AMI January 2016 Digital Edition by Future PLC

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January 2016

ON THE FRONT FOOT We visit the new home of Foley specialist Feet First Sound in Essex, UK p27

FEATURE

Exploring four key areas of the commercial install market p18

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FINAL CUT

The Ardmore Sound team on telling the story of ‘Room’ p23

REVIEW

Nigel Palmer puts EVE’s SC3010 to the test p32

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WELCOME

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EDITOR Adam Savage asavage@nbmedia.com

Experts in the issue

RARING TO GO

MANAGING EDITOR Jo Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com STAFF WRITER Colby Ramsey cramsey@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

Lonnie Bedell is the owner of AVLifesavers, a manufacturer of specialised gadgets for the live sound industry. Oliver Sahm is director of marketing application design at Bosch Security Systems.

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Warren Kelly wkelly@nbmedia.com CONTENT DIRECTOR James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Press releases to: ukpressreleases@nbmedia.com © NewBay Media 2016. 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

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Ganesh Singaram has been engineering and producing records for ten years, having moved to London from Sydney, Australia. He has spent time as an in-house/freelance engineer, tutor and studio owner, working with artists such as Pharrell Williams and Kanye West. Brad Watts has been a freelance writer for numerous audio magazines, has mastered and mixed various bands, and was deputy editor of AudioTechnology in Australia. He is now digital content manager for Content and Technology.

e may only be a few days into 2016 – at the time of me writing this anyway – but I don’t think I can recall seeing as much positivity from my industry peers as what I’ve been witnessing since returning to my desk this week following a cracking Crimbo. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the New Year messages I’ve been receiving have seemed that little bit cheerier than usual – not that they were ever delivered drearily – and I was encouraged to discover that I was far from the only one who, by the end of the festive period, actually found myself itching to get back into the hot seat here. I had a lovely Christmas break thank you, but there are only so many leftover mince pies and TV boxsets one man can consume before the desire to actually use one’s brain again takes over. So here we are then – with brain reengaged and batteries charged, let’s see what our first issue of 2016 has in store for you, dear reader.

First of all, we’ve got timely articles on The Laundry, a new Foley studio that’s just opened its doors over in Essex, UK and a Final Cut piece on Room, the Golden Globe-nominated film from Frank director Lenny Abrahamson, which hits cinemas right as this edition lands. Keeping the feelgood factor going is our newly expanded Geo Focus feature, which this month sees us turn our attention to the USA, and reveals how levels of optimism are seemingly high across the audio industry there at present, but that doesn’t make it free of challenges and potential pitfalls. You’ll also find us investigating the current state of the commercial install market on Page 18, where we pick four key categories of application, and quiz a number of companies about recent developments and trends. Oh, and in case you didn’t see our web story on the first day back, we’re marking a year since the launch of Audio Media International by rolling out a reader survey, allowing you to let us know your thoughts on our print and digital services. We’ve already had a great response so far, but if you’d like to get involved – and be in with a chance of winning some Amazon vouchers – then make sure you take part before the closing date of 18 January. You’ll find details on our website. And finally, one more time: Happy New Year!

Adam Savage Editor Audio Media International

January 2016

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CONTENTS

PRODUCT NEWS

Merging and Genelec plan immersive showcase at ISE

New AIMS IP Alliance formed

PEOPLE 10

OPINION Jerry Ibbotson mulls over what would make the perfect piece of radio gear

Ganesh Singaram of Blue Box Studios on the psychological side of music production

INTERVIEW Colby Ramsey talks to engineer Drew Bang about his MPG nomination, the allure of Strongroom and what 2016 has in store for him

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FEATURES

GEO FOCUS: USA Despite positivity across the pro-audio spectrum, pressure on margins remains a cause for concern

INSTALLED SOUND: David Davies assesses the situation in four key sectors of the commercial install market

FINAL CUT: Instead of an action-packed feast for the senses, Room provides a unique opportunity to tell a story using sound. We catch up with the team responsible

STUDIO PROFILE: Adam Savage takes a trip to Essex to visit a recently opened Foley studio

TECHNOLOGY 30

ALSO INSIDE

NAMM PREVIEW: We look at what’s set to be hot in California

HOW TO Lonnie Bedell of AVLifesavers offers his top tips for dealing with people not used to working with a ‘sound guy’

32 REVIEWS

32 34 36 38 40

EVE Audio SC3010 Audio-Technica BP40 Radial Trim-Two Presonus Studio 192 Sonnox Envolution

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PRODUCT NEWS

MERGING, GENELEC’S IMMERSIVE SHOWCASE Merging Technologies and Genelec have announced they are joining forces to deliver a ‘groundbreaking immersive audio experience’ at ISE 2016 in Amsterdam next month. The companies are promising visitors to the Merging stand (7-C160) a ‘unique opportunity to experience a solution that signals the future of audio in fixed installations’. The setup will combine Merging’s recently released Ovation 6 with Genelec’s pre-production Ravenna/ AES67 powered 4420 – a new model designed to bring the benefits of Genelec’s DSP system to the 4000 Series of loudspeakers for fixed installations, as well as AoIP capability – in an 18-speaker array. Ovation 6 grants the power of an

integrated 3D rendering engine, for use with both replayed sounds and an ‘almost limitless’ number of live inputs. “Immersive audio and AoIP are the spotlight and interest is really picking up among systems integrators,” commented Chris Hollebone, sales and marketing manager for Merging Technologies. “For that reason we’ve created an installation that demonstrates how these two trends can combine in a powerful, captivating way. “We’re delighted to partner with Genelec on this, their reputation speaks for itself, and I’d urge any integrator interested in the future of audio to visit our stand at ISE.” www.merging.com www.genelec.com www.iseurope.org

CADAC CDC SIX NOW SHIPPING Cadac has announced details of a clutch of initial key sales of the new CDC six now that the console has started shipping to customers across Europe and Asia. Since its launch at Prolight + Sound in April 2015, the CDC six has received interest from distributors in Benelux, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK, as well as several Asian territories, including China. The latest development, however, is in Poland, where Cadac’s Polish distributor Tommex has installed the medium-format live sound console in the Miejskie Centrum Kultury (MCK) in Plonsk, as part of the modernisation of the town’s cultural centre. The Tommex installation – the first in Poland – is in MCK’s Kalejdoskop Cinema, a multipurpose hall. The CDC six and two MegaCOMMS connected CDC I/O 3216 stageboxes were chosen by the MCK Plonsk in a tender, providing a system configuration that met the venue’s objectives and exceeded the project’s technical design specification. The

Cadac system provides a number of application possibilities for productions and events, required by both the centre’s own technical staff and visiting sound engineers. “Due to the simple and transparent interface, operation of the console turned out to be trivially simple,” said Krzysztof Dembicki from MCK Plonsk. “Everything is logically arranged and I’m sure that none of the sound engineers visiting our centre will have any problem with its operation, and they will also have the chance to listen to just how fantastic it sounds.” www.cadac-sound.com

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NEW DYNAMETER FROM METERPLUGS MeterPlugs has announced its new Dynameter tool. The plug-in shows a real-time display of the music’s dynamics, either beat by beat, or over a whole song or album. According to MeterPlugs, the plug-in helps to achieve competitive dynamics and consistent playback volume across online streaming services, measuring dynamics using PSR (Peak to Short-Term Loudness Ratio), which is based on the ITU loudness standard, displaying it via a history graph and allowing users to choose their own ‘dynamics target’ for their music. Dynameter was designed by mastering engineer Ian Shepherd, who runs the Production Advice website and founded Dynamic Range Day. “I’ve found over the years that PSR is a really great way of assessing the dynamics of your music and helping you find the perfect balance between loudness and dynamics,” said Shepherd.

“People are telling us they love Dynameter,” added Ian Kerr of MeterPlugs. “It’s very easy to use. Just choose a PSR target and keep the history graph from dipping below it. You can compare your music to all of your favourites, and it becomes really addictive.” www.meterplugs.com

AKG UNVEILS K182 HEADPHONES AKG has introduced the K182 foldable, closed-back professional monitor headphones, which are designed to provide sonic clarity, comfort and portability for musicians and engineers – all at an affordable price point. The K182 drivers ensure high output while the 10Hz-28kHz frequency range provides ‘a truly balanced mix’. The K182’s high-sensitivity 50mm transducers also ensure professionalquality sound even with mobile devices, the manufacturer says, while the closed-back, over-ear design provides ‘great performance for every instrumentalist’ and comfort during long sessions. Providing long-lasting durability,

the K182 is built to endure the inevitable drops and bumps that happen during use and transport. The 3D-axis professional folding mechanism makes it easy to pack the headphones into compact spaces, and the detachable cable with 1/8in-1/4in screw-on adapter offers easy connectivity with gear of all kinds and, along with the replaceable earpads, ‘extends the longevity of the customer’s investment’. “While the K182 headphones are the result of careful listening to the needs of customers who work in environments of all sizes and shapes, we found a common thread in their criteria for a must-have pair of headphones – excellent sound quality, lasting comfort and built-to-last reliability,” said Karam Kaul, marketing director at AKG. “With the K182 headphones, we enable musicians and engineers to truly take control of their sound.” www.akg.com

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PRODUCT NEWS

identical dynamics and deep defined bass at all monitoring levels. It also benefits from a precision, passive, hand-built, 24dB per octave crossover network, which employs 31 components to divide the amplifier’s output signal into three frequency bands for the individual drivers. Power to the IB1S-AIII is supplied by PMC’s own 400W Class D amplification, which offers maximum fidelity, high damping and ultra-low distortion, resulting in ‘near-instantaneous’ stop/start control over the entire driver compliment. www.pmc-speakers.com

AIMS IP ALLIANCE FORMED A group of broadcast and media industry suppliers including Lawo, Grass Valley, Imagine Communications, Snell Advanced Media and Nevion have come together to form the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS). The new, independent trade association’s mandate is to bring IP solutions to market that offer ‘complete interoperability, are based on open standards, and integrate seamlessly into media workflow environments to foster industry innovation and efficiency’. Its efforts will be focused on promoting the adoption, standardisation, development and refinement of open protocols for media over IP, with an initial emphasis on VSF TR-03 and TR-04, SMPTE 2022-6 and AES67. As broadcasters and other media companies look to use IP workflows to speed and streamline the movement and management of increasingly complex content and adapt their businesses to better

DU: 05.12.2015

Frankfurt am Main 7 – 10. 4. 2016

compete with other content options such as over-the-top (OTT), open standards are the key to protecting current investments and ensuring long-term interoperability. Specifically, AIMS will prioritise three key strategies: • Initiatives that facilitate the education and adoption of open standards • Facilitation of activities that accelerate the development of solutions that support these open standards • Nurturing the creation of new standards by supporting standards bodies with participation and testing in real-world environments AIMS provides specific guidance in its bylaws to its members and to the media industry via the AIMS Roadmap. The organisation endorses an IP transition plan that includes support for SMPTE 2022-6, AES67 and VSF recommendations TR-03 and TR-04. www.aimsalliance.org

It’s my tune.

