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Whale Watching
The Journey Whale Rig Setup
Made Easy!
After the staging,lights and sound go up, we then begin setting up all the bands equipment, or as we call it "The Backline".
When it comes to Jonathan's rig, first, I set up the piano riser. The riser consists of 2 main set pieces made up of aluminum,plexiglass and a dozen or so high powered lights mounted underneath. When the setcart comes off the truck it looks more like spare parts from a WWII Sherman tank then it does a piano riser.
With the assistance of several stage hands, we begin setting up the piano riser.
With the piano riser finished, we are ready to bring up the piano AKA “The Whale”. Because the piano and case together weigh over 1000 lbs we use a forklift to carefully lift it onto the stage.
When we remove the side lid from the case, you can see the piano is actually stored on it's side exposing it's hard red underbelly. (The soundboard)
Before we actually lay the piano out of its case, we assemble 2 of the 3 legs and the pedals. They are stored in another case, aka “The Guppy”.
Next,we bring the piano out slowly until it comes to rest on the back leg and the pedals. I then lift up the left side and attach the 3rd leg. Notice the proctective cover,it keeps the top from getting scratched during setup.
We lift the piano onto the piano riser. Now, we bring up Orca!
Orca houses several pieces of plexiglass used to mount on the piano riser, its used for sound proofing. Mounting it next to the piano keeps the loud drums from bleeding into the piano microphones.
Here's a shot of the piano mics inside the Whale. Now, I mount the keyboard stands to the piano riser.
Here's where we place the second keyboard stand. See how the keyboards are arranged.
Then, we wheel in the rack! The rack houses all Jon's synthe modules and mixer. This is the Command Center of his rig, all the mic cables from the piano, all the midi connections, and all the audio cables connect to the rack.
Everything gets wired and plugged in the back of the rack.
Tracy watches and makes sure Brent is wiring up everything correctly.
Although Jonathan uses wireless in ear monitors to hear his keyboards, this amp is setup as a backup if his wireless unit ever goes out.
After everything is up and running, I go in and tune the piano. Because the piano is subjected to a lot of movement, packing and unpacking, not to mention the different weather conditions,I tune it everyday. Sometimes twice a day, especially on outdoor shows.
Last thing we do in the setup is “linecheck”, this is the time we go through all the instruments and make sure everything is wired up correctly. The crew aka “The Moon Crickets” will do a little jamming for the sound engineers to make sure everything is sounding right. This is the time when the crew guys get to pretend to be Rockstars.
Occasionally, the band likes to come in and jam during the day. The band uses this time to try out new material or rehearse old songs they haven’t performed in a while, or when they just want to goof around and make a lot of noise.
The band and crew huddle together to talk about the possible changes with the set list.
Ross sometimes serenades us with his piano abilities.
Jon's Harps- He plays the Blues in the key of C and D.
THE END
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Jonathan Cain Web Site
PO Box 1393
Franklin Park, Illinois 60131
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