PSNE November 2018

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November 2018

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P3 NOVEMBER 2018 www.psneurope.com

Welcome

DANIEL GUMBLE

@PSNEurope

W

here has the past year gone? It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole 12 months since penning the welcome note to the 2017 Pro Sound Awards preview issue, yet here we are again, just weeks away (at time of writing) from this year’s annual pro audio extravaganza.

That’s right, on Thursday, November 22, the 2018 Pro Sound Awards will be held once again at London’s Steel Yard, in what promises to be its biggest and best outing to date. Of course, that may sound like the usual guff generally trotted out ahead of such an event, but this time out we really have pulled out all the stops to make sure this year’s bash is one of the ages.

Following last year’s relocation from Ministry of Sound to the Steel Yard and a major reshuffle of the awards categories, the team here at PSNEurope has spoken extensively with professionals from across the industry to make sure we are able to improve proceedings further still. These conversations have resulted in a complete overhaul of the category list, as we endeavour to ensure the Pro Sound Awards are fully representative of the ever-changing nature of the market. And we hope the stellar list of nominees this year, which you can find over on p14, reflects this.

Elsewhere this month, we’ve been given an exclusive interview with EAW’s president and general manager TJ Smith, who gives us the lowdown on the US loudspeaker giant’s recent acquisition by the Italian RCF Group and sheds some light on what exactly the new arrangement means for the brand’s future on this side of the pond on p17.

What’s more, PSNEurope’s Kevin Hilton hears from the team responsible for audio on Dr Who over at p32, while Phil Ward celebrates APG’s 40th anniversary with an in-depth look at the company’s illustrious history on p20.

Plus, senior executives from Audio-Technica and Martin Audio take us inside the new distribution agreement between the two companies in Germany on p6.

For now, be sure to book your ticket for the 2018 Pro Sound Awards while they’re still available! We look forward to seeing you there. n

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P4 NOVEMBER 2018

In this issue...

People

P8 Movers and shakers

Find out who’s been on the move over the last month in pro audio P20 French resolution

PSNEurope’s Phil Ward celebrates 40 years of APG with the

company’s Gregory Dapsanse

P6 DISTRIBUTION SOLUTIONS INSIDE A-T AND MARTIN AUDIO’S NEW GERMAN DISTRIBUTION DEAL

P24 Good and Proper

Multiple award-winning mastering engineer Darcy Proper reflects on a

glittering career and the key issues shaping the sector

Report P26 PMSE An update on the implications of the 700MHz spectrum clearance

and what it means for the pro audio industry P28 DPA

A close-up look at the Danish manufacturer’s new sub-miniature mic series

Interviews

P17 RETURN OF A US GIANT EAW PRESIDENT TJ SMITH ON THE BRAND’S NEW RCF AGREEMENT

P36 Terri Winston The founder of the Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) on a career

dedicated to levelling the gender playing field and what the

organisation has in the pipeline P50 Edinburgh Festival Of Sound We hear from the brand new event producer Russell McMahon to

find out what the Scottish show’s inaugural outing has to offer visitors

and participants alike

P32 WHO GOES THERE AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE ROLE OF AUDIO IN THE DR WHO

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P6 NOVEMBER 2018

L-R: James King, Bradley Watson, Thomas Mikus, Alexandra Bischof, Dom Harter.

The A-Team

Last month, Audio-Technica was appointed as Martin Audio’s German distributor, adding to its comprehensive offering in the region. To find out more about the new deal, Daniel Gumble spoke to Audio-Technica Germany’s general manager Matthias Exner and Martin Audio’s EMEA sales manager Brad Watson and MD Dom Harter…

I

t’s a case of two great brands joining forces to create an outstanding offering,” was how AudioTechnica Germany’s general manager Matthias Exner described his company’s appointment as distributor for Martin Audio in the region back in October.

And it certainly makes for an attractive proposition as far as pro audio customers are concerned.

With a strong reputation as a one stop solution provider for all manner of audio products and solutions, the addition of a brand such as Martin Audio to its already impressive portfolio of distributed brands sends a very clear message to the market about its vast offering. The benefits are, of course, mutual, with

Martin Audio’s presence in the German market likely to be bolstered significantly by the backing of a fellow powerhouse brand.

“We felt that Audio-Technica in Germany had space in its portfolio for a professional, versatile and innovative loudspeaker brand to serve the live audio and commercial integration market,” Exner told PSNEurope. “Martin Audio had parted ways with its previous distributor and was looking for a professional partner active in both these segments. So this presented a win-win situation for both companies, with great opportunities for growth. Audio-Technica and Martin Audio have had various points of contact over the years

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and we are looking forward to a very successful longterm relationship for both brands.

“Audio-Technica Germany is now a one-stop solution provider in both live and installed sound, supplementing its own range of wired and wireless microphones, conference systems and mixers with Allen & Heath mixing consoles, Clear-Com intercom systems and Martin Audio speakers, amplifiers, controllers and 3D audio systems.”

According to Exner, customers in the region will also benefit significantly as a result of the new partnership.

“One of the key benefits is that it allows our customers streamlined access to a strengthened portfolio of world-

P7 NOVEMBER 2018

THE EXPERIENCE AND EXPOSURE THAT AUDIO-TECHNICA BRINGS TO THE NEW RELATIONSHIP IS PARAMOUNT TO MARTIN AUDIO REGAINING THE TRACTION EXPERIENCED IN PREVIOUS YEARS BRAD WATSON, MARTIN AUDIO

renowned brands, and a pool of knowledge that will prove absolutely invaluable when assisting installers, rental houses and others on purchase decisions,” he continued. “This integrated approach is increasingly valued by customers when working on complex applications - we’re delighted to be in a position to offer an end-to-end solution with the addition of Martin Audio to the Audio-Technica family.”

For Martin Audio, the new distribution set-up will enable the company to capitalise significantly on what is a major area of opportunity.

“Martin Audio has grown substantially in Europe in the last year and strategically Germany is the biggest single opportunity for further growth, so we wanted a partner that could help deliver this,” explained Martin Audio’s EMEA sales manager Brad Watson.

“I was introduced to Matthias ‘Mex’ Exner - longstanding colleague and friend to [Martin Audio managing director] Dom Harter - to look at the potential option of Audio-Technica in Germany. Audio-Technica has an established platform in the German market, not only for the main microphone brand, but also with Allen & Heath and Clear-Com, so it’s clear to see that Martin Audio can easily fit with their current portfolio providing a transducerto- transducer solution.”

Harter added: “I have known Mex since I was 21 when we both worked selling BSS, and I have always been impressed with his knowledge of the German market as well as his understanding for professional audio

Dom Harter

systems.

“As we have met more of the AudioTechnica team it was immediately clear that they share the same professional attitude and passion for professional audio as Mex and the whole Martin Audio team.”

As for the logistics of the new agreement, Watson believes that it will be a seamless process.

“Audio-Technica have an experienced and comprehensive sales and back office team, so the transition for Martin Audio in the German market should prove to be a smooth process. Mex and Thomas Mikus, Audio-Technica’s sales and marketing director, pro audio, are building a team of experts and have a very good understanding of their market and our technology.”

He continued: “Martin Audio has traditionally performed very well in Germany, from the early W8/W8C range through to the MLA family and more recently Wavefront Precision, but Matthias Exner we knew we could take this further.

Initial responses since the AudioTechnica announcement have been very positive, and with Tobi Franzgrote in place at the brand manager for Martin Audio in Germany, the future certainly

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looks very bright for the new Martin Audio and AudioTechnica partnership.”

“We get the benefits of a well organised, well-funded distribution partner who can supply end to end solutions and with the continuity of a deep knowledge of Martin Audio system from Tobi,” Harter added, discussing the positive impacts the new distribution agreement will have on both the company and its customer base. “I strongly believe that this is the kind of partnership which will help all our German customers grow with the brand whilst offering them the kind of support needed to do so.”

Indeed, with the end-to-end solutions of which Harter speaks becoming an increasingly sought after commodity in today’s industry, the alignment of Martin Audio with not only Audio-Technica but also its impressive array of high-profile distributed brands will be pivotal in furthering Martin Audio’s reach into the German pro audio market and bolstering its reputation across the region.

“The experience and exposure that Audio-Technica brings to this relationship is paramount to Martin Audio regaining the traction experienced in previous years,” Watson concluded.

“With the recent launch of the ADORN series alongside the VIA amplifiers, we now have a new and untapped market sector for Martin Audio, where the wider portfolio products from Audio-Technica will only be a benefit to the partnership.” n

P8 NOVEMBER 2018

Pro audio movers and shakers Stay in the loop with the latest job appointments and movements in the professional audio business…

Shure announces new senior director for Western Europe

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hure UK has appointed Tuomo GeorgeTolonen as the senior director for the Western Europe region.

George-Tolonen’s goal for the company will be to secure Shure’s position as a leading authority on RF for microphone and monitoring applications as well as wired solutions throughout Europe.

Over the last 12 years he has been heavily involved in all things RF, beginning his career at Shure in 2006 as applications engineer, before taking responsibility for RF regulatory affairs in 2008, and joining the BEIRG steering committee.

“Using the experience we have in house I want to cement Shure as a leading voice on subjects such as RF by working closer with regulators across Europe. We

Colby Ramsey returns to Audio Media International as editor Former AMI senior staff writer Colby Ramsey has returned to the brand as editor with immediate effect, replacing outgoing editor Murray Stassen. Ramsey’s previous role as senior staff writer for AMI saw him reporting to Stassen and former editor Adam Savage, having initially joined the brand in November 2015. This was followed by a six month stint at Future sister title TVBEurope as senior staff writer. Ramsey completed an undergraduate degree in Journalism in 2013.

Ramsey said: “I’m really looking forward to going back to working with the rest of the team at Future, and continuing the fantastic work that my previous editors have done at AMI over the last few years.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Colby back to AMI as its acting editor. Colby’s passion for, and knowledge of, this market makes him a natural choice to lead AMI’s next chapter, and he’s been champing at the bit to get started and put his mark on the brand,” said James McKeown, content director at AMI’s parent company, Future.

Daniel Gumble, PSNEurope’s editor, who will take on the role as group editor of Future’s pro audio division, said: “I can’t wait to start working with Colby.

The brand has firmly established itself as one of the pro audio market’s most essential publications, and Colby, with his prior experience and knowledge of the title, is perfectly placed as its new editor to lead it into the next era of its development.”

can learn an incredible amount from these relationships and we can forge even better and stronger relationships across Europe.” He added: “My aim is for Shure to be even closer to the market and the people that use our products day in and day out on crucial events and shows.

Together with my colleagues, I want to establish an understanding that Shure as a company is approachable and understanding of the market.”

Shure’s global sales VP, pro audio, Peter James, commented: “His enthusiasm and ability to identify and realise new opportunities, led to this promotion. Under his leadership, Shure UK has experienced continuous growth in the pro audio vertical, and has been at the forefront of developing important relationships with the most influential people and organisations.”

UK Music announces Greg Parmley, MD of the International Live Music Conference as its new chair UK Live Music Group has appointed MD of the International Live Music Conference, Greg Parmley, as its new chair. Parmley will be replacing outgoing chair Paul Latham, COO of Live Nation.

Parmley has been involved with the group since it was first formed, and is familiar with the group’s aims and its members. Parmley said: “I will ensure that the voice of the live music business is heard where and when it’s appropriate. We’re a £1bn industry with a huge export value. We carry a lot of weight.”

Parmley’s responsibilities include campaigning alongside the Music Venue Trust to achieve the introduction of the “agent for change” principle in England, Wales and Scotland to stop music venues from closing down. He will also be organising the UK live music industry’s response to Brexit, and responding to developments in the secondary ticketing market and supporting initiatives to improve accessibility at live events, securing industry agreed positions in all these areas.”

When speaking of his company goals, Parmley said: “There’s a lot on the horizon with Brexit in March, and then grassroots venues continuing to need support, secondary ticketing, visas issues for touring artists, business rates etc. I hope UK Live can pitch in and add to those efforts.”

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Riedel recruits Endi A. Maricevic as sales manager for North America Riedel has announced Endi A. Marcevic as its new service manager North America.

Maricevic will report to Jake Halverson, Riedel’s North America operations manager. He will be serving from the Burbank, California office. Maricevic’s responsibilities include providing customer support as well as managing Riedel’s service operations. He was previously working as senior broadcast engineer for Fox Networks, before being promoted to associate manager of engineering and operations.

Maricevic’s goal for his new job is to fully manage customers’ expectations by having a thorough understanding of what they want in terms of pre/post - sales support.

“I hope to mold my team into a world-class service and support organisation,” he said.

“It is our pleasure to welcome Endi to our team,” said Joyce Bente, president and CEO, Riedel North America. “Over his 20-year career, he’s built an outstanding track record as a customer-focused professional in our precise markets — broadcast, media, and live events.

“With his extensive management experience, industry connections, and passion for creating well-rounded customer relationships, Endi will be a tremendous asset as we continue to strengthen our support operations.”

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L’Acoustics regional manager for UK and Ireland Paul McMullan (left)

‘The most vibrant PLASA in recent history’

The annual PLASA show took place from September 16-18 in the west end at London Olympia, boasting a second consecutive year of growth on the audio exhibitor front. Sahar Nazir spoke to managing director Peter Heath to get his take on the upsurge of audio exhibitors at this year’s event…

T

he 2018 PLASA show, which took place in September, saw audio exhibitor numbers on the rise for a second consecutive year, with managing director Peter Heath describing the show to PSNEurope as “the busiest and most vibrant in recent history”.

