When it comes to touring, the MD is more like the MVP. The Music Director is the person who hires the players, arranges the music, leads the rehearsals, and guides the band from opening night to final curtain. From today’s touring crop, few leaders possess the grace-under-pressure skills of Lanar Brantley, a.k.a. Kern. For well over a decade Kern has been laying down solid, deep-pocketed bass and serving as MD for a cavalcade of top stars, most recently for Beyoncé and now for Destiny’s Child, whose current world tour is blanketing Japan, Australia, Europe, North America, and more. “It’s looking like there will be over 70 shows,” Kern tells us. “We’ll be out for at least six months. Should be fun. This tour is particularly exciting; we did Beyonce’s solo tour last year and did a live DVD, and this year we’re planning for a live DVD as well.”

Tour Prep

To deliver the type of show that fans demand, Kern was tasked with recreating the sounds and signature parts from Destiny’s Child’s records “as closely as possible,” he explains. “The fans want to hear something that sounds like the record — they want to hear those familiar sounds and parts. But, actually, what I’ve tried to do is find sounds that are a little bit bigger for the live shows, because some of the things they used in the studio don’t necessarily translate to big arenas.” And that’s where Roland and BOSS instruments have proven effective for Kern and his bandmates. (More info on the band below.)

V-SYNTH Bass

Onstage with Destiny’s Child, Kern not only holds down the traditional electric-bass duties, he also plays synth bass. His instrument of choice? “The V-Synth. It’s such an interesting keyboard. When I first saw one at Guitar Center in Detroit, I loved the fact that it’s such a hands-on instrument. I like being able to program it from the front panel without having to go into a bunch of menus, and I love using the D Beam to change the sounds onstage.” In creating his synth-bass patches for the tour, Kern would often start “with a kick-drum sound, and build it up from there.” Kern routes the V-Synth through a 1x15 bass amp onstage, with supplemental reference audio coming from a pair of wedges. “I treat the V-Synth like it’s a bass with keys,” he explains. “It goes through the same rig that my regular bass would.” Strap on a seatbelt. Some of his V-Synth sounds are guaranteed to rattle the rafters.

And not just for bass tones, Kern’s V-Synth is used in other capacities during the show. “I’m playing flutes on some stuff,” he says, “as well as some sound effects. There’s a sound called ‘Broken HAL’ that I use for the elevator rises. That’s another thing I love about the V-Synth — it has stock sounds already in it that are show-worthy: openers, intros, interludes, sound effects, drum sounds. It’s great to have a keyboard that’s so versatile.”

Having great tone is only part of the picture. “For synth bass, I feel that you shouldn’t approach it like a keyboard player,” he advises, “but more like a bass player. The way you phrase, the way you make it breathe. . . . My brother [Valdez Brantley] is a keyboard player, and he approaches synth bass more like a pianist, with fast runs and right-hand stuff happening. My approach is more from a bass player’s perspective, so I’m thinking more about the groove, making it bounce, and putting the slides in the right places. Another important thing to think about. . . . If you’re a bass player who doesn’t play keyboard bass, you’re cutting yourself out of a lot of work. A lot of these records nowadays have heavy synth bass.” Kern is in the process of producing an instructional DVD for synth bass players, so stay tuned.

BOSS Bass

In Kern’s electric bass rig is a BOSS OC-3 Super Octave, a TU-2 Tuner, and the CE-5 Chorus Ensemble. “I prefer the chorus designed for guitars, not basses,” he reveals. “For me, it’s a little brighter, and cuts through the mix better.”

Lay Low

Kern offers some sage advice for bassists who are playing large venues: “Keep it simple and solid. I don’t like to play too many notes in these big venues — not a lot of fancy tricks, just heavy and solid.” Kern stretches on his jazz gigs, such as on previous tours with Earl Klugh and Grover Washington, Jr., “but for my R&B gigs with R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, Puff Daddy, and Destiny’s Child, for example, I take more of a foundation/support role with the bass, and leave room for the other guys to play.” Coming from a bassist who can burn with the best, Kern’s unselfishness and “play for the song” attitude is one of the reasons he’s remained in such high demand.

