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December 2015
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GAME AUDIO
Ben Minto on the making of ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’ p24
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STUDIO PROFILE
We talk to Temple of Tune owner Fredo Gevaert p29
REVIEW
Jerry Ibbotson eyes up iZotope RX 5 p32
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THE BEST SOUND, ALL AROUND
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In creating the X Series, we brought all of the experience gained in designing the K2 to bear on a new series of reference coaxials. Optimized design, ergonomics, acoustical performance and weight make the X Series the most advanced coaxials on the market. Four distinct enclosures with format, bandwidth, SPL and coverage angles perfectly adapted to short throw rental or install applications, the X Series offers studio monitor sound quality, compact design, consistent tonal balance, no minimum listening distance and exceptional feedback rejection. www.l-acoustics.com
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WELCOME
www.audiomediainternational.com
EDITOR Adam Savage asavage@nbmedia.com
Experts in the issue
HOW TIME FLIES
MANAGING EDITOR Jo Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com STAFF WRITER Matt Fellows mfellows@nbmedia.com ADVERTISING MANAGER Ryan O’Donnell rodonnell@nbmedia.com ACCOUNT MANAGER Rian Zoll-Khan rzoll-khan@nbmedia.com HEAD OF DESIGN Jat Garcha jgarcha@nbmedia.com DESIGNER Tom Carpenter tcarpenter@nbmedia.com PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Warren Kelly wkelly@nbmedia.com CONTENT DIRECTOR James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Press releases to: ukpressreleases@nbmedia.com © NewBay Media 2015. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Audio Media International is published by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England. Editorial tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6002 Sales tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6000
Audio Media International ISSN number: ISSN 2057-5165 (Print) Circulation & Subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1580 883848 email: audiomedia.subscriptions@ccms.com Printed by Pensord Press Ltd 1 Color - 100 White
John Broomhall is co-founder of the annual Game Music Connect event, and a multi-faceted independent music and audio creative with many years’ experience in both the music and games industries. Jerry Ibbotson has worked in proaudio for more than 20 years, first as a BBC radio journalist and then as a sound designer in the games industry. He’s now a freelance audio producer and writer. Jon Schorah is founder and creative director at Nugen Audio, maker of advanced tools for audio analysis, loudness metering, mixing/mastering and tracking. Alessandro Travaglini recently joined Minnetonka Audio as product manager within the Research & Development Group of The Telos Alliance, having previously held the role of sound supervisor at Fox Europe for more than ten years. Since 2006 he has focused his research on loudnessrelated subjects.
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ell, that was quick. How did another December come around so fast? It feels like only weeks ago that the Christmas decorations came down, and now, as AMI goes to press, it feels bizarre to already see the tinsel hanging, the office tree blinking cheerfully in the corner and Mariah Carey shrieking away in the background once more, but there you have it. December isn’t just about eating, drinking and being merry – but there will be plenty of that – it’s also a time for reflecting on the year that was, and looking ahead to what 2016 could bring. And for us, of course, it’s especially fitting as it marks the end of our new mag’s first full year in print and online. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed building up this brand over the past 12 months, and it’s been great to receive so many emails, phone calls and face-toface feedback from people across the industry in regards to a recent feature,
review, interview or news story that they took a particular liking to. As well as using this page to offer my thanks to all of those who have delivered messages of motivation since we launched back in January, this was also an opportunity to go back over what we have covered over the course of 2015, and revisiting the content that prompted the best response. Looking back, it’s hardly a surprise that a story on Music Group acquiring TC Group ranks near the top of the list, but personally it’s more pleasing to see so many opinion pieces and ‘How To’ articles from guest columnists, reviews and exclusive features up there too. I’m being deliberately vague about precisely which articles were the most successful – you’ll have to wait for our online round-up for more on that. So here’s to a great 2015, then, and like me, I’m sure you’re eager to find out what 2016 will have in store for us. Although it’s sure to have its fair share of surprises, one thing we can be sure of is the good old trade show schedule. We’ll have a full preview of the next NAMM Show in our January issue, but before that, you’ll want to make sure you’ve sent in your nominations for our ISE 2016 Best of Show Awards if you haven’t already. If this year is anything to go by, the deadline of 29 January will be here before you know it!
Adam Savage Editor Audio Media International
December 2015
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CONTENTS
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PRODUCT NEWS
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Neumann releases KH 805 subwoofer
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Genelec reveals flagship SAM speaker
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dbx introduces goRack processor
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Studiomaster previews new products for 2016
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www.audiomediainternational.com
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FEATURES
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GEAR OF THE YEAR: With help from our intrepid reviewers and nominations from across the industry, we reveal our Gear of the Year for 2015
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GAME AUDIO: John Broomhall talks to DICE audio director Ben Minto about the sound of ‘Star Wars: Battlefront’
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STUDIO PROFILE: Adam Savage talks to Temple of Tune boss Fredo Gevaert
PEOPLE
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OPINION Nugen Audio’s Jon Schorah considers the implications of mobile devices on loudness regulation
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Paul Nicholson concludes his look at the live sound market with his thoughts on the acoustical issues he regularly faces mixing outdoors
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Alessandro Travaglini of Minnetonka Audio outlines the main ingredients for a great mix
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TECH TALK Following the recent release of version 7, Steinberg’s Timo Wildenhain talks Nuendo
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INTERVIEW Oscar-winning sound duo Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg discuss their work on ‘Spectre’
ALSO INSIDE 18
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GEO FOCUS: PORTUGAL After a tough few years the pro-audio market here appears to be on the road to recovery
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REVIEWS
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iZotope RX 5 Avid VENUE S6L Focusrite Clarett 8PreX Heavyocity Gravity Electro-Voice EKX Series
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PRODUCT NEWS
NEUMANN ADDS NEW SUBWOOFER TO KH LINE Neumann has added a new active subwoofer, the KH 805, to its range of studio monitoring products. Based on the acoustical performance of the KH 810 subwoofer, the KH 805 is designed for stereo setups in combination with the KH 120 or KH 310, and is described as ideal for tracking, mixing and mastering in recording, broadcasting and post-production studios. Wolfgang Fraissinet, president of Neumann, commented: “With the KH
805, it is possible to configure flexible monitoring systems for studios of different sizes, with a smooth, uniform response that ranges from below 20Hz to above 20kHz. State-of-the-art amplifier technologies and high-quality acoustic components have been used to ensure maximum accuracy of sound reproduction.” A 10in driver, as well as solid cabinet and ports, ensure tight, articulate and distortion-free low-frequency reproduction down to 18Hz, even at high playback levels, the firm says. The KH 805 features a remotely controllable 2.0/0.1 Bass Manager which enables it to be used in different applications, and the active subwoofer is also built to decrease the harmonic and intermodulation distortion of a loudspeaker set-up or to reproduce the ‘Sub’ signal of a bass-managed multichannel source, working as an extension for KH 810, KH 870 and KH 805 subwoofer systems. www.neumann.com
RADIAL INTRODUCES RIBBON MIC BOOSTER Radial Engineering has revealed that the McBoost, a 100% discrete, Class A dual FET signal booster for low output dynamic and ribbon microphones, is now shipping. The McBoost features Radial’s trademark all-steel construction with book ends that create protective zones around the switches and controls. Inside, the McBoost includes handmatched transistors to ensure absolute performance is achieved with the dual FET Class A circuit. This delivers up to 25dB of boost through a fully variable front-panel level control, which is supplemented with a three-position highpass filter to eliminate excessive rumble and proximity build-up. A three-position impedance selector allows the engineer to optimise the load on the mic for greater accuracy. Powering comes via standard 48V phantom, eliminating the need for batteries or external power supply, and there are standard XLRs for connections. 6
“This great-sounding mic was designed for broadcast voice so when it is used to pick up lower level signals, the detail is often lost. The McBoost provides the perfect solution,” said Radial’s Jay Porter. “The same applies for older ribbon mics. These tend to have lower sensitivity as a means to protect the ribbon from bottoming out. So they need an extra boost when used with regular preamps. You just connect the McBoost in between the mic and preamp, turn on the phantom power and you get tons of super clean boost as you breathe new life into your old favourites.” Made in Canada, the McBoost carries a MAP price of US$199.99. www.radialeng.com
www.audiomediainternational.com
PRESONUS DEBUTS R-SERIES MONITORS PreSonus has announced its R65 and R80 active studio monitor speakers, both offering a custom Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter, which promises a fast transient response to provide detailed resolution. The biamped monitors feature Class D power amplifiers, with 100W RMS driving the woofer and 50W RMS driving the AMT tweeter, and as with all PreSonus studio monitors, both models are equipped with the company’s Acoustic Tuning controls. Both the R65 and R80 employ an AMT tweeter that responds to the subtlest waveforms and high frequencies, making them suitable for hearing ultra-highs that add ‘air’ and a sense of space, according to the manufacturer. The R65 employs a 6.5in coated Kevlar woofer, while the R80 sports an 8in woofer. This design results in ‘cohesive, less time-smeared audio with minimal coloration and extremely punchy bass’.
The Acoustic Space switch controls a secondorder, low shelving filter that helps to compensate for the boundary bass boost that occurs when the monitor is placed near a wall or corner. An HF-driver level control is also provided to help mitigate room problems. An onboard, four-position highpass filter makes it easy to integrate a subwoofer into a monitoring setup. Balanced XLR and 1/4in TRS and unbalanced RCA input connections are designed to make hookup quick and easy, while safety features include RF shielding, current-output limiting, over-temperature protection and subsonic protection. Both the R65 and R80 are available at PreSonus dealers for $399.95 (£379) and $499.95 (£429), respectively. www.presonus.com
AMADEUS PHILHARMONIA SPEAKERS OUT NOW French pro-audio manufacturer Amadeus’ Philharmonia speakers are now available. The Philharmonia is a highdefinition monitoring system combining innovation and technology with style and a pristine sonic character, the company says. “They embody the know-how, the creativity and the values with which Amadeus has been building its history for more than 35 years,” stated Bernard Byk, co-founder and CEO of Amadeus. Philharmonia features a hybrid laminar port using progressive termination and a curved structure that is ‘both simple and complex’, with a distinctive look and volume. The two-way, self-powered speakers offer
a 28mm soft-domed tweeter and custom 8in woofer, boasting analogue and digital inputs with a customised integrated DAC and an amplitude linearity range (±2dB) from 43Hz to 22kHz. The high frequency driver promises very low dielectric losses and high thermal conductivity, loaded behind a fast exponential waveguide. The speakers are biamplified using two dedicated high-resonance digital custom-built amplifiers, each delivering 700W under eight ohms. These proprietary PPM-PWM fixed frequency Class D amps are equipped with a high-efficiency switched mode power supply and each speaker channel is controlled by a powerful, 64bit digital processing unit capable of a 118dB dynamic range. Each onboard DSP unit includes a module dedicated to managing core system parameters including system EQ, time alignment between sections, limiting and transducer thermal protection. www.amadeusaudio.fr
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GENELEC REVEALS FLAGSHIP SAM SYSTEM Genelec has unveiled its new flagship 1236 Smart Active Monitoring (SAM) main monitor system. The 1236 and its individuallycalibrated 3U-high Remote Amplifier Module RAM-XL provide the highest performance possible in a large format, flush-mounted main monitoring system, according to the company. The new design is based on the high-efficiency proprietary double-18in bass driver design of the company’s 1036 speaker. The new system’s frequency response extends from 17Hz to 26kHz and is capable of delivering 130dB SPL referred to one metre through a combination of modern digital signal processing and efficient Class D amplifiers, providing 2 x 1,000W, 800W and 400W of short-term power into woofer, midrange and tweeter channels, respectively. Measuring 960 (H) x 1,180 (W) x 650mm (D), the enclosure features a pair of 18in high-linearity woofers and two Genelec proprietary high-efficiency 5in mid-range drivers, as well as a 2in high compression tweeter, mounted in a very
large Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW) enclosure. SAM technology is a vital part of the RAM-XL design, and all crossovers, protection circuitry and driver calibrations are implemented in the digital domain with high precision, Genelec says. In addition, the latest version (2.0) of Genelec Loudspeaker Manager (GLM) and AutoCal couples with the 1236 to ensure that the speakerto-room interface remains ‘as near to perfect as possible, from the moment the sound leaves the cabinet until it reaches the user’s ears.’ www.genelec.com
FOCUSRITE EXPANDS REDNET RANGE Focusrite recently announced the launch of a new product in its popular RedNet range of Dante audio-over-IP products: the RedNet AM2 stereo audio monitoring unit. RedNet AM2 is a Dante-compatible stereo monitoring unit combining headphone and line outputs for flexible monitoring of signals sourced from the Dante network. RedNet AM2 features a 1/4in front-panel headphone socket, plus a pair of balanced line outputs with male XLR connectors mounted on the rear panel, which may be used for loudspeaker monitoring and other applications. The headphone output promises significant audio output power – sufficient to drive even high-impedance headphones at substantial levels. RedNet AM2, fitted with non-slip feet, is designed to either sit securely on a flat surface or be mounted on top of a mic stand using a standard 3/8in BSW threaded bush in the base. RedNet AM2 includes a two-channel Dante receiver based around the latest ‘Ultimo’ hardware – allowing up to 24 bit, 96kHz operation – and features an
PRODUCT NEWS
SONY UPDATES UWP-D SERIES Sony has introduced the URX-S03D two-channel slot-in receiver and UTXB03HR bodypack transmitter as part of the UWP-D Series announced last year, designed for compatibility with Sony’s XDCAM and HDCAM camcorders. The URX-S03D (pictured) is described as the first two-channel slot-in portable receiver in the UWP-D series for Sony camcorders, providing a true diversity system with stable RF transmission. The true diversity reception system featured in the URX-S03D wireless receiver promises highly stable reception thanks to its two receiving antennas and separate RF circuits for each channel. The URX-S03D fits into the slot of Sony’s XDCAM camcorders with two-channel digital audio connections directly from the DSP. It can also be matched with the slot of an HDCAM camcorder with single-channel audio connection. It can monitor the AF/ RF status of the URX-S03D via the viewfinder of supported Sony camcorders as well.