PLASA’s resurgence was evident once again this year, with a significant rise in visitors and exhibitors compared to last year, visitor numbers increased by four per cent to 7,271. Pro audio in particular made a comeback this year, with the number of exhibitors rising by 17 per cent following its 23 per cent increase in 2017.

Not only were exhibitor numbers on the rise, but satisfaction levels were also very high, which, Heath said, has consequently “resulted in one of the show’s strongest re-books in a decade. We’re just a couple of weeks on and stand space confirmed for 2019 is already at 70 per cent of the total stands booked for 2018.”

Heath is enthusiastic about PLASA’s evolution since he took up the reins two years ago, as he looks to continue building on its recent renaissance. “I’m pleased to report that both visitor and exhibitor numbers increased, but not only that, walking around the show, a high quality of networking was evident, with many exhibitors taking orders directly on the show floor. We’ve had incredible feedback from visitors and exhibitors across the board.”

Notably, L-Acoustics made its return to the exhibition

floor after 10 years away, to spend quality time with partners and potential clients. The company’s regional manager for UK and Ireland, Paul McMullan, said: “We felt an increase in the quality of the exchanges that we had with PLASA visitors this year, both at the booth and in the different panels in which we participated.”

Commenting on L-Acoustics’ return to the show as exhibitors, Heath added: “The fact that audio exhibitors increased by 17 per cent this year could speak for itself.

Alongside longstanding and trusted audio exhibitors such as Bose, Yamaha and SSE Audio, we welcomed back L-Acoustics whose L-ISA system wowed visitors and the PLASA Award judges who commended them on their technological advancements.”

The show certainly made an impression on visitors with its exhibits, including an interactive L-Acoustics booth, as well as Yamaha displaying a Japanese garden theme, including a blossom tree complete with a rain feature.

Yamaha notably capitalised on the exposure offered by Instagram and other forms of social media.

Yamaha’s marketing manager for the UK and Ireland, Chris Irvine says the company took somewhat of a risk with its approach to exhibiting at this year’s show. He elaborates: “This year we took something of a gamble by focusing less on displaying a lot of product and concentrating more on making the stand eye-catching and memorable. Our Japanese garden theme was a talking point throughout the show, with people continually taking photos of it.”

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The PM5D digital console was a central focus on Yamaha’s display, alongside the latest RIVAGE PM7 system, and “encouraged a lot of sound engineers both old and new - to come and have a chat.” Irvine elaborates: “All-in-all we felt it was a very positive show and the gamble more than paid off.” He continues: “Last year’s show was more successful for us than we anticipated and this year built on that, with more stand visitors and a very positive atmosphere throughout all three days.”

This year’s PLASA also offered a wide range of seminars and panel sessions, featuring some of the most influential figures from the world of pro audio and AV. Heath commented: “In the dedicated Audio & AV Seminar Theatre, widely respected and pioneering professionals took to the stage. Britannia Row presented no less than four seminars addressing system design for the future, and immersive audio, and led a track-bytrack live mix demonstration which garnered a rapturous reaction from a full house: Furthermore, the SoundGirls made their first outing at PLASA with a discussion on new tech bridging the gap between artist and audience.

“Developments in live audio are rapidly growing and it has been exciting to see so many market leaders at PLASA demonstrating what this sector is capable of,” Heath concluded.

PLASA returns to London Olympia from September, 15-17, 2019. n

P13 NOVEMBER 2018

How the 700MHz clearance will impact live events Shure’s manager of applications, Andrew Francis, offers PSNEurope some unique insights into the impending 700MHz band clearance and what it could mean for the UK’s ever-growing live events industry…

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he UK’s live entertainment industry shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, taking a record £17bn in 2017 thanks to big West End productions, music, arts festivals and live tours of TV shows. And a further growth of over seven per cent is forecast for 2018, according to accounting giant Deloitte.

However, the way that big productions and gigs is planned will soon change significantly, due to the scheduled clearance of the 700MHz band to be reserved for telecoms and growing 5G mobile networks.

Germany and France have already started this process. Programme making and special events (PMSE) audio users within the UK will retain access to the guard band (694 MHz to 703MHz), but will lose access to other frequencies in the 700MHz range from May 1, 2020.

Helping us to understand the problems to be faced, and offering advice on how to circumnavigate those problems, Shure’s manager of applications, Andrew Francis, provides insight, as well as answers.

The clearance of the 700MHz channel comes into effect in May 2020. How are users of wireless tech managing the changeover?

Shure has been making its customers aware of the 700MHz clearance and its implication of making the 600MHz spectrum grow higher in demand. Up until the switchover date, the 700MHz band will be fantastic to use, as digital TV will be moved to other frequencies, but after May 2020 we will all need to be more aware of the spectrum we wish to use. Shure also offers wireless microphones in different areas of RF spectrum such as Microflex Wireless, which uses 1.9GHz (DECT), it does not require any licence to operate and is perfect for many meeting room applications. Another piece of interesting and often overlooked spectrum is the 17851805 MHz range.

The reason it’s interesting is that it can be used under the same shared PMSE licensing regulations as Channel 38 but is often much less utilised. On a recent site survey, I scanned both Channel 38 and 1.8GHz then calculated we could fit approximately 32 channels of ULXD wireless in Channel 38 and 128 Channels in 1.8GHz.

Can you talk a little about Airband and how that will assist bigger events where there are bigger RF demands?

Airband is a solution proposed by Ofcom to allow PMSE users access to alternative RF spectrum, but there are concerns about the viability in the long term.

Andrew Francis Shure has been proactive in trialling kit which operates in this spectrum with success, but as it’s a one market solution just for the UK, the return on product development is limited. Regulatory advancement is required before most manufacturers will commit to making equipment.

Are there any concerns from the aeronautical sector regarding the use of Airband?

Yes, there are many concerns about radio mic users causing disruption and interference to the Civil Aviation sector. However, Ofcom believes they are unsubstantiated, and Shure supports further study to gather the necessary data to build confidence. PMSE users will take secondary priority use of the spectrum in the same way as TV band licencing.

How are you adapting as a manufacturer to ensure your products are as efficient and effective as ever?

We’ve spent many hours at events, assisting with frequency planning and support to ensure that large-scale events run as they should. This time onsite has helped us understand what’s been needed and has been crucial in relaying this information directly back to the R&D department. It’s one of the main reasons why Axient Digital has delivered so well across all applications: it answers all the questions any users might have because, essentially, it’s been developed through many varied conversations with users of wireless microphone systems.

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Are regulators from around

the world doing enough to protect the spectrum access within the entertainment sector?

No. The largest obstacle faced by consumers of radio microphones is actually regulators making policy decisions which benefit the mobile sector but leave PMSE users to deal with the consequence and fight to be heard.

Policy makers are still gaining an understanding of how important wireless microphone technology is to the entertainment and corporate sector.

Wireless microphones are in use throughout businesses of all sizes nowadays and if the trend continues, usage will only increase.

What next?

In a much similar approach to the transition away from PMSE users having access to the 800MHz spectrum, Ofcom are now offering a compensation scheme for the replacement of radio mic equipment in the 700Mhz range. Shure UK would also like to thank Ofcom, the UK government, as well as BEIRG and, those in the PMSE community that have worked very hard towards achieving this outcome for all radio mic users.

The only thing we can be confident in is the use of radio microphone, and in-ear monitoring equipment isn’t going to go away any time soon, neither is the public’s expectation for high quality entertainment, productive business meetings, conferences and high-speed access to the internet from mobile devices. All sectors that benefit from the use of RF spectrum must continue to work together to ensure we maintain reliable access to this finite resource. n

P14 NOVEMBER 2018 The 2017 Pro Sound Awards in full swing

Pro Sound Awards 2018: The nominees The shortlist for this year’s Pro Sound Awards, which takes place on November 22 at London’s Steel Yard, can finally be revealed…

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SNEurope is delighted to reveal the nominees for the 2018 Pro Sound Awards. Now entering its sixth year, the 2018 Pro Sound Awards will take place at London’s Steel Yard on Thursday, November 22, and will once again celebrate the very finest achievements, companies and individuals from the past 12 months.

This year we have given our list of categories a major overhaul, adding a number of new awards to proceedings and parting ways with others to reflect the ever-evolving nature of the pro audio market. In addition to several newly added product categories, we have also

introduced two new breakthrough engineer categories (studio and FOH) to honour those shaping the future of our industry. We also have a new Campaign Award for 2018, aimed at honouring a campaign or movement that has helped deliver positive changes to working practices, diversity and equality.

PSNEurope editor Daniel Gumble commented: “Following the huge success of last year’s event, we are delighted to bring the Pro Sound Awards back to the Steel Yard for 2018. 2017 marked a year of transformation for the Pro Sound Awards, and it is vital that we continue to develop and evolve its content year

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after year. The pro audio world is changing more rapidly than ever and it’s our job to reflect those changes and to honour not only long-established market leaders, but also the pioneers and innovators of tomorrow.”

Tickets for this year’s event are on sale now and can be purchased for £55 at www.prosoundawards.com.

Each ticket provides access to the drinks reception, awards ceremony, the after party and also a light buffet.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your booking please contact Kate Smith at kate.smith@ futurenet.com. So, without further ado, the nominees for the 2018 Pro Sound Awards are…

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LIVE Best live loudspeaker d&b audiotechnik - GSL Funktion-One - F124 L-Acoustics - Syva Meyer Sound - UP-4slim Outline - Superfly QSC - KS112

Best live microphone DPA Microphones - d:vote 4099 CORE Sennheiser - Digital 6000 Shure - ADX1M Sontronics - Corona

Best live sound production Aljazeera Media Network - The Future Of Media Leaders Summit Capital Sound - Roger Waters, British Summer Time 2018 Delta Live - BBC Proms 2018 Funktion-One - Electrobeach 2018 Meyer Sound - Ed Sheeran ÷ (Divide) tour SSE Audio Group - Lovebox Festival 2018

Best FOH engineer Chris Marsh Colin Pink Philip J. Harvey Robb Allan

Breakthrough FOH engineer Charlie Vanstone Fela Davis Heather Knott James Hill Peter West

STUDIO

Best producer (chosen by PSNEurope team)

Best studio

Best mixing console

Abbey Road Brighton Electric Recording Studio Edge Recording Studios SpinRoad Recording Studios The Park Studios

Allen & Heath - dLive Avid - VENUE S6L Crest Audio - Tactus Solid State Logic - L100 Soundcraft - Ui24R

Best studio monitor

Best installation project

ADAM Audio - T Series Genelec - S360 JBL - 3 Series MkII Meyer Sound - Bluehorn System PMC - result6 Unity Audio - Mini Rock Monitor

Delta Live - BBC Proms 2018 Funktion-One - Volgograd Arena Genelec - Moesgaard Museum L-Acoustics - SPYSCAPE Meyer Sound - kING Culture and Congress Hall, Germany SSE Audio Group - O2 Arena, London Visual Systems - Al Madina Mosque, London

Best studio microphone AKG - C314 Audio-Technica - AT5047 Neumann - U 67 Sontronics - Apollo 2 Zylia - ZM-1

Best immersive sound project Astro Spatial Audio - The Band’s Visit d&b audiotechnik - Starlight Express Funktion-One - Shadow Play L-Acoustics L-ISA - alt-J, Forest Hills Stadium

Breakthrough studio engineer Audrey Martinovich Connor Panayi Lauren Deakin-Davies Best studio engineer Stefano Amerio Marta Salogni Wes Maebe

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Campaign Award - chosen by PSNEurope team Outstanding Contribution Award - chosen by PSNEurope team

Company of the Year Award - chosen by PSNEurope team

P17 NOVEMBER 2018

The recent acquisition of iconic US loudspeaker brand EAW by the Italian RCF Group marked a major milestone in the history of the Massachusetts-based company. Now, in an exclusive interview with PSNEurope, president and general manager TJ Smith tells Daniel Gumble why the deal marks the start of a new era for the loudspeaker giant‌

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P18 NOVEMBER 2018

EAW system at the Grand Canyon University (above) and Arizona State University (circled)

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o say the past few months at EAW HQ have been a little busier than usual would be something of a rather large understatement.

In September, the US loudspeaker manufacturer’s acquisition by Italy’s RCF Group was finally made official, bringing to an end a lengthy period of speculation about where the company’s future lied and signaling a fresh start for one of the industry’s sleeping giants.

And while talk of a new dawn may sound like the customary bluster that accompanies any transaction of this kind, few could argue that RCF’s ownership of EAW makes for an intriguing and potentially very exciting prospect. The Italian company certainly makes for a fitting home, given EAW’s recent history. Previously owned by private equity firm Transom Capital Group parent company of LOUD Audio - and another venture capitalist group before that, EAW’s return to a revered pro audio specialist such as RCF is a welcome move for all associated with the brand, not to mention an eyecatching addition to the RCF offering.

In fact, the relationship between the two brands extends far beyond these past few months, with both brands previously owned by LOUD back in the early ‘00s, not to mention the product collaboration that saw RCF drivers incorporated within EAW’s KF850 loudspeakers.

According to EAW’s president and general manager TJ Smith, the excitement felt by everyone at the company towards the agreement has been palpable.

“Everybody here is ecstatic,” Smith tells PSNEurope from his Massachusetts office. “There wasn’t a single individual that was nervous about this. Everybody immediately saw the potential and gravitated towards it and we’ve just been celebrating constantly ever since it happened.”

