In January, passengers aboard the Imperial Majesty Regal Empress cruise ship left port in Ft. Lauderdale and headed toward Nassau, The Bahamas and Key West. For four days and four nights, Jam Cruise participants took in the sights and rays of these beautiful cities, while rockin' out to Galactic, Keller Williams, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, the Disco Biscuits, Bill Nershi (of the String Cheese Incident) and many others.

According to front-of-house engineer Kevin Browning, “Mixing on an open-air deck in the middle of the Atlantic is quite a unique experience. No walls, no ceilings and, therefore, no reflections make for a crisp and clear mix all the way to the mainland.”

Browning worked on a Yamaha PM4000 console, while monitor engineer Jereb Carter manned a Crest LM 40-channel board. Outboard gear at FOH included an Eventide H3000, Lexicon PCM 91, two Yamaha SPX-990s, TC Electronic D-2, two channels of Summit tube compressors, and eight channels of dbx 900 Series compressors and a 1066; all gear was supplied by Clair Bros. In addition to the on-boat system, Browning carried a Focusrite ISA 430 Producer Pack for the kick.

The mic cabinet included Audix D6 (kick), D2 (auxiliary snare), SCX-1s (hi-hat and percussion), D2s and D4s (rack and floor toms, respectively), Micro-D (bottom snare), 1244s (congas), D4s on bass cabinet and low Leslie, D2s on top Leslie and OM6s on the four vocals; additionally, he used a “good ol'” Shure 57 on snare top, AKG 414s on drum overheads, and Sennheiser 421 and Blue Baby Bottle on the two guitar cabinets. “I really do love Audix mics, especially on drums and percussion. They have tight patterns, great frequency response and beautiful round warm tones.

“It's hard not to smile and remember why I love this job when the sun is rising behind the band, the moon is sinking behind FOH and there's not another thing going on for 500 miles.”