The UTXB03HR bodypack transmitter is equipped with a new four-pin microphone connector designed to withstand the rigours of ENG shooting. A standard broadcast lavalier microphone (ECM-77BC) can be used with the connector. The transmitter features Sony’s Digital Audio Processing and is compatible with all UWP Series/ WL-800 Series models. Boasting a compact, lightweight and robust metal body, the model can also use USB for power supply or charging batteries and includes a switchable mic/line input level and an attenuator (0dB to 21dB, 3dB steps). The URX-S03D and UTX-B03HR can both be used with the new PXW-X400 camcorder and are planned to be available in early 2016. www.sony.com
NEW ZED MIXERS FROM ALLEN & HEATH
aluminium extrusionbased enclosure. Two large volume control knobs are provided for Headphone and Line output levels; the latter also features a mute button with associated LED. Other indicators show the presence of Power, Network and Signal. RedNet product manager, Will Hoult, said: “RedNet AM2 is a product our customers have requested and we’re pleased to deliver; allowing a reduction in the deployment cost of audio-over-IP systems for studio and education facilities, while the AES67 demonstration is an important aspect of the future of audio-over-IP which Focusrite is a key part of”. RedNet AM2 is expected to begin shipping in Spring 2016. www.focusrite.com
Allen & Heath has added three new mini mixers to its ZED analogue console range: the ZED-6, ZED-6FX and ZEDi-8, each promising the features and quality required for AV work in a compact, portable format. All the new models feature two mono channels with separate XLR and TRS jack sockets, and two Stereo channels. The mono channels include DI high impedance circuitry for the jack sockets, allowing guitars to be plugged straight into the mixer without the hassle and expense of carrying separate DI boxes. Additionally, the ZED-6FX includes a new in-house-designed FX system
which encompasses multi-FX models, combining reverbs, delays, doublers, chorusing and other modulators to create a varied suite of studio-quality sound effects. The ZEDi-8 combines a compact mixer with a 24-bit 96kHz 2x2 USB interface, providing recording and playback to a Mac or PC or to an iOS device (using a Camera Connection Kit), with flexible source routing options. All of the new mixers promise optimal sound quality due to the new GSPre preamp design, developed from the GS-R24 professional studio console, which provides exceptionally low noise and massive headroom, A&H states. Featuring a moulded chassis and metal front panel, all the new ZED models also feature two-band EQ, 60mm smooth travel master mix faders, channel monitoring and 48V phantom power. www.allen-heath.com
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PRODUCT NEWS
www.audiomediainternational.com
DBX INTRODUCES GORACK PROCESSOR WAVES SUB ALIGN PLUG-IN NOW AVAILABLE Sound Technology and dbx have announced UK shipping of the goRack, a loudspeaker management processor that enables a portable PA system to be ‘optimised for the best-possible sound quality’. “The dbx goRack boils all the essentials of our DriveRack processors into an affordable product that is incredibly simple to use,” said Jason Kunz, market manager, portable PA and recording & broadcast. “With the introduction of goRack, bands and musicians can now easily improve the sound of their PA.”
The goRack offers processing including EQ, compression, AFS Automatic Feedback Suppression, Subharmonic Synthesis for enhanced low-frequency response and more. Five buttons offer access to the most commonly used processing effects, and a large data wheel lets users quickly dial in any of the goRack’s processing sound-enhancement effects including 20 musical genre-based 31-band graphic EQ settings. The goRack’s compressor is based on the design of the original dbx 163X, and the unit also includes dual dbx mic preamps, selectable mic/line input settings, and AUX input and left and right channel volume controls. The dbx goRack connects between a mixer and an amplifier via its stereo inputs and outputs, which accommodate both XLR and 1/4-inch connectors. It can also be used as a standalone performance processor/mixer for a solo artist. www.dbxpro.com
Waves Audio has announced that its Sub Align plug-in is now shipping. Sub Align is described as ‘a survival tool for live sound engineers’. It lets FOH engineers align sub and top speakers in PA systems where the two are tied and the system processor is inaccessible. The physical position of tops and subs and the distance between them are critical for the overall punch and clarity of the PA system. However, most performers and engineers play small and mid-sized venues, where very often the tops and the subs are not properly aligned. In order to clear floor space, the subs are usually stacked at the sides of the venue or all the way in the back, causing the sound to be smeared and unfocused. The Sub Align plug-in promises to put the front-of-house engineer in charge of the venue’s PA sound with a simple solution: by giving the engineer
control over the delay between their tops and subs and creating a crossover point between them, it enables the user to ‘move’ their subs back or forward in relation to the tops, until they reach the alignment point that sounds best. The company claims that, with Waves Sub Align, badly aligned PA systems need no longer dictate how a mix will sound, enabling users to get a clearer, punchier mix, no matter the venue. Sub Align is included in the Mercury and Pro Show Waves Bundles. www.waves.com
"It does exactly what I want it to do. All day, every day." - Mike Minkler (Black Hawk Down, Star Wars, Dreamgirls)
The SA-2 Dialog Processor is based on hardware originally conceived by Academy Award winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler and used on over 100 major motion pictures. The SA-2 is designed to improve the overall sound of recorded speech. But the SA-2 is not just for dialog. It’s equally useful for vocals, and is a great tool for adjusting the timbre of any track, a reliable de-esser, and a fine multi-frequency compressor. Download a free f 14-day demo of the SA-2 Dialog Processor today at mcdsp.com. Features: - Five independent bands of strategic active equalization - Multiple process modes for a variety of applications - Unique signal reduction metering - Double precision processing - Ultra low latency - Mono and stereo versions
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TELEFUNKEN, DYSONICS UNVEIL RONDO 360° MIC ARRAY Telefunken has partnered with Dysonics for an eight-capsule, 360° microphone array for immersive audio and VR capture. Using the Samsung Gear platform, the system features the first-ever solution that combines 360° motion-tracked audio with 360° video. Bill Ryan, design engineer at Telefunken, said: “Dysonics is an ideal partner for us as we push forward into exciting new opportunities to deliver sound to recording professionals and audiophiles alike.” At the core of Dysonics’ offering is the RondoMic, a mic array that houses eight custom omni-directional Telefunken M60 FET microphones that capture sound environments in 360°. RondoMic is designed to be able to pick up room acoustics with incredible accuracy. Then, via spatial and motion-
tracking audio software, Dysonics stitches the eight recordings together in real time and reproduces those room acoustics over headphones. The result is ‘an authentic and pristine audio experience that truly makes listeners feel like they’re there live’. Utilising proprietary circuit topology, the M60 FET amplifier promises an exceptional transient response and SPL handling capabilities. Components are hand-plugged into gold-plated circuit board traces to provide an ‘ultra-clean true Class A discrete amplifier’ with a frequency response of +/- 2dB from 20Hz to 50kHz. The output is matched with a custom American-made transformer designed to deliver low self-noise and a typical THD+N of 0.015% or better, making it ideal for critical recording applications. The TK61 capsule features a sixmicron gold-sputtered membrane measuring 15mm in diameter, and offers a large, open sound perfect for capturing the ambience of the recording environment. www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com www.dysonics.com
CROWN XLS DRIVECORE 2 AMPS NOW AVAILABLE Crown Audio and its UK distributor Sound Technology have announced the immediate availability of the manufacturer’s XLS DriveCore 2 Series amplifiers. The new amps offer a host of upgraded features including more flexible DSP band pass filtering, selectable input sensitivity, remote power trigger operation and new styling. There are four models in the range – XLS 2502 (£792 RRP), XLS 2002 (£696), XLS 1502 (£522) and XLS 1002 (£432) – with power ratings from 350W to 775W per channel at four ohms and 1,100W to 2,400W at four ohms bridged, as well as Harman’s exclusive DriveCore amplifier circuitry. The 2U-high amplifiers come with a bandpass filter on each channel in addition to the previous low and high pass filters, promising more precise DSP crossover tuning, loudspeaker matching and system EQ capability. All models allow the front-panel LED indicators (except the clip and thermal indicators) to be turned off
if desired, reducing distraction in dark venues. All have selectable input sensitivity of either 1.4 Vrms or .775 Vrms, facilitating their use in a wider variety of applications and enabling the amplifiers to be driven at full power. They also now have a remote power trigger function to turn the amp on and off from a distance, along with a display sleep mode that turns the display lighting off after a specified time. A security setting disables the front-panel menu buttons; the menu is locked and unlocked by entering a simple button combination. In addition, a system reset function enables all factory settings to be restored. www.crownaudio.com
PRODUCT NEWS
MACKIE LIFTS CURTAIN ON REACH PA Mackie has revealed the Reach Professional PA System, built to deliver ‘ultra-wide coverage for unmatched sound quality and powerful built-in personal monitoring’. The system offers a range of features including ARC array, which promises clear, high-fidelity sound and a built-in EarShot personal monitoring system for flexible stage monitoring without the need for additional speakers and miles of cables. Plus, with wireless Bluetooth streaming and control over the built-in sixchannel digital mixer via the Mackie Connect app for iOS and Android devices, the unit provides wireless adjustment of levels, EQ, FX and sound-enhancing tools. “Reach is perfect for artists and venues that need a simple but powerful all-in-one PA solution,” remarked John Boudreau, Mackie SVP of product planning. “From coffeehouses, wineries and brewpubs to school assemblies and corporate presentations, the Mackie Reach provides unmatched versatility with the best sound quality possible.”
The ARC (Amplified Radial Curve) high frequency array technology in Reach utilises three horizontally-angled high-frequency drivers paired with dual vertically spaced high-output low-frequency drivers providing 150° of coverage. Combined with the EarShot system, a total of 250° of room coverage is available. Reach also offers complete wireless control using the Mackie Connect app, allowing level adjustments and control over professional performance features like three-band channel EQ, a built-in feedback destroyer, applicationspecific speaker voicing mode and 16 vocal/instrument effects. www.mackie.com
STUDIOMASTER PREVIEWS NEW PRODUCTS FOR 2016 Studiomaster has further expanded its mixer and speaker PA offerings, with new active PA cabinets, the digiLiVE 16 hybrid control surface/tablet-operated micro-mixer and more CLUB XS ultracompact analogue desk models. Shown for the first time at the recent Music China show in Shanghai were several additions to Studiomaster’s latest DRIVE series of two-way active, portable injectionmoulded PA cabinets – the bDRIVE 10A and bDRIVE 10AU, along with the DRIVE 12 AU and DRIVE 15 AU. The bDRIVE models sport a different facia design, while AU-suffixed models all come with an integrated digital media player, featuring Bluetooth wireless and USB media/SD card stereo playback, as well as USB/SD card stereo recording. Featuring simultaneous fixed surface/remote tablet operation, digiLiVE marries the moving-fader and touchscreen control of a physical mixing console with simultaneous remote tablet operation.
With a 16-input/16-bus/8-output configuration, the digiLiVE control surface integrates a 7in (Android OS) high-resolution touchscreen and 100mm moving fader/hardware control operation. Also in the micro-mixer product category, two models in the CLUB XS series were also launched at Music China. Built to be a highly price/spec competitive portable mixer series, featuring integrated Bluetooth wireless with USB media/SD card stereo playback and USB/SD card recording from the main stereo mix bus, the new CLUB XS 6 and XS 12 complement the current X 8 and X 10 models. www.studiomaster.com
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OPINION
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ADAPTING DYNAMICS FOR VARIOUS PLAYOUT SCENARIOS Nugen Audio founder and creative director Jon Schorah explains how the rise of mobile streaming and portable devices has led to new loudness complications and suggests how they can be overcome.
JON SCHORAH
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t’s been quite a while since loudness standards were first introduced (with Europe adopting EBU R128 in 2010 and the US gaining the CALM Act in 2011) and, for many of us, producing audio to these specifications has become a familiar daily routine. As a result, consumer complaints due to programme loudness jumps are down, and the consistency of listening levels from channel to channel is greatly improved. Although loudness regulation was originally designed to apply only to television programming, the wide-ranging benefits of loudness normalisation for increasing customer satisfaction have led to its consideration and application in other aspects of consumer audio. A major driver is the revolution in mobile streaming and the vast increase in the use of portable devices, even within the home, which have brought about dramatic changes in audio consumption over the past five years. Therefore, a regulation that was originally designed for the relatively controlled environment of home television has begun to be tested and stretched when applied to the multitude of additional offerings for which audio quality is also an important factor. Mobile consumption in particular presents a new set of complications. The mobile listening environment is often a noisy place, since cars, public transport, open spaces and busy offices are filled with ambient sound. Low-level audio that 10
might be perfectly acceptable in the home can be very difficult to hear clearly in more public environments. In addition, audio is often delivered to the mobile listening device via a streamed data connection. When data bandwidth is in short supply and rigorous data compression techniques are employed, the streamed data can suffer from codec distortion. Finally, the playback device itself often provides limited playback gain and headroom, resulting in poor control over output level and/or distortion at high levels of applied gain. In combination, these issues can mean that the standard EBU -23 LUFS/ATSC -24 LKFS, -1dBTP and widely dynamic materials are unsuitable for many of today’s consumption patterns. As broadcasters look to repurpose broadcast material for such uses as internet streaming, radio and smartphones, a parallel set of target requirements is emerging. Standards and recommendations are evolving to address these issues; for instance, the recently published AES TD1004.1.15-10 proposes a loudness window of -20 to -16 LKFS for streaming audio, and a similar consideration is underway in the EBU Ploud committee.
