Florence + The Machine

Florence + The Machine are an English band fusing elements of indie-rock, art-rock, folk and other eclectic influences. Formed in London in 2007, the band takes its name from their charismatic front-woman, Florence Welch, and their keyboard player, Isabella "Machine" Summers.

Virtually from the start, Florence + The Machine gained fans and followers in their native UK and attracted praise from critics and the media. The BBC promoted Florence + The Machine as part of their BBC Introducing platform, supporting "under the radar" and unsigned acts.

The BBC's patronage helped catapult Florence + The Machine to mainstream audiences, and in 2009 they received the Brit Awards "Critics Choice" award. The band have gone on to phenomenal success, including being a six-time Grammy-nominated act.

Spearheaded by Florence Welch's powerful and dramatic vocal delivery and lyrics, Florence + The Machine's music fuses a blend of traditional and eclectic instrumentation to produce a powerful and emotional sound.

Florence and iConnectivity

When Florence + The Machine take to the world's stages, there's only one brand of Audio and MIDI interface which travels with them: iConnectivity. We caught up with Florence + The Machine's MIDI and Playback tech, Toby O'Pray to get the lowdown on the role iConnectivity interfaces play in their live show.

Take a look behind the scenes of any Florence + The Machine show, and you'll see iConnectivity interfaces in use in a range of different situations. From playback, to virtual keys, to live processing of harp (yes you heard us correctly, harp!), iConnectivity interfaces are right at the core of their live show.

Florence + The Machine's main playback rig utilises the PlayAUDIO12 for redundant failover audio playback from two MacBook Pro laptop computers. There's also a mio10 which is run from the PlayAUDIO12's USB-MIDI host port for the various MIDI control duties required.

I was using the classic MOTU & SW8 setup before, and I wanted to try something different. I saw that iConnectivity had released the PlayAUDIO12 and really liked that it was dual-redundant system in one. - Toby O'Pray

The keys rig of Florence + The Machine utilises the PlayAUDIO12 and mio4

Florence + The Machine also employ the PlayAUDIO12 for use with their virtual keyboards rack. Again, two MacBook Pro's are used, running the various software keyboards required, in conjunction with a PlayAUDIO12 as a failover system.

The multiple outputs of the PlayAUDIO12 assist in sending the various keyboard audio outputs where they need to go, for the best quality FOH and monitor mix. Multiple outputs give mix options 2 and 4 output interfaces just can't offer.

As with the main playback rig, the keyboard rig uses the PlayAUDIO12's USB-MIDI host port to connect to an iConnectivity MIDI interface. In this instance, it's the smaller mio4, which provides ample MIDI DIN ports for the application.

The Processing rig of harpist Tom Monger

One of the most unique applications our interfaces have been put to must be the processing rack of harpist, Tom Monger. Tom runs his harp pickups directly into the front end of an iConnectAUDIO4+ audio/MIDI interface.

From there, Tom uses the audio and MIDI interfacing features of the iConnectAUDIO4+ to process and manipulate his harp sounds via another MacBook Pro laptop. It's always great to see musicians using our interfaces in new and innovative ways!

A Great Partnership

We're always thrilled to be the choice of musicians; whether big or small, electronic, acoustic or anything in-between, it's an honour to be your choice. With that said, it's wonderful for us to be in such a great partnership with one of the world's greatest bands.

A big thank you to Florence + The Machine for choosing us above all others; we're super proud to have you as part of the iConnectivity family of artists and musicians!