PSNE April 2016 Digital by Future PLC

April 2016

www.psneurope.com

French correction Grégory Dapsanse and Régis Cazin reveal their plan to reactivate APG Audio P40 P30

P44

P60

SAINTS ABOVE!

CARRACK TOP

MARTIN GRRRR!

SOPHISTICATED NEW LOOK FOR ACOUSTI STUDIOS, PARIS

GERMAN TECH DEBUT ON SOUL STAR’S UK TOUR

CDD RANGE ATTACKS AUDIO INSTALL CONVENTIONS

PM. The new generation. A new era of digital mixing has arrived. For more than four decades Yamaha has been at the forefront of live sound mixing technology. Now we deliver the culmination of years of dedication to the art of the digital mixer, our new ﬂagship - the RIVAGE PM10. The future is here. Discover RIVAGE PM10 at yamahaproaudio.com For more information please visit www.yamahaproaudio.com

Connect with experience

STAGE ESSENTIALS

X15 HiQ, REFERENCE STAGE MONITOR - L-ACOUSTICS X SERIES In creating the X Series, we brought all of the experience gained in designing the K2 to bear on a new series of reference coaxials. Optimized design, ergonomics, acoustical performance and weight make the X Series the most advanced coaxials on the market. Four distinct enclosures with format, bandwidth, SPL and coverage angles perfectly adapted to short throw rental or install applications, the X Series offers studio monitor sound quality, compact design, consistent tonal balance, no minimum listening distance and exceptional feedback rejection. www.l-acoustics.com

Welcome

PSNEUROPE Editor Dave Robinson drobinson@nbmedia.com

Account manager Rian Zoll-Khan rzoll-khan@nbmedia.com

Group managing editor Jo Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com

Head of design Jat Garcha jgarcha@nbmedia.com

Content director James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com

Production executive Jason Dowie jdowie@nbmedia.com

P3 APRIL 2016

Advertising manager Ryan O’Donnell rodonnell@nbmedia.com

Contributors: Kevin Hilton, Marc Maes, Dave Wiggins, Mike Clark, Phil Ward, Erica Basnicki, David Davies, Simon Duff

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Cover image: Grégory and Régis, Paris, 2016, by Dave Robinson

DAVE ROBINSON Editor

@PSNEurope

rench connection. French exchange. The bureau de change. The Alliance Française... Paddy Baker (of Installation magazine) and I had a number of thoughts for a headline for our lead story. We were both honoured to be invited to Paris, even though it was on a wet and wintry Sunday, to meet our two scarf-snug cover stars and discover their strategy to put for APG.Audio back on the international live sound map. Régis Cazin, in particular, pulls no punches as to what he thinks was wrong at APG: and how things are going to change. The story begins on p40. (Paddy’s running the same story in his mag this month, just in case you catch a glimpse of one of those headlines I didn’t use...) We’ve got a few straight-talking mouthpieces in this pre-Prolight + Sound preview special issue, in fact. As I did nearly six years ago, I was recently invited to sit down with Harman’s Blake Augsburger for more exclusive “nothing off the table” chat: and boy, I got more than I bargained for. I had no idea there was going to be such a seismic shake-up – or should that be shutdown? – in manufacturing in Denmark (Martin Professional) and Potters Bar (Soundcraft/Studer). But, the broader business’ portfolio has ballooned, and so the company structure has had to evolve with it. I might not like it (and I made that point) but I can certainly understand why it was necessary. Tales of Harman start on p22. On p56, we ask several leading names in the industry why they have quit the AVnu Alliance in the last year or so. PSNEurope has been quite critical of the whole AVB ‘movement’ (or lack of it) in the past, but with a dozen or so departures, it’s future as a useful, practical technology for audio looks shakier than ever. See if you agree. Then on p48, Dave Wiggins asks various big names from the PA rental community to say what they REALLY thought about the whole analogue versus digital console debate. There are no prisoners taken in that special report from the likes of Messieurs Fitch, Nowell and Penn, I can tell you... And to top it all, the fabulous Phill Brown brings a tale of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll to p28. Love it! Or should that be, J’aime ça...

