| It wasn’t until
his senior year project (ironically enough documenting the
lives of documentary producers) that Derek abandoned that
dream. After learning of the extremely risky careers of
producers (eight to ten years of work before being commissioned
to produce documentaries), he left upstate New York and
moved across the country to San Francisco.
A healthy tour-of-duty at local clubs marked Derek’s
first experiences with audio in California. “Slim’s
Club”, “End Up”, and “Club Terminator”
were among the list of venues giving Derek his early Front-of-House
and technical experiences. Derek recounted one of the more
memorable evenings at “End Up”, a club in San
Francisco. What was supposed to be a rock and roll gig turned
into a rave with theatrics which included mock human sacrifices.
“I had a two foot diameter flaming ball fly on my
console”, remarks Derek.
Working around Central California eventually led Derek to
JK Sound Services, a sound reinforcement company located
in the Bay Area. After a brief interview, he was immediately
hired to begin with the basic warehouse duties that most
engineers trying to break into the industry have experienced.
Prepping gear and loading trucks taught him the ins and
outs of professional mobile audio. It didn’t take
Derek long to crawl his way up the ladder and eventually
become chief systems engineer for JK. Looking back at his
stay with JK, Derek says, “We started with a crappy
PA that we used for a couple of bands and ended up with
a 40 box EAW system.” Through raves, street fairs,
concerts, and club gigs, he learned many facets of live
audio which would help him down the road and throughout
his career.
While at JK, in the summer of 1994, Derek received a call
to join the production team for the band “Luscious
Jackson” as their monitor engineer. It was Derek’s
acceptance of the gig that eventually led him to Ben Harper
where he still resides as monitor engineer. That was five
years and hundreds of shows ago. Ben keeps Derek busy as
they do between 100 and 200 shows a year both nationally
and internationally. He has toured Australia, New Zealand,
France, Japan, and the UK with Ben to thousands of fans
wherever they have gone.
“Ben is very picky and we have his mixes very precise”
Derek utilizes a Midas Heritage 3000 console for Ben’s
demanding monitor mixes. Only four performers take the stage
during a Ben Harper performance however each one has different
demands that keep Derek on his toes. To top that off, the
show is marked with over 1000 cues that make any daydreaming
or wandering virtually impossible. Thirty-nine channels,
many of which are redundant for individual EQ purposes,
take up the desk. Approximately twenty compressors and a
variety of outboard gear processes the signals he mixes.
Derek has implemented a very interesting system for Ben’s
monitoring. Although not the original configuration, the
system has over the years morphed into a combination of
both wedges and in-ears; a pair of stereo wedges from Rat
Sound face Ben from the floor combined with just one, his
right ear-monitor in use. Ben enjoys keeping his left ear
uncluttered to keep in direct contact with his audience.
The combination of ears and wedges obviously raises some
time alignment issues, which are resolved with a delay unit.
This precise alignment is possible only because Ben remains
on a stool and therefore at a consistent distance from his
wedges through the entire show. Rat wedges are the only
speakers used by Ben and Derek. Wherever the show travels,
the wedges follow. Because of the very precise monitoring
configuration, only the exact specified gear on the Ben
Harper rider is accepted at shows.
Derek finds that scanning the band continually through the
show is the key to keeping them happy. He has even recounted
instances where changes were made before one of the band
members has even has a chance to ask him – a testament
to the five years of nonstop touring with the same musicians.
Listening to different types of music and becoming well-rounded
top Derek’s list of advice to aspiring engineers.
According to Derek, well-roundedness can be achieved by
trial through fire. “Fixing the generator, packing
the trucks, prepping the gear are all important things to
learn.”
“I encourage the guys (Ben Harper’s band) to
get their hearing checked about once a year”. remarks
Derek. He then keeps records of the results so that he can
remain well acquainted with the individual needs of the
band. “Our drummer is high end deficient. Knowing
that helps me to compensate for what he lacks.” Derek
feels that hearing tests are very important to both live
musicians, audio engineers. He believes that anyone caring
about his or her long-term career should have a hearing
test done regularly.
The end of the year will prove to be a big change for Derek.
Ben Harper will take a much-needed break from touring to
relax and then record a new album. “I’ve though
about calling some Nashville buddies and looking for a nice,
easy, gig with some country artist. Plus there’s a
standing offer with Rat Sound to come on board as one of
their systems techs.”
Whatever the future holds for Derek, the past has taught
him well the values and tools that make engineers great.
Hard work and an even temperament are well revered traits
for those who have to cooperate day-in and day-out with
artists, promoters, and management people. Derek Van Ord
has honed each one of these traits which are sure to keep
him on the road with the top level artists for some time
to come. |