Though the ink may still be drying and the sound of popping corks still ringing out, the agreement first started to take shape back in the early part of 2018, following several overtures from RCF over the past few years.

“We were approached by RCF in the spring, they were interested in purchasing the company, and that started a series of processes and meetings, in which we explained what EAW is about and what our vision for the company is,” Smith elaborates. “RCF has been interested in purchasing EAW for years. In fact, this was not the first time they had approached the business. Then in the summer we finalised the deal and are now part of the RCF Group but operating as an independent company.

“LOUD was previously owned by a financial institution, who sold to a another financial institution in the US called Transom. They were a great group of people and they did a great job of taking care of employees through that transition, which was very different to the previous ownership. Then, very quickly, RCF approached them with their interest in purchasing EAW.” So what was it that led the two companies to an agreement on this occasion?

“There were a lot of things about this process that really impressed me, one of them being the reason why RCF was interested in EAW,” Smith continues. “It was obvious from the beginning that they wanted the brand and that they saw its potential. And what they were really hinging their buying decision on was what they thought of the people working at the brand - is this the group of people to take EAW to the next level? So to see them endorse the team here was really encouraging.”

On the subject of what the acquisition means for the EAW team, Smith confirms not only that the company’s

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staff will be unaffected by the agreement, but also that he is currently in the process of hiring a number of new operational personnel to help bolster its internal operations infrastructure.

“When we were part of LOUD there were several back office functions we shared - so our finance and HR operations were all managed in Washington,” he explains. “With this new operation we are incorporated in Massachusetts; I am the president of a three-person board, I have control of HR and finance and we are hiring all those functions here.”

The internal independence of which Smith speaks is also likely to manifest itself across the business in its entirety. Rich in prestige and heritage though it may be, EAW has been somewhat dormant in certain pockets of the market for some time, and has arguably been hampered by the trappings of previous ownership arrangements. Now, says Smith, the brand is primed to restore its reputation in some areas and reinforce its power in others.

“The key benefit that this whole thing offers us is independence,” he states. That allows us to address very

P19 NOVEMBER 2018

Serving a Purpose: EAW systems in use at the Purpose Church

quickly and directly the concerns and challenges facing our different customers. When you start bundling in professional customers, retail customers and different brands you create a complexity that is difficult to manage and as a result everybody suffers. Now, being independent, we can serve our customers better.

“This next phase is also about filling in the product portfolio and finding new partners. The EAW portfolio is really strong in some areas but in others there are some very obvious holes and things that haven’t been addressed in years, so our next movement is about filling those. Take passive line arrays - anybody can see that we haven’t done anything there in a very long time.

The acquisition absolutely marks the start of a new era for the brand. There have been a lot of changes taking place behind the scenes that people are unaware of, but this is definitely a very strong demarcation point that we’ll be able to look back on in the future and say, That was the beginning of a new era. We’ve built a team of product people who really represent a new burst of enthusiasm for the industry and understand how to grow EAW and take it into the future, whilst retaining a respect for the past.”

In addition to these overarching declarations of independence and promises of renewed enthusiasm for the industry, Smith is also keen to identify more specifically the key areas of opportunity its new ownership will afford the business, both in terms of product expansion and in changing the market’s perception of the brand.

“There’s a great opportunity for EAW and its legacy to to grow again with regards to the production side of the business, and we’ve had a fantastic year on the integration side, with this area responsible for a lot of our growth,” he says. “We’ll continue pushing there, but

we will certainly be looking to focus on the legacy part of the business, which is in production.

“I think people intuitively may have felt uncomfortable with EAW in the past because they felt it was impatient and could sense the pressure that a financial owner puts on a company,” he continues. “And the people who would have to trust us and put us on their production or their inventory were not comfortable with that. Added to that, we have this amazing product in our portfolio (Anya, Anna and Otto adaptive systems) that takes the idea of the line array, marries it with the legacy of the KF850 and combines it with new technology that I don’t think the industry fully understood. So we were asking these people to take everything they knew about the line array and throw it to the wind and accept this new thing we put in front of them. And it was a little too much. So you’re going to see us continue to talk about adapted technology, what it does for customers and help them through that process of change. We have to respect the fact that everybody is making good product and there a lot of people in the production space making money, being successful, and if we are going to come in and ask them to change everything they know then we’re going to have to be very active participants in helping them understand exactly what we’re doing. And the new ownership provides that vehicle.”

RCF’s ownership also opens up potentially lucrative avenues into the European market for EAW - a key region that it has failed to capitalise on in recent years. “[Europe] is a weak part of the market for us right now and we’re very aware of that,” Smith acknowledges.

“The expertise of the ownership provides credibility in that part of the market and that’s something people will recognise, and as such will hopefully give us another chance. You’ll see us engage people more thoughtfully

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on the adapted products - they sound good, they provide value and we’re pushing demonstrations, getting it into people’s hands.

“That’s another thing to consider about the ownership; getting someone interested in buying systems that costs as much as these requires some cash on the table, and we’re very fortunate we have an owner that is incredibly supportive and is actively investing in those kinds of things. I don’t have any problems when I go to them and say, I need to get a 12-box Anna system into somebody’s hands, and they need it for a couple of months to get used to it, are you OK with that? And there’s no issue, they are onboard completely.”

On the subject of new products, he continues: “We’ve got this new Radius line, a powered line array and point source monitor. And there’s a couple of things we’re working on that we can’t talk about yet. You should expect at ISE, Frankfurt and InfoComm next year an avalanche of much-anticipated new products. Nobody is going to say, Why did EAW do that? They are going to say, Why did it take EAW so long to do that?”

Evidently, the next 12 months are going to be pivotal for Smith and EAW. The foundations appear to be firmly in place for a glittering return to form, and RCF’s reputation, particularly in the European market, will be key in helping establish the firm as a powerhouse player on this side of the pond.

The message for the time being is very much ‘watch this space’ as Smith concludes: “This is a very empowering process for EAW that puts us back in a place where we can grow and serve our customers better than we have been able to in recent history.

It’s a great atmosphere here and we have a great team that loves working together. It’s just a great place to be right now.” n

P20 NOVEMBER 2018

Grégory Dapsanse, APG marketing and business development director

French resolution French loudspeaker marque APG is 40 years old, and Phil Ward is popping the Jereboam…

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n the early days, APG was not a builder of loudspeakers, but a supplier of turnkey sound systems customised for individual sites – especially awkward projects demanding discreet, soffitmounted speakers that were heard and not seen. It soon emerged that co-founders Alain Pouillon-Guibert and Philippe Frarier had a talent for making better speakers for these and many other purposes than the ones they’d been installing, and within five years their loudspeakers and monitors could be found throughout France in TV stations, concert halls, at festivals and on tour with major French artists.

There have been some twists and turns along the way, but nobody survives 40 years of this industry without going through at least some of the agonies that Dr Who goes through in order to regenerate and carry on the good work that went on before. In fact, given the changes, APG had emerged with a remarkably intact

line-up of senior personnel, and now approaches its fifth decade in arguably its most comme il faut costume of all.

Baffle stations Acoustic and electronic innovations have poured out of the APG sonic cellars to create several vintages.

They include: the D’Appolito baffle (1982), a means of directivity control without the use of a horn and implemented in the company’s MC2 speakers, Matrix Array systems and the Uniline system; various fullbodied coaxial loudspeakers (from 1991) and especially the DS1R stage monitor from the following year; Isotop driver technology for constant phase wavefronts; K-Horn acoustic loading for subs; and a particularly robust dynamic protection of the cone drivers.

But a new APG est arriveé – with some reassuringly familiar faces. Since completing his education – before,

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in fact – director of marketing and business development Gregory Dapsanse has worked for APG. It began with a two-month internship while still at Université Paris-Est Créteil studying ‘Techniques Instrumentales’: the natural choice for a technically minded drummer was to enter an audio manufacturer, and eventually Dapsanse and Pouillon-Guibert carved out a niche in which Dapsanse could continue at APG while undertaking an engineering degree at the Ecole Supérieure de Conception et Production Industrielle.

At the beginning of the 1990s APG fell under the auspices of leading French distributor SCV Audio and the pivotal stewardship of Richard Garrido. Even as Dapsanse adapted the course of his higher education to the needs of his career with APG, Garrido guided the company into a strong commercial position and began to consider the promise of expanding the sales operation beyond France.

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“During this time APG became a very strong brand in France, because SCV Audio was a true market leader,” Dapsanse recounts. But although Richard Garrido recognized the need for international development of the APG brand, including ambitious appearances at ProLight+Sound in Frankfurt, the main thrust came from a management buyout from SCV Audio in 2004.

“Three of us initiated the move,” continues Dapsanse.

“Apart from myself there was Philippe Frarier, one of the other founders of APG and then in charge of manufacturing; and Jean-Luc Moncel, who had been technical director of SCV Audio and one of its founders. He had become intimately involved with the development of APG’s products and had designed all of the electronics in our processors, besides consulting for other brands within SCV and creating some SCVbranded loudspeakers.”

Alain Pouillon-Guibert had left in 2002. “We were all very happy with SCV’s decision to increase our overseas presence, but it had led to differences of opinion,” says Dapsanse. “Having realised we had all of the core competences – Philippe’s industrial experience, JeanLuc’s R&D expertise and my product marketing strength – we knew we could steer the evolution of the product range. We also knew that French brands were becoming very well recognised and regarded worldwide, and were confident that we also had something to offer.”

Active ingredients The biggest challenge to these ambitions, believes Dapsanse, is the presence in several European countries of firmly planted ‘national’ brands, as he calls them.

“The audio market in most Western European countries was already very mature by 2004,” he says, “not only populated by these native companies but also by several dominant US imports. It takes a lot of resources to establish a new name in these territories, and in the UK you also have the combination of two more things to contend with: a great culture of audio; and the historical power of the music industry. We arrived very late and, although we do have a few partners who are absolutely convinced of the aptness of APG products, we do need more resources.”

In 2016, some new resources arrived. Fellow French speaker manufacturer Active Audio acquired a 60% shareholding in APG, representing very possibly an iconic union of a fixed installation specialist and a touring and concert mainstay. According to Dapsanse, the mutually beneficial nature of this manoeuvre specifically enables Active Audio to “optimise the intelligibility of their commercial loudspeaker products” and to “extend their performance, such as by adding our sub-bass technology to their column arrays”. Furthermore, this is because the two companies “share the same values”, Dapsanse says, when it comes to quality of sound – making this marriage something of an inspiring model for the future welfare of audio in commercial and corporate applications.

Club land: Club 0760

It also expands APG’s reach into the installation market where it began, although it’s a market unrecognizable from 1978. As Active’s erstwhile president Régis Cazin became CEO of both companies, APG relocated its production and R&D departments to Active Audio’s HQ in Nantes and established a new sales, marketing and administration office near Charles De Gaulle Airport, just outside Paris. APG France has since also launched two subsidiaries in Asia – in Singapore and Hong Kong – emphasising the global intentions of the new regime.

Crucially, all three of Grégory Dapsanse, Philippe Frarier and Jean-Luc Moncel have been retained, Cazin clearly observing the human equity within APG and ensuring a solid foundation to the new structures around product strategy, manufacturing and R&D. The international agenda remains, of course, but today Dapsanse looks back on several experiments and believes a new course must be set in order to reach the customers APG deserves.

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“We tried conventional approaches up to a few years ago, such as trying to find a distributor in each country,” he recalls. “But since 2016 our experience has been that a ‘challenger’ brand needs to go more direct to win market share and find those people who are openminded, perhaps more patient and certainly innovative in their thinking. Some are only interested in what they already have, what’s easy to sell now, instead of looking to the future. Achieving sales figures is not the same as development; it’s completely different.”

Point and click The market is hungry for variety, if not change. APG may well take encouragement from the renewed interest in point source loudspeaker solutions, harbouring as it does an attractive portfolio of coaxial and similar designs not the least of which is a highly regarded range of stage monitors. There’s even talk of scalable point source for FOH use, plus an ever-widening spread of powerful, musical applications across the installed diaspora.

P23 NOVEMBER 2018

Moz’Aique 2017

“Coaxial technology is very much at the heart of wider field.”

APG,” Dapsanse says, “because even in our This also makes the enclosures a promising line array the main technology – what candidate for several FOH applications, we call Isotop – is exactly that. too, given the versatility of the Royal Geographical Society Theatre It’s not exactly the same design. “The key to it is the application of Isotop, or the acoustic optimisation exact same goal, but it is of the speaker before coaxial. But the main you consider any application is the near kind of electronic field, and of course processing or even this makes APG a compensation,” leading specialist in Dapsanse stage monitoring. It emphasises. “The doesn’t only optimise processor should not the coaxial design itself, have to compensate for but also the baffling. acoustic defaults.”