STREAMING AHEAD In practice, many well-known streaming services are now applying loudness
normalisation ahead of formal recommendation simply because of its benefits to their consumers. Perhaps the most well-known and publicised example is the adoption of approximately -16 LKFS by Apple in iTunes Radio. These loudness levels, several dBs above the television targets, address the issues of noisy environments and problems with playback gain. However, repurposing existing work using traditional audio compressors can lead to a significant decrease in quality, such as loss of dialogue clarity – and preserving quality by employing level-riding by hand can be difficult and time consuming. Ultimately, it may be possible to deliver broadcast television-standard audio to any device, with appropriate metadata allowing the device itself to make appropriate adjustments (including true-peak limiting) depending on the environmental conditions and device specification. But we’re not there yet. At Nugen Audio, we specialise in producing practical solutions to challenging audio tasks. The consumer is demanding audio that is ‘fit for purpose’, be it high-quality 5.1 audio for the home cinema or consistent audio with distinct dialogue for consumption in a mobile environment. These diverse demands place increased pressure on budgets and busy production schedules, and they are driving a requirement for high-quality content repurposing.
In response, Nugen Audio has developed a new algorithm to address multiple delivery specifications and audio dynamics simultaneously, while also respecting the level of dialogue in the mix to avoid introducing the dialogue clarity issues commonly associated with similar solutions. Our DynApt (Dynamic Adaptation) algorithm, currently available as part of our off-line batch-processing tool or as an NLE plug-in, allows audio repurposing and complex loudnesscompliant dynamic adaptation (including LRA targeting) within the NLE as part of the creative process. Running much faster than real time, this process delivers significant repurposing power into the hands of post-production professionals with minimal workflow disruption, while eliminating the need to remix the work several times for each target platform. With these new tools and the use of flexible loudness metering, the task of producing multiple audio versions need not be a significant challenge. In fact, since many international broadcasters (both TV and radio) are already applying these new tools in their day-to-day programming, the chances are good that you have already heard the results! Jon Schorah is founder and creative director at Nugen Audio, maker of advanced tools for audio analysis, loudness metering, mixing/mastering and tracking.
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OPINION
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FESTIVAL SOUND PART THREE: ACOUSTICAL ISSUES Paul Nicholson concludes his trilogy of live sound articles by explaining how mixing out in the open can often be trickier than indoor work when it comes to acoustics.
PAUL NICHOLSON
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ou may well disagree, but in my perfect world every concertgoer would have their own audio source and sound engineers would be able to provide a perfect mix. As I mentioned previously I believe that festival audiences will sooner rather than later be able to enjoy their own personalised sound field experience. Similarly, indoor audiences could also benefit from this technology, provided the audio industry is willing to make what would be a truly radical paradigm shift and offer consumers an alternative way of enjoying music without acoustical coloration or degradation. However, until then I believe we should take a serious look at improving the current norm. I don’t know about you, but as far as acoustics are concerned I find that outdoor shows and festivals can sometimes be even more of a challenge than indoor events. Here’s why. Let’s begin with the place where sound originates: the good old fashioned stage. I say old fashioned as it is just that: a simple 2,000-year-old concept of a raised platform that allows the performers to be seen by more than just the front row of an audience. So we have a platform, but as most outdoor shows are not in California we’ll also need a roof to protect the performers from El Niño or the great British summer. That makes two problems straight away: a reflective stage 12
surface and roof, both interacting acoustically. Beyond that, there’s the audience area, so topology and reflective surfaces come into the equation and add to the complexity of the acoustic issues. Naturally, there’s also the weather to contend with: wind shift, temperature fluctuations and humidity effects, etc. Then in my opinion maybe the worst problem of all for the sound engineer: the front-of-house tent. As you may be aware from my previous festival pieces I’m a huge fan of the silent stage, but this is still somewhat of a rarity when you look across the music industry. I think we can all agree that stages are far too loud in general and the artists are the root cause. The performer’s amplitude is then exacerbated as monitor engineers have to at least match the backline and drum levels, which simply adds to the overall gain issue problem. I worked at 15 festivals this year and the stage sound at every one was quite literally deafening with myriad reflections and an unnecessarily high SPL within the stage structure. So, the FOH engineer invariably has to contend with a loud incoherent stage sound, which can only degrade what comes out of the PA. Clarity has been sacrificed upon the altar of unnecessary volume.
Works a Treat So, what can be done apart from losing loudspeaker-based backline and monitoring? Well, only one of those festivals I worked on had a carpeted stage, which certainly helped, but not one had any roof treatments. Therefore, it’s clear to me that stage suppliers should look at these long-standing issues and provide simple cost-effective acoustic treatments as standard. Hard decking surfaces and shiny reflective stage roofs can be tamed dramatically with simple fixes. It’s obvious that everyone would be far more comfortable in a treated environment and could then turn down the volume. In general, not enough thought goes into festival arena design. Concessions, auxiliary stages, even trees all affect sound propagation. Pattern control and delay issues are always compromised when the sound field is cluttered with obstacles. Just a bit of extra thought regarding arena layouts would go a long way towards helping achieve better end results. My final bugbear is the FOH mix tent. Once you are inside the box you simply have to guess what it sounds like in the audience and make the necessary ‘blind’ adjustments. If I’m not mixing for the headliner and can’t access the front of the platform then I always set up my console
on the grass. I did this at Cropredy earlier in the year as I would have been stuck halfway back and unable to jump down from the platform and listen in free-field conditions. Luckily it was a dry day and SSE provided a small flight case to stand my desk on and dropped my Cat5 and power over the front of the platform. I was then right in the L-Acoustics K1 footprint and I had a truly wonderful time. A silent stage and no arena reflections iced the cake. As we all know, FOH tents also suffer from higher SPL inside than the immediate outside area, accentuated sub bass and – just like the stage – harmful reflections. Therefore, I think it’s about time the FOH tent had a big time makeover. It’s been extremely interesting discussing the future of festival sound over the last few issues, and just in case you’re wondering, I don’t like festivals, I simply love them. So let’s try to make them even better! Paul Nicholson has been a sound engineer and tour manager for 30 years and runs Salisbury-based Midas ProSound. He also worked at L-Acoustics UK from 1998 to 2008 and continues to specify and use festival systems on a regular basis.
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OPINION
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THE RECIPE FOR A TASTY SONIC DISH
Minnetonka Audio’s Alessandro Travaglini breaks down some of the key elements of a good sound mix, and explains how sound is so often a crucial tool when telling a story.
ALESSANDRO TRAVAGLINI
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imilar to preparing an aromatic dish, crafting a convincing sound mix is not only a matter of ingredients, but also most importantly how the individual elements are merged and balanced together. You could start with brilliant, clean and attractive sound sources and end up with a muddy soup of meaningless, flat sound. Or, on the other hand, your ingredients might not be particularly outstanding, but your mixing talent could take the best out of them and combine them in a way that makes the final result pleasant, smooth and realistic. So what is really making a difference in the science of sound mixing? What do we really have to focus on when approaching a sound mix from scratch? The first sound element we should look at is the voice. The voice is the most important carrier of narration, be it dialogue, or on- and off-screen speech, both in terms of storytelling, mood, expression and the characters’ description. Dubbing is a crucial operation that can highly influence the overall perception of a piece of AV content. Replacing the native actor’s voice with that of the dubbing artist’s can often determine the success of the film, and selecting dubbing voices that do not match with the original creative intentions is as risky as replacing salt with sugar. Speech is the sound element that can 14
describe the scene and represent its mood far beyond the straightforward meaning of the words. It can be highly articulated in terms of dynamics, expression and intonation and all these flavours must be carefully considered when processing a voice recording with compressors, EQ, reverbs or other means of audio processing. Treating a piece of dialogue with inappropriate compression might result in an altered narration with either dull modulation, flat dynamics or unnatural, annoying fluctuation, which in both cases would introduce unwanted artifacts to the original creative intent. Even more importantly, playing with EQs, modulators and spatial audio processors is an extremely delicate operation, which can drive the perception of the story in completely different directions.
A Force to be reckoned with Just as an example, think of how much of an impact the sound of Darth Vader’s voice has on the character. Its sound is half of the story, but this was not a new way of representing the narrative intent of a piece of storytelling. In musical operas, singers’ voices are selected according to the role that the characters have in the play: ranging from bass to countertenor, or contralto to soprano. Composers have always distributed vocal roles according to the character they wanted the singer to represent. The deep, dramatic, bass voices of Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, or the bright, sparkling soprano voices of countless operas are obvious examples of how vocal sounds heavily impact the overall performance of an artistic representation. Furthermore, voice is the sound source that humans naturally use to detect the loudness level of a piece of content. Consequently, the modulation of its level must be controlled appropriately, maintaining it within comfortable ranges, while still not limiting its expressive power. Around that all other elements contributing to the whole soundtrack, including music and sound effects, should be balanced with taste in order to
smoothly and convincingly support the storytelling. However, keeping the listener immersed by the surrounding sound into the narration, while leaving enough room for the voice elements to be intelligibly perceived with no fatigue, is hard. It’s not an easy balance to achieve as loudness perception is significantly influenced by subjective parameters such as hearing physiology, the listener’s physical and mental status, personal taste and last but not least, the technical and acoustic environment where the content is reproduced. Listening to a sound mix in a theatre is a radically different experience than listening to the same content through a mobile device. This leads us to another very important topic that any sound mixer should highly consider when approaching any new mix – in which environment will the content be played back? What are the technical implications that should be considered in terms of allowed loudness and frequency range, which might affect the final result? Being aware of these aspects and working in a mixing environment that best emulates the behaviour of the
reproduction chain at the listener’s end is the safest way to achieve a result that very likely will fulfill both the production crew’s and audience’s expectations. In conclusion, sound mixing is a very delicate operation that can highly affect the perception of the storytelling. Starting from the voice elements and continuing with music and sound effects, a successful sound mix is capable of pleasantly presenting the narration and fully supporting its creative intent according to the environment where it will be enjoyed. It’s not an easy dish to prepare, but good ingredients and talented hands – or should I say ears – can remarkably contribute to the making of a tasty and satisfying sonic dish. Alessandro Travaglini recently joined Minnetonka Audio as product manager within the Research & Development Group of The Telos Alliance, having previously held the role of sound supervisor at Fox Europe for more than ten years. Since 2006 he has focused his research on loudnessrelated subjects.
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INTERVIEW – TECH TALK
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TOP DAW
Matt Fellows catches up with Steinberg’s senior marketing manager Timo Wildenhain to discuss the evolution, impact and future of Nuendo, version 7 of which was released earlier this year.
