24 Live Sound International June 2003

June 2003 Live Sound International 25

Colombia’s C. Vilar Amplificacioninvests in a new rig to meet the challenges of large-scale concert sound

I n Latin America, sound companies don’t get much bigger than Bogota, Colombia-basedC. Vilar Amplificacion Professional. Most recently, the company has been heavilyinvolved with events including the South American leg of Shakira’s “Tour of the

Mongoose,” and two-time Latin Grammywinner Carlos Vives’ “Dejame Entrar”(“Let Me In”) tour.

President Cesar Vilar started his busi-ness in the early ‘80s and has seen bothhis company and his family evolve into athriving sound and lighting entity in theSouth American market. After a briefcareer in business management and sales,Vilar, who played guitar and performedlead vocals for a band, realized that hiswork in the entertainment sector couldbe more profitable in the long run andused his networking skills to obtain morecontracts for his band and its small soundsystem. He spent the next 12 years tour-ing Colombia, renting his system whenoff the road before focusing full effort onbuilding a full-fledged sound reinforce-ment company.

In the early stages, all of the compa-ny’s mixing boards, microphones, ampli-fiers, electronics and loudspeaker driverswere brought in from the U.S., but thecabinets for the loudspeakers were builtand assembled by the company on site.This approach was not unusual – due tohigh transportation costs and the taxes ongoods brought in from outside the coun-try, virtually every other sound companyin the region did the same thing.

That changed in 1994, when C. Vilarbecame the first sound company inColombia to bring in a full, professionalPA system with structures and riggingcapabilities, marking them as the firstlocal company to own a name-brand sys-tem large enough to provide reinforce-ment for international touring acts visitingthe country. The system acquired at thetime was comprised of EAW KF850s andSB850s, later complemented with KF853sfor long throw, all driven by Crest 8001and 7001 power amplifiers. Soon after,Meyer MSL-4s and UM-1 monitors wereadded, along with EAW SB650 subs.

By Dan Garcia

FOLLOWING FOOTSTEPSThe company gained noted recogni-tion in the following years, providingsound for all major government-spon-sored music festivals, popular Latinartists like Vives, Alejandro Sanz andShakira, as well as international actslike Santana and Metallica. And as C.Vilar Amplificacion was growing, sotoo were Cesar’s sons, who bothdecided to follow in their father’s foot-steps.

Cesar’s eldest son, Leonardo,majored in acoustics and sound con-tracting at Columbia College inChicago, studying under Doug Jonesand Dominique Cheene. Beforeattending Columbia, says Leonardo, “Ihad worked with my father’s compa-ny for several years. I was out on tourbefore I even knew how a micworked.”

By 1998, Leonardo had taken therole of FOH engineer forAterciopelados, the most successfulColombian rock band of the time,touring Central and South America,Europe and the U.S. with the act until2003. “I had the opportunity to get myhands on many different systems dur-ing these years,” he comments, adding

that his experience has helped thecompany make better-informed choic-es when purchasing new gear.

Younger brother Mauricio studiedat Full Sail in Orlando, earning anAssociates degree before returning toplay a role in his father’s company aswell. He also has toured as monitorengineer for Aterciopelados and the

band Bacilos, which recently won the2003 Grammy Award for “Best LatinPop Album.”

Last year, C. Vilar Amplificacionmade the decision to update its “A-line” loudspeaker rig, and beganinvestigating the merits of the variousline array systems on the market,attending a number of product demosat the invitation of manufacturers. “Ihad heard a particular system inSpain, and it was pretty nice,” saysLeonardo, “and my father and I trav-elled to Mexico City for a demo ofanother product.”

This first round of evaluation didn’treally nudge the decision-makingprocess. “The first line arrays that welistened to did not impress us,”explains Cesar. “To us, they per-formed better than a conventional sys-tem, but not enough to make us feelas though we needed it in our inven-tory.”

Progress was made at the 2002 AESConvention in Los Angeles, however,where months of research and discus-sion, followed by this first-hand“touch and feel” opportunity, led toselection of an Adamson Y-Axis sys-tem. “Every audio professional wespoke with – those without an interestin selling us anything – had nicethings to say about this line array sys-

26 Live Sound International June 2003

Cesar with his company’s new line array system in the shop.

The C. Vilar crew lining ‘em up prior to a Vives stadium concert.

28 Live Sound International June 2003

He just finished a world tour with Shakira, and we caught up withhim in the midst of it. “He” is Cubby Colby, noted FOH mixer andall-around nice guy, talking about what he’s experienced with thetour while in the midst of it. Cubby had the opportunity to mix someof the Shakira shows in South America on the new C.Vilar rig andreports that he was pleased with the results.