We’ve really pushed the There are, of course, acoustic optimisation here, processors: two digital and if you look at our modern and one analogue. The digital range – especially the DX series, for DMS26 and DMS48 are both example – you’ll see that it looks very special. loudspeaker processors with APG presets This isn’t aesthetics, but the result of intense research and system management controllers with EQ, level into the effects of diffraction and internal reflections and time alignment of complex systems. The SPWX is inside the baffling. a 4-channel analogue processor for stage monitoring, “When you use a microphone close to these speakers which debuted pioneering driver protection technology you will get almost 4dB more before feedback than from the hands of Jean-Luc Moncel. any others, even with any kind of electronic treatment “It provides active protection in real time from the or processing, precisely because of these acoustic three main dangers,” explains Dapsanse, “which are advancements. The linearity is crucial in every domain: the displacement of the cone; the temperature of frequency; phase; and what I call the energy domain the moving coil; and the square signal generated by – the homogeneity of your acoustic field. A sound electronic devices, especially amplifiers. Of course engineer can tune any monitor right in front of it, but as today amplifiers control themselves, but the SPWX can soon as you step away the response can change. Our predict the behaviour of the drivers and compensate. linearity ensures a consistent response across a much It took years before a digital version was possible, but Club land: 0760 Club

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eventually we partnered with Linea Research in the UK to do exactly that: the DMS48 provides full loudspeaker management with the active protection of the cone drivers as well. This particular combination is unique.”

Across the Uniline The new baby is line source, just in case you were wondering if APG had not read any recent tour riders.

Uniline Compact, as it says on the tin, is a smaller version of the company’s famous Uniline PA system – a product that actually lays claims to being the first modular line array of all. The Compact version pushes the directivity button much further, and does so with the same guarded approach to processing as the stage monitors and the rest.

“We don’t want the processors to be compensating for acoustic defaults,” Dapsanse confirms, “and this position we share with Active Audio. Just like us they are totally focused on how to get the right acoustic results from a column loudspeaker before going anywhere near the electronic processors, and this is why we place so much attention on the mechanics and the physics of the enclosures – whether coaxial or line source.”

The new partnership with Active Audio is far more than economic pragmatism, Dapsanse insists, and pertains to this genuine affinity that should enable both companies to enrich their respective cuvées.

“Being together,” reflects Dapsanse with the warm enthusiasm of a vintner, “sharing the same values and also extending both our ranges – APG is dedicated to the music and event markets, while Active Audio concentrates on fixed installation – we can really provide a complete set of solutions for almost everything. It has created a natural synergy.” n

P24 NOVEMBER 2018

Master plan Darcy Proper has had a career that has seen her receive awards for mastering iconic bodies of work from legendary artists including Frank Sinatra, Dave Brubeck and Johnny Cash. Starting out in New York before bringing her mastering talents over to Europe, Tara Lepore spoke to her about recognition, reissues and the changing perception of mastering in the industry...

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P25 NOVEMBER 2018

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t certainly doesn’t get old,” says mastering engineer Darcy Proper when PSNEurope asks how it felt to win a Grammy Award, not once, but four times throughout her career. “Each award is very special and those wins will always count as some of the most exciting moments in my life.”

The quadruple victory certifies Proper as one of the best mastering engineers in the business, but, she says, the best thing about collecting the Grammy for Best Surround Sound Album earlier this year was seeing producer Jane Ira Bloom receive “much-deserved attention for her music”. This attitude is one that has been a constant throughout Proper’s career, which has seen her work on both sides of the Atlantic and, receive award nominations for her reissue and surround sound work.

PSNEurope is speaking to Proper just weeks after she appeared as a keynote speaker at the Audio Engineering Society’s UK Mastering Conference, which, in her words, covered “lots of interesting ground”, including developing formats, speaker and room design, metering, perception and state-of-the-art production techniques.

“What made the conference unique was that it was all mastering-related and allowed those of us in the field the all-too-rare opportunity to see each other in person to exchange ideas and share a laugh or two,” she says. “Mastering is quite a solitary pursuit these days and it was a pleasure to share with and learn from the international group of colleagues there.”

Like many in the pro audio industry, Proper’s interest in audio came during her late teens, as her love of music led her to joining the school band - which consequently led her to the mixing desk. She says: “I was about 16 years old, in high school, when I realised I was interested in audio. I had been interested in music long before that - playing clarinet and saxophone, singing in the choir, but I didn’t generally give audio much thought. Our school concert band put on a rock ’n’ roll show every year to earn money for band trips or new uniforms or something. One particular year, a friend of the band director showed up with a modest sound reinforcement outfit, maybe 16 channels at most, and when I got a close look at the desk close up during one of the rehearsals, I was fascinated. A bit of research into audio engineering led me to believe that this might be something for me. I was good at maths and science, and loved music but was a bit too shy to really enjoy the spotlight. The idea of working in music on the technical side of things felt like a good fit.”

Then came a four-year Music Technology degree at New York University which saw Proper leave small town life and enter the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple.

After a brief stint in live sound and working as a sound operator at the New York Public Theater - “I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot, but it wasn’t for me in the long term” - Proper got a job as an assistant working at Soundworks Studios. “It was a one-room studio under the old Studio 54 and a lot of mixing and remixing was being done there at the time,” she explains. “It was a

Senior mastering engineer Darcy Proper

small, close-knit team of people and I learned a lot on both the technical and client-service side of things while I was there.”

Proper then accepted a part-time job as a quality control engineer at Sony Classical Productions, where she would make digital tape copies of the masters generated by the in-house engineers, a job involving “lots and lots of uninterrupted listening” - a great aural training for a future mastering engineer. “Through various jobs and internships, I began to figure out where my strengths lay - my focus, attention to detail, and love of helping highly creative people develop their musical ideas, while perhaps not having much in the way of original musical ideas of my own. This realisation eventually led me to mastering,” she says.

Proper went on to work full-time at Sony Classical Productions in the ’90s, working as an assistant recording engineer, technician and editor, before settling into mastering.

In 2001, she won her first Grammy for her work on a reissue of Billie Holiday’s Columbia catalogue. So how does an engineer handle such a much-loved body of work?

“What’s most important is finding the best source material possible and to then handle that material with great respect and attention to the original release,” she explains. “After all, the team that originally worked on the album probably had at least some contact with the artists involved and would have had more insight into their intentions than we might have decades later.”

Proper left the East Coast in 2005 and headed further east to Belgium to take on a job as a mastering engineer at Galaxy Studios, an immersive audio-focused facility and the home of Auro 3D technology. “Galaxy is a top-notch facility and it was an interesting opportunity to see a part of the world I

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had never seen before and experience a new culture,” she says.

“I only intended to stay in Europe for a couple of years or so, but life has a funny way of changing one’s plans, and I’m still here.”

Proper moved to the Netherlands in 2011 to pursue a business venture with her husband (recording and mixing engineer Ronald Prent), refurbishing the world-famous Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum*, where Elton John, U2 and Tina Turner have all recorded. It’s here where Proper continues to base her mastering work, following the facility’s equipment upgrade in two control rooms and development of two mastering rooms.

“On one hand, there are a number of people involved in the music industry who seem to believe that mastering is a simple, fairly unimportant technical process that can be accomplished quite satisfactorily via an automated online programme. They believe that mastering engineers can easily and effectively be replaced by software.”

She continues: “On the other hand, there are also people who believe that mastering should be able to solve all of the problems created by working with inexperienced mixing engineers and semi-professional tools, and that mastering should be able to make those recordings sound just like the highest calibre professional studio recordings. In other words, they believe mastering engineers to be some kind of miracle workers.

“In between, of course, lies the reality. Luckily, there are still some industry professionals whose expectations for mastering are in line with the reality of the laws of physics - and the quality of the material they deliver for mastering. They allow us to practice the real art of mastering and to play an integral part in bringing the artist’s message to the listening public.” n

P26 Photo by Bogomil Mihaylov on Unsplash

NOVEMBER 2018

Ofcom funding scheme for UK PMSE sector Wireless microphone users are currently waiting to find out exactly what moving from the 700MHz spectrum means in terms of the equipment and frequency availability, but in Britain, some certainty has been given regarding funding for replacement equipment, writes PSNEurope’s Kevin Hilton…

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t’s taken most of this year but UK radio microphones and in-ear monitoring (IEM) system users in broadcasting and live sound now have a clearer idea of what financial support they can expect when replacing or buying new equipment due to the 700MHz band clearance. Broadcast and spectrum regulator Ofcom has at last published a consultation document detailing how much money is available, together with a rate card itemising specific wireless mic makes and models.

The transition from 700MHz will mean broadcast facilities and rental companies, theatres, venues, live sound hire firms and individual operators face having to replace existing systems. The UK government will fund support because the process of clearing 700MHz has been accelerated; PMSE users will no longer be able to use spectrum in 694-790MHz from May 1, 2020, rather than the original target of September 2021.

Ofcom has been responsible for devising a scheme that was acceptable to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the HM Treasury, as well as the PMSE community. The regulator has gone through earlier submissions from radio mic users, while industry bodies such as BEIRG (British Entertainment Radio Industry Group) have stepped up lobbying Members of Parliament and government departments to ensure the best possible outcome.

The result is ‘PMSE - Clearing the 700MHz band’, subtitled Support for PMSE Equipment Owners, published at the end of August. Under proposals outlined in the document, Ofcom will design and run the grant scheme to distribute the available funds. In setting out the criteria for eligibility and principles of the rate card, it takes into consideration the 22 responses to the April 2017 Consultation.

The new document includes some amended

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eligibility criteria, which are in accordance with the April Consultation. Three basic conditions included in original proposals remain unchanged. To qualify, equipment owners must have either held a licence in the 700MHz band between October 17 and August 23 2018 or be able to produce evidence that their business is based on hiring out PMSE equipment, in which case they do not require a licence. People can only claim for equipment that belongs to them. The equipment being claimed must be in working order.

There are three other areas where significant amendments - if not concessions - have been made. In original proposals, equipment claimed for, must have been bought before October 17 2016. The end date was extended to August 23 2018, which, Ofcom says, covers those who have bought 700MHz equipment more recently to continue offering services in that band.

Previously the equipment being considered for

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funding would have needed more than 50 per cent of its tuning range in the 700MHz band. It has been widened to include units with only “some” 700MHz capability.

The reason for this is that stakeholders said “the loss of utility should be determined by the equipment owner” and not a tuning threshold.

The April Consultation did not include ancillary equipment such as antennas, only transmitters and receivers. These units will now be eligible if they meet the other criteria, such as tuning in the 700MHz range.

This concession has been made because users argued that ancillary gear is integral to creating an overall audio system.

The most dramatic shift in position from Ofcom is in the proportion of the replacement value that will be funded under the scheme. The April Consultation proposed 47 per cent of the estimated cost of replacing equipment based on an assumed “average asset age” of eight years. Users who responded to that Consultation called this an overestimate, leading Ofcom to reduce the scope to six years. Because of this “at least 60 per cent” of the estimated equipment cost will be offered, with owners receiving more the earlier they make a claim.

Ofcom has also proposed a five per cent figure to cover additional and ancillary administration costs.

Alan March, senior manager of spectrum affairs and system design at Sennheiser, and a spokesman for BEIRG, says his personal view is that while this will be good for independents and companies handling their own submissions to Ofcom, people should not take unfair advantage of the scheme: “They shouldn’t push it too much in terms of administration costs because the money will run out.”

Describing the document as two consultations in one - covering the funding and the rate card - March comments that the three main proposals are “pretty significant wins” for PMSE. “Increasing the minimum to at least 60 per cent, expanding the tuning range for everyone in 700MHz and extending the cut-off date are all very big changes,” he says. “The rate card is a living document because it needs to be flexible. This is version one and there could be versions two, three and four depending on what issues people bring up.”

Another major commitment this time deals with an issue that March calls “a big bone of contention” during the 800MHz reallocation. At that time, the radio mic systems that surrendered in return for compensation were later resold into other industry sectors. “There is no way equipment will find its way back into the market now,” he says. “It will be destroyed in a controlled explosion.”

Tuomo George-Tolonen, director of the pro audio group at Shure Distribution UK, adds that if users hand in equipment sooner rather than later, they could receive higher funding, in the region of 65 to 67 per cent. “That increase is a good addition but the most important aspect is moving the eligibility date because it recognises that people will still need to buy equipment.

Alan March

THE RATE CARD IS A LIVING DOCUMENT BECAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE FLEXIBLE. THIS IS VERSION ONE AND THERE COULD BE VERSIONS TWO, THREE AND FOUR DEPENDING ON WHAT ISSUES PEOPLE BRING UP ALAN MARCH The five per cent for administrating the changeover is pretty fair because if you’ve got 24-channels in a rack in a fixed TV studio, you need downtime to swap everything over. That should cover labour and the time taken.”

From a theatre industry perspective, Duncan Bell, financial director at Autograph Sound Recording and BEIRG Steering Group Member, observes that Ofcom made a big shift in its position over the last 12 months.

Bell commented: “We are very pleased that Ofcom has accepted a lot of BEIRG’s and the industry’s arguments and significantly improved the scheme in terms of what equipment qualifies and how much funding will be available. That said, there are clearly some strict guidelines that the government and Ofcom have to

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consider, which means those affected will do better than others. It’s good news that there’s a recognition of the administrative and logistical costs involved in the transition but unfortunately, this is not the case for all.

So for example, theatre producers who use, but don’t own radio equipment, will have transition costs to bear but have been overlooked for compensation.”

Terry Tew, managing director of leading broadcast hire company Terry Tew Sound & Light - providing wireless mic systems for big TV productions such as the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which is using approximately 100 channels of RF for its new series welcomes the proposals but takes the point that it will not suit everyone in the business.

Tew commented: “I support the news in the statement that increases funding and eligibility as well as recognising the need to provide some support for additional costs of the transition. However, the detail is vitally important and it’s not a perfect solution for everyone. The industry should be aware that there are costs and consequences of the ‘one size fits all’ approach that’s been taken.”

