The singer from Tenerife Cruz Cafuné has revolutionized the national urban scene with his latest album, Me Muevo con Dios, and taken his music to every corner of the peninsula.
After starting with a small festival tour last summer, which included such prominent events as the Cruïlla Festival in Barcelona, the parties in Pontevedra, the Riverland Fest in Asturias, the Urban Hood in Salamanca, and the Negrita Music Festival in Vigo; Cruzzi embarked on an ambitious tour that visited numerous cities during the last few months, including Alicante, Granada, Seville, A Coruña, Bilbao, Murcia, Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid. All of this, with sold-out shows without exception, before venturing into Latin America and putting the finishing touch on this musical adventure on April 6th in his native Tenerife.
Familiar faces in the Tenerife rap scene, the paths of sound technician Jorge 'Crill' and Cruz Cafuné had crossed on several occasions. Crill was also a great connoisseur and admirer of Cruzzi's sounds and musical evolution. Hence, the proposal to collaborate with the artist on his previous tour, 922-928-2022, was not coincidental, and the response was a resounding and immediate 'yes,' to become his FOH technician.
With 9 years of experience under his belt, Crill claims to have felt an innate passion and curiosity for everything related to the world of sound, and for those sound resources that make a show totally impactful. He decided to train himself and turn his vocation into the profession he would dedicate himself to in the future, first in companies in the sector in Tenerife, and then working as a freelancer, now based in Madrid, and working for artists such as Choclock, Dano, Elio Toffana, Mel Ömana, and Cruzzi.
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Regarding the Me Muevo con Dios tour, the starting point was the significant qualitative leap they wanted to take with the provision, on one hand, of more channels than in the previous tour to better separate the media, adapt to the requirements of the venues, and be more creative; and, on the other hand, of a microphone setup of the highest quality to avoid depending on the available equipment in the different venues.
From here, the biggest challenge was to choose the equipment that suited them best and shape these advances to achieve a workflow that would yield the best results. Lex, the Manager, Diego López, the Tour Manager, Gese Da O, responsible for launching the music and voice processing, as well as the artist himself, agreed on this.
This is where the Shure KSM11 capsule comes into play. Crill was already aware of its existence as soon as it hit the market due to references in various publications.
During the Shure training sessions organized by EARPRO&EES, Luis López and David Blazquez offered to lend us the KSM11 for testing, and I was totally impressed by its quality and performance as a condenser capsule, with brutal clarity and robustness, Crill stated.
Another significant reason for choosing the KSM11 was the perfect harmony achieved in combination with Cruz Cafuné's voice and microphone technique, which "did not require any coloring or disguising of his voice at any time to sound as we wanted. Whether in large venues or in rooms where there may be reflections and audio pressure at both stage and FOH, we could fear the result, however, the capsule worked perfectly, offering a balance that makes it very stable in various scenarios", he added.
The Axient Digital system has also joined Crill's commitment to Shure, with which he had already worked on Cruzzi's previous tour; four sessions in which they were able to test it and certify that it was the perfect system for them. This time, they opted for an AD4D system with ADX2 transmitters, highlighting their lightness, comfortable grip, and elegant design; which, together with the KSM11 capsule, completed the perfect combo for their show.
The range flexibility provided by AD is extraordinary, and its transmission is impeccable and very reliable. The system is constantly inspecting possible interferences, and as soon as it detects them, it alerts you and always offers a backup frequency to quickly switch, with the possibility of automatic frequency change.
On the other hand, the QLX-D system with an SM58 capsule has provided the solution they were looking for Dawaira, Cafuné's support act on this tour: a quality system with an excellent microphone body that always delivers professional results.
In addition to all this, EARPRO&EES recommended them the ShowLink access point, which has raised the quality of the AD4D to another level, allowing remote control of the systems. The acquisition of the Talk Switch, in its pocket version for its discretion and reliability, has also allowed them to have both the main voice and the orders microphone on the same mic, simply by using the TRS output of that channel and configuring it in the AD4D itself in a very intuitive way.
Crill mentioned the SBC240 Ethernet chargers, easy to transport and with access to information about the charging status, and Shure rechargeable batteries, emphasizing their long duration, "with a transmission of the Tx at 10mW in an extensive show like ours, they have enough capacity for two tests, two live performances, and still return home with plenty of charge".
As for antenna connections, they have relied on the RF Venue Diversity Fin for microphones, being able to have different polarizations on the same microphone stand, as well as very good coverage where they had no loss at any of the concerts.
Crill highlighted the addition of Alberto Pacheco in the lighting section, and his friend and colleague Gaumet González in the sound field as a monitor technician and RF adjustment, who "is one of the best I've seen technically and has had a very relevant and positive influence on my professional development and evolution".
Gaumet's main challenge was to find a microphone that combines robustness and clarity, and he agrees with Crill on the excellent response of the KSM11, which "performs well under pressure and, at the same time, does not lose resolution in the fine highs and high frequencies that the singer likes". Gaumet also highlighted that it "acts extraordinarily with monitors and Sidefill, showing great resistance to feedback. It doesn't quite reach the level of a dynamic capsule, but it's very close".
Gaumet has shown great enthusiasm for the QLX-D system, with which he had not worked previously, for its reliability, RF linearity, and great sound, which "combined with the SM58 has given us the best result in achieving the voice timbre we needed for the support act".
The involvement of the EARPRO&EES team, from Félix Pérez, whom I initially spoke with, to Luis López, David Blázquez, and Hugo Casola in the Canary Islands, has been key to reaching this point of 100% satisfaction. Before, during, and after obtaining the systems, Crill concludes.