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P4 APRIL 2016

Contents

In this issue... P32 HEADPHONES AND EAR BUDS TOO, IT MUST BE SAID

P22 THE STRATEGIC POSITION EXCLUSIVE Q&A WITH BLAKE AUGSBURGER, HARMAN PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS DIVISION

P66 SADIE GROOM THE BUBBLE GIRL SQUEAKS TO PSNEUROPE

Studio 26 Miscendo, Paris 28 Phill Brown: EXCLUSIVE extract from his autobiography 30 Saint Germain Studios, Paris

P48 SHIFTING GEAR II

Broadcast

DAVID WIGGINS TALKS TO PA RENTAL COMPANIES ABOUT CONSOLE CHOICES

36 Studio Stevens, Belgium

Live

Business 6 What to expect at the new look Prolight + Sound show this month 10 PSNPresents reviewed: Bob Marley and Paul McCartney! 12 Vocal channel: Phil Ward appreciates the late Sir George Martin 14 Movers and shakers: industry appointments 16 PSNTraining: upskill now! 18 PSNTraining special: PXL’s International Week 20 New products 22 The strategic position: Harman Professional Solutions Division

40 COVER FEATURE: APG Audio and Active Audio 44 Paul Carrack on tour with Isophase Audio 48 Console choices: analogue or digital? Second part of our special! 54 Robb Allan mixes Massive Attack

Installation 56 Is time up for AVB? 60 The success of Martin Audio’s CDD range

Technology

Back pages

32 Feature: Headphone trends 38 Feature: Storage systems

65 Hither & dither: PSNPresents special 66 Backtalk: FBI’s Sadie Groom

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BELIEVE IT FROM ED SHEERAN TO ARIANA GRANDE TO METALLICA – TOP TOURS ARE PROVING THE POWER OF THE LEO FAMILY.

The LEO Family provides power and clarity for nearly every application, from intimate performance spaces to the world’s largest outdoor festivals. LEOPARD, the smallest in the family, is gaining a following for being the most lightweight and versatile line array in its class. It’s no wonder top tours HYV\UK [OL ^VYSK [Y\Z[ [OL 3,6 -HTPS` MVY H ÅH^SLZZ WLYMVYTHUJL UPNO[ HM[LY UPNO[

Learn more about the LEO Family at Prolight + Sound, Hall 3.1 Stand A71

P6 APRIL 2016

Prolight + Sound Preview

Frankfurt firsts Prolight + Sound always offers up a variety of gear unveilings and interesting product debuts, but for once the big talking points this year concern the show itself.

rolight + Sound 2016 will be the ﬁrst Frankfurt trade fair to take place since big changes to the event were announced during last year’s show. Featuring a new hall layout on the East side of the grounds, Prolight will move from its traditional home in Hall 8 and 9 to a total of six product areas at the opposite end of the venue previously occupied by Musikmesse, making use of the outdoor exhibition space in the process. Hall 3.1 and 4.1 will act as a focal point for live sound, studio and broadcast visitors, with the former focusing heavily on PA systems and loudspeaker technology, while the latter is the new home for microphones, production equipment, broadcasting and radio gear. Digital audio networking solutions will also feature extensively in Hall 4.1. The changes have also resulted in a partial date separation between Prolight + Sound and Musikmesse, with pro-audio and lighting professionals ﬁlling the halls from Tuesday through to Friday, and the MI crowd attending from Thursday to Sunday. Although we’ll have to wait and see how well these new development are received by the industry, one thing we can usually be sure of is a plethora of product launches Big changes ahead at this year’s event...

and demonstrations from manufacturers large and small, and so far it seems 2016 will be no exception… This year’s Frankfurt show will see the official debut of the Alcons Audio LR18 Alcons LR18 pro-ribbon line array. The three-way, ‘compact-mid-size’ line-source system is designed to combine the highest sound quality possible with very high SPL capabilities and throw. With LR18, Alcons says it has been able to achieve a “super-fast” impulse response with up-to-90% less distortion, allowing it to offer “a fully intuitive linear response, with very high intelligibility and non-compressed identical tonal balance at any SPL.” Meanwhile, d&b audiotechnik will be introducing NoizCalc, a new software tool created in cooperation with noise consulting and software development company SoudnPLAN GmbH, designed to predict the far field noise emission of open air events. The tool can be used to predict the sound propagation of multiple coherently emitting sources such as line arrays and subwoofer arrays. The manufacturer says that, using 3D terrain data, the software accurately predicts the far field noise emission across an expanse of terrain according to ISO 9613-2 and Nord 2000 standards, allowing system designers to predict any potential noise issues during the event d&baudiotechnik booth planning stage. d&b will also display its NoizCalc software and provide a step by step guide to the d&b workflow, from simulation to control, and delve into the details behind the recently launched, Dante-enabling, DS10 Audio network bridge.

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BELIEVE IT SAVE TIME WITH LEOPARD NATIVE MODE. GREAT SOUND, RIGHT FROM THE START.