In Good Company

One of Kern’s tips for keeping the show running smoothly is “to select the best musicians available. I admire Quincy Jones, and one thing I’ve noticed about him is that he surrounds himself with the most talented guys, like Greg Phillinganes and Ricky Lawson, and lets them do their thing. Quincy keeps the discipline and order, but at the same time he allows the players enough room to be creative. So for me, if somebody comes up with a hot lick, a nice chord, or an embellishment that will work in the arrangement, then I’ll most likely go with it.”

When it comes to constructing medleys, Kern starts with a roadmap. “I’ll make a list of the songs, and what key each song is in, and then find the pivot chords to weave them together. What I like about Beyoncé is that she knows exactly what she wants. She might say, ‘Give me the chorus, the bridge, then out and into the next song.’ It makes my job that much easier, ’cause I don’t have to play a guessing game.”

Open Air

The norm for most modern tours is to use in-ear monitors, but Kern and crew prefer to use open-air wedges for a more organic onstage environment. “A lot of that comes from my experience back in the day playing in church,” says Kern. “I grew up in Detroit in a gospel atmosphere where you were always surrounded by great instrumentalists in church, and you had to be able to hear each other and almost ‘grab’ that sound live in the room.” Kern also credits his church-playing upbringing for his quick reflexes, musically speaking. “In church, you have to be ready for anything. You don’t know what key they may start a song in — any key, any tempo.”

The Band

Also featured on the Destiny’s Child stage with Kern …

	Jeff Motley, Keyboards “We all pretty much came over from the Beyoncé tour with Kern,” says Jeff of the current touring lineup, “which made things easier since we already knew her songs, and we worked well together as a unit.” Jeff has been working with Kern for over a decade. “Our first big tour together was for Teddy Riley and Blackstreet, and that led me to other tours, because, really, it’s the musicians who are responsible for getting you the gigs.” New for this tour is an array of Roland Fantom-X synthesizers. “The Fantom-X sounds great,” Jeff enthuses. “Top-quality sounds, and the ease-of-use factor is there. They’re very comfortable to get around on. I like the feel of the keys, the expansion cards are great, the big color screen is cool … lots of perks with these keyboards.”
	Luke Austin, Keyboards “I play mostly Rhodes, piano, and pad stuff for this show,” says Luke, “and the new Fantom-X is solid. I‘ve been using the new piano card [SRX-11] a lot. I like the Fantom-X8’s weighted action too.” The Jeff & Luke tag-team system tends to have Luke covering the main keyboard sounds while Jeff supplies the strings, horns, and embellishments. They often double up on high-impact sounds, however, for extra punch.
	Gerald Heyward, Drums “This is the first tour that I’ve taken Roland V-Drums out with me,” Gerald tell us, “but I’ve used them in the past on projects I did with Teddy Riley and Rodney Jerkins. I did a whole Blackstreet album with V-Drums — Another Level. For this tour, I have two V-Drum pads on the left side of my kit. I’m using some 808 sounds, some bombs, some shakers, some chimes. We’re doing some skits with the girls, and I play some bells and different things like that. It’s a lot of fun.” In addition to the two V-Pads and an SPD-S percussion controller, Gerald has outfitted his entire acoustic kit with Roland RT-Series acoustic triggers, which feed the TD-20 V-Drum brain. “You can really get caught up in the V-Drums. I love the feel of them; you can play super fast on the pads because they have so much bounce. It’s the closest thing to a real drum set that’s out there.”
	Shawn Carrington, Guitar Shawn is DC’s human funk machine — a touring ace who deftly springboards from clean rhythm to full-throttle grind. In his current touring setup is a BOSS OC-3 Super Octave, TU-2 Tuner, MT-2 Metal Zone, and DD-6 Digital Delay.