Make sure you’re here and make Musikmesse 2016 your own event. Immerse yourself fully in the world of music, forge new contacts and meet the big names of the industry in person. Above all, enjoy a uniquely diverse musical experience! Find out more at: musikmesse.com info@uk.messefrankfurt.com Tel. +44 (0) 14 83 48 39 83

January 2016

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UK manufacturer PMC is using NAMM to launch its IB1S-AIII ‘activated’ reference monitor, a high-resolution three-way speaker that offers a flexible plug-and-play design. Designed for small to medium-sized control rooms, the IB1S-AIII is suited to a wide range of applications, from recording and mixing to broadcast, post production and mastering. It will be on show at NAMM 2016, Booth 6598 (Hall A). The IB1S-AIII delivers ‘unparalleled’ levels of audio transparency and accuracy, as well as a compression-free flat response at all levels to ensure that even the longest session remains fatigue free and highly productive, PMC says. Precision soft dome 27mm HF and 75mm MF drivers provide ultra-high definition and an ‘extremely wide, natural dispersion’ creating a soundstage over a vast listening area. The low frequency is handled by PMC’s 10in carbon fibre and Nomex LF piston driver teamed with the company’s ATL (Advanced Transmission Line) bassloading technology, which provides an ‘unmatched’ response down to 25Hz with

PMC PREVIEWS IB1S-AIII MONITOR

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SHOW NEWS: NAMM

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FACING THE MUSIC

Information

This year’s NAMM Show once again promises a ‘global gathering of musical tribes’, as well as a number of new developments.

What? NAMM Show 2016 Where? Anaheim Convention Center When? 21-24 January

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s many of us finish recovering from our respective festive blowouts, preparations for NAMM’s annual winter trade show are well under way. Visitors have had plenty of time to prepare for their trip to California on 21-24 January due to the earlier registration opening, and NAMM 2016 is gearing up to be the biggest and most dynamic show to date. On arrival at the Anaheim Convention Center this year, attendees will notice some construction work as part of a project to expand the venue. The fruits of this labour will be visible at the January 2018 NAMM Show. Back to this year and, in addition to welcoming companies from over 100 countries and territories eager to showcase their latest products and technology, attendees can once again expect to see a number of special events, educational sessions and ‘endless’ live music, as well as over 5,000 pro-audio and MI brands. TEC Tracks, which debuted at Summer NAMM 2015, replaces The H.O.T Zone on the second floor of the Convention Center. TEC Tracks promises masterclasses, live interviews and panel discussions on 8

the most relevant topics for recording, live sound, DJ, lighting, music business and entertainment technology professionals. As part of TEC Tracks, A3E (Advanced Audio + Applications Exchange) will produce and host the Future of Audio, a full-day programme exploring the impact of new products and technology. Collaboration seems to be the buzzword for this year’s show, as NAMM has also teamed up with the International Music Software Trade Association (IMSTA), a non-profit association that represents the interests of the music software industry and aims to integrate a community of music software providers into the event. Software.NAMM, The Music Software Community, presented by NAMM and IMSTA, will be staged adjacent to the TEC Tracks education area on the second floor. In addition there will be international pavilions featuring exhibitors from Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, South Korea, Spain and the UK with more to be announced. The highly anticipated NAMM TEC Awards will take place on 23 January, recognising the individuals, companies and technical innovations behind today’s top sound recordings, live

performances, films, television, video games and other media.

ON THE SHOWFLOOR JBL Professional is showcasing the EON618S, an 18in, 1,000W powered subwoofer that promises to meet the demands of today’s musicians and sound providers in the areas of flexibility, portability and ease of use. Weighing in at 78 pounds, the sub’s design maximises cabinet volume while maintaining a highly transportable form factor. DSP parameters, including presets for EON600, EON200 and other manufacturers’ full-range loudspeakers can be controlled via a Bluetooth app for iOS and Android, while selectable crossover presets are available through the EON Connect app. Crown Audio is bringing along its XLS DriveCore 2 Series two-channel power amps to the show. These now offer a bandpass filter on each channel in addition to the previous low and high pass filters to achieve what the company describes as, “more precise DSP crossover tuning, loudspeaker matching and system EQ capability”. Radial Engineering will debut two of its products at NAMM 2016. The first is the Shotgun 2x4 Guitar Signal

Distro, which combines a signal driver and isolator to allow the user to feed four guitar amps in either mono or stereo, as well as two inputs with a switching jack on input B to auto configure for stereo use. Then there is the DiNET-DNT Network direct box, a high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz stereo analogueto-digital converter with a Dante connection, enabling direct interface with networked audio systems via a standard Ethernet connector. Allen & Heath will be presenting its flagship dLive digital mixing series, including the new DX32 modular I/O remote expansion rack. Also on display will be the Qu Chrome Edition compact digital range, which adds major new features including automatic mic mixing, a spectrogram and additional monitor mixes. Also making their debut will be several brand new models from the ZED range – designed for recording/gigging artists and AV rental and installation companies – including the new ZEDi hybrid mixers. New this year from Nugen Audio will be the SEQ-ST, a linear phase spline EQ with sonic sculpting and EQ matching, stereo mid-side operation and automated spectrum analysis. SEQ-ST was developed in response to fast-growing demand from the company’s professional music production clients, and allows audio to be massaged and corrected with very high resolution. Also on display at NAMM will be a new filter-morphing feature that allows fluid morphing between two sets of filter curves under full user control. www.namm.org

January 2016

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OPINION

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BUILDING THE PERFECT RADIO RECORDER After an eventful two days reporting for the BBC on the recent floods in York, where he was faced with a number of technical challenges, Jerry Ibbotson felt inspired to think up his own piece of kit that would excel in this environment.

JERRY IBBOTSON

f you live in the UK then in the lull between Christmas and New Year, where you’re not entirely sure what day it is, one news story will have dominated all others. After heavy rainfall (and a few issues with flood defences) some parts of the UK found themselves with water in places where H2O is not meant to be. My hometown of York faced the worst flooding since 1982 and, take it from me, it’s a city that’s used to rivers overflowing. That’s why I found myself dragged, temporarily, back to the bosom of the BBC to help my local station (and former employer) with its flood updates. Over two days I spent 22 hours doing live broadcasts from “Silver Command”. It’s not as grand as it sounds, just a room at Police HQ full of people with laptops co-ordinating the emergency response. My task was to stand in a corner and broadcast regular updates on street closures and evacuations and do interviews with those in charge. It also gave me a chance to mull over what I think would make a perfect bit of radio gear. I’ve written for Audio Media International on several occasions on the new generation of mobile-journalism practises, centred around phones and tablets. But I still tend to use a ‘proper’ recorder, a Roland R26, when I’m reporting because… well… I’m like that. So how to marry the two? 10

The Concept Let’s start with a blank sheet of paper. What do we want our machine to do? It must be as comfortable recording as it is doing live broadcasting. It must be easy to handle and move about and have a decent battery life. And it must be easily upgradeable and highly flexible. The chassis first. At Silver Command I was using an iPad with an iRig cable to hook up an ENG mic and headphones. But moving about with the iPad is a faff, both from its shape and the long cable length. I always feel like Mr Bean, struggling not to drop everything. Conversely, I love the R-26 because of its ‘half brick’ shape. It’s easy to hold, even if Roland is ridiculously parsimonious in making you pay extra for a strap. Really, Roland? Really?? So I’d begin with something this shape but with a shoulder strap thrown in. (Bitter? Moi?) Inputs next. I want two XLRs for audio in and a dedicated headphone jack with its own volume knob. Then a decent touchscreen that covers as much of the machine’s face as possible. Connectivity? It needs to have a 3G/4G SIM and WiFi as a minimum, with Bluetooth as a bonus. What happened with the York floods couldn’t have been

made up: after flooding the electrics of part of the city’s flood defences, the waters then got into the city’s telephone exchange. This took out communications of various kinds for around 48 hours. It highlighted the need for having as many connectivity options as possible; I even saw police officers and army personnel throwing their mobiles down in disgust.

For the record Recording capabilities? Of course, with WAV and compressed formats on offer. But getting material to base is critical so a full arsenal of uploading weapons is needed, not just Dropbox. Being able to save presets to filing straight into servers is needed here – uploading onto the BBC’s Radioman system for example. Even email would be useful. The recording facilities would tie in with the live broadcasting part of the kit: quick access to manual levels as well as a fallback Auto Gain. I’d use these both when recording or when doing live inserts. How about the operating system? It would need to be upgradeable and able to take in third-party software (such as Luci) so I’d go with a tweaked Android build. I have to admit to not being much of an Apple fan boy but as this is my own

machine iOS wouldn’t be available to me anyway. How would my machine work? Take the flood reporting as an example. Out in the field I’d use it to record material using an external mic (though it would have a built in capsule too). Using 4G I’d send this back to base while I headed to my OB point at the Command Centre. I’d then hook up with the studio via something like Luci Live on WiFi. This is where a strong battery life is needed, along with the ability to hook up to external power. USB power input perhaps? The touchscreen is vital here – giving access to apps and resources. And if there isn’t room for hardware dials on the chassis, the level controls would be front and centre. With proper phantom power, I could hook up condenser mics if needed, to make a mini-studio. So there you go, all sketched out on a piece of A4 in between radio broadcasts. Copyright: Me. 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.

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OPINION

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THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF RECORD MAKING Ganesh Singaram, engineer at Blue Box Studios, on why music production is about more than just technical proficiency.

GANESH SINGARAM

uring the stages of record making, the psychological aspect of working with an artist/band – aimed at capturing a great performance – is key to success. This can be challenging at times, as various circumstances require different approaches. It’s one thing to know how to press Record and mastering the equipment, but getting the best out of your musician/artist is a whole other ball game. It’s the things you say, the things you don’t say, as well as when and when not to say them. It is also about creating environments that can be calm or stressful, while also paying attention to what you do and what you don’t do. All these are factors that can have an impact on capturing a performance, which boils down to the raw nature of people and how to nurture an emotion that can be captivating. Quincy Jones makes a reference to the success of any good producer as having a proficient understanding of music theory and the ability to communicate efficiently with numerous musicians while playing the role of a psychologist to reach the desired results from a performance. Quincy says: “You need to be a psychologist in the studio so you know when to tell the artist to take a break or to keep pushing through.” The creative environment of a recording studio is where inspiration needs to take 12

place in order for a performance to reach its full potential. These are areas that an experienced producer/engineer can work with in order to deliver what is needed. Quincy discusses a scenario: “I’ve always tried to create the right environment for the artist to feel comfortable enough to give his or her best performance. On Secret Garden we had the lights almost all the way off except for dim lights in the control room just to create an ambience that could match Barry White’s low, sexy tone.” I personally think this is key to any session. I can be called to any session and meet someone for the first time, yet I need to make them feel like they are comfortable and in good hands. I always do the following: mood lighting, water, a music stand with a pencil, a stool for them to chill back on when listening to takes, and having all the technical elements on my side sorted. Microphones and a headphone mix all need to be tested and ready to go, plus you need to look after them when they arrive – have a laugh, make them feel settled and ask whether they need anything. The producer has to understand what it takes to provide an atmosphere to get the most out of the artist. Another iconic producer, Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, Ozzy Osbourne, U2, Rancid and The Cure) has discussed the many psychological aspects of producing a record. They include being the confidant and best friend of the artist and resolving conflict of interests to establish a creative environment. He states: “If a band likes to record underwater eating bananas, then that’s probably your best plan. Don’t forget that being a producer is a bit like being a juggler.” I need to give the artist encouragement to keep them going and realise that we will get there and it will sound amazing. The artist who you record through the glass can be very timid, self conscious and reserved, which can lead to a restricted performance. It’s my job to get them to focus on the song, not on me. Positive re-enforcement is the best option. It’s a very diplomatic game

as music is so personal – they may have been living with these songs for years.