How does Nuendo differentiate itself from other DAWs? What are its primary applications and strengths? Nuendo’s primary focus is on audio post production, broadcast and game audio. The strengths of Nuendo lie with its features and tools that are tailored towards these areas. With every Nuendo update, one can be sure that we concentrate 100% on customers’ needs, and no other platform includes more audio-post features, including audio-to-picture editing, MediaBay content management, the integrated reconforming solution we provide, multiformat panning, automatic dialogue replacement, Game Audio Connect and much more. Put this together and one can understand why Nuendo is considered the technology-leading software for audio-to-picture work. The Game Audio Connect feature is an interesting addition in Nuendo 7. Why is it important that you’ve enhanced your focus on gaming? Nuendo has always been strong in the gaming sector, with many game developers running our software as their central media production platform. They value the speed of operation, handling of audio files and editing capabilities. However, the audio creation environment was somehow separated from the game 16
engine workflow and so we thought we’d bring these two worlds together. We discussed this notion with many of our clients and they liked the idea very much. So we did it. And now this feature alone is saving them many hours of work. How have you also ensured that your core base of customers in audio post are well served with the new version? Game Audio Connect can be considered the first game-only feature we’ve introduced to Nuendo. It goes without saying though that the majority of features and capabilities newly available in Nuendo 7 are made for audio post production. This includes the whole re-conforming solution, VCA support, extended rendering functions, session data exchange, multiband effects, reworked user interface and many bricks-and-mortar features from previous versions on which these highlights build. The main focus of Nuendo remains audio post production, but we are very happy now to cater to the needs of the game community too. How is Nuendo positioned in the education market? A growing number of media schools focusing on audio-post and games have started teaching Nuendo, as the career prospects in this domain are
becoming more interesting. However, companies nowadays require formal qualifications. With Nuendo 7 Educator we offer a Nuendo version for teachers, and Nuendo 7 Student provides a deal on Nuendo for students to get familiar with the software as soon as possible. How has the reaction been to the update so far? The response to Nuendo 7 has been overwhelming. In fact, it may be the best Nuendo version in a decade. Of course, the game community is very enthusiastic about Game Audio Connect, but also the feedback we’ve been receiving from our post-production customers has been very positive. The Nuendo 7 World Tour, which is scheduled until the end of this year, has seen great interest from the industry. So far we have hosted more than 30 shows in Europe, India and Japan, with up to 200 engineers attending per stop. We are very grateful for the interest and positive reactions. How has user feedback shaped the software’s recent development? We consider user feedback to be the most vital part of our development work. We work closely with our customers and take their feedback very seriously. That‘s why any feature you find in Nuendo has been tested in real-world studio
environments before being released. For Nuendo 7, we discussed feature proposals with large game and postproduction companies long before we started the development. I consider the most important aspect to be ‘listening’. What challenges have you encountered in keeping Nuendo at the forefront of the market? Of course we need to be at the pulse of the industry: one needs to be aware of market developments, new formats, the requirements of emerging markets and – most importantly – user requirements. Fortunately, we can rely on a loyal user base, and it is our goal to provide them with the best production tools. This places high expectations on us, and motivates our pro-audio team to constantly strive for best results. Can you tell us anything about where you’re planning to go next with the software? We are working on Game Audio Connect 2 ,with major additions to the current feature set as well as new functionality for audio post-production, such as features for immersive sound creation as well as faster editing and processing capabilities. We will also make improvements to our video engine. www.steinberg.net
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Alike for ease. Distinct to suit.
www.dbaudio.com
Both the D20 and D80 are controlled by intuitive user interfaces and incorporate four truly independent channels. Each provides extensive DSP capabilities for comprehensive loudspeaker management, switchable filter functions, two 16-band equalizers and up to 10 seconds of delay. Two amplifiers, alike in form and functionality but distinct in power output: D20 for small to mid sized applications, D80 for up to large scale needs.
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GEO FOCUS: PORTUGAL
BLUE SKIES AHEAD After a rough few years, the Portuguese pro-audio market now finds itself on the road to recovery. Matt Fellows discovers why a lot of industry professionals here are optimistic for the future.
Population: 10.5 million How would you say the Portuguese pro-audio market is currently faring?
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relatively small piece in the European pro-audio puzzle, Portugal suffered the effects of the global economic crisis worse than most; in 2010 the country was hit by the largest recession it had seen since the 1970s, and was left with no choice but to accept a €78 million bailout in addition to instigating a range of austerity measures. The Portuguese economic climate now, however, appears to have regained its footing and is taking steps towards a stronger, more prosperous future. Miguel Pinheiro Marques, owner of studio SDB Mastering and studio design company Muséo, relayed to us the effects that these past few years have had on the pro-audio landscape: “Every industry here suffered and either had to cut investments, shrink in size to readjust to a new reality or even close down some of their businesses. The pro-audio industry was no different
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in this regard. Many live sound rental companies went bankrupt during those years. The demand in corporate audio jobs crashed almost immediately after the crisis.” This grim picture is corroborated by André Correia, assistant manager at manufacturer NEXT-proaudio: “The past four years of the pro-audio industry have not been good due to the economic crisis in Europe,” he explains. “A lot of projects and installations were stopped or cancelled thanks to that. The rental companies and resellers, from the big to small-size companies, stalled their investments and some of them completely gave up the business.” But now, according to Marques, the dust has settled, and while the climate hasn’t reached a point which one could necessarily call stable, the worst is past and things are looking promising, with companies taking advantage of the opportunity to recover and grow. “The pro-audio industry in Portugal is, for the most part, in a state
of economic relief right now,” he continues. “Even with all the political instability we’re experiencing in this particular moment I think there’s a general feeling that the worst has already gone by. Those who managed to hold their businesses during these tough years are now experiencing some relief and growth. Some parts of our industry have been able to start investing again, which is a clear sign of that economic relief.” “In the last months of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 everything started changing,” Correia adds. “The market is growing again, especially in the touring and portable markets. With this crisis, some new companies appeared on the market and some adjusted their structure, but it seems everything is back to normal and with an outlook for growth in the near future.” However, even as the Portuguese market slowly recuperates, those in the industry are not letting their guards down.
‘It seems to have stabilised but the recovery is slow paced.’ ‘It is doing well but with the crises the investments stops and many facilities needs to update their equipment and rooms.’ ‘After a hard period of five years the marketing is stabilising.’
“As with any economic relief, no one can be sure how long it is going to last or how considerable its impact will be,” Marques notes. “So there’s also a sense of caution regarding the future.” General consensus from figures in the industry indicates that the Portuguese market has much in common with its European neighbours – facing the same challenges and enjoying the same rewards. Within the manufacturing sector, NEXT-proaudio has found the postcrash market to be a very competitive space, but the country’s small size may also play a key role, as Correia outlines: “The pro-audio industry is different in all countries around the world of course, but in Europe the markets are very similar. Talking about Portugal, there is huge competition because there are a lot of online stores competing to offer the consumer the better price, and this makes the market very competitive. The choice for consumers is huge because almost all
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GEO FOCUS: PORTUGAL
www.audiomediainternational.com
How is your sector performing in 2015 compared with 2014?
What’s having the biggest negative effect on the market at the moment? Economic uncertainty
Better
Falling budgets Worse
Slow payments Goverment legislation
The same Other
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the brands are present in almost all the countries in Europe.” “From a technical point of view, everybody knows all the people and companies involved in the pro-audio industry,” he adds. “This allows the consumers to contact directly with all the products and solutions from all brands. This creates a very wellinformed market.”
Pillars of strength Leading the charge from the country’s recovery is the live sector, which according to João Brandão, owner of recording studio Estúdios Sá da Bandeira, stands as the strongest pillar of the Portuguese pro-audio industry. “Portugal has a big music scene with a lot of music festivals (small and big), and the Portuguese people have a tradition of going to shows regularly,” he remarks. “That means that we have several sound reinforcement companies that are pretty much busy throughout the year, and they make the biggest share of our pro-audio industry.” Marques echoes the significance of the sector, noting that the strong festival presence belies the country’s relatively small size, and has come to fortify its live presence even further. “Portugal is a small country. According to the last census we have a little over 10 million inhabitants and almost half of those live in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto,” he explains. “Considering our size, I think it’s unique that we get to have a Rock in Rio and a Primavera Sound, not to mention all the large and mid-sized festivals
like Sudoeste, Alive, FMM Sines, Super Bock Super Rock, Mexefest, D’Bandada, Milhões de Festa – the list goes on and on. I don’t think there are many small countries out there with such a wide, diverse and big number of music festivals as we have. And that obviously has an impact on our pro-audio industry: most of our live sound engineers and rental companies are as good as the best anywhere in the world.” The recording sector on the other hand has had difficulties finding its feet in the wider European and global markets; Ruca Lacerda, engineer at Fridão Natura Recording, believes that might be set to change. “Portugal has always had some difficulties being a part of international markets as there were difficulties in having access to information and music that was being made in other places around the world,” he begins. “International markets have always been part of our market, but the Portuguese market is not so much a part of the international market. And in global industry developments as a whole, there are already enough artists, producers, agents or managers in the international markets with good working conditions and carrying out work at the highest level, so it is hard for Portugal to compete.” And this was, of course, exacerbated by the recent economic downturn. “A lot of recording studios and sound reinforcement companies were forced to close, and the ones that stayed open had to drastically reduce their prices
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in order to survive,” adds Brandão. “As the country slowly recovers, we’re seeing more investment in the industry and most importantly, the consumer is starting to understand the need for hiring professionals to get good quality results on their projects. Even proaudio dealers are starting to appear in Portugal, which is great because until recently most of the equipment had to be bought abroad.” But, with the horizon beginning to look a little brighter, the Portuguese recording market is fighting its way to a position of prominence with new determination. “From the moment that it became possible, there was more focus, more desire to be better and fight for the opportunity to be part of international markets, to make and play music to the world,” Lacerda tell us. “This caused a large increase in the quality of music and musicians, and better technical support of producers, technicians, etc.”
Dark days are over With its dark times behind it, the Portuguese market is stepping into a promising and hopeful stage of development – a stage which has industry figures feeling optimistic in their predictions for the future. Lacerda expects big things are on the way: “I think it will continue to improve as it has been. The quality of professional audio in Portugal is increasing significantly.” And for Correia, capitalising on this growth is all about providing top service to consumers across all bases
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in order to beat out competitors: “As a manufacturer we try to always be one step ahead to present the market with the best and most innovative solutions year after year. We think the future is to develop products according to consumer demand and have a perfect collaboration with the distributor, providing support for all needs in all markets.” Brandão believes the country’s growing allure to consumers in the wider market could play a key role in the future of the recording and live sectors and beyond: “I think the market will keep growing as the country recovers economically. We already have good facilities in our major cities, and as travelling becomes cheaper we are going to see more demand from foreign artists. At the same time, national artists want to compete with the quality of international artists.” As Portugal continues to rise up from its troubled economic past and establish itself as an ever more striking pro-audio power in the times to come, the country is hopeful it will become a greater draw for international business. Marques concludes: “I think in the next years we’ll see a considerable increase in tourism for the recording community – bands and producers coming from other countries, recording their albums while hanging out in a culturally vibrant city all for the same price, or less, than they would have to pay to rent a similar recording facility in their home countries. Plus there’s lots of sun and great food, which also helps!”
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GEAR OF THE YEAR 2015
IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR… We look back at the past 12 months and compile our product highlights of 2015.
T
hanks to another busy year of trade shows, product launches, studio visits, live events and kit demos, the Audio Media International team has been lucky enough to get hands-on with a wide range of gear in the past 12 months. That experience, along with the continued advice and support of our highly experienced reviewers, has
enabled us to come up with a list of 15 products that we believe are worthy of the prestigious Audio Media International Gear of the Year 2015 accolade. These are products that have stood out for their innovation, functionality, looks, value, or even a combination of all of these factors. Take a look at the winners and tell us what you think on Twitter using
#GearoftheYear.
EASY ON THE EAR
KLANG:TECHNOLOGIES KLANG:fabrik
‘THE NEXT GENERATION’
ALLEN & HEATH dLive The KLANG:fabrik 3D in-ear monitoring interface is designed to deliver a sound as natural as hearing without in ears. KLANG:fabrik is at the core of the monitoring solution. It combines the latest HD audio algorithms with a multitude of flexible audio interfaces (i.e. Dante, compatible to ADAT) in order to work with professional mixing desks and stage boxes of any kind. Up to eight musicians receive their individual 3D mixes with one KLANG:fabrik, but for those working with bigger bands there is the option to daisy-chain multiple KLANG:fabriks. The 3D monitoring mixes are sent from
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KLANG:fabrik to radio transmitters or headphone amps via XLR, back to the ears of the musicians. Thanks to high-performance processors, this can happen without any noticeable latency. KLANG:fabric can be controlled via app on any device (iOS, Android, WindowsPhone, PC and Mac), or the faders of your mixing desk. The bottom line: “Praised for providing clarity and a more natural sound, could KLANG:fabrik turn out to represent the next stage of evolution for the IEM market?” Audio Media International
The dLive digital mixing system provides an ultra-flexible architecture, FPGA processing core, a comprehensive array of expansion, control and networking options, plus the Harmony user interface with gesture control. It is geared to applications from rigorous touring and festivals to installation in live venues.
The bottom line: “Not only does this system look great, its intuitive workflow, capacitive touchscreen that supports gestures, and backwards compatibility with 48k ACE will satisfy the most demanding engineers.” Audio Media International
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GEAR OF THE YEAR 2015 NUGEN AUDIO Halo Upmix
PLUG-IN PICKS
MCDSP SA-2
The SA-2 dialogue processor from McDSP is based on hardware originally conceived by three-time Academy Award-winning re-recording mixer Mike Minkler and used on over 100 major motion pictures. The new plug-in is designed to improve the overall sound of recorded speech. But the SA-2 is not just for dialogue. It’s equally useful for vocals, and is a great tool for adjusting the timbre of any track, with its reliable de-esser, and fine multi-frequency compressor.
The bottom line: “A simple idea (that quite frankly we didn’t know we needed so much). It’s a five-band dynamic HF EQ to tame dialogue sibilance. It’s a brilliantly executed plug-in model of a great hardware box. With a brutal simplicity, strapped across your bus, it can make your dialogue sound smoother, and indeed more filmic with a minimum of fuss. It is also great on smoothing HF excess in Foley stems and music too. A simple but powerful giant.” Mike Aiton, Mikerophonics Post owner
With centre channel management, including switchable dialogue extraction, Halo is suitable for all types of production from archive restoration and TV through to the full 7.1 feature film experience. Features include Surroundscope to give users a visual indication of where the audio is in the surround field, and a downmix option built into the plug-in.
