The prestigious Vodacom CEO Awards took place at Vodaworld in Midrand, and for the very first time, MGG was appointed to supply full technical services and support. With a modern vintage theme, lighting designer Francois van der Merwe created pomp and hype on the grandMA2 full size, while audio engineer Fanie Pieterse ensured the theatrical performance was complimented with exceptional sound. Fanie ran the show on a DiGiCo SD10 and used his brand new DiGiCo 32-bit “Stadius’ Mic Pre-Amp for the live sound aspects.
Lighting the way
“It was a fantastic event,’ said Francois. “The acts varied from theatre to ballet and from drama to rock. While we had a demanding list of requirements that needed to be met, we worked closely with the producers and creative team, and the event was an enormous success.’
Francois ran the show on the full-size grandMA2 and said his star performer of the night were the BMFLs, which he used for FOH and backlight.
It’s all about the sound
For the past five years, Fanie Pieterse has operated on the DiGiCo platform and professionally and meticulously ensured excellent audio at the Vodacom CEO Awards. “The DiGiCo is the most flexible console I’ve ever worked on,’ said Fanie. “It sounds great, and because it’s so adaptable, working on this platform is made easy. The SD Range is intuitive, and enables you to patch the console to anyone’s patch list no matter how random it may seem, and there are features that allow you to operate according to your personal preferences.’
The vocals and all live aspects such as the guitars and saxophones ran on DiGiCo’s cutting-edge 32-bit “Stadius’ Mic Pre-Amp. The product was released at Prolight+Sound earlier this year, and the improvement in converter technology and audio excellence are distinguishing qualities that the DiGiCo manufacturing team have worked tirelessly to achieve.
For Fanie, the new Stealth Core 2 upgrade is a highlight. “Every channel now has full DSP, where before you were limited to a certain amount of channels.’
Some people hear the music while others feel it. Audio has been the drive for Fanie for as long as he can remember. “I used to be in the sound team at school,’ he recalls. It’s quite funny because I would wake up early on a Saturday morning to set up the sound on the sports grounds. I would then play rugby, and when everybody went off to a party, I would strike.’
In a show of enormous tenacity, after completing an audio course at Damelin, Fanie phoned Mark Gaylard, owner of MGG, twice a week for six months, until Mark finally employed him. And Fanie has never looked back. He ends, “This is the closest thing to what happiness should be.’