Confidence is key Once a singer finishes the take, get them pumped for the next one. You have to be involved in the session, and make sure that they know you are there every step of the way. The first few takes are usually the artist warming up to the situation – being recorded, figuring you out, getting into the vibe and so forth – but that’s not to say the first take isn’t the best. So always press Record, it is the golden rule! Another thing you need to remember is nailing a good headphone mix – the better the mix, the better the performance. If you give them a mix they love, feel and vibe to, the better the performance and emotion you can capture. It’s something that’s taken for granted, but is the main component for getting the best results. We all need to be motivated and inspired, so giving them a killer sound to sing/play to is always going to bring out the best in the performance. For example, if the headphone mix is too loud for a singer then when they get to a big section they naturally get louder. What happens if they are too loud is they naturally pull back as they are too loud in the headphone mix. The result is they come in slightly under in terms of pitch. When they want to sing louder, it becomes too loud in the headphones so

they are not singing at their natural level, and vice versa. Singers tend to push their pitch slightly higher to deal with volume compensation so they can hear themselves more in the headphones. Another tip for vocalists having timing issues is to try increasing the hi-hat levels. These count the sub beats, which help vocalists lock into timing more, rather then the straight kick and snare pattern. If tuning is an issue, try telling the singer to take one ear off on the headphones. This will allow them to hear their voice naturally within the room in order to adjust. Try not to drown things out with reverb, as this masks a lot of imperfections during the recording stage that causes issues later. Another tip for tuning troubles is slightly increasing the bass level. It is an element that is consistent for them to tune to, as opposed to other elements that can confuse them, such as distorted electric guitars, synths and so forth. These are just a few tricks I’ve learnt along the way. The main concept of what you’re trying to do is to capture a performance, so let’s try and capture that performance that will move millions. Ganesh Singaram has been engineering and producing records for ten years, having moved to London from Sydney. He has spent time as an in-house/ freelance engineer, tutor and studio owner, working with artists such as Pharrell Williams and Kanye West.

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A stunning renovated church with unique acoustics. A fine-dining experience bathed in a waterfall of sound from the lively mezzanine bar above. The perfect balance of warmth and energy. All delivered by the XY Series: versatile professional speakers that guarantee superb sound and complete coverage throughout venues of every size.

visit www.pioneerproaudio.com to learn more about our GLOBAL installations. venues include Sound Nightclub LA, Sankeys Ibiza, UshuaĂ?a, Pikes and Bierfabriek #madeintheUK

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GEO FOCUS: USA

STATE OF PLAY As the deleterious shockwaves of the last recession dim into history and market demands ebb and flow accordingly, competing in the world’s largest national economy continues to present a number of challenges for audio companies. Colby Ramsey investigates.

Population: 322 million

espite widely reported downward pressure on margins across the board, some markets in the US are clearly showing signs of resurgence, signalling a return to strength for many American pro-audio businesses. While increased competition from European loudspeaker manufacturers remains fierce, Rik Kirby, VP sales and marketing at Renkus-Heinz, believes this is indicative of the US market’s buoyancy compared to other regions, and suggests that persistent competition is resulting in an exceptionally healthy market from a domestic perspective. Kirby says the loudspeaker market has seen a huge shift in focus towards sound quality and intelligibility over the last 5-10 years, driven both by end-

user demand and the introduction of new technologies. “In general the industry is doing a much better job communicating with end users and educating them in what’s possible with today’s products, so it makes sense that market demands have changed accordingly,” he says. Dave Shadoan, president of rental firm Sound Image, concurs with this sentiment, describing the same economic pressure and competitive environment with regard to the integration and touring markets in the US: “Both markets appear to be strong, although in many ways it feels as though we are still in recovery mode,” he explains. “Audio manufacturing technology has improved significantly in the past 20 years and therefore, over the past decade, off-the-shelf technology

has helped to level the technological playing field in a lot of ways.” On the recording side, there may have been a number of high- and low-profile studio closures in recent times, but John Storyk, architect and principal at Walters-Storyk Design Group, believes there are still reasons for optimism in the studio and content production market. “Studios are being created in many new and varied locations,” he says. “Virtually every project we see in recent times has an acoustic issue that needs to be addressed – either concerning isolation or internal room acoustic performance, or both. Our expectation for high-quality sound in constructed environments has risen to new levels of excellence.” Meanwhile, manufacturers continue to feel the pressure

as competitors offer extremely aggressive pricing in an attempt to buy their way into the marketplace. Shadoan explains that while anyone can buy the equipment, “it’s the people, their skill set and the overall service, that sets companies apart”. He goes on to say that while manufacturers’ prices have increased, the rental prices have not followed suit, and he fears that “the long-term damage competing companies are doing to the industry is much greater than anyone can imagine”. John Monitto, director of technical solutions at Meyer Sound, has a similarly positive outlook to Storyk when considering the economic health of the integration and touring markets, with some integrators turning work down or scheduling it out due to an abundance of business.

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GEO FOCUS: USA

www.audiomediainternational.com

How would you say the pro audio market in the US is currently faring?

What’s having the biggest negative effect on the market at the moment? Economic uncertainty

n ‘Good - possibly great.’ n ‘Very well. Not the glory days of old, but getting stronger.’

Falling budgets Slow payments Goverment legislation Other

How do you expect your sector to perform in 2016 compared with 2015? Better

Worse

The same

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Educating the market While some pro-audio businesses in the United States expand and show solid growth against the backdrop of economic downturn, maintaining margins remains a universal challenge for all. Shadoan reflects on his earlier comments about companies trying to buy market share. “To provide modern equipment that is well maintained while we strive to offer top shelf service, a margin is required. We continue to improve efficiencies where we can, but this is not a trade off for the imbalance that has emerged,” he explains. “The expectations are high and the budgets are thin. It will not be sustainable over the long run for our industry.” According to Kirby, the most crucial factor to consider when overcoming

such challenges is to maintain a strong focus on educating partners and end users, clearly demonstrating and explaining differences between products to ensure that decisions are made based on performance, rather than just price or marketing. “We’re forever at the mercy of imitators,” he says. “However sometimes it just isn’t technically possible to provide double the features for less money while still maintaining quality and results.” Education is also an ongoing priority for the integration and touring markets, as Monitto explains: “Finding good technicians in the field and training them well to meet the growing demand is important. Technicians benefit from apprenticeships to hone installation skills so they are working efficiently and accurately.”

Storyk on the other hand is cautious of the web’s boundless educational capabilities, and warns that separating the important from the ‘voodoo’ will become more difficult as information becomes more readily accessible. Despite this caginess, there are positives to the internet’s influence on the industry. Networked projects across the board are becoming commonplace, as more well-equipped pro-audio businesses look to integrate some element of networking into their products, particularly in the loudspeaker market. Storyk is especially excited to witness the emergence of improved DSP-controlled audio, along with better acoustic modelling and prediction software. He explains that in terms of new technologies, the audio/acoustic industry in the US is a

small community and has few political boundaries compared to other regions and industries. Furthermore, Art Noxon, acoustical engineer and president of Acoustic Sciences Corporation, is seeing a significant shift in the home studio space due to the breakthrough of new technologies. He points out: “The reluctance of engineers to make substantial investments into their own home recording studios continues to diminish while the interest and opportunity for engineers to work and make records at home instead of in downtown studios is on the increase. “The technique for high-end home recording studio environments has been in the wings for over 20 years but only recently has the need for high-end home recording environments begun to be felt in the industry,” he adds.

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GEO FOCUS: USA Meanwhile, other sectors have been attempting to streamline their offerings in a number of ways. Shadoan asserts the importance of “vendors’ abilities to respond to development trends, as equipment packages become lighter, smaller and more well-integrated with personal devices”. When it comes to buying habits around tailored loudspeaker systems, Kirby says that Renkus-Heinz has witnessed a ‘tremendous growth’ in steerable technology, allowing many applications to “achieve results that just weren’t possible ten years ago”. Monitto observes that column arrays are being looked at more and more for airports, churches and other spaces that are acoustically challenging with long reverberation times. He reveals: “Designing systems with suitable headroom to maintain linearity has been discussed more and more. Audiences and mixing engineers are looking to systems that have lower distortion and sufficient headroom so there is less fatigue when listening to music.” Kirby backs up this testament, citing the scale of the worship market in particular as one of the unique aspects of the US region at the moment. “Certainly, there are similar projects worldwide, but we see the highest density of these high-technology projects in the US,” he says. “As churches vie to attract new members, their AV solution can be a big part of the attraction.”

The lie of the land While the US pro-audio market as a whole remains generally stable, certain legislation and regulatory laws can have ubiquitous effects on the industry, causing some businesses to rethink their strategies – or not, as the case may be. Shadoan believes that there is a growing awareness with regards to regulation in the US. He explains: “Our industry has managed to police and regulate itself in a fair way and we have managed to keep the regulatory commissions at bay. Organisations like The Event Safety Alliance are doing great things in this department and it’s long overdue.” He goes on to mention the requirement of the audio system to be a component of the life safety system as 16

a related legislative development in the integration and installation sectors. Within the loudspeaker arena, Kirby describes updated legislation concerning public places. “NFPA72 focuses on spoken word intelligibility,” he explains. “It aims to ensure that safety messages can actually be understood rather than simply be loud enough.” On the other hand, Storyk describes stronger state legislation as having a particularly positive outcome on the studio design and content production market, and believes that it is creating a developing trend that will continue. “We see more and more local building codes adapting to sophisticated new environmental noise regulations, and more jurisdictions adapting frequency-based and time-sensitive community noise codes,” he says. “This has led to improved acoustic isolation performance demands for new projects (specifically with respect to noise and isolation).” Noxon adds that this may be a contributory factor to the increased investment into the wide gap between expensive designer built studios and economical DIY home built studios, a gap that is being filled by a new generation of high-end home recording suites. While the US market still seems to be a leader both at technical and design levels, which ties in with the country’s status at the top of the economic pile, there may still be untapped opportunities in other regions. Storyk says: “Africa, China, the Middle East and Latin America are starting to develop their own robust market places and thus will begin to create their own nation’s set of audio/acoustic consultants and manufacturers. “The audio/acoustic community has fewer political boundaries than other industries, probably because we all share our love for music – or at least I hope so.” Additionally, from a touring perspective, the US market remains healthy and busy compared with that of Europe, which some believe has taken a hit due to the quantity of largescale festivals. As Shadoan explains: “It has become the standard for bands to simply book the festival circuit in

the summer where they receive strong guarantees, carry less equipment and maintain a smaller crew. From what we understand, the ticket sales at many of the European festivals are dwindling due to the saturation in the festival market.” Inevitably, technological advancements will continue to play a key role in the future of the robust US market as offerings become more affordable, increasingly more capable and easier to implement. Monitto is confident that we will see more attention paid to ‘good audio’ in the future: “The industry will be looking more carefully at incorporating good, low-distortion source material and systems into venues to make sound reinforcement or playback less harsh and fatiguing. “So much of the listening public are hearing over-compressed playback

audio sources and think that it’s the norm.” He goes on to predict that the live industry will see more and more designs implemented where systems are providing good, clean audio with effortless gain, low distortion and even venue coverage. So as businesses in the US remain optimistic across the board due to exponential demand, it is difficult to imagine a time when the juggernaut will begin to lose traction. While downward pressure on margins seems to pose the biggest test for small and large-sized players alike, it is a challenge that is arguably balanced out by the sheer scale and momentum of the market as a whole. www.acousticsciences.com www.meyersound.com www.renkus-heinz.com www.sound-image.com www.wsdg.com

