Red Hot Chili Peppers: Gear Rundown with Toby Francis

In the world of live sound, Toby Francis needs no introduction. He’s one of the all-time greats, and has mentored and influenced an entire generation of aspiring live sound engineers.
Since Toby generally carries a mountain of RND equipment on the road with him, we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him on several occasions - but this time around, we decided it would be more fun to have another engineer do it so they could geek out together.
Dani Muñoz was mixing Thundercat on this particular tour last year, and he was kind enough to spend some time with Toby going through his rig and discussing some of the techniques that Toby uses to create the best-sounding shows on the planet. (Spoiler: it involves a lot of Silk Red.)
Learn more:
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[@charlesrocks]

This is the ultimate hybrid setup. Amazing.

[@sctb00]

Holy moly. Coolest FOH rig I've ever seen. Thanks for filming this, Dani!

[@martijn_nl]

Mr Francis is one of the great FOH engineers! Great to see racks full of studio gear in his live setup.

[@justice6480]

It’s like a studio on the road!!!!!!!!

[@JJaxxon]

Exactly my thoughts about it

[@californicatedband]

This is incredible. There is so much to learn as a tribute band to the RHCP. Thank you Dani and Tony. Amazing insights.

[@MadSteexProduction]

Amazing. I'd like to see brief video of all these stuff in action, can be useful to see the amount of compressions and how the machines work

[@eduardoandreoli3118]

insane rig

[@dizmix]

Drop a live album... straight off the live desk...

[@kaislivesoundchannel4706]

Sorry, that doesn‘t work. The mix is made to sound good over a p.a. system in a big room full of people, it will not work on your home stereo, car or headphones. It is at least very unlikely. Let alone the fact that most live albums still have a lot of overdubs.

[@coldacre]

would need to mix up the setlist a little. it’s the same 12 songs every night

[@duroxkilo]

it is mentioned right in the interview they pick songs from a list of 60...@@coldacre

[@Cpayne30]

@@kaislivesoundchannel4706A good live album experience does not have to have optimal sound. Numerous bootlegs prove this. Soundboard or audience.

[@user-xj8yl2dh4p]

It would sound pretty bad . From what I have heard they always sound bad in an arena . Bands made for clubs always end up sounding out of place in big venues . Saw the white stripes on the last night of Glastonbury. Awful and embarrassing for everyone

[@johnnyrenfield]

So awesome

[@javierjanaid]

Amazing!!!

[@aRRRaiS]

Great stuff, thx 👏

[@ulrikjohansson140]

Analog!!!❤

[@nickmandleberg]

So if the Yamaha desk only has one input with mic or line level then surely the rnd pres are compromised by the pre amp stage of the desk? Is there no way to go in via insert or tape in to avoid the Yamaha pres?

[@mashzmash]

If sound engineering were mainstream, this would be an SNL sketch.

[@ProDrummer]

Yes! Like in the good old times! Analog stuff.. for me the best sounding stuff till today! (if you know how to)

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I don't doubt that the physical gear sounds amazing but I have never compared software with hardware dirrectly to hear a real difference.

[@canyonridgemedia]

Saw chili peppers at oracle park in SF for a huge benefit concert. Massive GSL rig, but it sounded so bad we left after 25 mins. Curious if he was using this bc I was genuinely surprised. With his rep I expected it to be great and was pretty bummed.

[@grimslater]

Looks to me like a lot of distractions and complications from actually mixing.

[@user-xj8yl2dh4p]

Notoriously underwhelming live band

[@mrhaze-hl6sq]

and a really nice guy !!!

[@Scotty_Russell_Music]

I'd have liked a it more info about the desk. I've used a similar one but it was ancient and everything on it was needing a service. I got a mild flashback of stressful gigs when i saw that yamaha grey colour scheme.

[@honestgontechnology7770]

That board cost more to ship than buy 😂

[@Scotty_Russell_Music]

lol yeah no doubt but looking their mega racks they can afford a truck or two@@honestgontechnology7770

[@nigeinblack1]

So maybe my Jazz into a fender rumble isn’t enough for gigs I need more gadgets 😂

[@AndreiUrucu]

Why did Dave Rat leave RHCP after all? I thought it was becase they wouldnt allow him to get an analog mixer on the road but I see Toby has one as well.

[@MrNicknayme]

I was thinking the same

[@richardbelisle4807]

Gotta go interview Big Kev from Green Day and his 5088 console live

[@davidmarais1048]

That rig is worth about 15x my home’s worth. Wow.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Probably over $250.000 of Rack gear and control serfices.

[@user-jf7uy4lm5l]

❤

[@purplecrypt7083]

For the Kick and Snare how do you come out of the Satellite in Stereo then into one mono channel on the desk?