Where are you right now?Cubby Colby: In a hotel room in Stockholm, Sweden, trying tostay warm. This tour has been quite a journey. I arrived in theDominican Republic in September of last year for the fine-tuningportion of the rehearsal process, and then we went into produc-tion rehearsals at the Miami Arena for three weeks. Our first showwas in San Diego in early November, we toured North Americafor a month and then were off to Spain and Germany, ending inLondon just before Christmas.

The tour started back up in mid-January with more dates in theU.S., and we moved along to Central America – Monterrey,Mexico City, Guadalajara. These were all stadium shows. Back tothe U.S. for a few more dates, and then back to South Americafor three weeks of more stadiums. Then it was off to Paris andmore Europe dates, and we’ll be returning to South America forfive shows, closing in Santo Domingo in mid-May.

How did you prep for this tour?Cubby: Following the fine-tuning of the rehearsal process, I beganworking with the musical director for the tour, Tim Mitchell, who’salso one of the guitar players in the band. I had my FOH gear there,along with a Clair i/O drive rack, two (Clair Bros.) i4 line arrayboxes per side, each stacked on a Clair sub, with these speakerstacks about 10 feet from my mix position. This is something Ialways do for band rehearsals - it helps me get my mix and dynam-ics together and in this case was also helpful because it was my firsttime with the Clair drive system. (Clair Bros is the sound companyfor the tour and has been absolutely great. Crew chief is Gene Phillips,monitor engineer Vish Wadi, systems engineer Mike Mason andsystem tech Tom Ford.)

We’re also using a (Harrison) Showconsole. I’ve used them forvarious award shows and one-offs, but this was my first time withone on a major tour. Mike has taken the training course for theboard, and he was really helpful in getting me off on the rightfoot. And he still keeps me in line!

For the Miami production rehearsals, we had about a thirdof a Clair i4 system, with eight i4 boxes (10 degrees) per sideand four i4b’s (5 degrees) next to them. Four Clair subs (two by18-inch-loaded) were on the ground below each array, stackedtwo over two. This gave us a very good idea of how the full rigwould perform.

Any new challenges you’ve encountered?Cubby: The set design includes ramps that extend from stage leftand stage, right down stage edge. They go out at about a 30-degree angle, extending into the audience about 24 feet. This

meant Shakira would be traveling both directly under the systemas well as way out in front of it, which in turn means I have to payextra close attention to her vocal mic when she gets out on theseramps. This is where the Clair i/O really helped out, because Icould pull down the sides for just a moment, or build a special fil-ter to “re-EQ” her mic so that it wouldn’t feed back.

At the end of the show she gets on a huge “boom arm” thatraises up and pivots her from left to right, about 45 feet in the air,again ending up way out in front of the system. So the i/O unithelps with this as well. (For more about the Clair i/O, made byLake Technologies and marketed under the Contour name, seeLive Sound, March 2003.)

Are you doing anything new in approach, employingany new equipment or techniques? Cubby: The Showconsole is a fantastic-sounding desk. Hats off toHarrison - Howard Page and his crew. It has made my approach tomixing change very little, even though I’m mixing on a control sur-face rather then the console itself. It’s so user friendly that you getvery comfortable very fast and you really start to hear the micro-phones and direct inputs like never before. Both the compressors andgates on each of the 80 channels are quite good. You put this togeth-er with the Clair i4 line array and the i/O - what a place to start.

We have been able to really define even coverage with thehelp of the remote Clair i/O controller, which enables you to walkthe room and EQ the different segments of the system.

Anything interesting with mic techniques?The mic is a Sennheiser 5000 Series transmitter with a NeumannKSM 105 capsule. Shakira had used this mic setup for a MTV“TRL” show and really liked it. Both Vish and I like it as well. Doingoutdoor shows with temperature and humidity both in the 90s, thecapsule needs to be changed out about every four shows. In lessstrident environments, the capsule isn’t even a concern. And we’vehad great support from Sennheiser and Neumann.

A long time ago, Shakira chipped a front tooth with a mic,and we sense she’s concerned that she’ll do it again, which canaffect things, as has the heavy choreography. This can take heroff-mic. We keep working with her, and with the system, and Ithink we’re winning.

For more from Cubby, see his live chat transcript onProSoundWeb. Just go to www.prosoundweb.com and click on“chat” to access the full roster of transcripts.

Catching up with... Cubby Colby

Cubby Colby flanked by Leonardo and Cesar Vilar during one of theCentral/South American legs of the Shakira tour.