January 2016

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KARAOKE

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FEATURE: INSTALLED SOUND

GRANDSTAND SOUND

The recent Bosch installation at the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice is indicative of a healthy stadium sector

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// As 2016 gets underway, AMI decided it was time to take the temperature of the commercial install market, looking at the current challenges and opportunities in four key segments. David Davies spoke to leading vendors in each to see how things stand at present – and get an idea of their expectations for the year ahead.

ore fully integrated control systems, custom integratorfriendly amplifiers and loudspeakers, and compact mixers are among the product trends to have ensured that fixed installation has become an increasingly important contributor to pro-audio manufacturers across the board. But what are the emerging requirements 18

in some of the main install segments as we enter 2016, and how are vendors responding to them? In a bid to more clearly define the state of play in installed sound, Audio Media International spoke to some leading manufacturers about their current activities in four key install markets: large concert venues, sports stadiums/arenas, educational facilities and bars/restaurants…

Large Concert Venues With a decline in recording revenues forcing more acts out on to the road for ever-longer tours, and concert halls consequently having fewer and fewer gaps in their schedules, it stands to reason that all stakeholders must be increasingly cognisant of maintaining quality in order to encourage repeat visits by both acts and gig-goers. Cédric Montrezor, director of

application, install at L-Acoustics, highlights the fact that “large concert venues are working in a competitive market – always looking to book the best, most attractive shows into their venues. More and more I’m seeing that the venues are looking towards a high-quality sound system to make them stand out from the crowd – so the demand for higher and higher quality is out there.”

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FEATURE: INSTALLED SOUND

www.audiomediainternational.com

Acoustics are becoming a bigger consideration in concert venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris Picture: W Beaucardet

//////////////////////////// But this goes beyond the specification of suitable speaker systems, which in L-Acoustics’ case includes the K2 line array, with Panflex directivity control, and the 2015-released X Series coaxial products that include a reference stage monitor, a live FOH monitor and coaxial speakers that can be used in distributed systems or as fills. “In addition to installing quality, rider-friendly sound systems, venues are looking beyond the speakers and working with acousticians to ensure that the acoustics of their venue are the best they can be,” says Montrezor. “We’ve

seen that in 2015, for example, with the opening of the new Philharmonie de Paris, where the room is treated to be able to handle the acoustics of both orchestral performances and electric performances.” Indeed, the ability to handle as broad a cross-section of event types is now highly prized. For example, “in Asia, I’m seeing a lot of large concert halls that are built to be multipurpose”, Montrezor continues. “In Singapore we installed K2 in the Star Performing Arts Center, which hosts theatre and music during the week and on the weekend serves as a megachurch. In Europe and the US, the halls are more dedicated to entertainment, even if they host a diverse line-up of entertainment acts. In some of the bigger cities like New York or London, concert halls are diversifying out to host weddings or corporate events. In all of these cases, the venues are looking for a system that can handle everything from spoken voice through to the most dynamic music.” Oliver Sahm, director marketing application design at Bosch Security Systems, concurs about the heightened expectations of high-quality audio for speech and music. This is accompanied, he says, “by increased requirements for detailed supervision and monitoring of

the systems and interaction with media distribution”. Whatever system is eventually chosen, it is evident that venue owners and operators are now highly exacting when it comes to specifying the right system for the long term, taking the time and trouble to tap suitable specialist assistance. Unfortunately, it seems they don’t always optimise the project during its final stages, suggests Montrezor. “In my experience, I see venue management taking the time to really evaluate their needs, to find the right integrator to help them assess, choose and install the system that is best for them,” he says. “And then, at the end of the project, they don’t always take the time to calibrate the system once it’s hung. The systems these days are of such quality that they sound great out of the box – but taking the time to calibrate ensures that the venue is getting the absolute best out of their system. It’s a too often overlooked step, in my experience.”

Sports Stadiums/Arenas The permanent calendar of major global sports events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, as well as a busy repeating programme of international athletics events, has traditionally

resulted in a steady stream of new work for pro-audio manufacturers and installers. Sahm confirms the high-end expectations of stadium clients, noting in particular their desire to acquire “remote control options from various locations throughout the stadium for different users. This includes a comprehensive approach and interfacing with life safety relevant PA/VA systems.” Accordingly, Sahm highlights the gradual shift towards combined pro-audio and EVAC systems: “Having separate ProSound and EVAC systems is only the second best solution; it complicates handling and increases the incidence of errors. Additionally, venues such as stadiums and arenas have long reverberation times and challenging room acoustic conditions. To achieve the speech intelligibility values required by safety standards and to prevent non-uniform sound quality, installations require the use of ProSound components. For this reason, a combined ProSound and EVAC system – the best of both worlds – is the solution for which customers have long been waiting.” In terms of stadium design and acoustics, Sahm remarks: “To provide flawless sound reinforcement the loudspeakers need to be exactly aligned January 2016

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FEATURE: INSTALLED SOUND and need to radiate freely. To be able to achieve this, all roof fittings need to be included in the construction plans to avoid later problems with acoustic shadows and reflections.” Highlighting a product range that includes the 180-model Electro-Voice EV Innovation range (“designed with the contractor in mind”), and notable recent installations such as the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice, France, Sahm underlines the continuing buoyant health of this market sector. “Stadiums are a more or less constant portion of the business as there are always some national or international events in the pipeline during the coming years,” he states. “At the same time, some older venues will undergo modernisation and renovation. Each individual project has a timeline of several years and individual projects will overlap. We see regional variations depending on the location of events. Globally, however, we are experiencing a positive trend and contribution to the business because of [the aforementioned] quality requirements.”

Educational Facilities In distinct contrast to stadiums, where budgets are generally substantial and there is little difficulty scaling a high bar for audio quality, educational facilities will often have to contend with very limited funds. Nonetheless, it is generally felt that they are increasingly astute when it comes to the specification of new systems – calling upon specialist consultants and integrators whenever possible to help ensure that they get the best value for money. It’s no surprise to discover that, in many cases, these systems must be able to handle a wide variety of activities – from school meetings to live performances and more. But increasingly there is a call for more extensive integration with other AV equipment, as QSC’s director of sales EAME – systems group, Glen Harris, observes. “There is a need for sound systems to fully integrate with video and control,” he explains. “Being of a true Layer 3 design [QSC’s networked audio and control platform] Q-Sys can co-exist on a converged network and therefore offers the client the ability to integrate 20

Funktion-One flying high in Beirut High-quality audio and the need to respect the proximity of local residents were among the primary factors that informed the installation of Funktion-One speaker systems at two new rooftop restaurant/bars in Beirut, named Iris and Caprice. Installation at the venues – both of which are owned and operated by Addmind – was carried out by Funktion-One’s distributor in Lebanon, Audiotec Group. The ability to deliver low level background during the day, live performances in the early evening and louder club levels into the night were priority considerations for the installation at Iris, which is located on top of the iconic alNahar building and incorporates an outdoor deck and wooden bar. “We also had to be conscious of neighbours,” says Funktion-One design engineer Mike Igglesden, who worked with Audiotec Group to design the systems for both venues. “To deal with this, we designed a twin four-point system of F101s for the central area and stereo F81s for the surrounding areas. By doing this we were able to create a digital audio with IP-based video and control. Co-existing on the same network reduces costs based around the network cable infrastructure as there is no need to run separate LAN. Our latest solutions

“Stadiums are a more or less constant portion of the business as there are always some national or international events in the pipeline during the coming years.” Oliver Sahm, Bosch Security Systems

are both hardware and software featurebased, but all residing in a single DSP Q-Sys processor; such as the media stream receiver (software), built-in media drive storage of up to 1,200 hours of WAV, MP3 audio storage (internal

high intensity in the middle due to the general close proximity of the speakers. Despite there being 25 speakers, we’ve kept the number of source locations to six. “The pair of F81s facing the stage and the F101s either side are on separate processing channels so that the F81s can be turned off or used for monitors and the F101s’ level can be raised for live performances. For the low frequencies, we used BR218s in the central area and BR118s for the surrounding area. These are ideal as they produce strong, deep nearfield bass that doesn’t travel hardware) and a 128 multi-track player (software).” Harris anticipates continued growth for QSC in the educational market, not least due to the arrival of new products such as the Q-Sys Core 110f DSP appliance. A total of 128 x 128 network audio channels, 16 x 16 USB audio channels, 24 channels of analogue I/O, eight configurable flex channels, 16 x 16 GPIO Logic Ports and 16 channels of routable AEC are among the features of the new appliance.

Bars/Restaurants Sound reinforcement pioneer FunktionOne has been synonymous with high-end leisure and entertainment installations for nearly 25 years now, and director Ann Andrews confirms the growing expectations of quality throughout the bar and restaurant sectors. “These days people expect more than background music, and yet at the same time they still wish to be comfortable and able to converse,” she says. “The high-

too far, again helping us to localise the sound.” Located on the Jal El Dib seaside road, the Caprice venue also utilises a host of different Funktion-One products, including Resolution 2 speakers, F101s, F88s and BR218s. Audiotec Group managing partner Ralph Choueiri comments: “Both of these venues are excellent references for Audiotec and for Funktion-One. They show what can be achieved with the compact range of loudspeakers, together with a creative approach designing the best sound reinforcement for the space in question.” quality sound delivered by Funktion-One systems easily achieves this.” In terms of new products geared towards these space-conscious environments, Andrews points to the MB210 low-profile bass [enclosure], while with “the rise in the number of outdoor installations for beach bars we have had to introduce products with weatherresistant qualities”. But more generally, she remarks that all of Funktion-One’s “small systems sell particularly well into this market with the associated lowfrequency products”. Taking stock geographically, Andrews cites “particular growth in the Middle East and Ibiza, and in beach bars generally”, while foremost expectations for 2016 include “steady growth, along with increasing awareness of the importance of sound quality”. www.boschsecurity.com www.funktion-one.com www.l-acoustics.com www.qsc.com

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Alike for ease. Distinct to suit.

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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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11/19/2015 19/11/2015 10:44:52 AM 10:30

FEATURE: FINAL CUT

sponsored by

Niall Brady

keep anything we did for those temp mixes live throughout the sound edit process so we weren’t spending a week doing work on something, dumping it and moving along. “One thing that was new for us was this goal of keeping everything live throughout. They gave us our first turnover for a temp mix in the middle of March and essentially we kept iterations of that live all the way through until we delivered the mix in August. So one of the main objectives was to nail the workflow and make it work for the film and not get in the way. As we were working in conjunction with the cutting room it was very important that they felt the results of that.” Moving on to that workflow then, it’s hardly surprising that for a film like this, clear dialogue was crucial, but what presented the mixing team – also including re-recording mixer Ken Galvin – with one of their biggest challenges was how to use sound to amplify the intensely distressing feeling of confinement within a soundproofed space. It was a lot more complicated than having just virtual silence behind the main dialogue; the scenario was instead seen as a chance to really get creative, and there were a number of tools that helped them along the way.

