Joan Baez in Performance
Veteran tour engineer Jason Raboin has mixed shows for an eclectic roster of artists, ranging from Modest Mouse and Cowboy Junkies to Luna and Ben Lee. As the owner of Camden Sound, he also engineers for a variety of regional musicians in Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley. But Raboin is best known as touring engineer for legendary folk singer Joan Baez for over a decade.
Needs
- Sonic clarity and transparency are essential when mixing Baez’s distinctive voice and acoustic instrumentation
- High fidelity is required to minimize, or entirely eliminate, monitor remixing between acts when multiple performers share a concert stage
- Precise pattern control is critical for small to mid-size halls which don’t leave a lot of space to deal with reflections
- Compact portable subwoofers needed to deliver concert-level LF while minimizing visual intrusion for her concert (shown in rehearsal) at New York City’s historic Beacon Theater, taped for broadcast on the PBS’s Great Performances series
Solution
For Baez’s monitor system, Raboin chose Fulcrum Acoustic FA12ac loudspeakers, from the FA Portable Series. The FA12ac is a 2-way, 90° x 45° coaxial system that employs a single 12 inch coaxial loudspeaker with a rotatable horn. It features an onboard Powersoft Class D amplifier and a multi-faceted enclosure with both 40° and 55° rear angles for stage monitor use. The FA Series of full-range loudspeakers bring Fulcrum’s signature clarity and well-behaved directionality to portable applications in versatile and easy-to-handle packages. In addition to using Fulcrum speakers as monitors for Joan Baez and other artists, Raboin often employs portable FA12ac and/or FA22ac loudspeakers whose rotatable horns provide broad coverage for front-of-house.
For sub-bass, Raboin favors Fulcrum’s TS215 passive, dual 15 inch, direct-radiating subwoofers. The TS215 rivals the output of many conventional dual 18 inch subwoofers, yet it is compact and portable for live production.
Project Details
| Market | Live Production |
|---|---|
| Fulcrum Products | (2) FA12 12″ Coaxial Loudspeaker |
| (2) FA22 Dual 12″ Coaxial Loudspeaker | |
| (2) TS215 Dual 15″ Direct-Radiating Subwoofer | |
| Supporting Products | Powersoft's Armonia Pro Audio SuiteTM Control Software |
