John ODonnell acquires DiGiCo SD9 for theatre use
Published: ASIA
AUSTRALIA: Veteran Australian sound engineer John O’Donnell has purchased a DiGiCo SD9 console from Melbourne’s Soundcorp. The desk is currently being used for front of house mixing on 'Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be - The Story of Bon Scott', which is being staged at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre.
Mr O’Donnell is a well respected figure within Australian pro audio circles, having led a two-decade career that has seen him occupy a broad range of positions including stints as a sound designer, an FOH engineer and a system architect. His list of past accolades includes being head of sound at the Victorian Arts Centre, sound system designer for Melbourne’s Concert Hall and State Theatre, a consultant for the Sidney Myer music Bowl sound system, and manning desks for artists such as John Williams, Don McLean and Paul Kelly.
According to Mr O’Donnell, the SD9 console is already being used extensively. ‘At the Athenaeum, I just finished doing 'The John Denver Story' with Rick Price, now I'm doing 'Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be’. Following that is Claire Bowditch. Then I’m off to Her Majesty’s Theatre to do the Doris Day Musical with Melinda Schneider and a 14-piece band. The SD9 will be running non-stop.’
The engineer attributes his decision to opt for the DiGiCo desk to ‘how good the sound is’. He continued: ‘I love the DiGiCo operating platform. I really like the processing power, matrix mixer and group\aux options. I go between theatre and rock and roll a lot and the SD9 fits the profile of all the different gigs I do. For this gig, I'm doing front of house and monitors at the same time, all out of the SD9. I'm using all eight outputs, seven sends and a bunch of groups. For the footprint, it does a lot. It's like the Swiss Army Knife of consoles.’
Mr O’Donnell was also keen to pay tribute to Soundcorp, explaining: ‘It's always great dealing with Mike (Lasa) and Scott (Jamieson). I've known them for a long time and just going down there, chatting with them and re-connecting was great. I'm really happy to have made the purchase from them.’