Orlando, FL (March 30, 2017)—Kevin Antunes is no slouch, having backed Madonna on multiple tours and her Super Bowl appearance a few years ago; acted as the musical designer on Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson ONE; and worked for Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams, among others. For many of those gigs, the musical director/producer/keyboardist has made use of the RME’s Fireface UCX audio interface, which he began working with in 2011.
Since then, he’s expanded with the MADIface USB (2013) and then in 2015, he purchased two MADIface XT interfaces. He uses his three interfaces with MOTU’s Digital Performer and Native Instruments’ Komplete Kontrol software packages running on an Apple MacBook Pro.
“The Fireface UCX serves as my main audio interface in recording studios, on stage, and at television performances,” Antunes said. “The converters provide me with the highest audio fidelity and offer me six analog outputs for working in 5.1 directly from my laptop—keeping my setup both highly portable and powerful. I used my MADIface USB interface while building and arranging the music for Michael Jackson ONE. Besides using it in the studio, I needed to sit in multiple locations throughout the theatre to ensure that the immersive listening environment could be experienced at every zone in the room. From my laptop, I could control 32 channels of 48 kHz/24-bit MADI audio and audition the mix as well as edit arrangements. The LoopBack function in RME’s TotalMix software became my best friend during this session.”
Meanwhile, his Madonna on-stage set up is built around two MADIface XTs connected to two separate MacBook Pros. “In rehearsal mode, I edit/arrange/mix and rehearse using Digital Performer to create all versions of the show ideas directly from my rig,” he said. “Think of my system being similar to a DJ’s, except that my A rig and B rig are 32 MADI multi-track beasts! In performance show mode, I run MADI audio from my Komplete Kontrol rig through the MADIface XTs. I also take a feed from the stereo out that I run into my own personal 2.1 sound system that’s built under my riser.”
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