Before heading out on the road with Metallica for the “M72 World Tour,” Live Sound Monitor Engineers and Technicians Mike “Mic” Bollella and Robert “Bob” Cowan looked to expand the band’s RF coverage with a full-spectrum solution that could be used worldwide.
Bollella and Cowan continually look for solutions that provide the best live experiences for artists and fans alike. To achieve this for the M72 tour, which is performed in the round, Bollella and Cowan worked with RF Tech Stacey Handley to select Wisycom MTK982 Dual Wideband Transmitters.
“We needed to expand on the RF spectrum that we could use, and we also needed a solid RF over fiber system,” explained Bollella, who first discovered Wisycom through colleagues in the industry. “We came to the realisation that the Wisycom gear was really the next step forward in in-ear monitoring technology, which made our decision simple.”
The upgrade to Wisycom has been beneficial for a variety of reasons. “First and foremost, the jump in spectrum that we can use, not only in the U.S., but worldwide, is incredible,” said Bollella. “It is really beneficial to not have to rent additional gear for shows in markets with troublesome RF. Secondly, the technology behind the Wisycom combiners is powerful and advanced. It allows us to space the transmitters closer together when needed without worrying about certain intermod artifacts.”
Bollella also praises the system’s state-of-the-art RF-over-fiber technology and high-quality sound: “We do not mix on stage for these in-the-round shows; most of the time, we are upwards of 500-feet away, so we need solid coverage wherever we end up. Wisycom was the only manufacturer that we spoke with that was up for that challenge, and it succeeded in every way. Additionally, the jump in audio quality is impressive and there is a huge leap in overall fidelity. We have noticed this both in depth and in an expansive stereo field.”
With this, Bollella said the system has positively impacted the team’s workflow. “One of the main strengths of the system has been the ease of coordination on a daily basis,” he added. “We have so many more options spectrum wise, which allows us to work more efficiently. The enhanced audio quality has been the icing on the cake.”
When discussing the company as a whole, Bollella added: “Wisycom has been nothing short of fantastic, answering all questions we have at all hours of the day and night. We hope to keep learning and growing with the system as the band’s live performances progress.”
As one of two monitor engineers on tour with the band, Bollella mixes for Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo, in addition to handling the monitor tech’ing portion of the system, while Cowan has mixed for Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield for more than 15 years. In conjunction with the Wisycom system, Bollella and Cowan mix on two gain-sharing Avid S6L desks with E6L-192 engines, along with 36 Meyer Sound MJF210 and eight MJF212 wedges on stage.
