Colin Norfield is an engineer with an extraordinary level of expertise. Starting out in the early ‘70s, he has worked with many legendary acts. Since the early days of the D5 Live, Norfield has chosen to use DiGiCo, consoles, working his way through the ranges to his present console, the flagship Quantum 852. He used it on the 2024 Luck and Strange tour with David Gilmour and, over the summer, with German mega-star, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Italian Blues artist Zucchero Fornaciari.
Norfield has seen fads come and go; for him the choice of console is not about features, or technicality, it is about creative flow. It is imperative that his console can keep up with his mix and not get in the way. The DiGiCo Quantum 852 does this by delivering a consistent, ergonomic and seamless interface between Norfield and his artists.
“I can sit and play with a mix for hours, figuring out what a piece of music needs to sound perfect in the venue, but I’m not interested in computer programming,” he expands. “I need consistency and peace of mind. I just want my console to do what I need. Some of my artists are not keen on lengthy rehearsals, they just want to turn up and play, so I can’t introduce more variables. It just has to work and I stick with DiGiCo because I know it does just that.”
Norfield began his career as a bassist, but joined the new sound department of Orange Music to earn some extra cash. When booking agent Arthur Howes needed a PA for American bands who were touring US Air Force Bases in Germany, a plan was hatched to extend the range to PA-speakers and Norfield would be the one to take them away for a few weeks. The tour extended, beginning with the Temptations, then the Four Tops, Wilson Pickett and Richie Haven. As the list continued so did Norfield’s CV.
It was a chance encounter in 1993 at an annual charity festival in Sussex, that introduced him to Andy Jackson. Acts like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Queen and Eric Clapton were performing and Norfield mixed them all. The only band to bring their own engineer was Pink Floyd and Andy Jackson, who was also mixing Pink Floyd’s Division Bell album, was impressed with his work. The next year, Jackson suggested that Norfield join them, and he has worked with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour ever since.
By 2006 the team were running out of space on their analogue consoles, but luckily DiGiCo had a solution, the recently released D5 Live.
“I was pretty much forced to use a digital desk. I wanted to stay analogue, but David (Gilmour) wanted more than the analogue board could provide, so we went with the D5 Live,” Norfield recalls. “The console had come straight off an Oasis tour, so we didn’t have long to get it prepared for ours. Over the years we moved on from the D5 Live to the SD5, SD10 and SD7. Then we moved up a gear and the last tour was on a Q852. I’m not adventurous. People try to tell me to use other consoles, DiGiCo does what I need, so why would I change?”
Being able to depend on their creative tools is something engineers never take for granted and Norfield is no exception. His career takes him to some of the world’s most spectacular venues and as he concludes, his DiGiCo console will always be right there with him.
“As a live engineer, you don’t have the luxury of rolling it back and starting again, you have three or four minutes a song to get it right. When it’s finished, it’s gone and you’re straight into the next one, especially with an artist like David Gilmour. You have to keep your head in the right mindset and using a DiGiCo means I can always stay focused.”