Tools of the trade “Niall spent a huge amount of time in his edit exploring all the multitracks that had been recorded on set and making all the right microphone choices in his dialogue edit, using tools like [iZotope] RX to do some clean-up of any editorial work that he was doing and because we were in that perpetual temp mix mode

Steve Fanagan

we had begun to start playing around with reverbs and other acoustical ideas for the final mix and just trying to find something that was true to the spaces and the reality of the film,” explains Fanagan. “As usual on the dialogue side there was EdiCue [software for ADR cueing] and the other thing we’ve been using a lot more for a few projects has been the FabFilter Pro-Q 2 [Equalizer Plug-In),” comments Brady. “For the most part Ken and I worked with Altiverb for reverb and one of the reasons for that was quite early on we decided that we’d try to record and create our own impulse responses because we’re in this soundproofed room and it just wasn’t going to sound like anything else,” Fanagan continues. What about for the effects and music mixing? What gear proved most useful for that? “EQ-wise I was using a combination of FabFilter and Flux Epure v3, we were all working on Pro Tools 11 and I don’t tend to use a huge amount of compression but occasionally we were doing some light limiting here and there for the louder moments,” reveals Fanagan. And so to complete the equipment overview, what were the main microphones deployed? “The majority of the ambient recording was done using DPA 4060s and that was something I picked up from doing a workshop with [sound recordist] Chris Watson a few years ago, and that gave me a really nice atmospheric spread. The spot effects and the main part of the Foley would’ve been recorded on a Sennheiser MKH-60 and a variety of ambient mics, but our Foley

crew also then used, for bassy stuff, an AKG D112 bass drum microphone.”

From time to time Even though much of the film takes place in just one setting with no aural or visual indication of what’s going on externally, making it perceptually difficult for the characters and audience to recognise the passage of time, part of the storytelling brief was to bring in subtle audible changes as the tale develops chronologically, particularly when the narrative moves between day and night. “Obviously you’re in the space the whole time but you have to tell the audience that there’s a time code and a change in experience as time passes. With Nathan Nugent the film editor we figured out rules such as nighttime sounding different to daytime, so nighttime tended to be heavier ambiences, we worked with more low frequency and just a really subtle neutral room tone. From Jack’s point of view Ma is his whole universe but at night it’s a much darker place and the sound hopefully on some subconscious level is helping to tell that story. The reverbs we were choosing and how we made and used those impulse responses was very much informing that idea. “The room is also a little bit rundown and you can imagine that all the facilities in there like the fridge, the air conditioning, the lights have all degraded over time and the character of a rattling fan or a cistern overfilling became this great texture for the storytelling within those four walls. The outside world doesn’t get in so the absence of birds singing outside, for example, is also part

of that story. It became very much about tonality and the characteristics of those things that were in the space.”

Team players It’s not the first time that Fanagan and Brady have partnered with Abrahamson – they were all involved in the making of Frank, starring Michael Fassbender – while the pair have collaborated on around a dozen projects in total. How then does Room relate to their previous jobs, if at all? “We’ve done about 12 features over the past four or five years together, but over the last year and a half there’s been a feature animation, a futuristic sci-fi and a horror story, so it’s very hard to compare those things,” explains Brady. “I think what we have now is a very good shorthand between each other, which helps.” One final advantage the crew did have with Room – and not to say this wasn’t the case with the other films they’ve worked on – was that the performances were top drawer, which undoubtedly increased the enjoyment factor from their perspective and proved to be an efficient motivator. “We were in a brilliant position we had this great cast and story and the film had been brilliantly realised. Everything we did was in response to the great work that had already been done,” concludes Fanagan. “There’s nothing quite as inspiring as getting to work on a film that’s been so beautifully acted and directed.” Room is released in the UK and Ireland on 16 January 2016 via Studio Canal. www.ardmoresound.ie January 2016

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ES Series Renowned for clarity, output and versatile capabilities that has amazed audio professionals around the globe.

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STUDIO PROFILE

www.audiomediainternational.com

THE FOLEY WAY IS ESSEX

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// It’s not often we hear about the opening of a new dedicated Foley studio, but when Adam Savage discovered one had popped up just a short drive away from AMI HQ, he had to go and take a look.

here comes a point in many people’s lives whereby, after years spent gaining valuable expertise as an employee of a company, setting up a new business from scratch and playing by your own rules becomes a pretty attractive option if the opportunity arises. It might not be a possibility for everyone – whether due to financial restrictions or simply the fact that, let’s be honest, it takes a fair amount of bravery to take the plunge and go it alone – but one man who has this month decided to do just that after years of faithful service with a firm is Barnaby Smyth, Foley artist, founder of

Feet First Sound and now owner of The Laundry, a new dedicated Foley studio located not in London or another major city, but the rather quaint setting of Coggeshall, Essex. Upon meeting Smyth – known for his work on major films including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and We Need To Talk About Kevin, as well as TV shows such as Downton Abbey – at the facility, it became clear that this had been a plan of his for some time. “It’s always been a dream of mine. My Dad used to have a studio in our house – he was a musician and inspired me to get into sound and so I’d had a bit of experience with home studios. I’ve always thought it would be great to do

my own thing,” Smyth explains. “I was at Videosonics [Cinema Sound] for years and enjoyed being part of a company, but as you grow more experienced you want to gain more control over the output of your work and build a room where you have control over the acoustics, the surfaces and the equipment.” So why take on an ex-industrial laundry building – hence the name – in an old market town? It seems the choice of location was made after a great deal of deliberation, too. “I was looking down in Kent for a long time and had a romantic image of it being an old timber-clad barn but then you realise the ramifications when it

comes to soundproofing, plus it would probably be listed and therefore a bit of a money pit,” Smyth continues. “The good thing about this is that it’s outside London, so it’s quiet, rent is cheap and when you’re looking for something industrial you’ve either got farm buildings where there’s loads of low-end noise going on or a unit on an industrial estate where you might have someone with a compressor move in next door, but this had a good warehouse space and a solid structure, plus it’s quiet because they sealed all the weak spots before the actual build.”

Fully loaded One of the first things you’ll notice when January 2016

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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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Ability to multi-task under pressure whilst working to tight deadlines

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Excellent organisational skills

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Enthusiasm for working in a team

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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

Application Address: 27 Wrights Lane, Kensington, London W8 5SW

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STUDIO PROFILE

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you enter The Laundry is that it’s not a bad place to be at all. Foley studios aren’t always treated with as much seriousness as perhaps they should, especially those based in large facilities that provide a variety of other services, but Smyth has everything he could possibly need on hand here, including an impressive gear list featuring a new Audient ASP4816 console and speakers from JBL (3678 stereo pair and 4641 sub under the projector) and Genelec, as well as Crown DSI 4000 and 1000 amps to drive the JBLs. “We were looking for something quiet that didn’t need automation, just a good analogue desk. We came across the Audient, heard good things about it, investigated and found it to have very nice mic pres on it, a musical four-band EQ and they sent us one to test at the studio we were working at and it sounded good. We’re looking forward to getting to grips with it,” reports Smyth. “There are also six large 1.2sqm [Foley] pits and as you come in you’re walking on the original warehouse floor – the rest of it is raised. It’s completely solid concrete so I wanted to utilise that, as it’s completely dead. I’ve left that open so you can use that as a concrete surface, but you can lay other surfaces on top.” All the immediately important stuff is located in one area – the console, monitors, pits, surfaces and, as it’s a Foley studio, a larger footwear collection than Victoria Beckham – while outside the main ‘shell’ is the rest of the warehouse, which houses the machine room, amplifiers and more than enough space for the vast array of props Smyth is sure to accumulate over time. Having it all in a nice homely atmosphere is certainly an added bonus, too. According to Foley engineer and Smyth’s colleague Keith Partridge, formerly of Hackenbacker, making the space comfortable as well as technically and acoustically sound was important, which makes even more sense when you consider the degree of effort and man hours required to get the job done properly. “Foley is a case of shutting all the doors and spending most of the day in there, so it’s a bit of a weird environment and just the two of us rather than a studio full of people,” reveals Partridge.

“As for the aesthetics, being in there is so nice compared to some other places – Foley studios tend to be a bit rundown, a bit dirty. “The finished article is pretty breathtaking for a Foley studio we think. The size was one of the biggest things really because there is a tendency to cram a Foley studio into an old ADR booth so to have a room that is done in that size and shape for a reason, with pits in a particular place, is brilliant, really.” Having been in the industry for quite some time, Smyth was able to build an image in his head of exactly what he was after, and a lot of it came down to his experience of other facilities. “Barnaby created his own studio with all the things that he liked and disliked about other studios in his mind, like ‘that surface wasn’t big enough so we’ll make it bigger here’ etc,” says Partridge. “There are also fundamental things like it’s just the one room rather than a split one, which is quite a big deal, down to little things like the surfaces.”

Sticking with it In the same way that there aren’t a great number of specialist Foley studios out there at the moment – at least in the UK – it’s not often that you come across people who have chosen to stick with

it as a profession; many often see it as a temporary part of their career path, but not Smyth, who worked through his fair share of other roles too before discovering that the Foley world was where he wanted to be. “When I started I did everything from recording ADR to working as an assistant dubbing mixer and assistant editor,” he recalls. “I came across Foley later on and realised I really liked it – a lot of people saw it as a stepping stone towards doing sound effects, so people would do it for a year or so, get quite good at it and move on but you really need to dedicate your life to it as it is a real art.”

Looking Back Having done just that – committing to a career in Foley to such an extent that he’s built his own base to carry it out – how does Smyth evaluate his time in the industry so far? Does he have a favourite past project and which one was the toughest? “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was a really good one that we did. It was very naturalistic and had a great look to it. The Foley just had to sit there and wasn’t in your face. Sometimes the best Foley is like that – you don’t even notice it. I think that’s what we got good at in TV,” Smyth comments.

