Ben Howard Takes Victory Lap

London, UK (March 7, 2025)—UK troubadour Ben Howard first rose to prominence a decade ago with his number-one album, I Forget Where We Were, and recently played a 10^th anniversary tour for the collection around the UK, Europe and Ireland. The tour carried a large band and audio gear provided by Eighth Day Sound, and the FOH position was filled by John Cornfield, who has also worked with the artist in the studio.

Cornfield mixed on an Allen & Heath S7000 console with a DX32 Prime rack for local IO and a DM64 stage rack with a 32-way Prime preamp rack for additional IO. Among the gear also is an Allen & Heath Ultra FX DSP card for “wonderful-sounding FX.” He added, “I’m running a MADI card at FOH for virtual soundcheck and record it all on Pro Tools on my PC laptop using an Avid HDX card from the BNC out with an Avid MADI HD interface. I also have a Mac Mini with an RME MADI FX card from the optical out. We have eight channels of Rupert Neve Designs’ 5045 Primary Source Enhancers which I run alongside the AHB Primary Source Expanders on all vocal channels.”

On the Road With Jelly Roll

Production manager/system engineer Bobbie Caris looked after the L-Acoustics K1/K2 system for the tour, noting, “This systems’ musicality reinforces the tone and harmonics of Ben’s music very well, and in acoustically treated venues, the transients of an L-Acoustics system can really work to your advantage. I have a lot of information coming my way from the nine-piece band on stage, and the system is fully capable of translating the finest details therein.”

For vocal, the sE Electronics V7 Dynamic Microphone was used on most band members, while Howard’s acoustic guitar went through a variety of guitar pedals and an LR Baggs acoustic guitar pickup system to pick up the high end of the acoustic, which was fed out to a separate input via a volume pedal.

Monitor engineer Sander Van Laere tackled stage mixes on a DiGiCo Quantum 5 console, sending signal to a baker’s dozen of Shure PSM 100 in-ear monitor systems. Throughout the run, Van Laere found he had everything he needed for the complex production, which often featured atypical instruments (flugelhorn, trombone, cello and a live analog tape looper) for a mainstream pop show. “It was great working with Eighth Day,” he said. “Every package, anywhere in the world, was built to my wants and needs; I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I’m especially thankful for all the fantastic techs that joined us along the way, every single person was outstanding.”