The bottom line: “Nugen Audio has released a very professional product with Halo Upmix. The parameters are surprisingly flexible, offering many different effects and solutions for a single stereo file. The quality of the processing competes very highly against other solutions.” Simon Allen, freelance mix and FOH engineer
GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES
MEYER SOUND Leopard
Debuted at Prolight + Sound, the Leopard is a compact active loudspeaker designed to be used in an array of at least six boxes. It’s the smallest member of the Leo family and can operate alone in small to medium-sized venues or integrate with Lyon as down or out fills. The self-contained amplifiers are Class D which means less distortion, less power consumption and less heat generated. The output power-to-weight ratio of these boxes is particularly impressive. The bottom line: “A clear concise and crisp sound in an incredibly compact box. It shows the way forward for compact line arrays.” Andy Coules, sound engineer/tour manager
LD SYSTEMS Curv 500 The Curv 500 is designed to combine mobility, ‘sound perfection’ and userfriendliness. The mid/high speaker unit can be equipped with up to four modular, curved arranged array satellites. The result is clear, threedimensional sound – similar to the sound produced by big line arrays. The bottom line: “An ultra-compact curved array that delivers clarity and precision in a portable modular system.” Audio Media International
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GEAR OF THE YEAR 2015 POWER TOOLS
FUNKTION-ONE Evolution Series The Evolution Series boasts two dispersion options – the Evo 6E with 50° and the Evo 7E with 40° horizontal dispersion. Both products are fully horn-loaded with 15in mid-bass, 10in Funktion-One signature midrange and a 1.4in compression driver solely for high frequencies above 4kHz. The range boasts skeletal options, as well as grouped configurations, such as two-wide and three-wide. The bottom line: “This system offers very high output, which results in
L-ACOUSTICS X Series L-Acoustics’ new line of coaxial speakers for the rental and installation market consists of the X8 live monitor, the multipurpose X12 and the X15 reference stage monitor. The enclosures feature high-excursion neodymium drivers, ellipsoid directivity, laminar vented ports and up to 30% weight reduction. Look out for
our detailed review of the new series in the new year. The bottom line: “Benefitting from the R&D effort that went into the launch of the K2, the slender, lowprofile X Series delivers on both power and form.” Audio Media International
fewer cabinets used. This is beneficial for better sound, less truck space and stage space. My opinion is that the sound quality performance is effortless and natural sounding. Most importantly mid and vocal ranges are very clear and present.” Dave Millard, Full Fat Audio
BANG FOR YOUR BUCK
AUDIO-TECHNICA BP40
DRAWMER 1978
The broadcast-oriented BP40 features the largest diaphragm of any AudioTechnica dynamic microphone ever made – at 37mm – and patented ‘floating edge’ construction to maximise diaphragm surface area and boost performance. The mic delivers full, condenser-like sound for broadcasters – even at a comfortable distance – and
The Drawmer 1978 is a bus compressor with an array of controls to give complete mastering over your mix, and all in a deceptively simple 1U frame. In addition to the usual Ratio, Threshold, Attack and Release controls, the 1978 features four character switches offering a wide range of compression flavours, as well as a variable saturation control to add harmonic distortion to the signal. Side chain functionality is also included with side chain insert points on
22
excellent off-axis rejection, ideal for busy working studios. The bottom line: “This nifty new broadcast mic delivers natural condenser-like sound with clear and articulate reproduction, and all at an attractive price point.” Audio Media International
both channels and a very comprehensive and flexible Side Chain EQ section which offers LF and HF controls with a choice of specific shapes and frequencies for precise frequency-conscious compression such as de-essing. The bottom line: “The 1978 promises a sound that’s ‘less digital more analogue’ and at less than €1,000 it’s one for even the smallest studio.” Audio Media International
December 2015
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AUDIENT iD14
FACE VALUE
RME Babyface Pro
The Babyface Pro is a 24-channel 192kHz bus-powered professional USB audio interface. It features new standalone operations and rock solid stability, making it suitable for mobile recording. It seamlessly integrates specially engineered main I/O XLR sockets into the aluminium housing, along with two headphone outputs on TRS and mini-jack.
The bus-powered iD14 offers two channels of Audient’s classic console mic pres delivering 10-in/4-out with BurrBrown A-D converters, all in a compact desktop package. Key features include a discrete JFET DI input, console-style monitor control, intuitive software and ScrollControl mode, which turns iD14’s volume encoder into a virtual scroll
The bottom line: “The clever user interface is informative and clearly laid out, making access to every feature and configuration mode of the Babyface Pro intuitive and easy to use. It also offers versatile connectivity for any application.” Audio Media International
IMPRESSIVE UPDATES
wheel, giving complete hands-on control. The bottom line: “The iD14 brings high-quality preamp and converter technology to an all new price point. Its aim to provide best-in-class sonic performance on a functional form is certainly one to be commended.” Audio Media International
RADIAL JDV Mk5 This JDV DI features dual switchable inputs with level controls, Drag control load correction for magnetic pickups and a 10 meg-Ohm option to maximise the tone with piezos. A balanced input with 48V phantom power has been added to channel one to allow a mic to be combined with the second channel (and adjustable phase control) to produce an incredibly natural sound. It is rack-mountable for touring plus has a line level drive option for direct recording.
The bottom line: “The JDV has been a staple in many professional touring musicians’ rigs since its first incarnation in the early 1980s. The latest incarnation boasts new technologies and improvements, while remaining true to the original design.” Audio Media International
CEDAR AUDIO DNS One with LEARN
STEINBERG Nuendo 7 Some significant new additions were introduced in Version 7 of Steinberg’s Nuendo. Key among these was the arrival of VCA faders – “something you wonder how you lived without when you start using them”, our reviewer stated earlier this year. There were also some useful ergonomic changes – the VST instrument rack is now displayed in a ‘Rack Zone’ in the Project space, while MediaBay assets can be dragged directly into the Project window. Other changes include an improved Track list and Inspector and the addition of tempo detection;
GEAR OF THE YEAR 2015
a Plug-in manager to sort your VSTs; and VST Connect version 3. The bottom line: “Steinberg keep their finger on the Digital Audio Workstation tiller, expanding on what is great about Nuendo – its ease of use and stability – while improving the program’s feature set in both post production and compositional areas.” Stephen Bennett, musician, engineer, writer
At first glance, the latest incarnation of DNS One appears to be similar to previous versions, but its secret is revealed by the LEARN button that has appeared to the left of the control panel. LEARN allows DNS One to calculate an adapting estimate of the background noise level and determine suitable noise attenuations at each frequency for optimum suppression. LEARN can be used to take a snapshot of existing conditions and then finetune the parameters, but its real power lies in leaving it switched on so that it
can adapt to changes in the background and surroundings. LEARN adapts in a fraction of a second to changes and differentiates between the wanted signal and the noise for superb noise suppression at all times. The bottom line: “A huge step forward in dialogue noise suppression thanks to the LEARN button – and crucially the software retains its zero latency.” Audio Media International
December 2015
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FEATURE: GAME AUDIO
BLAST OFF!
THE TEAM John Broomhall talks to DICE audio director Ben Minto about the sound of Star Wars: Battlefront.
In-house • 1 audio director • 3 sound designers (plus one to cover Minto’s sound design work during paternity leave) – roughly split to cover core systems, technical and the missions, but with plenty of overlap and sharing of tasks • 2 voice-over designers – one full-time, others brought in during the busy recording, editing and implementation phases • 1 audio programmer – teamased (in addition to Frostbite engine support) • 1 audio analyst
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E
lectronic Arts’ DICE is the illustrious Stockholm-based game development studio renowned for the massively successful military firstperson shooter series Battlefield. Among its umpteen accolades are an unprecedented two consecutive BAFTA Best Game Audio wins. The DICE audio ethos that respected sound designer and audio director Ben Minto espouses is famed – creating interactive sound is very much a team activity and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A thoughtful audio design approach and strong cross-disciplinary collaboration facilitate not only audio excellence, but also an overall world-class videogame experience. Meanwhile, a mantelpiece crammed with audio awards engenders robust corporate backing. 24
At the outset of his eight-year tenure, Minto could surely never have imagined his path leading to such a prestigious opportunity – namely heading up interactive audio production for possibly the world’s most hallowed IP – one that resonates with him ‘deeply’. The reality kicked in when he came face-to-face with personal sound design heroes and masters of Star Wars audio Ben Burtt and Matt Wood. During an ‘audio summit’ at Skywalker Ranch early on in the 18-month project, they agreed to give DICE VIP access to stems from the first six films (music, SFX, dialogue, aliens, etc). Minto describes the process of sifting through the original recordings (complete with slates) as “a dream; a unique and humbling experience”. But that was just the beginning… Minto explains: “In films, a single
sound might be reused many times and involve one perspective, for example most blaster shots are ‘third person’ and fairly close. But we needed to extend from that to cover our more diverse game requirements – ‘first-person’, various distances, and modelling how the blasters sound in different environments. We sent detailed requests for SFX ‘pulls’ (where we knew it might be hard to isolate them or where we needed multiple variants) – this provided many new perfect source elements. We also conducted sessions with Star Wars Foley royalty Dennie Thorpe and Jana Vance to get us the right movement and surfaces source. Then we made our own unique sounds combining the aforementioned with new recordings (such as Icelandic lava fields for the Sullust levels) and existing
External • Dolby Labs: Spencer Hooks and team, Atmos support • Formosa Interactive and SIDE UK: dialogue recording • Skywalker Sound: Foley sessions, additional source material and guidance • Source Sound: Charles Deenen and team – trailers and in-game cutscenes
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FEATURE: GAME AUDIO
www.audiomediainternational.com
material from our own huge DICE library. “We don’t create final assets in a DAW – we ‘build’ most sounds at run-time by breaking them down into layers and altering the content and playback (amplitude, pitch, etc) of each layer depending on the game parameters. It’s more like working inside MaxMSP or Reaktor, than Pro Tools or Nuendo. With this run-time sound design, what you hear for a given event is a combination of elements mixed and effected on-the-fly to deliver a unique hybrid sound for that instance – it’s almost infinitely variable.”
sound bite The game is built on an in-house EA game engine dubbed Frostbite – a highly complex system of interlocking computer code modules handling 3D graphics, AI, game logic, etc, and of course a sophisticated audio system that adroitly manages and manipulates huge amounts of digital audio data, calculating and mixing moment-tomoment potentially hundreds of ‘live’ audio channels with send and insert effects, and dynamic fader moves, which conform with mix ‘rules’ and respond to game events and ‘states’. Minto continues: “Frostbite is constantly updated and added to by a centralised group. When we start a project we take the latest version, explore the most recent upgrades/ additions and crosscheck with other teams using it for anything they’ve created locally which may be beneficial. Specifically for Battlefront, we added third-person and split-screen extensions and mixing, harvested and further
BEN MINTO'S GO-TO GEAR Despite time and lack of recall disadvantages, where possible Minto went fully analogue trying to stay as true to the original creation process as possible. However, where batch processing of a large number of files would be needed, he would start analogue to get the right sound and then substitute those paths out for plug-in chains. Hardware • Eurorack modular synth and other vintage synths including EMS VCS 3s. “On the modular I replicated most of the ARP 2600 patches (where I could find notes and pictures to start from) previously used to create synth tones (originally named Electronic Tonalities, as enhanced an improved obstruction/ occlusion system. We also added a new ‘area type’ manager (which adds an extra layer of complexity, allowing us to better place sounds in the world in the type of environment in which they occur relative to the listener) plus some new DSP and logic modules. “However the biggest change was moving to an object-based audio system, requiring new thinking on reverbs and DSP mastering – this move was driven by being the first Dolby Atmos-enabled title. On PC, the game offers a 64-object Atmos option, made up of a traditional 7.1 bed (eight fixed objects in the traditional positions) and then up to a maximum of 56 additional freemoving objects. On PC,
a nod to Louis and Bebe Barron’s work on Forbidden Planet, in the library we were supplied), and could build upon these patches to add more complexity, variations and new layers. The most useful modules were Ring Modulators (which could be swapped out for Frequency Shifters to add a similar yet different quality), and Self Resonating Filters (how Ben Burtt generated sine waves on the ARP 2600, which had no sine output from its oscillators).” • Spring Reverbs, Bridge Bucket Delays and various Vacuum Tube modules. • Slinky springs, long cardboard and plastic tubes, powerballs, wobbly metal sheets, VLF detectors made from wire and PlayStation 4 and Xbox One we offer a 7.1 mix and our own enhanced stereo mix.”