Partridge adds: “The Musketeers was the most challenging for me. It’s probably the busiest thing I’ve ever seen before in my life – non-stop fighting, there was four of them and they’re all dressed in leather and cloth with swords. “You’d finish it, sigh and say ‘OK we’ve done that now,’ but then the next one would come along and you have to start it all over again. I found it really satisfying when we finally got through it. They were mental, but really good fun.” And despite the fact that the team from Miloco Builds have only just packed up their tools and left, the pair have got no difficult opening period to deal with, where business is slow due to reluctant clients waiting to see whether things are running smoothly first before passing the work their way, and that’s largely because of the close relationships they’ve developed over the years with clients who are confident they’ll hit the ground running. “January and February are pretty much booked up. We’ve got an ITV series called Dr. Thorne, which we’ve just done one episode of and a BBC series called Undercover,” says Smyth. “Keith and I have got a reputation now so they trust that we know what we’re doing. It’s mostly TV, but I bring in a couple of films each year, so it’s a nice balance.” January 2016

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TECHNOLOGY: HOW TO

www.audiomediainternational.com

INTERFACING WITH INEXPERIENCED CLIENTS Lonnie Bedell of AVLifesavers reveals how best to deal with people not used to working with a ‘sound guy’.

t must be nice to have started in a huge FOH company with organised job functions, learning the ropes before moving up into the A1 position. For me, however, it was a mixture of gospel music clients and corporate events. What they share in common is they are both made up of ‘regular people’. Even though they may have the best of intentions, these people tend to make last minute requests, unaware of the nightmare they have just dropped in your lap. Survival is the name of the game. They can’t teach this stuff in school, it’s ‘school of hard knocks’ all the way. Handheld Mics Unless instructed they will: hold it around their navel, hold it against their tonsils or cup the back of the grille (turning it into an omni). The entire concept of ‘closer = louder’ is lost on the general public, even though they see examples of it on TV all the time. They will also be attracted to stand right in front of a speaker. For this reason I insist on doing jobs like this in stereo, despite grumbling from the company I am working for. It wasn’t until one of that company’s main employees saw the pan

Lonnie Bedell gyrations I had to go through to avoid massive feedback that he realised why I made that request. Lav Mics You put the mic on them without exception or they will end up anywhere from the top of their head to their belt buckle – probably under a layer of clothing and upside down as well. Nobody wants to go to the bathroom with a wireless mic on because they’ve seen ‘that movie’, so make sure they are ready first. Lock Wireless Mics On No exceptions. People will try to be helpful

by turning it on, when they are in fact turning it off. People asking questions will turn it off when they are done with their question. The vast majority will forget to turn it on at all, and even if they do, the delay in it coming on will cause you to lose half of their first sentence. Everybody looks silly if this happens. Power Distribution Unless a known fact, it’s safe to assume every AC outlet in the room is on the same 20-amp breaker. Churches are notorious for doing this. Sourcing from multiple rooms may become a necessity, only increasing the possibility of a ground loop. Bring a voltmeter and keep an eye on it during the show. Ideally do an AC box tie-in and have everybody on the same AC power. Video Guys Not a client, but hired by the same person writing your cheque, so best to try to keep them happy. The contempt video guys have for audio is remarkably consistent across every area of audio I’ve ever worked in for 30 years. On one job, after setting up and waiting for hours while the film guys tweaked I asked for a 15-minute sound check. They thought I was being difficult to work with.

The end result of this is they will show up last minute and start barking at you for a feed. Most will not know what an XLR is or know the difference between mic and line levels. Just be patient and do your best.

Be prepared Smartphone DJ It’s entirely likely someone will suddenly want to play DJ with their phone before, during, or after the event. Having a 1/8in stereo mini connection that you can get up and running fairly quickly is always a good idea. House Sound Systems Systems in hotels are designed to be used in situations without a tech, so they usually have a feedback eliminator in the circuit, and it will be impossible to turn off. If you use this system and try to ring out the room, the silly thing will work against you, so don’t even bother. Just set the EQ by ear. Everyone will be late – so you can’t be. Be well prepared with everybody’s phone number so you can start calling when you have to. Be an advocate for your own sanity. Stairs Ideally do a site visit, because nobody will think that stairs are a problem. A solid gear bag is the key to survival. Consider bringing: Multitool, tweaker, flashlight, basic adapters (1/4in to RCA, RCA barrels, 1/4in barrels, XLR barrels, XLR phase reverse adapter), extra cables (stereo 1/8in mini to RCA [computer audio/MP3 players], 1/4in to 1/4in, Y cables [of all kinds]), AC cube tap, AC ground lifter, XLR audio pads, 1/8in to 1/4in headphone adapter, XLR ground lift adapter, multimeter, direct box. Lonnie Bedell is the owner of AVLifesavers, a manufacturer of specialised gadgets for the live sound industry.

January 2016

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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

EVE AUDIO SC3010 STUDIO MONITORS

Nigel Palmer gets to grips with these massive monitors from the German firm.

oudspeaker design at any level involves negotiating a set of compromises and Roland Stenz, EVE Audio’s founder and chief designer, is skilled at getting the best performance from a given specification while also offering value for money. He’s successfully pursued this since the company started in 2011, and for me there were signs of things to come when I reviewed the then flagship SC408 in 2014 (quoted here where features are identical), indicating what could be achieved on a less restricted budget. It was around that time I first heard of plans to release two high-end additions to the top of the range, the SC3010 and SC3012, aimed at mastering suites and larger studios. Although less audio gear than you might think is truly ‘mastering grade’, EVE’s customary avoidance of hype suggested they could deliver on that promise, and I wanted to find out what this designer might do when given a relatively free hand at a higher price point.

Overview Manufactured in the Far East with final assembly and test in Germany, the EVE Audio SC3010 is a three-way main monitor measuring 17.13in (W) x 25.59in (H) x 19.29in (D) and weighing a substantial 37kg/81.6lb, so it’s a good idea to have a friend on hand to help with placement. The low frequency driver is a 10in unit with a glass fibre diaphragm, the equivalent being 12in in the larger SC3012, which otherwise has similar components and performance but 4dB more headroom. The SC3010’s midrange is handled by a newly developed 5in 32

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www.audiomediainternational.com

Key Features n Air Motion Transformer (AMT) tweeter for ultra-low frequencies n Three amplifiers: 800W (woofer), 250W (mid), 250W (tweeter) n Both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs n Can be set up vertically or horizontally n DSP engine supported by a Burr-Brown A/D converter RRP: (Per Pair) £5,499 (SC3010); £6,999 (SC3012) www.eve-audio.com driver employing glass fibre and foam construction for its diaphragm, and rounding off the transducer complement is an Air Motion Transformer tweeter (manufactured by EVE Audio in Berlin), a new unit unique to the EVE main monitors and considerably larger than those the company has previously used. This gives the advantage of being able to work at lower frequencies than before, resulting in an unusually low crossover frequency of 1,800Hz (mid to low is 240Hz) allowing the tweeter to handle more of the ear’s most sensitive frequency area. The mid and high drivers are mounted in a silver-coloured plate that can be rotated 90˚ by undoing four screws, so the monitor can be set up either vertically or horizontally. Although during the review period I used the vertical option to put the tweeter at ear height, frequency and polar plots supplied by the manufacturer suggest there is little difference in performance when placing the monitor on its side. A feature of the mounting plate is a push-and-turn rotary encoder that performs a number of functions: the default is as a volume control with an 80dB range – level selection being indicated by a series of LEDs around the encoder – and a number of filters are also available. First is a low shelf affecting frequencies below 300Hz in 0.5dB steps, with up to 3dB boost and 5dB attenuation; this is partnered by a 3kHz high shelf, also +3 and -5dB. In addition there is a bell EQ, which behaves differently depending on whether you’re cutting or boosting – for the former it acts as a narrow-band filter at 160Hz to mitigate the effect of reflections from consoles or other hard nearby surfaces, and in the latter case it offers a broader

lift at 80Hz to ‘punch up’ the lower frequencies. At first sight the on-board EQ doesn’t appear to offer correction in the midrange, however raising or lowering both shelves together can help in this important area. A look around the back of the loudspeaker reveals a set of DIP switches to lock volume and EQ settings if required – a sensible feature, especially in a facility with multiple users – and also set the overall operating level. Audio inputs consist of analogue balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA phono connectors. The SC3010 is DSPcontrolled and converts incoming signals to digits via a Burr-Brown analogue to digital converter for precision control of the crossovers and EQ, so the omission of AES and/or SPDIF digital inputs is at first a little surprising as their presence could allow the user to effectively remove a layer of signal processing. That said, experience of running speakers both ways tells me there isn’t a great deal of difference, so this wasn’t a problem in practice. The loudspeaker has three amplifiers, one per driver: an 800W unit for low frequencies, 250W for the midrange and another 250W for the tweeter – all are Class D, an efficient design generating relatively little heat, in this case protected by a limiter. Across the rear of the cabinet opposite the tweeter is a large reflex port helping to extend the lows, with a rounded edge to reduce port noise. It’s worth noting that both the SC3010 and SC3012 are suitable for use either on stands or wall mounted, and in the latter case foam inserts are available to block the port and help optimise the system’s low frequency response.

In Use Having been supplied with a pair of SC3010s for review, I mounted them on stands at a distance of about two metres (the closest recommended), and started listening to my usual blend of reference material and work in progress. The best monitor location in my room is fairly close to the rear wall, and although the room’s design compensates to an extent for the bass lift you find in such a ‘half space’, a 3dB cut with the SC3010s’ built-in low shelf EQ brought the bass frequencies into correct perspective. I left the high adjustment at the factory

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW setting – interesting to me as I find many speakers’ natural treble response a touch bright for my taste and I don’t believe I’m the only one. To my ears the EVE’s tweeter had a ‘rightness’ about it without harshness or splashiness, presenting voices with great clarity and integrating into the whole so recordings were effortlessly revealed with their flaws as well as good points. Examples of this would be the ‘forward’ sound on the 1977 Heavy Weather album by Weather Report, also the (for me) slightly overcooked top end of The

“Uncolored and accurate they may be, but they’re also immensely involving and musical” Nigel Palmer

Mavericks’ track Dance The Night Away, combined with its well-balanced sub thump. Ahead of delivery the distributor told me that the presentation of the SC3010 was neutral, so I half-expected the aural equivalent of fluorescent lighting, as heard in an older speaker brand still popular in mastering studios of which a user once said ‘I turn the controls until the pain goes away!’ However, not a bit of that was present with these EVEs – uncolored and accurate they may be, but they’re also immensely involving and musical. Proof of this was shown by a first listening session lasting several hours, and I haven’t done that in a while – I felt I wanted to hear as much material as possible via this fresh presentation, and relished the speakers’ wide and natural sound. I could hear deeply into anything I played, and discovered noises and musical parts in recordings I know well that I hadn’t noticed before, such as the single-note guitar in the side channel during the second verse of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel; also the sustained bass notes in the Steely Dan song Cousin Dupree – lowend resolution and timing of the system are exemplary. One of the things I found

remarkable was the sheer bandwidth and power available with 29Hz to 21kHz -3dB points (25-21 for the SC3012) and no sign of the system running out of steam at any level I would want to work at. In music with no extreme lows, for example older rock material by bands such as AC/DC (I auditioned Back In Black) and ZZ Top (La Grange), none were reproduced yet the songs’ energy remained fully intact. This may seem obvious, but it’s not uncommon to come across large monitors with phantom LF due to design shortcomings. On the other hand, where low bass did exist, as in electronic dance music, the system made it clear when 808-style kick drums and bass synths meshed effectively and when not; and on other material such as Donald Fagen’s Morph The Cat with its tastefully extended sound mastered by Darcy Proper, the lowest octaves were faithfully and pleasingly conveyed along with the rest of the music. Overall, the audio clarity and effortlessness where mono sources appeared locked in place, stereo imaging was among the best I’ve heard and there was no evidence of crossover bumps, indicating a smooth phase and frequency response combined with negligible distortion.

Conclusion I enjoyed my time with the EVE Audio SC3010 listening to a wide range of material, and would go so far as to say that, because at this level of performance we’re talking personal preference rather than any relative technical deficiency, the EVE could probably go head-to-head with monitors of double the cost and more. I suggest an early audition whenever the goal is resolution, accurate low frequency extension and listenability, and would find it hard to overstate the serious bang-per-buck this new monitor represents. Highly recommended.