A provisional version of the rate card is available now on the official Ofcom website. The consultation on funding was expected to close during early October, after which the regulator was planning to publish final decisions regarding costs as soon as possible. n www.ofcom.org.uk

P28 NOVEMBER 2018

DPA goes small with new sub-miniature The design of any audio product has always been a compromise between user demands and physics. Microphones are the prime example of this but Danish miniatures specialist DPA has taken on the challenge to go smaller, as PSNEurope’s Kevin Hilton reports...

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recurring technological theme of the 20th century was the quest for ever smaller components that could create more compact devices. Attitudes have changed slightly in the 21st century with big screen TVs and sizeable mobile phones but there is still a demand for greater miniaturisation. This is particularly true with microphones, and DPA is looking to set a new benchmark with what it’s calling a true 3mm subminiature mic.

The Danish manufacturer’s d:screet 4000 miniatures were developed for specific applications in live musical theatre and broadcast, where mics are preferred to be heard but not seen. The new 6000 Series takes the form factor down even more, with a diaphragm that is 30 per cent smaller than previous DPA mics.

The 6000 Series initially comprises three models: two versions of the lavalier, the d:screet 6060 and 6061; and a headset, the d:fine 6066, which features a specially designed construction and boom. These were officially launched on the first day of IBC 2018 - with DPA chief executive Kalle Hvidt Nielsen describing the release as the company’s biggest for 20 years - but PSNEurope was given a preview during a trip to DPA’s factory and R&D facilities in May. Introducing the new range, product manager René Mørch outlined that the mics were aimed primarily at the broadcast, theatre and film markets, although they also apply to the presentation sector: “In theatre and film there is a need to hide the microphone; producers and camera operators in TV news do not like to see mics close to a presenter’s mouth, even though that is necessary to get good sound during coverage of big events or storms and similar extreme conditions.”

This and other customer feedback was discussed

by DPA’s in-house innovation panel, the iTeam. This includes representatives from product management, marketing, R&D and global sales. Head of R&D Ole Moesmann is a member of the iTeam and says his background as a musician and sound engineer helps him interpret comments from working engineers.

“We went out to the theatres, broadcast centres and

Kalle Hvidt Nielsen

film studios around the world,” Moesmann comments.

“Having dialogue with these professional engineers was easy for me because I know what they’re talking about.

My background in recording helps me on a daily basis but designing and building a new product comes from my master’s degree in engineering.”

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Moesmann explains that this traditional grounding gave him the knowledge of acoustics and, specifically for the task of producing a good quality microphone in a much smaller package, key issues such as distortion and noise floors. But even with this scientific foundation, one wonders if he felt confident he could produce a

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d:screet 4000 minatures

IF YOU ASK ME CAN I MAKE A SMALLER MIC, THE ANSWER IS ‘YES’ BUT I CANNOT SAY WHERE I WOULD CUT. WHEN YOU REDUCE THE CAPSULE THE NOISE FLOOR GOES UP. THAT’S PHYSICS. BUT WE’VE KEPT THE SPECIFICATIONS OF THE 4000 SERIES IN A 60 PERCENT SMALLER PACKAGE OLE MOESMANN

3mm mic. “I’m an optimistic guy and I have not doubted whether it could be possible,” he replies. “If somebody had told me to do half the size I would have said it would be very, very difficult. But we have the same noise floor as we do on the existing miniature. To do that was a huge challenge but I never doubted it.”

All three 6000 Series mics are omni-directional and have a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. The 6060

lavalier has a sensitivity of 20mV/Pa; the 6061 version and the 6066 headset both offer 6mVPa, with readings nominal at ±3dB at 1kHz. The 6060/6061 can be concealed in a performer’s costume or hairline, as well as worn as a standard lavalier using an eight-way clip.

Since May the 6000 Series has been awarded an IP58 waterproof rating, which DPA sees as necessary to deal with sweat and other moisture.

Ole Moesmann

The surface of the 6066 headset is PVD (physical vapour deposition) treated. It was designed by DPA in conjunction with a specialist mechanism engineer and features a three-point spring construction, 3D preshaped ear grips and a matt finish. René Mørch says the two-way boom can be adjusted to suit the wearer’s head and requirements, with full tilt capability. “It is customisable and can be switched quickly and easily between ears,” he adds.

Nielsen has stated that the company now produces “microphone solutions, not just the microphone itself”.

This, he says, was very much the thinking behind the 6000 Series, particularly in terms of the 6066 headset: “When we decided to do the sub-miniature we launched a new project to make the headband. We wanted to do something where we really had investigated all the problems that affect headsets in the market.”

Whether it will be possible for DPA - or anyone - to go smaller is still down to practicalities and science. “We haven’t tried yet,” says Ole Moesmann. “There are some trade-offs when trying to do that. If you ask me can I make a smaller mic, the answer is ‘yes’ but I cannot say where I would cut. When you reduce the capsule the noise floor goes up. That’s physics. But we’ve kept the specifications of the 4000 Series in a 60 per cent smaller package.” n www.dpamicrophones.com

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P32 NOVEMBER 2018

Through the years, galaxies and countless adventures, Doctor Who - the character and the TV series has changed and been reinvented. In all this, audio has played a key role. Kevin Hilton dons his floppy hat and scarf to find out more...

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octor Who first appeared in 1963, bringing travels through time and space, scary monsters and groundbreaking electronic music and sound effects to Saturday afternoon television. The adventures of the alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey ran until 1989. After a failed attempt to revive the character in 1996, the series was successfully relaunched in 2005.

The revival has entered its eleventh series with a new Doctor. This thirteenth incarnation has attracted a huge amount of attention and speculation: this is partly because, for the first time, the character is a woman (played by Jodie Whittaker); and partly because a new lead writer and executive producer - Chris Chibnall - is now in charge.

Also new to the team is composer Segun Akinola, who has rearranged the instantly recognisable signature tune and written a score that relies more on electronic instruments than orchestration. The theme, written by

Ron Grainer, has gone back to its electronica roots and features elements from the original realisation by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Audio may not be as obvious as it was back then but it still plays an important part in the production, particularly with 5.1 surround. Sound designer/editor Harry Barnes oversees the audio team and sets the overall aural style of Doctor Who. Barnes joined the show in 2014 for the first series featuring the twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), replacing original sound effects editor Paul Jefferies, who was retiring from the BBC. “During the handover Paul showed me all the historic effects for villains such as the Daleks and the Cybermen and everything he had created since,” Barnes says. “Over the three Capaldi seasons I did I got my head round it all and introduced my own elements.”

With the coming of a new Time Lord and show runner, Barnes says he had the opportunity to put more of his own designs into the show. The most significant of

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these were the interior sounds for the Doctor’s ship, the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space). These correspond to the new design for inside of the craft, which changes for each regeneration.

“I’ve done a lot of film work and I thought the interior sound could be more cinematic,” Barnes says. “It’s a lot heftier than it was but I remembered what Paul said to me, that the TARDIS responds to what is going on inside it. I’ve kept true to that but added more guttural elements. When the Doctor first walks into the TARDIS, there is a low-end boom throughout the scene, with treatments of the original effect and treated breathing.

I wanted to make it more living and think of what the TARDIS’s role is in each scene.”

Something that won’t change, though, is the cloister bell, which is an integral part of the TARDIS interior.

Similarly, the TARDIS take-off and landing effect, although, in its full form it is an example of electronic sound as musical composition. This was created for the

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first ever adventure 55 years ago by Brian Hodgson of the Radiophonic Workshop. Hodgson famously scraped a key down the bass string of an old piano, slowed down the recording and added echo and noises from an oscillator.

Unlike Jefferies and some other members of the audio team, Barnes is freelance and based in London.

“For my first series of Doctor Who I lived in Cardiff for eight months,” he says. “Now I work in a room at BBC Elstree [just outside London] and only go to Cardiff for the mixing.” Barnes uses Avid Pro Tools Ultimate software on a Mac Pro running a HD native card, all linked to a Digidesign (Avid) 192 I/O interface.

Monitoring is through five Genelec 8040A loudspeakers - without a subwoofer - and a Blue Sky Bass Management Controller.

Barnes says he pushed for 5.1 surround mixes on the last series of the Peter Capaldi era, which can be seen as part of his more cinematic style. Jodie Whittaker’s debut

episode, The Woman Who Fell to Earth, featured some dramatic 5.1 moments, including when one of her three new companions, Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole) encounters a portal from another world. The sound for this visual effect begins in the rear surround channels and is brought round to the front.

The Doctor usually has company while travelling; in recent times this has typically been one companion, in the form of a capable young woman, with other characters occasionally coming along for the ride. This new series features three companions, as did the early adventures of the First Doctor (William Hartnell) in the ‘60s. Joining Ryan are his step-grandfather Graham O’Brien (Bradley Walsh) and probationary police officer Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill). This enlargement of the regular cast posed some problems for production mixer Deian Humphreys.

From his arrival on Doctor Who in 2012, during the time of the eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), Humphreys went with the convention of miking every speaking actor in a scene. “I started with a Sound Devices 788 recorder,” he says, “which allowed me to mix eight mics and have ISOs. When I read the scripts of this series I saw the biggest change was having three companions. With the people they bump into through the stories, that meant the track count was getting bigger and we needed more ISO tracks.”

On shoots Humphreys has two mic booms, each with a Schoeps SuperCMIT shotgun. These have a two-channel output: a processed SuperCMIT signal on Channel 1 and an unprocessed (CMIT) signal on Channel 2. “I record both, which means one mic takes up two ISOs,” he explains. “That meant the four main characters took up eight channels before they met anyone else.”

More capacity has been added by Humphreys using two 788s: one solely for 10 radio mics (Audio Limited TX2040s with Sanken COS-11 capsules), which feeds into the main recorder taking the outputs of two booms, plant mics and any other inputs. Humphreys tries to get all the dialogue from the booms, which are swung by Tam Shoring and Chris Goding, with the radio mics as “safety blankets”.

In this way, Humphreys tries to ensure that dialogue editor Darran Clement has as much material from the shoot to work with. Clement started out on Who during tenth Doctor David Tennant’s tenure, as did Matthew Cox, who handles ADR and creature sound effects. While the intention is to use as much location sound as possible, ADR (automated dialogue replacement) plays a big part in Doctor Who production, both for dealing with any technical problems on the location recordings, inserting additional lines and adding treatments to the voices of actors playing aliens and creatures.

Cox says there is a balance between making a voice sound otherworldly and still being intelligible: “It’s more difficult processing dialogue because you have to understand the words. The script calls for something that can be understood but also convincing enough so

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we know it’s some kind of alien.” When it comes to less articulate monsters, which growl or hiss, Cox says he either gets a crowd actor to makes noises or does it himself.

Based at BBC Cardiff, Cox uses a wide range of plugin processors to achieve the different effects required.

“We’ve probably got more plug-ins than we need but that gives us a whole lot of tools to play with,” he says. “I’m really liking Krotos Dehumaniser at the moment. We also use pitch shifting, Vocoders and delays. For robots and computers I go back to the Waves Doubler and their MondoMod is good for growling creatures.”

Cox comments that the intention is to keep ADR, in terms of replacing lines, to a minimum. “Deian does an amazing job and maybe 85 per cent of the show uses production sound,” he says. “But because this is science fiction and sometimes scenes are shot in the centre of Cardiff, we have to get rid of any extraneous background noise. The TARDIS can also be quite difficult to record in because it’s made of wood. There’s also a need for exposition sometimes, so lines are added during scenes when an actor is facing away from the camera.”

Most of the audio team is used to creating sounds for things that do not exist in reality. In contrast, this is re-recording mixer Howard Bargroff’s debut series of Doctor Who and his first foray into science fiction.

Most of his credits are for serious drama, including Broadchurch, which was created by Chris Chibnall and featured Jodie Whittaker. Bargroff says Chibnall and his co-executive producer Matt Strevens took him to dinner to discuss the new look of the show. “They said it was getting a new aspect ratio, which is more like feature films but looks amazing on mobile devices. To go with this the brief was to make the sound as big as humanly possible. Big screen, big sound.”

Pre-mixing is at Bargroff’s Sonorouspost room within Goldcrest’s Soho audio facility. This is done in a single Pro Tools HDX2/Mac Pro system, despite there being what Bargroff describes as a “pretty healthy track count”, including approximately 500 voices. “It’s close to maxing out the machine,” he says. The final mix takes place in Cardiff, also on HDX. Bargroff’s monitoring system is a PMC Twenty 22 rig but he also uses a Samsung TV screen with integral loudspeaker to ensure the mix sounds right for television. Doctor Who has been mixed in 5.1 since the early days of the revived series, although it has not always been transmitted in the format. Surround has featured on DVD releases and cinema screenings of selected episodes. Bargroff says the series is mixed for 5.1 and stereo, plus matrixed LtRt. Episode four of Series 11, Knock Knock, had both a 5.1/stereo version and one in binaural, mixed by Darran Clement in BBC Cardiff’s dedicated 3D sound studio. At this point there are no further plans for any binaural or immersive audio episodes.

Either way sound is still with the Doctor and her companions, even in space. n

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Opinion: Artists must take more audio risks

Immersive audio has come a long way in the past five years. Manufacturers are pushing progress and taking huge risks. PSNEurope’s Simon Duff argues for artists to do likewise…

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very quick history lesson in six steps. The first orchestra was formed around 1500, then came the invention of recording around 1877, then the mass use of microphones in the 1930s, then the Les Paul guitar in the 1950s, stereo recording for the masses in the 1960s. Now immersive audio. “For me it’s a crusade. I’m fed up with stereo.