[@lucianoluggren]

5:40 From what I see he uses 6 channels of the Satellite, Kick in, Kick out, Sn top, sn bot, sn2 top, sn 2 bot. Kick goes to the Stereo ouput 1 with red silk and the two snares go to Stereo output 2 with blue silk. Snare 1 (top and botton) panned left and snare 2 (top and botton) panned right.

[@purplecrypt7083]

@@lucianoluggren That all makes sense. But he does say the Kick comes into a Mono channel on one fader. So 2x XLR need to go into a Single XLR input on the console. All I can guess is its done with a Y Split break in Cable?

[@lucianoluggren]

@@purplecrypt7083 If you pan center the two kick channels, you can always just use a single cable from the L or R of the stereo output 1.

[@mateorincon3448]

I appreciate the fact of bringing back analog gear to live sound again but isn’t this way too overkill for a live concert? It seems like he’s mixing more with the outboard gear than with the mixing board itself.

[@thehodgi1]

Nah not overkill, just looks that way because of how much space it takes up! A lot of people will use a similar amount of processing or maybe even more digitally in console or a waves server, it’s just a waves server doesn’t take much space at all

[@matguerra333]

Is this what happened to Chad's Kick drum? That shit has been lost in the mix since 2004...Just a reminder, I love the awesome equipment but when your soundboard audio pro mix can't let you feel/hear one of the hardest kicking drummers in the world, shows something is off. Idk if it's just me. I understand he has to share a range w/Flea but that Kick should sound like (The Getaway) Kick imho

[@davidiliyn]

It's all amazing gear, no doubt but could a skilled engineer on a Pm7 get better sound with the built in tech vs outboard... I tend to believe yes from my FOH experience. I love analog and I love digital, but what an insane distraction all the outboard gear would be.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I have personally never heard equivalent gear vs software with My own ears and videos so it comes down to trust. Do you trust you can get the job done well with what you have.

[@NoSeAsuste]

Eso es un tecnico de sonido. Si el cantante coge el micro de una forma, lo soluciono con maquinas. MUY BIEN

[@iuliuszarate4037]

CRACK TOBY¡¡

[@suekennedy8917]

❤💯

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

We love Red Hot Chilli peppers but its people like Toby Fracis who are responsible for the sound We hear and remember. Neve gear looks great, quality stuff.

[@FVDaudio]

✨✨👍🏻👍🏻

[@jochemjonker3362]

He's like the chief cook from a 3 star rated Michelin restaurant.

[@djefferson5669]

This guys who looks like the type to love a three martini lunch, but you know he's gotta keep his shit together working for the RHCP's.

[@eddieleonard6925]

DROOLING!

[@aujax1]

great video. can u please turn your phone sideways so the image fills the screen?

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Sure KZbin now has a zoom feature so zoom in as You like.

[@uriel-heavensguardian8949]

💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@SIBIRIAKcom]

I'm gonna go on a limb and say He IS Red Hot Chili Peppers when you're at a concert.

[@aaronzimpel4995]

Probably need more compression

[@jackembling6259]

Was thinking the same thing... :)

[@Phoebedumplings]

All this for a 3 piece with singer!!!

[@Bobby_Uterus]

Is he basically just building off of Dave’s set up?

[@hadror13]

How much is the insurance?!?! Lol. Not too many Analog purists left in the FOH world

[@16LiveRecords]

🤯 OMG I'm done with sound engineering😢

[@user-bz1ks6pr6y]

oh c´mon its 2024! U converted the signal 4 times just to get the "analog warmth" (whatever that is). If you really believe people will hear the analog/digital difference on a stadium tour, why not using analog multicores?

[@lightningstrikes7314]

That's not how Jimi did it.

[@crosswick]

Nice, interesting, but somewhat decadent overkill?

[@Yourweakminds]

Fantastic BUT soooooo risky.

[@honestgontechnology7770]

Billie Jean never sounded soooo goood! 😊

[@georgemalley6414]

In the Humble Pie days and early Led Zeppelin, they plugged into amps and just played. No magic music machines making medicore musicians sound better. Today the sound is produced not played.

[@jimwhite4270]

You’re out to lunch!

[@MartinMartin-yi9to]

What a big pile of misplaced ego. Thanks for the chuckles.

[@kodykindhart5644]

Project much Def thanks for the laugh 🤣🤣🤣

[@robertocalderonabogado1427]

Soon all that gear will be replaced by a computer and artificial inteligence software that equalizes and mixes the instruments just like the band wants it.

[@bengraves4724]

There won't be a band. It will be a hard drive and a light show.

[@3nuklr]

Jeebuz, boobtube ads are out of hand......