GREAT, KID. DON’T GET COCKY Such a complex real-time audio scenario, provides plenty of opportunity for errors to creep in and non-linear gameplay makes audio testing a thorny task: “The entire dev-team play-tests daily, rotating across PS4, Xbox One and PC to ensure consistency,” Minto says. “They provide a range of precious customer-level feedback – from a vague but emotive ‘X doesn’t sound right’ to really insightful comments to make any Star Wars geek proud – all feedback is actively encouraged. Within Audio, we rotate through different hardware set-
The original John Williams score was licensed and recordings lovingly edited to fit game requirements, supplemented by 62 minutes of ‘new’ music recorded with the 96-piece LSO in Abbey Road Studio One
hula hoops, a bat detector, RF coils and Minto’s own son (pre- and post-birth) all played their part too. Software • iZotope’s RX paired with Waves WNS – essential in splitting original multi-tracked composites into their individual clean layers. • Zynaptiq’s Unveil and Unfilter – For removing just the right amount of ‘70s haze to bring a recording’s fidelity up-to-date while retaining original character and analogue feel. • Prosoniq’s Morph – “One of the most interesting and inspiring plug-ins I’ve ever worked with.” • Waves HEQ & Reel ADT, FabFilter Bundle. ups, stereo/surround/Atmos, consumer and professional monitoring, various headphones. We play as many different scenarios as possible; altering our own settings within the game (dynamic range/speaker settings) to help ensure the best balanced and mixed experience for all listeners. This also helps us create default audio settings, and define ingame audio menu options. “Overall, the audio benchmark for Star Wars: Battlefront was the original trilogy; if it ‘sounded like the films’ – no mean feat – then we’d achieved our goal. A simple extension to this was to embrace the Star Wars source material, legacy, methods and be true to its origins, i.e. don’t create new; build on what exists. Next, extend from those points to make all sounds sit together in the world, as part of the same family. And finally, enhance the aural experience by utilising as much from the Star Wars universe as possible to really flesh out and enrich the soundscape beyond the visually verifiable, and fill the game with many audio ‘nods’. In parts we were painting by numbers, but huge swathes of the canvas were blank so our task was to make everything, whether old or new, work together as one coherent whole that made sense and was believably Star Wars.” www.dice.se
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STUDIO PROFILE
IN TUNE WITH THE TIMES
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// As most successful studio owners will know, the need to adapt as the industry evolves has become paramount, and Fredo Gevaert, founder of Temple of Tune in Kuurne, Belgium, is no stranger to that fact, as Adam Savage discovers…
W
hat’s possibly not stated enough in this business is the importance of loving what you do, and one man who willingly demonstrates true passion for his craft is Fredo Gevaert, owner of the four-studio Temple of Tune complex – specialist in sound design and post for TV, film and commercials – in the Belgian municipality of Kuurne. Having started out as a popular DJ for a radio station in the 1980s, Gevaert later joined the team at one of the 20 Eastlake studios designed by Tom Hidley. Following the sale of the facility he was given the chance to inherit the
clients and serve them through his home studio, which led to the formation of Temple of Tune in 1990. The Temple’s early days were solely dedicated to commercials, and while that still represents a major portion of its output, the workload is now a lot more varied, as Gevaert explains: “We do pretty much everything that involves audio or sound design. It has evolved over the years mostly due to our client base, but also because we always wanted to diversify since it is a risky business and very difficult to maintain a position in one particular area.” Gevaert believes that the studio’s ability to build good relationships with
clients is one of the main reasons why it has managed to navigate its way through the stormy waters of the past few years without too much trouble. They’re not battling with the big boys for the major one-off jobs; instead he can be confident of regular work with people he has long-standing partnerships with, which takes the pressure off and allows for greater control over the project. “We are not in what we call ‘the shopping street’ – the Sohos of this world. We are about one hour away from Brussels,” explains Gevaert. “To start with we don’t have to fight for the latest ‘hip’ project, and because we’re not part of that inner group we have a client base
that we have built up over the years, which is very loyal, and we have our own way of working. “Every project that we handle here is done on the basis of ‘we are doing this job.’ It’s not like we’re just renting out our facilities.” And it’s this approach that has seen the Temple team – comprising two fulltimers and a group of freelancers skilled in certain areas – go from strength to strength in recent times, although the same cannot be said for many of Gevaert’s industry peers, it seems. “Things are going very well. I’ve heard that with my colleagues it’s still up and down but we’ve been constantly December 2015
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STUDIO PROFILE
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working,” he reveals. “We had our best year in 2012, and again in 2013, 2014, etc. Since we have a lot of independent, small clients we have a steady income.” The Temple boss has also evidently been using his decades of pro-audio experience to his advantage, as it’s given him the ability to sense when a project could prove more hassle than it’s worth, particularly when the understanding of what his profession entails and the artistry that goes into has, he opines, declined somewhat. “Years ago if we had a client coming to us who needed a commercial it would be ‘we’d like to work with you, this is what we’d like to do, what do you think?’ and from then we’d handle the project,” Gevaert says. “These days it’s ‘can you send us some samples of voices, duty-free music that we don’t have to pay for and we will tell you what to do.’ Then they’d ask for quotes for the same job from three or four different studios and squeeze as much as they can out of that quote. “There’s less respect for the work we do now, mainly due to the ignorance of what the job consists of. There is a parallel with the music business – in a
few years, people switched from buying records/CDs to downloading music for free. And since it’s free, it has lost its value.”
DUB STEP As part of Temple’s efforts to broaden its offering, the facility has gone on to do its fair share of film dubbing, for the likes of Netflix – including acclaimed three-parter The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, which stars Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy and Bill Murray comedy St. Vincent – but the current pricing structure and punishing turnaround times required for these projects has meant maintaining a steady stream of this kind of work difficult. “We are part of an international system for foreign language dubbing and there is a tremendous strain on the prices worldwide. We did seven or eight movies last year all because Netflix came on the market, but this year we haven’t done any,” comments Gevaert. “We cannot make any money out of it, and if you ask us to dub a movie for next Wednesday we could maybe pull it off if we pushed everything else to one side, but we’re not going to do that.
“At the moment we’re working on an animated series called My Knight and Me. It’s a French project and we’re doing all the sound design from scratch. “We’ll be spitting out one episode a week for the next year, and that forces us into certain workflows we don’t like to get into but that’s the way it needs to be done. I like to mix something until I’ve had enough, listen back to it the next day and do some tweaks as I think that’s a more accurate way of doing things. That’s not possible in this case, but you cannot help it.
TOP GEAR The quality of the equipment on offer, as well as the overall design of the MADInetworked facility, has also undoubtedly added to its appeal. “It’s an old fashioned studio in terms of acoustics – built the way it should be. We have a nice nine-pit Foley floor and top-notch equipment, but we never went along with the latest fashion trends.” Highlights include NTP/DAD converters, Lafont LP-21s/LP-22s, TC Electronic 6000 and Lexicon 960 for the outboard preamps and effects; Meyer Sound HD-1 monitoring in Studio One
and a full LSR JBL setup in Studio Four. The Temple crew have also relied on Steinberg’s Nuendo software for many years, with Gevaert describing it in 2014 as being “more flexible, faster, more user friendly and easier to work with multiple users.” And it looks like he hasn’t altered his opinion since the arrival of Nuendo 7 earlier in 2015.
“It’s an old fashioned studio in terms of acoustics – built the way it should be. We have a nice nine-pit Foley floor and topnotch equipment, but we never went along with the latest fashion trends.” Fredo Gevaert
“We have been a Nuendo user since the day we threw out our Akai DD1000s and DD1500s and then there is Yamaha Nuage, which is the best board I have ever seen. I was never a fan of controllers before, but this really speeds up your workflow. We’re in a market where we need to do things quick, in a very convenient way, and we don’t want to be stuck in situations like ‘it was always done like that so we should carry on doing it like this’, so Yamaha did an extremely good job on this one.” In fact, the manufacturer has done such a ‘good job’ that the firm is now planning to install a second Nuage system in its Surround Room, which is currently being rebuilt and made Auro 11.1-ready. Gevaert may have seen a lot changes over the past 25 years – and not always for the best, or so it appears – but it’s clear that he remains as committed as ever to the cause, and it’s this continued motivation that keeps him going regardless of the many new challenges that the industry likes to throw his way on a fairly frequent basis, as he concludes: “Someone once said to me ‘Fredo, never forget why you got into this business: because it was fun. As soon as it becomes not fun any more, get out of there as soon as you can.’” www.temple.be
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
IZOTOPE RX 5
SOFTWARE
Jerry Ibbotson fires up the latest version of the firm’s acclaimed audio editor to see what’s new this time around.
A
ny chance you could fix a problem we’ve got with the sound?” It’s a phrase that makes me feel slightly faint and sick inside and normally comes from the mouth of a filmmaker or a student. Or a student filmmaker. But I’ll let you into a secret: I actually love a bit of clean-up. I’m more of a keen amateur in this particular field. There are whole teams who work on tidying up sound every day of the week whereas it’s more of an occasional thing with me. But taking a bit of dirty audio and polishing it up is pretty damn satisfying. When iZotope released its RX 3 set of audio tools I jumped at the chance to review it and was really impressed with the results. I’ve used it to fix a wide range 32
of sound issues, from background hum to dodgy room acoustics, and it’s proved invaluable. Since then RX 4 has come along, although I didn’t get a chance to play with that version. Now we’ve got RX 5 and luckily I’ve been able to get my hands on it. What exactly is it? It’s a set of tools that can run either as VST 3 plug-ins or as a standalone program – a Swiss Army knife of sound-fixing widgets. After a swift download and install, I ran into a few problems with trying to run RX 5 as a solo application. It tried to open it, but then hung before crashing out. I was using a Windows 8.1 laptop, which recently had a Windows 10 upgrade before being rolled back. This may have contributed to the problem, which I think
is a display issue. But despite uninstalling and even using Windows Restore, I couldn’t get it to work. Cue some head scratching. That was when I switched to using it as a VST 3 plug-in with Adobe Audition CC 2015. Adobe and iZotope have a good working relationship – some of the builtin effects in Audition have in the past been iZotope products and RX 3 always worked fine in the Adobe DAW. No big surprise then that RX 5 slotted straight in with no problems.
ALL THE RIGHT NOISES Noise Reduction is the single tool in this box that I probably would use the most so let’s start there. To test RX 5’s capabilities in this area I dug out some
Key Features n De-reverb for fixing dialogue recordings with too much reverb/acoustic space n Sync and connect with any DAW or NLE timeline using RX Connect n Instant Process tool allows the user to ‘paint away’ audio problems with ease n Module Chain to fire off all editing tasks at once RRP: £239 (Standard), £815 (Advanced) www.izotope.com audio files that I used on its predecessor and which have also been useful teaching tools. The first was a recording of a song called Three Cheers for Little Belgium by
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Violet Lorraine, which dates back to 1914 and was used as a propaganda tool in the Great War. Back in 2014 I’d been asked by a BBC friend if I could clean this up, as it was going to be used as part of the WW1 commemorations. The sound quality, given it’s a 1914 recording, is appalling, with hiss and crackle right the way through and a warbly voice. But there’s a juicy section at the start with nothing but noise. This is key. I fired up RX 5’s De-noiser and the interface that greeted me was reassuringly familiar. There’s a graph that represents the noise floor at different frequencies and controls for the amount of Reduction, Quality and control of noise artefacts. The De-noiser itself can run in two moves. Adaptive is basically automatic while Manual requires the software to learn what’s noise and what isn’t. I went down the latter route. After clicking on Manual and Learn I
made sure Audition’s play head was at the start of the file and hit play on the plug-in. The frequency graph responded by scrolling and changing shape, as the software was fed the raw noise. I then moved the Reduction slider to -30dB and simply hit Apply. The result was seriously impressive. The hiss and crackle was almost eradicated, with just some residual hiss. The sound file was now perfectly useable and a vast improvement over the original. But I wasn’t satisfied so I repeated the process using the exact same settings. Where there had been a low level of hiss remaining (evident at the start of the song) there was now nothing. It was almost uncanny. I remember being stunned at RX 3’s performance on this file (the BBC producer was gob-smacked, frankly) but I would say that RX 5 goes a little further. It’s a subtle difference but it is there. I could afford to be more brutal with
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW the new De-noiser, without risking the dreaded ‘Space Monkeys’ – iZotope’s terms for the artefacts often left over from effects like this. RX 5 is actually so potent at noise reduction that files like this need something left in on purpose. Hearing a 1914 recording with zero background hiss is frankly freakish! One of the other tools in the set is the Dialogue De-Noiser which, as its name implies, has an emphasis on cleaning voice material. My test audio for this was a new file, part of a Skype recording made by a BBC journalist that had the usual background ‘crud’ that this kind of material generally has. In most instances, broadcasters don’t have the time to clean it up and rate getting it on air as the top priority but I wanted to see how RX5 would manage.
KEEPING IT CLEAN The process of using the Dialogue Denoise is designed to be simple – it’s very much a no-nonsense tool. I went straight into Manual mode – highlighting a section of background noise (at least one second works best) and hitting Learn and the RX 5 play button. It makes a quick scan and then you’re good to go. Without bothering to make any further tweaks I applied the process and listened to the results. It’s pretty obvious that RX 5 uses a gate in the Dialogue De-noiser – you can hear it gently working away in the background. But the keyword there is gentle. It’s not intrusive; I just noticed the noise level dropping to virtually zero when the interviewee stopped talking. But with the signal (the voice) at a decent level, the noise is less obtrusive anyway. Overall, as a way of quickly and simply tidying up exactly this kind of audio it does exactly what it sets out to. My Skype recording was done – as tends to be the case – in a less than perfect environment. This is a polite way of saying it had the acoustics of a toilet. RX 5 has a tool for this: De-reverb. In my appraisal of RX 3 I’d used this on some effects I’d recorded in the field (swords in a museum spring to mind) and the results had sounded like I’d dragged the objects into a studio. With RX 5 I went down a different approach and ran the De-reverb over my Skype clips. It’s the usual process: find a section of the file with both background sound and voice and use the Learn function
in the tool. Then run the plug-in over the whole audio. The results with my Skyped interview were both subtle and noticeable. There was less ‘boxiness’ in the voice and each word was more focused and tailed-off less. I actually undid my first attempt, which left the voice a little weak, and clicked the Enhance Dry Signal box and backed off the Reduction amount a little. The result was more natural sounding and the voice was stronger. There are plenty more toys left to play with. I ran De-click over a few voice files with spitty-click sounds (as I call them) and with some tweaking of the parameters it cleaned them up. You can even tune it to pick up on bass thumps (good for mic rattle) and points where the amplitude of the wave jumps suddenly. De-hummer is harder to test as it needs specific electrical noise. I tried it on some fridge noise but found that the general De-noise tool worked better.