We have used all of the effects and compression, it’s time for something else.” says Ralf Zuleeg from d&b audiotechnik. No question he’s right, although stereo will have longevity.

But the time for change is now. d&b’s Soundscape has been wowing audiences through its use by Kraftwerk for a good while now. L-ISA by L-Acoustics has been heard by some two million people over 600 shows. Claire Global looks set to announce its system in due course. One of my favourite immersive experiences in the past few years came in a small gallery type space in the form of a Funktion-One quad set up for a Hyperdub gig. Meyer Sound has been using its Constellation system for many years to help reinvent new acoustic spaces, allowing it direct access to architects.

Dolby DJ is used by many clubs, including the Ministry of Sound. Metricia Sound in Ibiza has

created a stunning system called Sfear and Outline has been creating immersive experiences for years.

Holoplot look set to be deeply involved in the MSG Spheres. A new type of venue is set to be built in Las Vegas and London.

These are exciting times. Object-based immersive recording, mixing and playback is a new force in the music business. It’s the manufacturers who are the brave powerhouses at the moment. In many ways they have only just begun. Major new loudspeaker manufacturing looks set to be developed and new methods will have to be acknowledged.

If this new world is to succeed I would argue that a new type of music needs to be created in order to seek a parity with the extraordinary work of the manufacturers mentioned above. They surely need to step up to the plate.

Over the many years of writing for PSNEurope, I have endeavoured to seek out the cutting edge of technical innovation as well as the the very best of cutting edge artists seeking to match the challenges laid down by manufactures. I am always hugely in admiration of the way that a composer like Hans Zimmer sets about his work. As an outsider, it seems to me, he almost starts at the end working back to his starting point. Sometimes, it

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seems to me, he starts at the end.

Burial is another artist, so keen to innovate and push new boundaries, inspired by a desire to translate an everyday simple emotion into something new and immersive. L-ISA’s BluBubbles label is making exciting progress. At PLASA, after his excellent talk, Justin Grealey told me about an ambitious tour he is planning for a well-known organist. He wants to tour with their own bespoke portable immersive venue.

All fantastic innovations. The new journey will be long, difficult, with many false starts and wrong turnings. But I am certain that where these end up will represent a new frontier for modern music.

Surely, a new contemporary classical music sound can be found; a new EDM music can be invented on laptops, costing nothing to realise; and new musical instruments can be invented, funded and able to thrive. A new Chinese Pop Aesthetic. New political Zeitgeists. That the work of everyone from George Martin to Martin Hannett can be re-thought, and new vocal styles and a new harmonic approach can be found. Perhaps new microphones and mixing techniques can be pioneered. It is, and will be, a brave new world. A new journey driven by a notion of immersive culture. I can’t wait. n

P36 NOVEMBER 2018

Terri Winston

Mission statement

The Women’s Audio Mission was founded 15 years ago by Terri Winston to inspire audio professionals and amplify the voices of women in the professional audio industry. Sahar Nazir spoke to Winston about her journey on educating people on the gender imbalance in the business and the upcoming New York WAMCON...

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erri Winston founded non-profit organisation the Women’s Audio Mission (WAM) back in 2003 whilst she was the professor and director of the sound recording arts programme at City College of San Francisco. The aim was to provide a supportive network for women working in the pro audio industry - or considering a future in pro audio - as well as the opportunity to learn, develop and further their careers. Fifteen years later, WAM is working increasingly hard to support more women in the audio industry, with the total number of women creating sound, music and media in pro audio currently standing at less than five per cent.

The organisation’s San Francisco HQ is the only professional recording studio in the world that is built and run by women, providing training for over 1,500 women every year in 127 countries through programmes such as internships, core training, and online training. And this is all achieved through donations, and the determination and hard work of the WAM team. Since launching, WAM has successfully placed more than 500 women in paid positions, such as working with Google, Pixar, Dolby Laboratories, Animal Planet, Comedy Central, recording with Mary J. Blige, and many more.

After graduating from Purdue University with a degree in electrical engineering, Winston embarked on a career as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer.

With a career spanning over three decades, she’s signed

by Polygram and BMG subsidiaries as a recording artist, engineer and producer, and has also toured with artists such as P.J Harvey, The Pixies, Flaming Lips, among many others.

Among her previous work, she has composed and produced theme music for KRON-TV’s First Cut series, Banana Republic and for various international film projects.

She is also the founder and member of San Francisco band Her Majesty The Baby, winning various awards including an ASCAP songwriting award, Boston Music Award and Bay Area Music Award.

Not only has WAM prided itself in training thousands of women in audio, its studio has produced albums for over 150 artists from 21 different countries, including GRAMMY winners Kronos Quartet, acclaimed author Salman Rushdie for NPR, 2014 GRAMMY winner Angélique Kidjo, award-winning singer Tanya Tagaq, and St. Lawrence String Quartet.

WAM also holds regular conferences known as WAMCON that feature guest speakers and workshops

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which discuss topics such as studio recording techniques to deconstructing mixes to beat-making and songwriting. The aim of these events is to continue raising awareness of the gender imbalance in the pro audio industry, as well as sharing insights with other audio professionals.

WAM’s latest activity was WAMCON NY - a training event and conference taking place in New York at YouTube Space NY and the legendary Jungle City Studios from October 19-20. It was the first ever conference for women in audio to be hosted in the city.

Guest speakers who have worked with the likes of Alicia Keys, David Bowie, Jhene Aiko, P!nk, Christina Aguilera, and Luke James, such as Linda Perry, Leslie Ann Jones, Ann Mincieli, Erin Tonkon, and TRAKGIRL, participated in the event and lead workshops on the subject of women in recording arts.

Here, we speak to Winston about the biggest challenges and opportunities for WAM, and how WAMCON has made an impact on the number of women working in the audio industry…

Tell us about the latest WamCon WAMCON gathers the world’s best recording engineers, music producers, live sound engineers, podcast

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WAM’s San Fran HQ

producers, beat-makers and hardware/software engineers to share their expertise and wisdom with 100 female students and aspiring engineers and producers in order to change the face of sound and advance more women in the audio industry. We have such a stellar line-up with Linda Perry, Marcella Araica, Ann Mincieli, Leslie Ann Jones, Emily Lazar, Erin Tonkon, Caroline Sanchez from SNL and Haley Shaw, Chiquita Paschal and Mitra Kaboli from the podcast world.

WAM is putting on these conferences all over the country, this is our third one in a single year, in order to bring WAM to more women (over 300 attended this past year) and explore different areas of the country to inform people about our plans for expansion.

This is the first WamCON to reach New York CIty. Why did you decide on the Big Apple this time around?

New York is a music and entertainment hub and since we did WAMCON in Boston last year and WAMCON at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles in June, we decided to bring it to New York this year. WAM is located on the West Coast in San Francisco so we wanted to bring the benefits of WAM to the East Coast so we can connect with our members and students in that area. We also have such great sponsors in New York, with both Jungle City Studio and YouTube hosting the conference in their spaces and The Recording Academy, iZotope, Eventide and Shure supporting the conference in New York.

Over the past couple of years, there have been growing numbers of initiatives and

conferences around the subject of women in the audio industry. Do you think this is having a real impact on the number of women working in the industry, or taking on more senior roles?

I think that mobilising women is very powerful and it’s important to also bring more visibility to prominent women engineers and producers so that young women see their role models in the world. The Women’s Audio Mission has been doing this for 15 years now, and has so far trained over 14,000 women and girls through our programmes, as well as placing over 650 women in careers at places like Sony, Dolby, Pixar, Skywalker Sound, Electronic Arts.

We definitely are making an impact by placing women in careers and when they advance they bring in the next woman. There is a ripple effect. We have been especially effective here in San Francisco where we have at least one woman working at every major music venue in the Bay Area as well as most studios and places like Dolby, Pandora, Sony, etc. WAMCON conferences are a way to start bringing this success to other parts of the country and hopefully the rest of the world.

Uncivil, Caroline Sanchez was on-hand to talk about doing sound for Saturday Night Live and we’ll have ways to explore alternative careers at audio manufacturers with hardware and digital signal processing engineers from Shure and iZotope, as well as some of the marketing folks from Eventide.

Are you planning on hosting WAMCON in other parts of the US - and, indeed the rest ofthe world - over the next few years?

Absolutely. The demand for our conferences has exploded, all three conferences this year sold out with a wait list and we have had a lot of folks interested in bringing this to the UK and Europe.

We are so lucky to have the support of Capitol Studios, Jungle City Studios, YouTube, The Recording Academy, iZotope, Eventide and Shure in making all of this happen this year and this is definitely inspiring other companies to support efforts to increase the number of women in audio and help us get WAM to other parts of the country and the rest of the world.

What were some of the key subjects addressed at WAMCON NY?

How has the representation of women changed in the audio industry throughout your career? Have you seen any significant changes?

We had the Grammy-winning legend Leslie Ann Jones doing a workshop on recording vocals, Ann Mincieli (Alicia Keys) and Erin Tonkon (David Bowie) were deconstructing mixes, Trakgirl and Ms. Madli breaking down beats, Haley Shaw, Chiquita Paschal and Mitra Kaboli were deconstructing podcasts like Mogul and

There has definitely been an increase in the number of women studying audio and we have placed a lot of women in careers but we still have a lot of work to do.

The USC Annenberg study is pointing at two per cent women producers and engineers, so it will take a shift in all facets of this industry to move the needle on this. n

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P38 NOVEMBER 2018

Metrica System Opened in June 2018 Metrica Sound Ibiza is a state-of-the-art recording studio designed as a creative hub for Sfëar 3D audio and Binaural projects. Simon Duff sent PSNEurope this report from the island…

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etrica Sound is located in the fashionable Playa d’en Bossa EDM clubland district of Ibiza and part of the Hotel Garbi complex.

The main trio behind the project are producer and engineer Javier Ferrer Serra, musician and producer Matias Kamelman, and head of operations Sham Faure who has extensive knowledge of running record labels and radio stations.

The studio consists of a 70m live room, that doubles as the Sfëar 3D mix facility using Slate Digital Ravens. A 60m control room is based around an AVID S6 console, Apple Mac Pro Core Pro Tools 2018 and Philip Newell monitors. The facility includes extensive office and artist spaces. Metrica was conceived and designed by Phillip Newell and executed and crafted by Joules Newell and his team.

Sfëar is the brainchild of Adan Garriga, director of the AV technology research team in Eurecat and the manager of Sfëar. The immersive audio technology features real-time 3D audio plugins and sound rendering software, which is fully compatible with all common Digital Audio Workstations. The 3D audio produced can be rendered to a loudspeaker

set up, as well as binaural using headphones and head trackers. Metrica has installed a surround sound monitoring system for Sfëar that incorporates 25 PMC two series active monitors complimented by three PMC Sub2 subwoofers. Pro Audio Ibiza supplied the PMC loudspeakers.

Using its layout calibration tool, Sfëar’s sound rendering software for both channel and object-based mixing, makes the system aware of the position of each loudspeaker. This calibration can be saved for later use and even for adapting previously made recordings to a given layout. “Immersive sound is the future – and it is here, today,” Javier says. “When it was first conceived the world wasn’t ready for it, but now it is and you can hear 3D and binaural sound in many places, even YouTube.

This means there is a requirement to produce specific content and that’s where Metrica comes in. Our aim is to produce 3D and binaural content and help the music industry embrace this revolutionary technology, which in our opinion, it desperately needs. The idea is to turn music from simply ‘listening’ into an experience.”

A key audio feature of the studio is the integration and solid fusion between analogue and digital, as Serra

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explains. “We have 20 analogue pre-amps, including Audient, API, Drawmer, Thermionic Culture and Heritage Audio to give us an interesting analogue palette of colours to choose from and add warmth if needed and wanted. In addition to the signal chain, we have some EQ and compression analogue processors, such as API, Distressors and Universal Audio. They all coexist with a UAD Ultimate Pack which has a very strong and powerful combination of digital preamps and a large list of plugins. Our list of DAWS is not any less interesting, Pro Tools 2018 is our main tool, but we also use Ableton Live, Logic X and Cubase 9.5.”

The back line kit is equally impressive, including some classic guitar amps such as Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, Marshall JCM 900, Vox AC30, and Fender Twin Reverb. State of the art synths include a Nord Lead 4, Matrix Brute, Dave Smith´s Prophet 6 and OB6, Korg Kronos and Akai MPCX along with Komplete Kontrol. In the microphone store all of the classics from Neumann, Sennheiser, Audient, Audix and Shure are available.

Shams summarises how the first three months of business have been. “We are grateful and happy to have exceeded our expectations in our first three months. The

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Javier Ferrer

studio is fully active on the different commercial work around recording, mixing and mastering, voice overs, productions for musicians, and commercials. We are also leading two large-scale research programs - we have had master classes. We do live radio broadcasts on major Ibiza Radios weekly and we are forecasting three very big 3D production deals for the winter. We are offering a creative working space where anyone can come and feel part of the Ibiza spirit.”

Recent clients include Martin Garrix, rated as one of the world’s best DJs, who’s recorded a number of voice overs and music work on some of his own productions.

Other high profile clients include Black Coffee, Chelina Manhuhutu, Robin Schultz, Nina Kravizt and Barbara Tucker. Work on Banjaara, an experimental cross-genre music project that Javier and Matias are working on, is ongoing, with their album release mixed using Sfëar, imminent. Both share an interest in Neuroscience and quantum physics, and their meeting place within music, with ambitious plans to further music into the health sector.

