Roland U.S.

Israel Houghton

Backed by Roland for Live Recording in South Africa

by Corey Fournier & Greg Rule

Israel Houghton is a prolific songwriter and beloved worship leader whose music has touched millions from Houston to Capetown. In 2005 he won the Dove Award for “Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year” and he was recently nominated for a Grammy.

Roland spoke to Israel during his recent tour of South Africa and New Zealand. Here’s what he had to say about his extensive use of the VS-2400CD on tour, as well as his other favorite Roland and BOSS instruments and effects.

Israel, how are things down under?

Things are great! Pardon my voice … I sound like Marge Simpson. I sang a little too hard last night [laughs]. Last night we did an incredible concert, and you’ll be happy to know that all of the keyboards were Roland.

Good to hear! Tell us about your shows in Africa.

Africa was truly, truly unbelievable. It was an epic moment in my life, I’ll tell you that. It was incredible.

What made it stand out from other concerts you’ve done?

The level of anticipation and expectation from the people there was monumental. Ninety percent of what we did was new material, and the new songs went over incredibly well. I mean, when we were done, it just sorta felt like we had a classic on our hands. Sonically, how everything was captured, how the songs went over, how the crowd was ... it was just incredible, man.

How large was the audience?

In Capetown, the venue held 5,000, and we had over 5,000 at both shows there.

You’ve been using the VS-2400CD on tour. How has it been working out?

It’s incredible. A lot of our songs are vocal-cue sensitive, and we need the tracks to start right on the “one”. The 2400 has been so reliable — amazing. We haven’t had one problem with it.

What led you to chose the VS platform versus a computer rig?

Well, we’ve tried the computer thing, and we had too many snafus with it. We tend to play real aggressive, so whether it’s bouncing onstage and it skips or … let’s just say we haven’t had the best results with computers. So the VS … it’s solid and it travels well. From Zimbabwe to Capetown, we’ve had absolute success with it.

What type of output do you use the VS for?

We have a mono click track, some auxiliary vocals, and some extra keys, horns, guitars, and loops. It worked perfect.

Does the entire band hear the click track, or just the drummer?

We all get it. One thing we did was to add a vocal count-off … “one, two, three, four” … for each song. That way, everyone is locked together. Sometimes, you know, in the hype of the show, you can miss cues.

Do you start and stop each song separately, or do you create continuous files with locators for each song?

A few songs are run together, but yes, there are locate points for every tune.

What other BOSS and Roland instruments or effects are you using on tour?

I use the BOSS AD-8 acoustic guitar modeler, which is killer. Gibson made some [ES] 335s for me, and we put piezo pickups in ’em so I have two outputs. When I run out of the piezo, I go through the AD-8 to warm up the sound … fatten it up, you know, ’cause those piezos can be kind of thin. It works great, man. I’ve tried a lot of different things, and that’s my favorite piece.

You’d mentioned Roland synths earlier.

Yes, all the keyboard players except for one use Fantoms.

You recorded both audio and video during these recent shows, correct?

That’s right, we recorded both. Bi Rosen, who has to be one of the greatest video producers I’ve ever seen, captured some incredible video. We should have everything completed by late 2005, and the DVD should come out sometime in early 2006. The album [Alive in South Africa] comes out before that, on October 25th. The first single is called “Not Forgotten.”

Visit Israel online at NewBreedMusic.com.