The Reviewer Nigel Palmer has been a freelance sound engineer and producer for over 20 years. He runs his CD mastering business Lowland Masters from rural Essex. www.lowlandmasters.com

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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

www.audiomediainternational.com

AUDIO-TECHNICA BP40 MICROPHONE

Stephen Bennett pits the new broadcast mic against some of the ‘usual suspects’ in his chosen application to see how it performs.

ost microphones are designed as generalpurpose devices, although many have found a particular niche as they have been discovered to excel at certain tasks, such as the humble Shure SM57 over a snare or the not-so-humble Neumann U47 FET outside a bass drum. Other microphones are designed for use in specific applications – although with engineers being what they are, this sometimes ends up not being the one the manufacturers’ expect! In a radio or voice-over studio, you’re obviously likely to encounter microphones designed specifically to capture the human voice. These usually feature fittings along their mid-length for easy attachment to floating boom stands, a construction rugged enough to survive being abused by members of a DJ’s ‘posse’, resistance to plosives and a frequency response suitable for recording and broadcasting voices. The new Audio-Technica BP40 joins this – relatively short – list of specialist microphones. Designed in conjunction with French design agency Arro, the BP40 appears extremely well put together. At 632g it’s just weighty enough to feel like it will survive the travails of studio life without being so porky that it will be continuously drooping on a boom. 34

The BP40 comes in a cardboard box, but Audio-Technica supplies a soft pouch for storage. As this type of microphone will spend the majority of its life on the end of a boom in the studio, I don’t see the lack of a case as a problem. The BP40 is a dynamic transducer with a 37mm diaphragm that features a patented floating-edge construction with no “flange” where the membrane is glued. Audio-Technica says this reduces strain on the membrane, which can lead to distortion and I have no doubt that it is an effective construction – the microphone taking a whisper to a scream in its stride. The microphone’s hypercardioid polar pattern is the most practical for screening out other voices in a busy studio environment and the 100Hz highpass filter should help control booming voices and reduce the effect of passing traffic. A multistage windscreen is designed to provide protection against plosives while a humbucking coil is fitted to help against radio frequency interference. Frequency response is a useful 50-16,000Hz, so you’re unlikely to have sibilance issues, while sensitivity is rated at –48dB (3.9 mV) re 1V at 1 Pa. Audio-Technica helpfully provides polar and frequency response graphs in its documentation and the microphone generated a healthy output level in typical recording situations.

Key Features n Large-diameter diaphragm with floating-edge construction n Humbucking coil n Switchable 100Hz high-pass filter n Multistage windscreen for ‘superior’ internal pop filtering n Optimised capsule placement for ‘commanding’ vocal presence RRP: £290 www.audio-technica.com

In Use As luck would have it, The University of East Anglia is building a new radio studio and I have been involved in specifying the technical equipment to be installed. I was therefore able to compare the new BP40 against two of the usual suspects used for this application. The first thing that became obvious is that the BP40 has excellently low noise levels – the university campus is a nightmare for RF interference and the microphone performed impeccably in this respect. The BP40 worked perfectly as the main presenter’s mic and handled both male and female voices with ease, while off-axis suppression was particularly effective when multiple microphones were in use. Mounted in a vocal booth alongside my usual AKG 414 to provide a voice-over for a short animated film, the BP40 was noticeably – and predictably – less ‘open’ in the upper frequencies than the condenser. However, the client preferred the recording from the Audio-Technica microphone, claiming it sounded “more like Radio 4”, which, I think, is something of an accolade! Finally, I pressed the BP40 into the eager hands of a student who wanted to record some interviews for a podcast. Plugged directly into a Tascam DR100, the mic produced audibly superior results to the internal microphones of the portable recorder – although the

BP40’s shape, size and weight aren’t really ideal for this type of use. Some of the BP40’s competitors have also gained a decent reputation as vocal microphones for singers, so I was keen to try the A-T in this application. On male vocals, the results were promising, with the Audio-Technica coming across as a kind of ‘super SM58’ – a more ‘airy’ sound than Shure’s venerable microphone, but with something of the heft and weight that suits some singers’ voices. In the radio studio and voiceover applications it’s designed for, the BP40 is an excellent performer, however, like all good transducers, engineers will find other uses for this microphone and I can see it taking tom-tom and snare duties in its stride. You can never have too much microphone choice and I’ll definitely be adding the BP40 to my list of recommendations in the future.

The Reviewer Stephen Bennett has been involved in music production for over 30 years. Based in Norwich he splits his time between writing books and articles on music technology, recording and touring, and lecturing at the University of East Anglia.

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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

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RADIAL TRIM-TWO

Designed to simplify the use of laptops in live settings by providing a ‘ready access’ volume control for on-the-fly adjustments, this looks like a handy gadget on paper, but what’s it like in the flesh? Over to Alistair McGhee…

Key Features

DI BOX

n Two Eclipse transformers to isolate and balance the signal n ‘Ultra linear’ response from 30Hz to 20kHz n Capable of handling up to +15dB signal levels n Easy access front panel volume control n Choice of RCA, 0.25in and 3.5mm connectors

ometimes a new product is really new and sometimes it’s a refinement or an extension of an existing line. Both are new but the second group tends to generate a little less hullabaloo. Radial’s Trim-Two is definitely in that slightly less glamorous category as Radial already has a spectrum of DIs that cover just about every imaginable situation. The Trim-Two is delivered in Radial’s classic and hugely effective wraparound book-style casing and would stop a bullet for you without batting an eyelid. But don’t try it at home. The grey livery is a little dull, it has to be said, but it’s a DI not a fashion item. In the world of DIs the transformer is king and so I have Radials with Jensen transformers and Cable Factory DIs with Lundahl transformers. Radial designates products that feature Jensen transformers with a J – hence the JDI – however not all Radials have Jensen transformers. I have a Radial PRO AV2 and the AV2 comes with Eclipse transformers, which Radial started using when Jensen supply couldn’t keep up with demand. Eclipse and Jensen are now both part of the Radial family and Radial has invested in boosting Jensen’s output. In any case the PRO AV2 is very definitely in the Trim-Two’s genealogy, or at least at first sight. They are both stereo devices; they both offer inputs on quarter inch jack, phonos and mini jack; they both have Eclipse transformers; they both have ground lift on the output and they both have a way of altering the gain at the input. So what is new?

You’re in control Well, while the PRO AV2 has a fixed 15dB pad option at the input the new Trim-Two has a continuously variable pot. Now you 36

RRP: $175 www.radialeng.com

can set the input levels exactly where you need them. Also, the Trim-Two has a mono option to turn your stereo source into a mono output and finally – and most importantly – the Trim-Two is a unity gain device (give or take the inevitable insertion losses of life!) This is a function of the choice of transformers used in each device. The PRO AV2 features 12:1 transformers in mu-metal cans and inserting it into your circuit will reduce your signal level by about 20dB. The Faraday screening provided by the mu-metal enclosures is required because we might be dealing with small signal levels. The transformers in the PRO AV2 are designed to handle signal levels from -30dB up to negative ten or zero level at a push and they are described as ‘input’ transformers. The Trim-Two on the other hand is designed to deal with higher signal levels from the get-go. The transformers are not enclosed and with a 1:1 ratio the Trim-Two expects higher signal levels and is capable of accepting a whopping +15dB at the input. The TrimTwo features ‘output’ transformers. If your rig is stuffed with kit producing

full fat audio output – keyboards, drum machines or tablets and laptops – then the Trim-Two is the way to go. If you might want to chuck a guitar into the mix then the PRO AV2 will be a better choice. And so on to the trim function of the Trim-Two. Having a pot to alter the signal gain works with higher output devices as these usually have buffered outputs. This is important because changing the gain with a pot also changes the impedance – not a problem with a buffered output, but with instrument levels the change in impedance can result in a significant change in tone. The final feature to consider is the mono switch – the instruction manual shows a recessed switch that requires a screwdriver to operate. I was looking forward to niggling about this inconvenience. Sadly Radial has beaten me to it and the production Trim-Two has the same standard switch for mono as it does for ground lift. Nice to see a product where real-world factors are taken into account in design. Having a mono switch is jolly handy when you need to save channels but at the risk of being picky I’d rather have a sliding

switch. Sorry Radial, it’s just because I think it’s clearer from a distance that the mono function is engaged and it is less likely to be bumped. I have no reservations about the gain trim feature – the pot is positive in action, clearly labelled and isn’t going to be easily nudged. And the flexibilty of setting the levels at the input means you can get your active gain structure just right to minimise noise.

In Use I plugged everything to hand into the Trim-Two, from keyboards, laptops and sound cards through SQN mixers, ShortCuts and anything else lying around. Everything was interfaced without a problem. I don’t think there’s a secret to Radial’s success – they make really good products for people happy to pay a little more for exactly the right tool. And the Trim-Two is another chip off the Radial block.

The Reviewer Alistair McGhee began audio life in Hi-Fi before joining the BBC as an audio engineer. After 10 years in radio and TV, he moved to production. When BBC Choice started, he pioneered personal digital production in television. Most recently, Alistair was assistant editor, BBC Radio Wales and has been helping the UN with broadcast operations in Juba.

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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

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PRESONUS STUDIO 192 AUDIO INTERFACE

’m generally a fan of PreSonus’ audio offerings. I keep a set of the company’s preamps on hand – the now-discontinued DigiMax FS, simply because I like the XMAX preamps. It’s true PreSonus leans towards the budget end of the audio world with equipment punching well above its weight in terms of reproduction and capture, but this is exactly the PreSonus ethos: top-shelf results made affordable. This philosophy continues with the Studio 192 recording system. The Studio 192 will cater to sample rates of 192kHz via the analogue inputs, and the unit can be expanded using S/MUX-enabled ADAT optical connections. I/O amounts to 26 inputs and 32 outs, and the unit achieves this via USB 3.0.

ALL IN ONE Nowadays, it seems standard practice to incorporate control room-style monitoring into most interfaces. The Studio 192 offers such features, including the ability to switch between three sets of monitors. Additional speakers must be connected via the eight balanced TRS output jacks. These can also be used for monitor mixes, alongside the dedicated TRS main monitor outputs. The front panel provides a large main output level control pot, and a single gain level control flanked by left/right buttons. These scroll through the eight preamp inputs. A ninth ‘C’ setting adjusts gain for the builtin talkback mic. The internal mic can be forfeited for a standard mic connected via any of the mic preamps. The preamp levels and individual 48V power for each mic pre can be set from within your DAW using MIDI controller information.

HANDS ON THE WHEEL Four backlit buttons address 48V 38

Brad Watts test-drives this new USB 3.0 offering from the US manufacturer to see what all the fuss is about…

power to each preamp input, along with talkback, mono monitoring and output dimming/muting. The dim/ mute button provides dual operations. Off to the right are two headphone outputs with individual volume control pots. To the left of the front panel are the first two XLR mic inputs. Being combo connectors these can accept high impedance signals from guitars. Out the back are the remaining six XLR mic inputs, eight TRS balanced outputs, BNC wordclock in and out, coaxial S/ PDIF I/O, the four ADAT ports and the USB 3.0 connector.

