Multiple Latin Grammy Award winning superstar J Balvin has embarked on his Energia world tour, bringing his own brand of Colombian ‘Reggaeton’ to the masses, supported by FOH Engineer John Buitrago.
The seasoned FOH Engineer has followed J Balvin’s relentless journey for the past 9 years and knows that when putting together his production, only the very best in audio quality will do. This is precisely why he chose a DiGiCo SD10 for the tour and why he has been using the British manufacturer’s consoles for many years.
“I’ve been using a DiGiCo SD10 and SD Rack for the last 2 years wherever I’ve been in the world,” Buitrago explained. “So using it for the current tour, with the new requirements I have for the input list, was pretty easy. In fact, after a quick virtual sound check, I ran the whole show into Snapshots and boom, I was ready to go!”
Buitrago utilised a 56-channel configuration including instrument channels, vocal mics, guest vocals, DJ supports and talkbacks, with the console’s AES outputs used for the main PA and the analogue outputs of the SD Rack for comms between FOH, technicians, lighting and video.
“The sound quality of any DiGiCo, plus their amazing headroom, is pretty easy to recognise. I chose the SD10 because it has the DiGiCo sound I love and everything else about it is just right for my show,” Buitrago stated
Buitrago has also been making good use of a DiGiCo/Waves SoundGrid on the tour. “I’m a really big fan of the DiGiCo and SoundGrid interaction; the way I can get everything connected through the Soundgrid Network,” he added. “It streamlines access and controls so well!”
As the tour rolls on, the DiGiCo SD10 is there every step of the way, making sure each show goes off without a hitch, but with the challenges FOH engineers like Buitrago face each night on these world class shows, technical support is equally important. “We have access to the most amazing team at DiGiCo. From Fernando Delgado and Jaap Pronk from DiGiCo, to Andres Gomez from Codiscos Audio, DiGiCo’s distributor in Colombia. They are all amazing and really smart guys.”
J Balvin is set to continue his tour throughout Central and South America in November 2017, with Buitrago deploying his trusty SD10 to make sure that each night sounds just as great as the last.