3D projects on the way include a recording by the Kiev Philharmonic, of four key works by Mozart, aimed to get a world class 3D classical recording and mix. This is being called Metrica’s Space Symphonic Project, and includes the involvement of maestro Claudio Ianni as both arranger and conductor. Claudio has an Oscar and several other award-winning movies to his name, Javier adds : “When we first contacted him about the project, he was fascinated by the idea, and immediately suggested we should meet so he could hear the 3D. In this context,

we asked him to also address an audience in Ibiza to tell his experience, and the outcome was amazing. The level of attendance and interest was amazing and the master class was brilliant. Another important part of the project is the involvement of top film industry sound engineer Jose Vinader. His input and expertise will be crucial as we venture into the void of 3D mixing of a symphonic orchestra, especially on the recording side.”

Metrica is also involved in an important upcoming Metal Festival in Ibiza and a work for a major restaurant in Barcelona for which Metrica is designing the musical landscape for a 3D installation.

In regards to hotel brands, Metrica is working with some of the major companies on the island in a variety of ways, from music production for its different promotional platforms to specialised music curator services for the hotels. Also on the corporate side, Metrica are working on several publicity and commercial

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campaigns and are starting to make inroads in the video game industry.

The company also has involvement with several leading audio brands for distribution, including Fractal Audio and K-Array Loudspeakers, which is working with Metrica, not only on the distribution side, but also on the research and development side. Matias has been an Ibanez Guitars endorser for many years, and both had been talking for a while about the potential of the guitar as having an important role in the pioneering field of 3D audio.

This journalist can personally testify to the extraordinary results that Metrica is achieving with Sfëar. On visiting the studio in August, PSNEurope was given a stunning demo of the system in the Sfëar studio. This included playback of a 3D track composed by Javier, with Matias supplying guitar work. A wonderful pulsing slice of ambient techno, and contemporary classical, that was used for the 2016 Sonar Barcelona exhibition.

Conceived for showing the possibilities that Sfëar has to offer, the surround sound detail and ambition is absolutely stunning, 360 degrees of immersive extraordinary warmth, unbelievable spatial accuracy and overall power, movement, clarity and depth.

Sfëar looks set to become a 3D audio force that will succeed and win through in the coming years across the music industry. Last word goes to Javier : “As you can see, we bet strongly on this new format, mainly because we know it. When people hear what we do here, nobody is left indifferent, the experience is so massive that you crave for more.” n

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Ryan Burke

Immersive and AoIP grow at IBC 2018 The IBC (International Broadcasting Convention) provides an annual platform for TV and radio technology. Video has long been dominant but, as Kevin Hilton reports, the balance is swinging in favour of audio...

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omething that has been apparent for the last couple of years at IBC is that sound is on a level with - or even leading - vision/video, after years of being an after-thought add-on.

This is particularly noticeable in immersive technologies.

Spatial sound has long been regarded as the natural partner to both virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/ AR) and higher resolution imaging systems, such as 4k (Ultra High Definition/UHD).

The developing trend today is for more affordable immersive audio technology. This was reflected in the launches of two new single-unit Ambisonics microphones. The SoundField by RØDE NT-SF1, shown on UK distributor HHB’s stand, features four true condenser capsules and comes in a kit with a suspension mount, spherical windshield and a custom cable made by Mogami. This is priced at US $999, which senior sales manager Ryan Burke says puts Ambisonic

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recording within reach of more people with a “big focus” on VR. Also on display was a free plug-in designed to work with the NT-SF1; this provides B-format processing in post-production, with the ability to focus on specific sounds in the spatial picture.

Portable recorder manufacturer Zoom is also targeting the burgeoning virtual creation market with the H3-VR, which combines four-channels of recording with an Ambisonics mic and integral decoder. Product

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Sam Clarke

specialist Sam Clarke explains it was designed and built in house, with a gyroscope for orientating the spatial signals and the ability to record in Ambisonics (A and B formats), binaural stereo and stereo. The H3-VR was debuted at IBC and should be available by the end of October, priced at £329.

At the reproduction end of the immersive chain, Genelec launched the S360A high SPL loudspeaker and 7382A subwoofer. At a special presentation, R&D director Aki Mäkivirta said the company had developed the monitors in response to “changes in sound reproduction”, specifically immersive audio. The S360A is able to reach a maximum peak of 128dB and features analogue XLR and AES/EBU digital connections. The 7382A can also achieve 128dB (short term) and reached 15Hz in anechoic chamber tests. ORF sound supervisor Florian Caterer and Benny Andersen’s engineer Bernard Löhr gave their thoughts on spatial audio from their respective broadcast and music perspectives.

Microphones in general threw up some new attentiongrabbing releases. Sennheiser introduced the Memory Mic, described by a visiting sound recordist as “a radio microphone that doesn’t need a wireless connection”.

This compact unit, featuring a flexible, magnetic clip, was originally designed with the consumer market in mind but, channel sales manager Tim Constable, said people who saw it had come up with a lot of different uses:

“There’s been interest from the wedding videography, presentation, conference and news reporting sectors.”.

The mic module features a ME2 capsule and WAV file recorder with four-hour capacity. Once recording is complete, it syncs to the user’s smartphone over Bluetooth to transfer files. Among other new products on show was the SK 6212 mini transmitter for the 6000 Series digital wireless range.

Other additions to the wireless mic market included the full production version of the Audio Limited A10 system, with parent company Sound Devices showing the MixPre-10T timecode recorder and Ambisonics plugins for VR work; Sony’s DWX third generation system, featuring a micro-transmitter with audio over IP (AoIP) connectivity through Dante; and the Shure Axient Digital range, featuring the small-scale ADX1M body pack with internal antenna.

AoIP has had a high profile at IBC for the past few years and that continued this year. Jünger Audio has been attracting attention recently for business reasons after it went into insolvency measures in July. During a press reception at IBC, managing director Martin Schlockwerder said that by September 15, 20 potential new owners had been reduced to a shortlist of eight.

He hoped a decision about the company’s future would be made by October 15. In the meantime, Jünger highlighted the new flexAi (Flexible Audio Infrastructure)

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platform, which offers AES67 and SMPTE ST 2110 AoIP connectivity as well as MADI, AES/EBU and analogue.

Sonifex has expanded its AoIP offering to include Dante-compliant units as well as RAVENNA/AES67 products. The AVN-CU2 commentary unit, with inputs for two commentators, was shown in prototype form.

Managing director Marcus Brooke said the new box had mix-matrix capability and was able to connect to AES67 networks. He hoped it would be available during the first quarter of next year.

Glensound Electronics expanded its range of Dante products with the Paradiso Lite commentary system and two compact units for the Beatrice intercom range. Perhaps of most interest was a prototype small loudspeaker, aimed at a rack room, studio and OB truck audio monitoring applications.

Managing director Gavin Davis explained that the Divine was conceived as a Dante/AES67 replacement for compact Fostex speakers that are still widely used in broadcasting. He said the company would need to know there was enough demand for such an item, adding that the reaction had been positive.

Visitor numbers for this year’s IBC were three per cent down on last year’s show, although organisers pointed to an increase in exhibition space and conference delegates. IBC 2019 will take place in Amsterdam at the RAI Exhibition Centre from September 12-17. n

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The 40-45 soundtrack was recorded in the Galaxy Recording Hall Studio 100

NOVEMBER 2018

40-45: Beyond the traditional musical On October 7, multimedia company Studio 100 premiered the musical 40-45 - a ground-breaking production in terms of technical innovation and wireless communication. 40-45 also marks the first time the new Digico SD7 with Quantum Engines and Theatre software was used on a theatrical production of this scale, complemented by a massive inventory of digital wireless Sennheiser gear and some 1,700 headphones offering binaural Auro 3D sound. Marc Maes spoke to those behind the scenes to find out more about this unique production…

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ith 40-45, Studio 100 continues the path chosen with Daens, The Musical in 2009, attracting over 220,000 people during the run, and the massive blockbuster 14/18, an epic on the Great War, in 2014, with ticket sales exceeding 340.000 units.

“14-18 took musical to a new level, premiering a mobile 1,880 seater grandstand taking the audience right in the middle of the musical,” says Jan Pieter Boodts, spokesman for Studio 100. “For this new production, 40-45 we went a step further, and we are convinced we will break the 2014 attendance record.”

40-45, written and directed by Frank van Laecke, focuses on a family during the second world war, during the occupation of Antwerp. While one son joins the proGerman brigades, his brother falls in love with a Jewish girl in hiding and teams up with the local resistance.

“A first challenge was to find a hall to perform the musical,” adds Boodts. Eventually, Studio 100 decided to build a venue themselves. Today, the Studio 100 Pop Up Theatre, the world’s biggest temporary show venue (90 x 75 meters), accommodates the 40-45 show – the hall

was built next to a former distribution warehouse, which was transformed into a 3,000 capacity lobby, with offices, dressing rooms and backstage facilities, and a covered parking lot. A second car park has a capacity of 1,000 cars. The whole site is located close to the Antwerp/ Brussel motorway.

Boodts adds that, although the infrastructure is temporary, Studio 100 has already scheduled other productions in the venue.

“Next spring, the K3 jubilee show will be staged in the same theatre,” he confirms.

In the pop-up theatre, Studio 100 has built eight mobile stands, with a total capacity of 1,670 visitors.

The stands move around the theatre floor, guaranteeing optimal visibility and experience for the audience.

“Another novelty is that the production is using individual headphones for the public,” continues Boodts.

“The music, performed by the Flanders Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dirk De Caluwé, was recorded at Galaxy Studios in Mol. The principals’ and choir’s live vocals are mixed with the instrumental tracks into the audience’s headphones.”

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Sound design and the musical experience Whereas the 14/18 production used one unidirectional moving stands, with speaker clusters being crossfaded and a TiMax2 Soundhub-S controlling both volume and delay, the 40-45 musical makes use of eight moving stands. “The fact that the stands move in all directions would require hundreds of speakers and make it almost impossible to programme the crossfading parameters,” says Marc Luyckx, sound designer and audio engineer, who also took on the 14/18 assignment four years ago.

“We’ve gone through various options to deal with this new concept. One solution was ‘showering’ vertical ceiling speakers, which would then solve the delay problem. But the size of the hall would result in requiring a massive number of speakers. And there is a difference in height of some nine metres between the first and last row of the stands.”

Another possibility was to have L and R speaker arrays on either side of each stand, but as the production required optimal visibility, this was not ideal.

“We’ve also considered installing small speaker enclosures in the back of each seat – that would have

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Patrick Lemmens at the helm of the Neve 88D console during the 40-45 sessions © Galaxy

been great for a conference, but not for a musical and symphonic music,” Luyckx continues.

Early on in the production process, Studio 100, Luyckx and his colleague sound designer Thomas van Hoepen decided to provide a personal headphone for each of the 1670 spectators as optimal solution. “We were looking for a headphone that wouldn’t isolate the audience from ambient noise, and allow conversation with the person next to you,” underlines Luyckx. “After a number of concert trials, we agreed upon using the Sennheiser HP02 headphone – it combines the aforementioned requirements with lightweight listening comfort. The headphones are attached to the seats – each seat is equipped with a tailor made adjustable (- 6 dB / + 6 dB) pre-amplifier.”

The audio distribution system was designed by Amptec and manufactured as OEM by UK manufacturer Glensound. “In total we supplied 800 headphone boxes with built-in pre-amps,” explains Dany Meeuwissen, pro audio sales manager with Amptec. “We’ve teamed up with Glensound in the past, like for the ‘Symphony’ digital IP-monitoring for choir and orchestra for the Night of the Proms concerts.”

Given the moving stands, the whole production had to be 100 per cent wireless. “We send a stereo-mix to the receivers on each stand, which is then distributed to the Amptec dual-boxes between the seats. Another dedicated receiver routes low frequency audio feed to subs placed under each stands, reinforcing the low effects and adding extra ‘feel’ to the headphones,” continues Luyckx.

The core element of the audio production is a Digico SD7-T console with the latest Quantum engines and theatre software, the first SD7Q used on a theatre

production worldwide. Luyckx is particularly happy to work with the Quantum’s infinite possibilities.

“This goes beyond any console I’ve worked with: if we determine the presets for player 1 (given the number of shows, some roles are played by two cast members) they are adjusted when they put on a hat – these detailed presets are saved, mirrored and adjusted when, the next show, the alternate player two takes the stage for the same role. The console also offers numerous options in terms of individual monitor mixing, which in rehearsals was done with a wireless Digico EX-007 on the tribune stands” he enthuses.

“The enormous I/O, nodal processing, speed of programming and backbone of Digico’s application engineers is why we chose to be pioneers in using the Quantum Engines”, adds van Hoepen.

With all vocals being performed live on stage, Luyckx heads a team of two engineers to fine-tune the last millimetres on the Digico. “The living hand is still required,” Luyckx says, “This project was very exciting to work on – after having worked with loudspeakers as FOH engineer this is a new medium: live music on headphones and on such a large scale. And wireless!

All of the obstacles from the past like reflections, feedback, or bad acoustics are obsolete – and the speech intelligibility is optimal. The only challenge is that the sound shouldn’t become too artificial, maintaining the live aspect of the show.”

Studio Haifax Like for Studio 100’s 14/18 musical, audiovisual rental company Studio Haifax was assigned to take on the audio production of the 40-45 live show.