IN CONCLUSION Overall this is a seriously impressive set of audio tools. I wouldn’t say there’s a vast difference between RX 5 and the last version I used (and which I still employ on a regular basis) but the improvements are there. The foundation of it is the De-noiser, which combines power and precision. The Dialogue tool is simple to use and would be a real bonus to broadcasters who want a swift way of tidying up material. Okay, so I had a few problems with the standalone tool, but that’s likely to be the fault of my machine. As a VST plug-in I cannot fault it. Here’s a postscript: when researching the background to the Little Belgium song I found it on a site for historic WW1 music. There was a warning on the page about the sound quality of the 100-year-old material. Now, if they had RX 5 they wouldn’t have to worry. It’s simply a no-brainer.
The Reviewer Jerry Ibbotson has worked in pro-audio for more than 20 years, first as a BBC radio journalist and then as a sound designer in the games industry. He’s now a freelance audio producer and writer. December 2015
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
AVID VENUE S6L
The firm’s latest large-format console is designed to meet the demands of any gig, but does it pass Andy Coules’ test?
LIVE MIXING SYSTEM
I
t’s now been over ten years since the launch of the VENUE platform and those original Digidesign consoles (Profile, SC48 and D-Show) are still common sights at venues and festivals around the world. Now we have the new VENUE S6L, which utilises some of the technology from the S6 and runs the latest version of the VENUE software, but is it a worthy successor to the muchloved originals? The S6L utilises the standard threepiece architecture of control surface, engine and I/O unit. The control surface comes in three varieties, the S6L32D (four touchscreens, three knob modules and 32 channel faders), the S6L-24D (three touchscreens, two knob modules and 24 channel faders) and the S6L-24 (one touchscreen, two knob modules and 24 channel faders). The engine comes in two flavours: the E6L-192 and E6L-144 – the numbers denoting the number of input channels. The 192 has 96 mix busses (+LCR), a 24 x 24 matrix and 200 plug-in slots. The 144 offers 64 mix busses (+LCR), a 16 x 16 matrix and 125 plug-in slots. To complete the package there’s the Stage 64 I/O unit, which can be configured with up to 64 inputs and 32 outputs. In addition to the different combinations of touchscreens, knob modules and fader banks each control surface also has a master live module. 34
Key Features
This features two small screens surrounded by buttons, two master faders called flex channels, function keys (which double up as transport controls), snapshot navigation and various other buttons familiar to users of previous consoles (config, multiselect, etc). The two small screens denote the function of the buttons arranged around them, which enable various operations including layer switching, shortcuts and user-defined keys. There are a couple of handy new additions not seen on previous models, which include an overwrite button (to enable quick saving of the current show) and I’m sure many people will be happy to know that there’s also a dedicated tap tempo button. The fader banks include the usual range of controls you would expect to
find on a digital console (select, mute, solo, channel name display, etc) as well as a level meter, which is as long as the fader and includes compressor gain reduction and gate state information. The most obvious departure from the original VENUE consoles is the absence of a set of single channel controls – now there are multiple control knob modules. Each module comprises 32 touch-sensitive tri-colour knobs, each of which have two buttons and an OLED display (which shows the function as well as the value). Gone forever are those classic ‘mushroom’ knobs that made the original consoles so unique. The modules are versatile insofar as they can show a range of control options, either as a vertical analogue-
n ‘The most powerful processing engine in the industry’ n High-performance preamps and extended sample rate support n Fully integrated onboard plug-ins from Avid and its ‘connectivity partners’ n Pro Tools recording and playback without an external interface n Freely configurable modular system components and I/O RRP: From £46,700 www.avid.com like channel or to show more detail of a specific function of one channel across the whole bank. Once a channel is selected you can quickly jump through the various sections (i.e. preamp, EQ, dynamics, plug-ins, etc) via a row of buttons at the bottom of the module. The preamps and converters have all been redesigned and improved and Tte level of Pro Tools integration is as high as you would expect on an Avid console, which makes both recording and virtual sound-checks extremely straightforward.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
Looking Good In terms of appearance the control surface is very sleek in its black livery; the OLED displays jump out at you with their brightness and clarity, which bodes well for those murky dark and smoky gigs. The whole surface is illuminated by an LED strip above the screens, so there’s no need for annoying gooseneck lamps. The new VENUE software is also much darker in appearance and has been optimised for 16:9 screens; you can also have the traditional overview screen, which can also be a touchscreen. Not only does this enable you to keep a key view (such as plug-ins or snapshots) available at all times but it also enables a second operator to interact with the console without getting in the way of the main control surface. There is now also a new Universe View, which provides a compact overview of all the inputs and outputs and is going to be very handy for those large channel count events. Another great feature is the backwards
compatibility of the show file – you’ll be able to bring a show file from any previous VENUE console to the S6L and vice versa. I must say that the way in which it utilises touchscreen and knob modules is reminiscent of the Soundcraft Vi series. This suggests that console manufacturers are starting to refine the digital paradigm in a way that means all consoles are tending towards a similar standard design that users have been demanding ever since the advent of the digital console, which can only be a good thing.
In Use Basic operation is pretty straightforward; accessing the channels you need is easily done via the Fader Banking layer select buttons or via a side scrolling option where you can move the channels left or right along the faders by a single channel or by eight. There are also user-defined layers, which enable you to create any combination of inputs and outputs
in any order you desire across all the available faders, which I know will make a lot of people happy. Using the knob modules took a little getting used to but once you figure it out you soon realise that you now have more ways to quickly get to what you need. I like the level of detail you get on the individual views (i.e. input, EQ, dynamics, mix, etc) but I also found the channel view very handy as it provides an overview while also giving access to the most commonly used input, EQ and dynamics functions – much like the single channel controls found on previous consoles. There is also an option to create a custom layout for the knob modules, which gives you the ability to organise a channel strip any way you wish which, coupled with the user defined layers, make the console incredibly flexible and should enable fast and intuitive operation. As you would expect from a modern console everything sounds crisp and clear, the channel EQ is smooth
and sweet sounding and the channel compressor is still among the best builtin compressors I’ve ever used. Overall it’s a pleasure to work with, offering a great combination of familiarity and new features as well as previously unseen levels of configurability.
Conclusion It’s this combination of familiar functions and neat new features that make the S6L feel like an evolutionary leap forward that builds upon the past while still offering something new, which makes it a fitting successor to the VENUE line.
The Reviewer Andy Coules is a sound engineer and audio educator who has toured the world with a diverse array of acts in a wide range of genres. andycoules.co.uk
Studio Sound Engineer WARNER MUSIC We are looking for a highly experienced and dynamic studio sound engineer to join us at a very exciting time as we build an in house recording studio. You will play an integral role in the design, initial set up and coordination of the studio as we get it off the ground and have a key role in the studio going forwards. The ideal candidate will encompass the following skills and experience: ●
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Proven track record of working on commercial releases with familiarity of and experience in contemporary music production techniques and practice Experience of solo running recording, overdubbing and mix-down sessions Have an understanding of the acoustics of musical instruments and recording spaces
And show the following competencies to a high level: ●
Personable with excellent communication and time keeping skills
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Highly developed critical listening skills
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A desire to help build and sustain a positive, supportive, constructive and dynamic internal culture
High level of proficiency in pro tools software Knowledge of a wide range of microphones and microphone techniques
Permanent role located in Kensington (W8), London
Strong familiarity with analogue and digital audio hardware and studio signal flow
Application Email: Kelly.stone@warnermusic.com
Experience of operating large format audio consoles Solid understanding of music pitch, tuning, melody, rhythm and timing An ability to play a musical instrument to a good standard and an understanding of musical theory Highly literate with Social Media, IT and other media
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
FOCUSRITE CLARETT 8PREX
AUDIO INTERFACE Simon Allen gets familiar with the top end of the company’s new range of Thunderbolt interfaces.
T
his latest audio interface releases from Focusrite certainly confirm the company’s commitment to use Thunderbolt connectivity. There are good reasons for this choice, though, and combined with the quality feel of these products, the new Clarett range shows they mean business. When I had the opportunity to test Focusrite’s RedNet system, I thought they were among the best A-D and D-A converters I’d heard. I was excited to try out these new boxes to see if they were close to the high standard that Focusrite had set itself. For this review, Focusrite sent me the flagship Clarett – 8PreX.
OVERVIEW The overall quality of the unit was immediately obvious from the moment I unboxed it. The anodised finish of the red front panel, the firm feel of the knobs and buttons and clear LED display is reminiscent of the RedNet units. This makes the Clarett range appear streets ahead of the Scarlett, or any of Focusrite’s other interfaces. The 8PreX is designed to be used mainly as a permanent fixture in a small studio. Taking up two rack spaces, it offers eight analogue inputs – switchable between mic or line – and the first two channels also offer an instrument direct input from the front 36
panel. The rear panel has separate TRS line inputs as well as XLR mic inputs, allowing gear to remain connected and selected via the software. The 8Pre offers the same eight analogue channels, but the connections are via combi Jack-XLRs to save space. The 8PreX also offers separate phase, highpass filter and phantom power switches per channel, whereas the 8Pre only has two phantom power switches for channels 1-4 and 5-8 respectively. The 8PreX features ten line outputs, dual ADAT optical connections (in and out), SPDIF, word clock (in and out) and MIDI connections. This adds up to 26 inputs and 28 outputs. The 8Pre loses one of the optical connections bringing its total to 18 in and 20 out, which is still impressive considering the quality and price points. A 2Pre is shipping now and we can expect a 4Pre in the first half of next year with predictable breakdowns of these specs, but interestingly all models will sport at least one ADAT optical connection.
Under Control Along with the improved look and design of this line of interfaces, Focusrite has a new control app. This is a big improvement over its previous software, mostly because it’s so simple. Simple is good in this case, especially because you probably won’t need to spend much time here as a result of the low-latency Thunderbolt connection. All manner of routing options are possible, and the 8PreX and 8Pre can also provide two headphone mixes. Many will argue that the decision from Focusrite to only offer a Thunderbolt connection leaves some Windows users out of the picture. At the moment, while the initial units are shipping, the drivers and software are available only for Mac, but Windows versions are on their way
for those who have added a Thunderbolt port to their systems. The main reason that the Clarett range is Thunderbolt-only is down to the extremely low latency. In fact, (depending on the host machine settings) the total round-trip latency can be as low as 1.38ms. This is virtually impossible for any musician to detect, or at least be concerned over. Therefore, with computer processing power being what it is, you should be able to track most sessions monitoring from your DAW, even with some plug-ins inserted. This is great as it’s simpler to build separate headphone mixes inside your DAW and beneficial to some, actually hearing a slightly processed signal instead of the direct sound. Obviously, for those who are running their session at higher sample buffer settings of 512 upwards, this is also possible with the new and improved control app.
QUALITY COUNTS On a simple listening test I could hear the quality of the D-A converters and output stages. It was clear and open with great detail in the ultra-highs and an excellent stereo image. Audio going into the unit, though, is where the real magic happens. Each mic preamp has a ‘Clean’ mode or Focusrite’s ‘Air’ mode. In Clean they sound natural and have a very low noise floor. Air mode switches in an analogue circuit to the preamp stage, before the A-D, simulating Focusrite’s famous ISA preamps. With Air enabled there is an obvious lift to the signal, which is much brighter and more present. To be honest it sounded great on all sources that I tried with the unit and was far more apparent than I was expecting it to be. I’m a big fan of this feature and because it’s implemented with an analogue circuit there is no additional latency.
Key Features n Eight Clarett mic pres with Air mode n Up to 119dB dynamic range and precise 24/192 conversion n Round-trip latency can be as low as 1.38ms n Specially designed for permanent studio installation n New control app RRP: $1,599 www.focusrite.com The specifications for dynamic range and total harmonic distortion on Clarett’s inputs and outputs are far better than most mid-range USB or FireWire interfaces. In fact, they are comparable with some units in the highend sector of the market. I can safely report that this is audible too.
CONCLUSION Focusrite has done a great job designing the Clarett range, focusing on audio quality and low-latency. The Air mode on each preamp isn’t a gimmick, and in fact helps set this interface apart from the competition. This is a viable solution compared to alternative Thunderbolt interfaces from other high-end manufacturers around more than twice the price. Focusrite has clearly made use of the benefits of Thunderbolt – let’s hope it wasn’t a mistake not adding a USB connection alongside.
The Reviewer Simon Allen is a freelance, internationally recognised engineer/producer and proaudio professional with over a decade of experience. Working mostly in music, his reputation as a mix engineer continues to reach new heights.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
HEAVYOCITY GRAVITY Key Features
SOFTWARE
n Over 12GB of production-ready instruments n 100 Pads; 48 Hits; 72 Risers; and over 450 Stings n Playable Trigger FX for real-time control n Available in Standalone, VST, AU, DXi, AAX and RTAS versions n New Motion feature for fully customisable control of volume, pan and pitch modulation
Ryan McCambridge has a play around with this mega suite of Modern Scoring Tools that’s already been praised by numerous big-name sound designers.