30 Live Sound International June 2003

tem,” comments Leonardo. “It wasvery curious to us how many peoplebought a particular system because itwas the easiest to rig, or the lighterone, or the easiest to truck, or the onefrom the company they used before,or the one from the company withbetter credit options, or the one theirfavorite band just toured with. We justwanted to get the best-sounding sys-tem.”

“In the end, we decided to go withour instinct and chose the Y-Axis,”adds Cesar, who cited the physicsinvolved with its design and highmarks among touring engineers askey factors in the selection. Less thantwo months later, the company tookdelivery of 20 Adamson Y-18 mainline array loudspeakers, as well asfour Y-10 downfill boxes, to be pow-ered by a new amplification packageincluding six Lab Gruppen fP 3400sfor mids and highs and 18 LabGruppen fP 6400s for lows and subs.(Adamson specifies Lab Gruppen fPSeries for use with Y-Axis.)

“I know this amplifier is very pop-ular in Europe and it seems to begaining momentum in the U.S., so wedecided to go for it,” says Leonardo.

“For any sound rental company, it’sparamount to have so much reliablepower with excellent sonic quality,and as an added bonus, in a packageof such small space and light weight.”

BIGGER RIG“Two days after our Y-Axis system got

here, we started touring around thecountry,” states Leonardo, with thenew rig making its debut in mid-December of 2002 in Bogota,Colombia for 60,000 fans on hand fora show by Carlos Vives. A former TVactor, Vives has started to cross overto mainstream audiences, appealingto the younger generation by blend-ing traditional Colombian “vallenato”music with a modern pop-rock feel.Vives’ backing band, La Provincia, iscomprised of 11 musicians who playa variety of instruments ranging fromelectric guitars and drums to the moretraditional sounds of the gaita, mara-cas, coros, guacharaca, and bom-bardino.

Vives’ production engineers,including FOH engineer Juan CarlosYepes, chose to use a line array forthe Vives tour of Columbia to attaineven coverage in the largely stadiumsettings. Specifically, both the Y-18sand Y-10s offer 90 degrees of hori-zontal coverage, and a sliding hingerigging system provides both fast set-up and precise angling.

At the outset of the tour, 20 Y-18sand four Y-10s, split among two (leftand right) arrays, were used, “but werealized later on that we were goingto do more shows with artists such as

Plenty of Lab Gruppen power joined by Klark-Teknik Helix processing.

Cesar (left) and Leonardo talking it over at FOH.

32 Live Sound International June 2003

Shakira, Juanes and Miguel Bose, sowe decided to purchase more speak-ers,” says Mauricio. The count of Y-18’sincreased to 32, with an additional 32EAW SB850 subwoofers.

Leonardo handled tuning and time-alignment of the system prior to eachshow, using a combination of Gold-Line TEF-20 and SIA SMAART4.6.2systems. He notes that both systemswere selected due to his experiencewith their accuracy.

REDUCED LOADBoth Yepes and Monitor EngineerGilberto Morejon deployed Innova-SON Essential live digital mixing con-soles for the Vives tour. The compact,durable consoles have worked outwell for travel within South andCentral America, where smaller air-craft tend to fly between cities androad conditions on major routes ispoor.

Further, Yepes reports that the dig-ital boards have reduced the amountof equipment needed for transport toeach gig due to their built-in dynam-ics processing. In fact, the only otheroutboard gear that made the journeywas four effects units.

“We’re using all the compressorsand gates in the InnovaSON,” Yeppessays. “By adding the consoles to theband’s touring backline equipment,setup time has been greatly reduced.Soundcheck is down to 30 minutes or

less since we have all the settingssaved in the system.”

The stage is clean, with most musi-cians on Shure wireless in-ear moni-toring systems, with Vives using anUltimate ears system. Only four MeyerUSM-1 wedges, with Crown Macro-Tech power, were deployed, primarilyfor accordion and coros player EgidioCuadrado and keyboardist Carlos IvanMedina.

As a result of its involvement withthe Shakira tour, C. Vilar Amplificacionwound up selling a Y-Axis system (16Y-18 and four 4 Y-10 loudspeakers) toMacro Sonido of Quito, Equador,according to the company’s president,Gonzalo Aguilar.

“For the first time in our history,local artists like Shakira, Vives andJuanes are doing concerts in big stadi-ums with 60,000 people, and sellingout most shows,” concludes Leonardo.“Our country is experiencing a greatmoment for the music industry, andwe are really glad to be a part of allthat’s happening and to be providinggreat sound with our new rig.” n

Dan Garcia is an independent audio veteran and part-time journalist covering the pro audio industry.Perspective of coverage area for one of the Vives stadium shows.

The view from one of C. Vilar’s two new InnovaSON digital boards.