The key challenges throughout the production were

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the stage layout and the fact that all of the equipment had to rely on wireless connectivity and battery power supply. “Power packs sometimes tend to be unpredictable as to the start-up power of amplifierss, and with plenty of reflection and lots of iron elements used in the construction of the venue, wireless is not evident either. After thorough testing we arrived at a failsafe configuration” explains Pieter Begard, CEO of Studio Haifax.

Both Studio 100’s lounge and the venue itself were equipped with a ‘traditional’ PA system: 8 x Coda Audio G712, 12 x Coda Audio HOPS8 and 6 x Coda Audio D5Cube in the lounge plus six Coda Viray arrays in the main hall, used for introductory background music, announcements and safety evacuation. To cater for the crucial sub element (explosions, trains, airplanes…) each of the eight stands was equipped with three Coda Audio SCP cardioid subs, and a battery powered Coda Linus 20 amp rack. “Two Sennheiser ambient microphones catch the stage atmosphere. Every stands is served by four wireless streams: two for the L-R stereo channels, one for the subs, and one back-up channel – all powered over UPS with a fully redundant back-up system to avoid power-drops,” Begard explains.

One of the stands is using an extra dedicated Sennheiser receiver set for simultaneous translation or audio description for the blind. “The fact that all of the audio runs on headphones allows us to target a part of the audience with a personalised feed,” adds Begard.

Studio Haifax started building the audio configuration two months before the show. In the back of the venue, a technical area was built, with a wireless communication centre, amp racks, antenna boosters and a FOH office.

The studio environment is equipped with a Digico

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SD7Q and EX-007, plus Adam monitors and peripherals, including two Waves Extreme servers and a Klang Fabrik processor. “The orchestra was recorded in Auro 3D sound – in addition, we use the Klang Fabrik technology to enhance binaural sound-effects and create so-called artificial rooms,” explains van Hoepen.

Digital wireless for audio and clocking The production requires a massive use of RF frequencies: for the 12 actors and principals, the 32 strong ensemble, the ambient microphones on each stands, the signal for the headphones and subs.

Sennheiser was the partner for the wireless aspect of the production, providing all of the audio for the artists, the audio signal for the stands and the time-code for the eight mobile decor elements and giant LED screens.

“For the cast, Studio Haifax provides 32 channels of Sennheiser Digital 9000, in combination with 32 SK 9000 beltpack transmitters and 32 MKE 1 lavalier microphones,” explains Hans de hertogh, sales director Pro Audio Solutions Benelux.

“On top of that, 16 channels Digital 6000 are used for the ambiance microphones on the stands. On the monitoring side, 24 channels 2000 IEM series are used for the actors, with 50 EK 2000 IEM belt packs, and for the bit players 44 EK 1039 mono IEM sets.”

Each of the eight moving stands has two (L-R) Sennheiser MKH 8050 condenser microphones capturing the atmospheric sound in front of each stand, like footsteps, driving bicycles and army trucks. “These signals are sent, together with 32 channels of D 9000 digital wireless microphones for the cast, to the FOH console using SK 6000 wireless transmitter belt packs,” continues de Hertogh. “That audio signal is mixed into eight stereo mixes (one for each stand) and one subwoofer channel (identical for all stands). Two EM 6000 dual channel receivers on each stand then receive the signal for the headphones, the subs and also one

spare frequency. One of the stands is equipped with one extra EM 6000 receiver offering two extra channels for a separate mix with overdubs, translation or audio description. This configuration allows us to switch a complete stand, or specific rows on a stands to another language.”

The stereo audio signal on the stands is amplified by 800 dual headphone boxes and then channeled to the 1670 Sennheiser HP 02 lightweight headband headphones. “With three shows per day, Studio 100 also provides hygienic pads for the headphone ears,” de Hertogh adds.

In addition to the extensive implementation of ‘traditional’ usage of digital wireless equipment, microphones and headpieces, Sennheiser wireless transmission was also used to send the time code for the eight moving LED screen decors. “A SK 6000 sends the timecode to each decor piece, which are equipped with a EM 6000 receiver. The timecode is needed to synchronise the video on all LED screens,” explains de Hertogh.

“This was a huge challenge, not only in terms of equipment, but also in terms of the number of wireless frequencies, the reflective iron used in the construction, moving stands and mobile decor elements. We also benefitted from the support of CDAE - Sennheiser’s worldwide application engineering team - that designed the RF-system and assisted during the setup.” concludes de Hertogh.

All of the Digital 9000 and 6000 receivers used in the production are part of a network, allowing continuous monitoring of the RF-signal by Sennheiser Wireless Systems Manager software. In addition, all RF and AF channels are monitored by the Wavetool application.

Orchestra and CD recording Galaxy Studios were assigned for the recording, mixing and mastering of the ’40-45’ soundtrack. The recording

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sessions took a complete week, with three days for the instrumental tracks, performed by the Flanders Symphonic Orchestra. 61 musicians and director Dirk De Caluwe found a place in the studio’s main 330 m² Galaxy Recording Hall.

“When we finalised the recording of the orchestra’s instrumental tracks, we started recording the ensemble sessions in our Studio One recording room,” explains Patrick Lemmens, Recording and Mixing engineer at Galaxy Studios. “The last step was the recording of the soloists in the vocal booths.” Contrary to what we did for “14/18” when we recorded orchestra, choir and soloists together, requiring tiring multiple takes for everyone involved, this new modus operandi was more efficient.”

Lemmens explains that internationally renowned film score composer Steve Willaert introduced a couple of recording habits from the film music genre; like the use of a click track which keeps the tempo of the music exactly as intended and allows to record elements of the music in overdub. “This feature allowed us to record the whole soundtrack (with instrumental tracks used for the theatre presentation and the complete recording for the ’40-45’ CD) in different sessions, without having to bother about the tempo,” he says.

The recording was effected in the Neve 88 D room – alongside the ‘traditional’ recording and stereo mixing, Lemmens recorded all of the sessions in Auro 3D 9.1 “My favorite listening format in Immersive Sound for “music in 3D” because of its efficiency and scalability to all kinds of playback environments,” he underlines.

Immersive sound with Auro 3D Just before the October 7 world premiere of 40-45, the production announced that the complete show would be produced in Auro-3D sound. “Auro 3D is renowned for its most natural immersive sound reproduction creating more depth and transparency compared to other immersive sound formats on the market,” enthuses Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO and inventor of Auro 3D. “Additionally, it is enhancing the emotional experience of the spectator. We know this from reproduction over loudspeakers but Auro’s binaural technology can bring that immersive experience over any existing headphone.

All those elements together triggered sound designer Marc Luyckx to try out Auro’s binaural technology for the musical 4O-45.”

“It’s a two hour show and listening to headphones may become quite exhausting - the use of this new technology makes the overall sound in the headphones much richer and helps the audience to avoid getting fatigue by listening so long over an headphone,” agrees Luyckx.

The binaural reproduction of the Auro 9.1 mixes is used as the instrumental playback for the live musical on which the sound engineers add the mix of the livevocals of the singers and the choir. 40-45 is staged at the Studio 100 Pop Up Theater in Puurs (near Antwerp – Brussels motorway) and organised by Studio 100 At press time over 240.000 tickets were sold. n

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Sound and vision

In each issue, we publish the best pro audio pics shared on social media in the past month. From gig pics to get-out selfies, studio shots to product close-ups, the industry’s online community is thriving and we want to share the great work going on. Want to be featured next month? Tag @psneurope on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook or email sahar.nazir@futurenet.com

@Digico.official DiGiCo Native L-ISA Control Makes BBC Proms A Walk In The Park For Delta Live this year deploying #DiGiCo consoles at all mix positions - an #SD5 at Front of House, an #SD7 at monitors and an #SD9 mixing the string section of the orchestra – with the SD5’s native L-ISA Desk Link interface helping the company bring a completely new listening experience to the BBC Proms audiences.

Isn’t it about time you #updateyourVENUE #changeyourProfile #wedontmakemotorbikes #digico #allthingsdigico #lifeofasoundengineer #soundengineer #proaudio #digitalmixer #digitalmixing #livesound #mixingconsole #sound #fohengineer #monitorengineer

@Martinaudio #ThrowbackThursday to an incredible week at @szigetofficial with @capital_sound, @bgevent and #MLA on the #IslandofFreedom! đ&#x;“ˇ: #RockstarPhotographers #martinaudio #capitalsound #bgevent #szigetfest #szigetfestival #sziget #sziget2018 #proaudio #loudspeakers #linearray #pasystem #loudspeakers #subwoofers #subs #festivalsound #fohengineer #soundengineer #livesound #festivalsound #festivalseason #festival

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Follow us on Twitter Instagram Facebook @psneurope

@Lathebestsound @tomorrowland’s brand new, breathtaking Atmosphere Stage offered an unprecedented musical experience this year with L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound. The stage gave festival-goers vibrant beats, stunning visuals and a unique 360° degree dance experience. A total of over 600 L-Acoustics cabinets were in action over six stages, including the Atmosphere Stage. #tomorrowland #festival #soundengineer #thefutureofsound #fridayfeeling

@meyersoundlabs Happy #Rocktober ! This month, @teddysphotos Ed Sheeran continues on the North American leg of the tour with a #LEOFamily system, which wraps November 9 in Atlanta, GA. Then, in the new year, Sheeran and his production team @major.tom.audio will travel to South Africa and Europe!

Learn more about the tour through the link in our bio! @ralphlarmann #livesound #touring #edsheeran #dividetour#sound #audio #audiosystem #soundsystem #rosebowl #systemsengineer #FOH #FOHEngineer #linearray #soundengineer #audiophile.

@deltaliveonline Delta Live at the 2018 BMI London Awards last night, running a FULL production! Anything is achievable with Delta Live. An all round fantastic experience at the Dorchester Hotel! @bmi @thedorchester #bmiawards #thedorchester #london #events #instadaily #delta #photooftheday

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P50 SEPTEMBER 2018

Festival season From November 16-17, Teviot Row House will host the first ever Edinburgh Festival Of Sound, which will explore the latest technology shaping the world of pro audio. Festival producer Russell McMahon tells PSNEurope what visitors can expect from the event’s inaugural outing...

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ocated in the heart of the Scottish capital and co-created by Signum Audio and Red Dog Music, the first ever Edinburgh Festival Of Sound promises two days of product showcases, live demos, Q&As and workshops, all aimed at shedding some light on the most cutting edge audio technology available. Taking place at Teviot Row House from November 16-17, the event will explore the ever-evolving world of immersive sound, whilst also investigating the ways in which AR and AI are influencing the audio industry.

PSNEurope’s editor Daniel Gumble spoke to festival producer Russell McMahon to find out more...

Who are you hoping to attract to the show?

Anyone with any level of interest in audio. We have curated the programme so there is literally something for everyone, from a professional or academic level working in the industry wanting to tap into the latest trends in audio at the North AudioTEK forum, to hobbyists and bedroom producers looking to hone their skills or get new gear, and to people just looking for a fun day out that love music and sound. Under 14s can enter for free, so it’s also a great day out for mums and dads that work in or have an interest in audio, and might think that their child might be into it as well.

Why did you decide to launch this event?

Talk us through what the festival has to offer?

The Edinburgh Festival Of Sound was an idea that came about when we (Signum Audio) and Alex Marten (MD at MI and pro audio retailer Red Dog Music) got together. The idea was to create a festival which is broader than a music festival, concentrating on what we have at heart: the beauty and wonder of sound; the sense of hearing and what you can do with your equipment. That one thing that brings together the equipment that Red Dog Music sells, and the work that Signum Audio does with software.

Between the work that all of us do, we have a great network of people involved in the audio community doing great things, and the festival just naturally grew legs of its own into the exciting project that it is becoming.

The festival has three main sections. We have the North AudioTEK forum, which is tailored to professionals working in research and development, both in the industry and academia.

We have the Exhibitor Zone where you can get hands on with the latest audio gear from companies like Roland, Akai, Universal Audio and Teenage Engineering, and you might also grab yourself a good deal on some gear from the likes of Red Dog Music. Then we have The Study Sessions where we’ll have performances, talks and demos happening, tailored more for education and entertainment. We will also have production workshops from Ableton, and even one where you can build and programme your own synth module. There will be interactive exhibits that include a Giant Roland 303 you can play, and we’re throwing a big party on the Friday night which is being hosted by EH-FM and powered by Funktion-One.

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What are the key subjects you’ll be covering in your talks and workshops?

The talks revolve around the latest trends this year in audio, and are chosen to inspire people to get involved.

During North AudioTEK we’ve got everything from AI in mixing and talks about immersive audio, to talks about sonic arts and how to make audio more accessible.

The sessions will include talk and performances on experimental instruments, music production tips, and feature overviews of the latest gear with demonstrations.

Why should professional audio businesses exhibit?

Scotland is a fantastic location for the Festival Of Sound because we have a strong, close-knit audio community with its finger on the pulse of the latest developments in audio technology. Professionals and businesses will get a lot out of the North AudioTEK forum, which discusses the very latest audio trends, and will attract a credible pool of talent from the academic world who are looking to work in the industry.

There are loads of enthusiastic people here in Scotland, plenty of audio-related academic courses, great studios, a thriving events and festival industry, and it’s a beautiful city that attracts an international community. The plan is for us to make this an annual festival that will evolve with developments in the industry. Being part of the Festival of Sound puts you right at the centre of this Audio community where everyone comes together! n

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