s owner. “This was also the first project of significance for Vibration, and it performed exceptionally well under very demanding circumstances. Since the eight-hour concert came together in a relatively short time, our crew had to make swift creative and technical decisions and respond on-the-fly as the fast-paced production unfolded.”
The TNDV crew included Dugger, Adam Ellis and Mills Logan, a freelance audio mixer and recording engineer who has worked closely with Toby Keith for nearly a decade. Staff devoted four days to this project, which was filmed in HD video by High Five Entertainment, also located in Nashville. Working without the luxury of sound checks and minimal breaks between acts strained everyone, but the job was pulled off without a hitch, thanks in part to the combination of ProTools and the Studer Vista 9 console that resides in the Vibration truck, according to Logan.
“The Studer Vista 9 console with ProTools recorders was a flawless combination,” said Logan, whose first hands-on experience with the console and truck was on set-up day. “We had no time to do sound checks and only 20 minute breaks between performances. But the audio mixing and recording went very smoothly because the console is intuitive, with lots of ergonomic, timesaving features, like the ability to preconfigure the board and instantly reset or recall memorized settings,” Logan said.
Although no release date or distribution deal has been finalized, High Five Entertainment anticipates that footage of the concert will be available at some point through a network presentation and/or DVD distribution.