Don’t have spare time before the show? Get the best possible sound right from the start. LEOPARD Native Mode captures the collective wisdom of sound system experts. With hundreds of LEOPARD systems in use worldwide, Meyer Sound users are proving that Native Mode saves them time – again and again.

Learn more about the LEO Family at Prolight + Sound, Hall 3.1 Stand A71

P8 APRIL 2016

Prolight + Sound Preview

DPA Microphones will join forces with Yamaha at the show to demonstrate the advantages of combining their technologies and further boost their presence. Yamaha’s live performance stages will be equipped with DPA d:vote instrument and d:dictate recording mics, while the DPA booth C11 in Hall 4.1 will be equipped with Yamaha band and orchestra instruments for a number of demos and workshops, and for visitors to try out. DPA Microphones will also use the show as an opportunity to launch its d:facto Linear Vocal Microphone. DPA says the d:facto’s new MMC4018VL capsule with isolation-optimised supercardioid polar pattern is designed to augment the DPA MMC4018VL capsule human vocal range, and combines the very best of cardioid and supercardioid directional characteristics. EVE Audio is celebrating its fifth birthday at Prolight + Sound this year. The firm was founded by veteran music industry R&D engineer Roland Stenz in 2011, when he used his 25-plus years of experience in pro-audio and loudspeaker design to create the company’s award-winning line of professional studio monitors. The main focus for Fohhn Audio AG this year is on achieving compatibility with all audio networks, and the associated increase in flexibility that this brings. On show in Frankfurt will be the current models in Fohhn’s awardwinning Linea Focus series, which are now equipped with an Optocore interface. A corresponding Dante connectivity option is currently in development as well. Funktion-One is officially launching Vero, a large-format touring sound system featuring six low-distortion hornloaded loudspeakers and powered by Lab.gruppen amps. The Vero system – six years in the making – is set to redefine audio and operational performance expectations, offering “a new level of performance characteristics relating to sound quality, efficiency and directivity,” according to the British loudspeaker manufacturer. Also receiving their debuts on the Funktion-One stand will be the Evo 7T – a fully horn-loaded touring loudspeaker with 15in mid-bass, 10in Funktion-One signature mid-range and 1.4in compression driver – and the F132 horn-loaded bass enclosure, which features Powersoft’s M-Force 10kW linear transducer and Fohhn Linea Focus with Optocore interface Funktion-One’s specially

BroaMan gets its kicks BroaMan has announced a new version of its Route66 video router, now offering AutoRouter and smart ﬁbre patchbay.This additional functionality is powered by sister brand Optocore, making it ideal not only for Installation (where there are multiple connection points, including mobile devices) but equally for Live Events or Broadcast. The AutoRouter is compatible with Optocore and DiGiCo ﬁbre loops, creating a redundant ‘star’ out of the advanced ring topology.

It was developed based on customer’s needs, especially in the installation market, where mixed ring/star or star topology is more desirable due to a star based ﬁbre cable layout. Says managing director, Tine Helmle, “This device is the only product in the industry which can route Audio Links and Networks of any format, including AES10/MADI. This makes it a perfect match for DiGiCo, Studer, Calrec, Allen & Heath, Yamaha and other premium console manufacturers.”

Meyer Sound will have a presence of course

designed cone and enclosure technology. an adaptive morphing algorithm that allows users to LD Systems, part of the Adam Hall Group, will be constantly control and regulate to a given programmedemonstrating a new generation of its MAUI range at the loudness value, along with a definable loudness range with show in the form of the MAUI 28 G2 and MAUI 11 G2. The minimal obstacles. The software is able to handle most MAUI 28 G2 is a compact, active column PA with DSP-based common DAW software, audio and files, and meets all signal processing, Bluetooth and a four-channel mixer. Both major global loudness standard specifications. the overall sound and dispersion have been improved and Finally in this (non-exhaustive!) preview, Sennheiser will the weight has once again been significantly reduced. The offer an AMBEO 3D audio immersive sound experience to main new feature of the MAUI 11 G2 is its visitors at the show on a joint stand with two-part speaker column, which makes it Neumann. easier to transport. The booth will provide opportunities The entire Iconyx series from Renkusto try out Venue Modelling software, Heinz will be on show, including new which takes 3D audio into the DJ world, Dante-enabled versions of Iconyx and and catch a glimpse of Sennheiser’s IC Live, along with IC2 and the VARIAi upcoming virtual reality microphone. modular point source array system. The centerpiece, however, is the The steerable sound specialist will also Sound Experience Room, which will demonstrate RHAON II (Renkus-Heinz offer listening sessions with its HE Audio Operations Network), with support 1 headphones, AMBEO 3D audio, for all of the manufacturer’s current and stereo and surround-sound loudspeaker ranges. demonstrations with Neumann RTW will be showing its new loudspeakers. Funktion-One Vero Continuous Loudness Control software, pls.messefrankfurt.com

www.psneurope.com/business

THE LEO FAMILY TRUE SOUND IN LINE ARRAYS.