DRIVE BY WIRE Supplied alongside the Studio 192 is a software control panel and mixer. Dubbed ‘UC Surface’, the software is also available as a free iPad application or as a touch-responsive app for Windows 8 and Windows 10 touchscreen computers. Like most mixer control panels, UC Surface is designed for configuring multiple mixes via the Studio 192’s additional outputs. Up to eight separate stereo mixes can be configured. This is rudimentary to any native DSP-based interface, and historically has been supplied to provide direct monitoring from the interface, thus avoiding the round trip time-lag associated with native-based DAW applications. The UC Surface software gives access to the 192’s DSP. The first 16 inputs of the 192 offer PreSonus’ ‘Fat Channel’ processing. This DSP includes phase reverse, a gate, a compressor, output limiter, a full parametric four-band equaliser and high-pass filter. This can be ‘printed’ to your DAW by flicking each channel to post-send. There are also two master effects: a reverb processor with nine algorithms, along with delay effects

providing mono, stereo, filtered and pingpong delays. If your DAW of choice is PreSonus’ Studio One, this is accessible via the DAW itself. PreSonus provides Studio One Artist with the Studio 192, so you can kick off from square one with the Studio 192 package. The Fat Channel is a hybrid plug-in that runs on both Studio One for playback and the Studio 192 DSP for recording and monitoring. So when you’re recording, you’re using up to 16 instances of the plug-in on the S192 DSP; when you play back, the system seamlessly switches to running up to 16 instances of the plug-in in Studio One. The sound is identical because the plug-ins are identical, just running on different processors. It’s difficult to fault modern audio interface fidelity, and the Studio 192 won’t disappoint on this front. PreSonus has utilised a Burr-Brown chipset for audio conversion. The dynamic range of both the A-D and D-A processing is 118dB (A-weighted) – comparable with interfaces costing four times the price. THD+N figures don’t stack up nearly as well, however. At <0.005 across all I/O, this doesn’t come close to the <0.000X figures touted by the big boys in analogue conversion, such as the flagship Apogee devices, RME and Prism Sounds of this world. As things stand, the Studio 192 competes favourably with units such as the Apogee Ensemble and the UAD Apollo units.

Key Features n Ultra low latency, 24-bit, 192kHz USB 3.0 audio interface n 8 XMAX remote controllable mic preamps n Fat Channel processing on every analogue input and the first ADAT inputs n Total integration with Studio One; comes bundled with Studio One Artist n ‘Flawless’ analogue signal path with 118dB digital conversion RRP: $1,199.95 www.presonus.com I indulged myself by going through and micing up additional sections of the kit – hats, kick in, snare bottom, toms and a room mic (another ribbon) – covering it with nine mics. Having my PreSonus DigiMax FS on hand allowed me to open an additional eight mic inputs, and again, tracking proceeded happily at both 44.1 and 88.2kHz – all via good old USB. Suffice to mention, the onboard DSP came in handy for this task, with the gate processing proving invaluable. Would I own one? Yes indeedy sir, I would. Not only does the unit sound very good, it’s expandable to 24 inputs. Should you find yourself in this market, the Studio 192 has a lot on offer at an exceptional price.

The Reviewer

IN USE In order to take the Studio 192 through a bit of an audition I recorded a number of live drum kit takes. Initially I kicked off with my variation of a Glyn Johns-style micing method with a couple of ribbon mics on overheads. Everything tracked perfectly at 44.1kHz and 88.2kHz. Then

Brad Watts has been a freelance writer for numerous audio mags, has mastered and mixed various bands, and was deputy editor of AudioTechnology in Australia. He is now digital content manager for Content and Technology.

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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

www.audiomediainternational.com

SONNOX ENVOLUTION PLUG-IN

Rich Tozzoli tells us why he now calls this new envelope shaping plug-in “the ass kicker”.

onnox has just released a brand new plug-in called Oxford Envolution, which is a frequency-dependent envelope shaper. With full disclosure, I was on the beta team for this. Regardless, I use it on just about every session not because of that, but because it’s just such a useful piece of software. I’ve certainly used other envelope shapers before, including Sonnox’s own Transient Modulator. But what makes Envolution different is that there are separate Transient and Sustain sections with creative control over each element. The Transient section features independent control over Attack, Hold, Release and Sensitivity along with the large Transient level control. It doesn’t get much easier to use – to enhance the transients of the waveform, turn the Transient knob up; to reduce them, turn the knob down. With the Sustain section, the same approach applies – turn the big Sustain knob up to increase; turn it down to decrease the amount. The Sustain section also features Hold, Attack and Release controls, and both Sustain and Transient sections have independent Bypass buttons to turn the effect on and off as it is added per section. The Center Panel can be assigned three different views. Envelope Scope shows the real-time amplitude of the waveform in grey, the Transient envelope in yellow and the Sustain envelope in purple; use this to ‘see’ the sensitivity and shape of gain envelopes. It operates in default as Scroll mode (Slow/Medium or Fast), but can be viewed as Sync with one or two bars when working in mapped tempo mode. 40

The Scope display can also be frozen by clicking inside the box, where a blue border will be drawn around the window. Simply click again to let it go. By selecting the FREQ buttons, the Spectral Shaping of each section is shown, where EQ curves can be tilted to alter the high and low frequencies of effects. The Output section features a Master Fader and stereo meters, as well as a Wet/Dry Mix control and Warmth control (0 to 100%). When pressed, the Diff button allows users to hear the difference between the original and processed signal, and the Bypass button bypasses the entire plug-in.

In Use The first time I put this thing up (while still in beta), I jokingly referred to it as “the ass kicker” – a name I still call it. As I often use a wide variety of loops in my TV productions, I’m always looking for a way to do something unique with them. I placed Envolution across a standard drum loop, turned up the Transients and Sustain knobs, and heard, well, more – more attack on the initial transients of

each note (the kick in this instance), and more ambience and sustain from the rest (hi-hats, snares and cymbals). In doing so, it also made the loop louder, so I pulled the Master fader down, but also experimented with the Mix Dry/Wet. Another cool thing: cutting sustain and ambience to the point where it becomes an incredibly smooth gate. I had a bunch of audio brothers around me when I was doing it, and we all gathered by the screen to hear how powerful this tool is for loop productions. Then to really experiment, we left the DIFF button pressed and just started turning knobs. This whole new sonic palette came out of the loop, which not only lets you hear the process of Envolution, but when you leave that DIFF knob in, it’s like sound design meets transient creativity. A useful detail in Envolution is that you can roll over any of the knobs, and a small ‘explanation’ box pops up telling what it does. Without question, Envolution is a highly creative tool. I use it primarily on loops, but also on percussion, snare drums and so on. I will often automate

Key Features n Frequency-dependent control of Transients and Sustain n Tilt/parametric targeting of frequencies to process n DIFF button to solo the effect n Use in parallel without phase cancellation n Numerous presets to get the user started RRP: $270 (Native) & $435 (AAX DSP) www.sonnoxplugins.com the large Transient and Sustain knobs to increase and decrease as the music flows, which lets you turn static loops into something more musical and special. I highly recommend taking this plug-in for a spin.

The Reviewer Rich Tozzoli is a producer, mixer, engineer and musician/composer with TV credits including Duck Dynasty, History Channel’s Pawn Stars, Harpo Studios’ 21-Day Meditation Challenge and more.

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INTERVIEW

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BANG TIDY

With an MPG nomination for Breakthrough Engineer now firmly under his belt, 2015 was a landmark year for London-based Drew Bang. Colby Ramsey quizzes the pro-audio up-and-comer about his work with garage punk duo Slaves and life at Strongroom Studios. You’ve also had some experience working with the BBC. Do you feel your wider knowledge of audio has helped you become more accomplished in the field of recording? Yeah, I think this is great. Perspective is a fantastic tool to have and complacency can be a huge detriment to productivity; knowing how others work can really aid you in making the right decision for you. That being said, none of that really matters does it? Introspection also breeds self-doubt and that’s the real killer when it comes to just getting on with it.

You initially started out in music as a singer – to what extent did that set you up for a career in audio engineering and recording? Haha! Yeah that was such a long time ago now. I guess with hindsight (which is a beautiful thing I might add) I’d say that being able to remember how it felt to be a performer and attempting to translate something from within into a tangible musical entity. That creative drive for me was always what dictated my personality on and off stage, my ego and my aspirations. Being able to directly empathise with those traits in others makes working with artists – from an engineer’s perspective – so much more manageable. You worked with punk duo Slaves on their debut album last year. How did that come about? Just another day, another client booking at the studio! All credit for that hook-up goes to the producer Jolyon Thomas; he’d worked with Isaac (Holman, drums/ vocals) and Laurie (Vincent, guitar/ vocals) on a couple of singles already, and brought the band to Strongroom, 42

whom I freelance for, to work on the album. I guess I was the studio’s best-fit “in-house” guy for the job, and the rest is history. Since the album, we’ve stayed in touch but are all seeing other people. How did you approach the recording and was there anything you feel you did particularly differently? From day one we all seemed to click, it might have had something to do with us starting and ending each day with brohugs – massively important! From that point it was four guys in a room for three weeks – let’s put it down and try and make something great. That’s like the dream in the studio – everyone doing their job. In that sense it was different, as I wasn’t having to do someone else’s job for them, just my own – mics, acoustics, outboard, desk, a cheeky half and home to bed. What was your reaction to being shortlisted for an MPG Award? I was sat with my girlfriend in a tap room in Bermondsey, on an all-day session – we’d had a few double IPAs by this point – and when the email came in, I was half listening to her, and half taking in the

news. I was completely dumbfounded, burst into a happy cry and spent the next 15 minutes with my head in my hands, trying to style my reaction to the room full of people staring my way! As you can imagine, I wasn’t expecting to get through to the final three. I’m so very humbled by that. Could you tell us a little about your method of working in general? Do you have any particularly unique or unusual methods/habits? I’m pretty methodical I guess. I’ll have prepped my session ahead of time usually, and given enough information had some time to work on pre-production etc. All that stuff is just for me though – I have a pretty short attention span, so if I’m not organised, I’ll get myself all confused. There’s a clear signal flow in engineering. I try to take the shortest route, but I think good engineering is knowing the long ways round, just in case. Once I’m in the zone, it’s just about letting things happen in a way that brings out performances. All of this is subject to a client that allows you to work freely of course; otherwise I do as I’m told!

Could you tell us a little about Strongroom, your base of operations at present? Sure. I’ve been freelancing at Strongroom for just over three years now. It’s like no other studio I’ve been to. It’s a 30-year-old institution, has Jamie Reid (Sex Pistols) artwork in every room, its own craft beer bar and a beautiful congregation of resident producers working out of its studios – a real creative hub. Phil and Emma who manage the studio have been great in supporting my career, sending work my way which they know I’ll love, which is fantastic as I’m unmanaged. Of the three commercial rooms, I’ll always opt for Studio 1: the Neve VR room where we tracked Slaves. If I could take that console home, I would. What’s next for you? Have you got any big projects lined up that you could tell us about? I’m working on an EP for a band called Three Girl Rhumba on [record label] I’m Not From London, which I’m having to do in my spare time – a labour of love really. And yeah, I have a few potentially massive sessions coming up in the New Year but I’m on NDA so I couldn’t possibly hint at what, or who. I’m super excited about 2016, really wanting to get that diary filled out with good energy sessions. Still working on that bucket list though – don’t suppose you know the guys from DFA1979?

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