BUENA PARK, Calif. — More than 10,000 students and faculty at Fordham University were treated to a surprise visit and six–song set by U2 at the school's Bronx, New York campus which aired live on Good Morning America (ABC) Friday, March 6. The appearance — capping U2's weeklong promo for the band's new CD No Line on the Horizon — took place on the steps of the university's gothic Keating Hall. The packed crowd weathered the cold, some staking a spot as early as 1:30 am once the rumor of the band's Friday morning concert was confirmed.

On hand, JC Convertino, music mix engineer for all Good Morning America's concerts, recorded the event using Kooster McAllister's remote truck and dual Yamaha DM2000 digital audio consoles. Convertino, who has been with GMA for over ten years, handled all live music mixing for the GMA broadcast. He began his career more than 30 years ago in recording studios such as The Hit Factory and Sigma Sound where he worked on projects such as the Talking Heads "Speaking in Tongues", Madonna's "Holiday" and Miles Davis "Siesta" as well as mixing for Jellybean Benitez, Velvet Underground's "Another VU", and James Brown's "In The Jungle Groove" to name a few.

Still keeping his hands in producing and mixing, Convertino recently completed a project for new artist Miggs, who's first single "Perfect" is now on the charts. A cross between the Killers meets U2 with guitar orchestration, the singer/songwriter/guitarist along with two bandmates' music is more pop than alternative. Partnering with Miggs on a couple of upcoming ventures, the music mix engineer also recommended a Yamaha DM2000 to the artist that now resides in Miggs' recording studio in Tampa.

For the U2 concert, Convertino patched into a few pieces of outboard gear in McAllister's truck just to warm up Bono's voice and guitars. "The Yamaha DM2000 comes pretty well stacked with effects," he says.

At Good Morning America, Convertino and his team take pride in excelling at being the best at the morning (or even evening) concert shows. "I don't have time for surprises, so I like to get the bands' producer and sound engineer involved and will reach out to them well ahead of time to find out their rider needs so we make them comfortable. We have an arsenal of microphones and outboard gear on hand, for example."

"On a remote gig like U2 and using the DM2000 that recalls everything, we had different delay times for each song for Bono, and when the recall is up, it's there, it's wonderful. Edge's guitar is a whole instrumentation in itself. With live music segments on an early morning show, time is a factor. Everything has to be up, work, have everyone comfortable with it, and just go. We don't have the luxury of a long rehearsal or sound check with the time it takes for load in (usually around midnight), building the stage, working with the live production team – a pleasure to work with by the way – and on-air by 7:00 am."

Convertino recently did a charity benefit with a performance by John Mayer and Rob Thomas and says that when you don't have enough set up time to store levels, recalling the set up instantly is a testament to the power of the Yamaha console.

"It's important for all engineers to know how, and be prepared to mix, all kinds of instruments whether using analog or digital. Another good thing about the DM2000 is that it's not brain surgery; you can get familiar with it pretty quickly even if coming from an analog background."

"At GMA, we're pretty self contained and with a range of guest artists meeting a wide demographic from country and rock bands like U2, to jazz and classical artists like Andrea Bocelli, we have to be at the top of our game—there's no room for error. Mixing is what we focus on. The whole purpose of what we do is for people at home to hear exactly what the live audience hears."

For more information on the Yamaha DM2000 digital audio console, contact Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90620; telephone 714-522-9011; e-mail casales@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamahaca.com.