OCTOBER 2026
Richard Ashcroft’s Engineers Gear Up for Summer with DiGiCo
During the summer, outdoor events make touring even more exciting, with changeable weather and a huge spectrum of venues, from fields in the UK to arenas and stadiums across the world. For Richard Ashcroft’s engineers, this is not a problem thanks to their well-prepared touring package, including DiGiCo consoles and Fourier Audio transform.engine. Front-of-house engineer Eds John and monitor engineer Matt Lewis explain the forward-planning that goes into creating timeless summer-festival magic moments.
“This year, we have come from an arena tour almost straight into our summer run, so most of the spec was put together at the beginning of the year and has carried through,” John says. “We have a simplified setup for the summer, with a raw festival feel for the core band. We have removed some of the live aspects and added a strings track to retain Richard’s signature sound. Control packages will be picked up locally for a lot of the shows and I will be moving between the DiGiCo Q338 and Q852. Being DiGiCo, it’s so easy to convert my file between the consoles. No matter where you are in the world, you can always find a DiGiCo to suit your needs.”
Being the headline act for festivals comes with the benefit of longer sound checks, so setting up in a 20-minute window is not often a requirement for John and Lewis, giving them much more time to make sure everything is perfect. For the summer of 2026, the pair were utilizing many of the core DiGiCo Quantum features, with John enjoying the Copy Audio function and Lewis appreciating the Mustard processing.
“As headline act, we either get in early on show day or the night before, so there is plenty of time to get what you need done,” John continues. “I’m using the Waves port for virtual soundcheck so, after line checking with the crew, I turn on the Copy Audio function and sound check with the last show I recorded. This is useful because the band are not always available. I’m also using the Fourier transform.engine. I cannot do without with it for any of the bands I mix now. When started using it, I just had a few plugins running while I got up to speed, but I now process a huge amount of my mix via it and I don’t use any other outboard so it’s a super tidy setup of DiGiCo and Fourier!”
For Lewis, as the band have scaled up, so have his desk choices. With its super-sharp screens the Q338 has been a welcomed change.
“I’ve used pretty much every series of consoles on this gig over the years, and for the last two years I have specified a Quantum338 for all my shows,” he adds. “To be honest, I was always very happy with the SD12 when the band was a four piece, but as soon as it scales up, the Q338 comes into its own. I’ve always been a fan of the three-screen DiGiCos, but the sharper resolution screens and extra processing power, like the Mustard processing and Aux Nodes, are really useful on the bigger shows. It’s just a very enjoyable surface to be in front of.”
Foldback on stage is heavily reliant on d&b wedges and side fills. As Richard Ashcroft is not a fan of in-ear-monitoring, Lewis mixes the stage loudspeakers in a similar way to a front-of-house mix, delivering an immersive experience for the core band on stage.
For more information, visit digiconsoles.com.