H
eavyocity is renowned as one of the leading producers of software instruments aimed at composers of film and television. Its past instruments, like AEON, Damage and Evolve, have become the sound underpinning countless modern scores. So it’s no surprise that it has now released Gravity, which it is calling “the most dynamic collection of Modern Scoring Tools ever assembled”. Gravity is a cinematic sound arsenal, comprising 100 complex Pads, 48 Hits, 72 Risers and over 450 Stings, placing it sonically between symphonic libraries and virtual synths. Installation and licensing were easy, mainly because Heavyocity has chosen to use Native Instruments Kontakt as its sampler and licensing platform. For those who don’t own the full version of Kontakt, the free Kontakt Player is available. Anyone who is fully invested in the Native Instruments ecosystem will have the added benefit of Gravity being NKS-ready, meaning it will integrate into Komplete Kontrol MIDI keyboards. Gravity’s potential is realised when you exploit its expressiveness, so this kind of control over the instrument would be quite valuable. At its core, Gravity is very much about granularity, allowing composers to dig deep into sounds, then meld and mangle them in creative and inspiring ways. Each set of sounds within the instrument, categorised as Pads, Hits, Risers and Stings, is actually the fusion of multiple sounds. Those sounds can 38
RRP: $369/£335 www.heavyocity.com
be heavily manipulated or changed entirely, resulting in countless potential combinations. This is especially true with the Pads. The resulting combinations are so vast that Heavyocity has provided Kontakt snapshots with each patch. They demonstrate how the sounds can differ extensively, from playable bell-like instruments and ambient textures, to alternate swell patches and whatever else is imaginable between them. Composers will likely find the Hits patches to be Gravity’s most unrivaled element. I know of no other instrument that gives this level of control over such an integral part of sound design. Hits are divided into the Swell, the Sub, the Impact and the Tail, each of which are interchangeable. Within the various patches of all categories, the idea is to layer multiple sounds of differing timbres, which vary slightly depending on the type of instrument that you are using. The sounds within the instrument accurately carry descriptions like “atonal”, “hybrid organic”, “disturbing metals” and “aggressive”, which is both its strength and its weakness. Gravity is clearly the descendent of Heavyocity’s past instruments. I wouldn’t say that sounds are necessarily a giant leap forward for Heavyocity, however, Gravity’s intuitive, adaptable interface shows so much promise for the future.
This isn’t to say that Gravity doesn’t sound fantastic, because it really does, but as it stands, it seems better suited to composers who are looking for moody, intense, or action-rich sounds. You are likely not going to be scoring an intimate period drama or romantic comedy with Gravity. That said, I had the pleasure of using Gravity’s first expansion pack, Natural Forces, which shows the organic and softer sounds that Gravity is capable of and ultimately the capacity of the instrument as a more complete composing platform. I’m looking forward to eventually trying the second expansion, Vocalise, as well because it seems to push Gravity further into territory that Heavyocity isn’t necessarily known for.
In Use Many composers on tight deadlines will appreciate how Gravity sounds out of the gate. Thankfully the interface is absolutely alluring, just beckoning you to manipulate the sounds, and this is really where composers will find they get the most out of Gravity. Individuality can also be pulled from Gravity using its effects section, which in typical Heavyocity fashion houses distortion, spatial and motion effects, all of which offer syncable patterns. Gravity’s Motion section is one of the most
impressive parts of the instrument, allowing volume, pitch and panning to be creatively altered over time. The linear development of sounds really is the essence of composing for picture, which is likely why Heavyocity puts so much focus on the Motion Designer. They can easily be added to sounds and controlled freely, or they can be timebased, applied using patterns of up to 64 steps. Heavyocity has created an instrument that sounds incredible with very little effort. Though there will inevitably be the temptation for composers to overuse it at its most superficial, Gravity will reward those who explore its potential. In that potential, Gravity can also be a tool for anyone who writes music, to picture or not. Though the instrument won’t replace traditional orchestral sound libraries for composers, it is a perfect augmentation to them. I imagine that Heavyocity will continue its reign in film and television scores and that calling Gravity a set of “Modern Scoring Tools” is something of an understatement and more of a prophecy.
The Reviewer Ryan McCambridge is a freelance audio engineer, writer, producer and programmer from Toronto, Canada. He has taught audio production in workshops and universities, is the creator of the production blog Bit Crushing and is the frontman of A Calmer Collision. www.bitcrushing.com www.acalmercollision.com
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
ELECTRO-VOICE EKX SERIES Key Features
LOUDSPEAKERS
n High-efficiency Class D power amplifiers n QuickSmartDSP provides ‘best-in-class’ processing via a single-knob user interface n Cardioid Control Technology n Signal Synchronized Transducer (SST) waveguide design on the full-range models n Intelligent Thermal Management
Already an admirer of EV’s portable PA products, Strother Bullins jumped at the chance to get his hands on the firm’s new EKX models. Here’s what he thought…
RRP: $799 (EKX-15P) & $899 (EKX-18P) www.electro-voice.com
I
’ve relied upon an Electro-Voice portable PA (PPA) for the past few years as my ‘workhorse’ system – two EV ZLX-12P powered cabinets serving as main monitors, stage wedges, and all purposes in between. To me, Electro-Voice has proven itself as a reliable source of sound reinforcement for a wide variety of pro-grade applications. The EKX Series, EV’s mid-level PPA, offers powerfulyet-efficient performance, unique and valuable DSP features, as well as road-worthy construction at amazingly good value. For this review, I received a pair of EKX-15P 15in two-way powered loudspeakers ($799 each, street) and a pair of EXK-18SP 18in powered subwoofers ($899 each, street), comprising a flexible PPA rig capable of handling everything between a small club environment and many outdoor live sound and EDM events, not to mention uses within installed settings – housesof-worship, theatres and various municipal venue environments. Like all EKX Series components, this EV review rig features QuickSmartDSP functionality, accessed via a one-knob interface and accompanying LCD screen for easy setup. I must stress that EV’s range-wide PPA systems make setup incredibly easy and flexible for near-novice and needy professional users alike; the EKX Series resides comfortably price-wise where it can serve almost any user or application within this range incredibly well. The EKX-15P features a 1,500W Class D power amp providing 134dB maximum SPL. Meanwhile, the well-matched 40
EKX-18SP features a 1,300W Class D power amp providing 134dB maximum SPL; EKX’s sub notably provides Cardioid Control Technology, which steers its delivery to the audience with a 35dB reduction on stage with multiple subs (as in at least a pair) deployed. Together, this rig creates what can best be described as a sculpted, waste-free sonic impact in use; the EKX Series is a modern tool in that it is efficient and seems to require less corrective EQ before input. The EKX-15P works incredibly well as a powerful stage monitor, serving its application along the lines of a world-class touring stage wedge; its dimensions are well conceived for the perfect coverage angle when positioned on its side, which (surprisingly) isn’t always the case with competing powered two-way systems. For installed applications, this EKX rig will shine; the full range cabinet is easily outfitted with eyebolts for flying – simply replace the M10 screws from its suspension points and fly. For those who have used previous EV powered PPA products, the EKX’s DSP features are largely the same in application, thus easy to use; EV newbies should be able to intuitively dial in the best settings for most applications easily, too. Input-wise, the EKX is rather comprehensive, providing two mic/line XLR/TRS combo inputs
each with input level control and an XLR output with a mix of both input signals. Channel 1 also features stereo unbalanced RCA inputs, summed mono, which can be used simultaneously with Channel 1’s XLR/TRS input. I must note I really appreciate the ZLX Series’ eighth-inch TRS aux input, but the EKX’s RCA inputs largely serve the same needs, just in a more ‘pro’ form factor, as coffee-shop or DIY bands needing to, for example, play pre-recorded music in breaks or play along with MI-based pre-recorded audio would lean towards the lighter, easier-to-transport ZLX Series anyway. There are DSP features abound in the EKX-15P – especially useful in four crossover presets for use with subwoofers, with even custom settings for use specifically with both EKX subwoofers and the EV ELX118P subwoofer, too. Music, Live, Speech and Club Modes plus Tripod, Monitor, Wall and Suspend settings under the Location menu create distinct frequency response curves that truly serve their intended applications.
gear, and it sounds fantastic, seeming to colour source material in the most flattering way possible. That said, the cabinets are relatively heavy – 53.9lbs and 72.4lbs for the EKX-15P and EKX-18SP, respectively; these are generally not tools for the one-person sound reinforcement business, but pro-worthy and worth the heft if weight isn’t a consideration. Unlike the ZLX’s partially composite enclosure, the EKX’s 15mm wood enclosures simply aren’t lightweight; however I’ve found, especially in PPA, that both weight and cabinet thickness translate to power and overall more predictable frequency and sonic performance. In other words, the more you’re willing to schlep, the more you’ll get sonically at the gig. I would enthusiastically recommend the EKX Series to anyone shopping for a medium-to-large club powered PA as well as to houses-of-worship, theatres, and other multi-user environments. Electro-Voice has proven itself as a top player in the portable PA marketplace, and the EKX gives a pro-grade performance that should please audiences and raise users’ eyebrows. Most importantly, I’ve found EV to be ultimately reliable, abuse-resistant, and ready for almost every sound reinforcement job.
The Reviewer
In Use If it seems I can’t say much along derogatory lines about the EKX Series, it’s because this rig is exactly the kind of PPA rig I prefer to use: built like road gear, simple to use like MI/consumer
Strother Bullins is reviews editor for NewBay Media’s AV/Pro Audio Group. sbullins@nbmedia.com www.prosoundnetwork.com
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04/12/2015 11:40:25 12/11/2015 17:22
INTERVIEW
www.audiomediainternational.com
LICENSE TO THRILL
With five Oscar wins between them, supervising sound editors Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg are no strangers to delivering the goods for the most high-profile of projects. But how do you tackle the challenge of a Bond film? Matt Fellows asks the duo about their work on 007’s latest outing, Spectre.
SPECTRE © 2015 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC and Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved One of the biggest franchises in movie history, the James Bond film series carries with it the highest expectations of cinematic quality. Released in 2012, the 23rd Bond movie Skyfall went on to break box office records and draw praise from critics and cinemagoers alike. Three years on and follow-up Spectre has been making just as much of an impact, thanks in no small part to supervising sound editors Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg. How did Spectre compare to its predecessor Skyfall in terms of your respective roles? Landers: Our basic setup, how we work and our roles on a project do not really change much. However, we do adapt and adjust our plans as we go, depending on the needs of the project and filmmaker. When it comes to the creative part of the work, it is always a team effort; not just between the two of us but also with the rest of our team. Hallberg: Every film has its own special challenges. On Skyfall, it was our first time working with Sam Mendes and the first time on a Bond movie, so it was a bit of a learning curve. On Spectre, we had a better understanding of how to achieve 42
Sam’s sonic vision for his film. The challenge this time was how to top what we did on the last one. What was it like working with Mendes, and what’s his view on the importance of sound? Hallberg: It is a pleasure working with Sam; he is talented, he is passionate, he is intense and he is a master storyteller. His view on the importance of sound is that it is there to support the story – to complement, not take over. Nothing is a mistake – if it is in there, or if it’s not in there, that’s Sam’s choice. He is very clear on where the focus needs to be. Were you required to do things a lot differently this time around? Hallberg: The biggest difference between Skyfall and Spectre would have to be the schedule for all departments. For us it meant that we did not have as much time to prepare our tracks as we did on Skyfall. Basically, the creative process and our interaction with Sam was compressed, meaning we had to get it right a lot sooner with less feedback. Most of all, it put Sam under a lot of pressure. During our final mix, he was
Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers Photo by Joe Klamar - © 2013 AFP - Image courtesy gettyimages.com going from score sessions, score mix downs, visual FX, colour timing, ADR sessions and to us for the final mix. Everybody wanted and needed his time. Thank God for him being very decisive and knowing what he wants. How does working on a Bond film compare to the other big movies you’ve helped create? Landers: It’s Bond – you can’t screw that up. On every film you want to make something new, special and different, but when it comes to Bond there is so much tradition and expectation that you feel you need to step up the game. Which of the film’s large-scale set pieces did you find most demanding? Landers: All the large-scale set pieces had their demands. However, the opening sequence in Mexico City was probably the most demanding of all. From the changes of music, to the different flavours of crowds, explosions, the helicopter fight, etc., we had to weave a tapestry of sound and music that was exciting, but did not get in the way of telling the story. What do you think makes for great sound design on action films of this magnitude?
Landers: It needs to be fun and exciting. It needs dynamics and clarity. Our job, above all, is to help tell the story, and to put the audience in the time and place where they need to be. How did your chosen equipment and the other key members of the audio team aid you on this particular project? Hallberg: We are all working on Pro Tools 11, but what is more important to us is the talent and creativity of our crew that use this system rather than the system itself. Landers: It’s important to us to recognise the contribution of our crew, and a project like Spectre can only be pulled off through collaboration and teamwork. Hallberg: Most of our crewmembers have been working with us for at least 15 years, which creates a safety and shorthand that is irreplaceable. With a tough legacy to follow, how would you evaluate the work you did on the film? Landers: We’re very proud of the work that both of us as well as our crew did on this film. It was a great collaboration between us, the mix, the music and the picture teams. Hopefully it entertains the audience and helps take them on the ride with Bond.
December 2015
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