Sam Hocking and Craig Burns on choosing DirectOut for Gabrielle’s 30 Years Of Dreaming Tour
DirectOut’s reputation for reliability and flexibility has grown steadily in live sound, with audio professionals working on some of the world’s biggest tours increasingly relying on DirectOut hardware for “mission-critical” playback.
Audio engineers Sam Hocking and Craig Burns are the latest to add the DirectOut PRODIGY.MP to their live sound rig. With a clients list featuring the likes of Gorillaz, London Grammar, Amy Macdonald, Corinne Bailey Rae, Bloc Party and Billy Ocean, the pair now offer sound services through their new joint-venture Northern Production House.
Having recently embarked on UK pop star Gabrielle’s 30 Years of Dreaming Tour, Sam and Craig kindly shared with us their enthusiasm for DirectOut devices, which they consider a top choice for flawless sound on stage.
Meet the Experts Behind Northern Production House
Craig Burns (pictured left) says his career began at the Rhyl Pavilion in North Wales, where he got to experience working with a variety of different touring productions.
“I started many years ago at my local theatre, Rhyl Pavilion,” explains Craig. “It was a receiving house, so I got to work with many incoming productions and got to see and know a lot of the regular touring people and companies, one of which was Wigwam Acoustics (now Solotech).
“After a few years of doing various little pub gigs and anything that I could to gain experience, I was offered a job with Wigwam – and the rest as they say is history!”
“For me it’s come almost naturally from an early age, being obsessed with music and sound,” says Sam Hockings (pictured right) on his own route into live sound. “Really it began every week in a local church – from when I could walk – with everything needing to be set up and loaded out each week. That really was my start in understanding audio.”
Having worked with major UK live sound players such as Wigwam/Solotech, Entec Sound & Light, and Skan (now part of Britannia Row), as well as directly supporting numerous high-profile artists, the pair now provide live sound production services under their company name Northern Production House.
The DirectOut Advantage
When it came to specifying the system for Gabrielle’s 30 Years Of Dreaming Tour, the DirectOut PRODIGY.MP was chosen as a versatile system processor.
“The unit is superb and has so many features. Sonically it is super transparent,” says Sam, noting that they also found the PRODIGY very easy to get to grips with despite neither having used one before.
“From the first time we used it it was really intuitive, and there was plenty of reading material to help,” he continues. “The reliability has been fantastic. The multiple transports and card options allow for the unit to be very flexible, and a great asset to hire companies.”
“Reliable, flexible and soncially transparent”
Audio dropouts are, of course, unthinkable for a high-profile artist like Gabrielle. Alongside the PRODIGY.MP the pair also make use of DirectOut’s EXBOX.MD and ANDIAMO, which like the PRODIGY feature extensive redundancy options, guaranteeing uninterrupted sound during a live performance.
“Yeah we use the EXBOX and ANDIAMO just as much,” explains Sam. “Again, our favourite things are just the reliability, the sonic transparency and the flexibility. To this day we’ve had zero problems with DirectOut products.”
Control with GlobCon
Another standout feature of DirectOut devices is GlobCon, DirectOut’s control software that simplifies device management and connectivity. Sam and Craig were quick to highlight its intuitive interface and consistent performance, noting that DirectOut have increasingly kept pace with industry advancements, as well as feedback from their own user base.
“We really enjoy its user-friendly interface and its consistency,” says Sam on GlobCon. “There’s no need to battle with connectivity to devices or layouts. It provides everything we need at this current time, and it seems to be ever-evolving as they move forward with requests from the industry.”
A Legacy of Excellence
Reliability is a must for any live sound professional – for Sam and Craig, DirectOut’s proven track record has made the brand a go-to for their FOH and Systems work.
Whether they’re manning the mixing console for Gabrielle or working behind the scenes for other clients, Northern Production House joins a long list of professional DirectOut users keeping both the artists and their fans happy with first-class sound.