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PA Tuning Tunes with Brian Joseph

All live engineers have favorite songs that they use to tune the PA, whether it’s the ubiquitous Donald Fagan track, “I.G.Y.”, or for a change of pace, maybe some Steely Dan. If this topic sounds familiar, we’ve blogged about this before, and that post now it's a recurring feature. Today, we check in with Brian Joseph, FOH engineer on Bon Iver's current world tour. Not only does he oversee the band's nightly shows, but he was also the engineer and mixer for the act's new eponymous album. So, Brian, what music do you use to tune a PA?

All live engineers have favorite songs that they use to tune the PA, whether it’s the ubiquitous Donald Fagan track, “I.G.Y.”, or for a change of pace, maybe some Steely Dan. If this topic sounds familiar, we’ve blogged about this before, and that post now it’s a recurring feature. Today, we check in with Brian Joseph, FOH engineer on Bon Iver’s current world tour. Not only does he oversee the band’s nightly shows, but he was also the engineer and mixer for the act’s new eponymous album.

So, Brian, what music do you use to tune a PA?

“D’Angelo’s ‘The Line.’ It’s illuminating as to the musicality of the subs and the frequency extension of my main hang, and it verifies the time alignment of the mains and my subs. It also shows me what the main hang is capable of as far as bass extension. The lo-mids are rich and forward, which is important for me to hear in a PA for Bon Iver’s vocal range. The hi-hat and snare are great for time alignment.”

Keep an eye out for our coverage of Bon Iver’s recent U.S. tour leg in the November issue of Pro Sound News!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZZP-oJhlig

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