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Colorado Symphony performs DiGiCo reprise with Quantum852 console

Colorado Symphony has been an early adopter of DiGiCo’s SD7, upgraded the console with one of the first Quantum engines to ship to the US in 2019, integrated DiGiCo’s 4REA4 processing system more than one and a half years ago, and now has installed DiGiCo’s new flagship Quantum852 at front-of-house, alongside a Fourier Audio Transform.Engine setup, both supplied by Thornton, Colorado-based Brown Note Productions.

“Purchasing the Q852 was a natural progression for me, trying to stay up with where the technology is going”, says Aric Christensen, Colorado Symphony’s longtime head of audio. “Whenever I see a new product being released by DiGiCo, I want to get in on it.” For Christensen, the most significant feature to stand out when he first laid eyes on the Quantum852 was the surface’s new, larger display screens. “They are more than twice the size of the SD7 screens, and you can have all these different functions represented”, he notes.

“I installed the new Quantum852 in the middle of the busiest part of our season, and people were like, ‘You’re crazy!’”, Christensen laughs. “But I know the software; I know what to expect from all of this.” The SD7 Quantum, previously at FOH in the hall, has been repurposed as a monitor, broadcast, or backup console according to the needs of the production, he reports.

Having said that, he continues, “You start digging into it and, while everything’s familiar, there are a lot of new features here. This thing has more power than I’ve ever had before, to the point where I’m still trying to figure out when and how to utilize some of it.” For example, “I can have individual macros on individual channels”, he says. “I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to introduce that into my workflow.”

As an early adopter of technology under the Audiotonix brands umbrella, Christensen also purchased a pair of Fourier Audio Transform.Engine plug-in servers, which integrate directly with DiGiCo Quantum consoles, some time ago. “I bought two of them so I could do redundancy, but I’m currently only using one through an Orange Box”, he explains. “After I’d had it set up at front-of-house for a while I moved it to a remote location, where it’s tied in over fiberoptics. I’m trying to make my front-of-house position area less crowded and as streamlined as possible, with everything integrated with one unified network system.”

Audiotonix’s support also inspired him to integrate DiGiCo’s 4REA4 processing system in place of the previous backstage 70 V distributed system while also performing an AoIP networking infrastructure upgrade to support Dante and AVB. “I thought, how can I get the level of service that I’m used to with DiGiCo and (US distributor) Group One over all the pieces of equipment that I have in my system, except for maybe the speakers and amplifiers?”, he shares. “I started looking at the 4REA4 and was able to get that done during the network installation. Having all these different audio system components under one umbrella is the smart way to go, I think, and gives me peace of mind.”

While Colorado Symphony mostly performs in the 2,700-seat Boettcher Concert Hall at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in Denver, Colorado, the 80-piece orchestra of full-time musicians also plays outdoor shows regionally and around the country. For those events, Christensen uses DiGiCo’s Convert software to adapt his console’s layout to the console model he rents for the show.

The software also enables Christensen to accommodate the needs of visiting engineers who also work on DiGiCo consoles when their artists collaborate with the orchestra. “I can tell the engineer, I’ve got all these templates that will work for your pop show, and I can just lay you on top of that”, he explains. “Or, if you already have a DiGiCo file, send it to me. Before you show up, I can have that reorganized so it’ll work for both of us. The fact that DiGiCo has a free, offline editor really helps.”

Colorado Symphony has collaborated with Beck, the Beach Boys, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, amongst others.

Pictured (left to right): Aric Christensen with Media Recording Engineer/A2 Joe Garcia Miranda. (Photos: Amanda Tipton)

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