The LEO Family provides power and clarity for nearly every application, from intimate performance spaces to the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest outdoor festivals. LEOPARD, the smallest in the family, is gaining a following for being the most lightweight and versatile line array in its class. From small to midsize to large-scale, this family of line arrays has you covered.

Learn more about the LEO Family at Prolight + Sound, Hall 3.1 Stand A71

P10 APRIL 2016

PSNPresents

Marley, Macca and more The latest PSNPresents supplied another top evening of discussion and drinking at the Soho Hotel, with recording studio heroes and musical theatre maestros in the spotlight. Dave Robinson reports

round 60 guests, from all points of the pro-audio compass, navigated themselves to the Soho Hotel last month for the third edition of PSNPresents. The event, sponsored by Focusrite and Roland, brought together personalities from the worlds of the studio and theatre sound design to discuss the topics of the day. The ﬁrst guest to join presenter/journalist Phil Ward on stage was recording engineer Phill Brown, who tackled the whole digital versus tape debate, and recalled his time mixing Bob Marley’s legendary Live at the Lyceum album for Island Records and Chris Blackwell. Nick Keynes, studio manager at Tileyard Studios, reported on the phenomenal success of the project, and joked that his career in pop act Ultra found him “miming his way around the world for three years”, not understanding how he’d still not made any money despite selling 400,000 albums. Award-winning producer Youth (AKA Martin Glover) described how working with Paul McCartney on his ‘Fireman’ project allowed the former Beatle to “have fun, without being Paul McCartney”; how he’d worked with Jimmy Cauty ahead of him forming the KLF; and how he’d been practically sacked by Pete Waterman for “being too creative”. The second session saw top West End musical theatre sound designers Ben Harrison, Simon Baker and Gareth Fry join the PSNEurope editor on stage. Subjects tackled included the Tony Award (or lack of one) for sound design; whether smaller footprint desks really contribute to theatre income; great musical ﬂops of recent times; and an almost complete (but tantalisingly amusing, nonetheless) embargo on information about the forthcoming Harry Potter musical. Representing co-sponsor Roland Professional A/V, sales manager Simon Kenning told us: “It is with great pleasure that Roland have once again sponsored the recent PSNPresents. The event goes from strength to strength, being very informative, educational, and provides attendees with plenty of opportunity to ask questions of those being interviewed, providing everyone with a great opportunity to network with industry colleagues and meet new people. The topics of studio recording and theatre sound design were of great interest to the attendees and extremely well received by all. We’re already excited to be involved with the next event in the autumn.” The next PSNPresents is planned for November.

Enjoying a free drink in the drawing room…

(L-R): Sound designers Gareth Fry, Simon Baker and Ben Harrison with Roland’s Simon Kenning

Phil Ward with (L-R) Youth, Nick Keynes and Phill Brown

www.psnpresents.com

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P12 APRIL 2016

Vocal channel

George Martin (1926-2016): an appreciation

I PHIL WARD is the former editor of Pro Sound News Europe

t probably would have been enough just to have defined the beat sound of 1963-65. But Sir George Martin CBE (as he became in 1996), in cahoots with his young charges, kept going. By the end of the decade he had played a huge part in the invention of folk rock, progressive rock, guitardriven power pop and several experiments that fed into glam, ambient, electronica and a host of other starting points – as well as a greater appreciation of what has become known as ‘world’ music. Rock became as intellectual as jazz, as moving as opera and more fun than six gallons of port wine down at the Old Bull & Bush. A cocktail of comedy, folk music and jazz – as typified by The Goons, Andy Stewart and Humphrey Lyttelton, stirred and shaken by the legacy of Oscar Preuss (who hired him at Parlophone) and Martin’s own mighty chops on the spinet – led to him midwifing the most ambitious progeny of pop: The Beatles. Yes, it was the band that coined the handfuls of words and hooks that could, simultaneously, strike lightning into the individual heart and yet

also lash the whole of society with the storm. But for that to happen demanded a complex chain of events, leading to the EMI pressing plant in Hayes and a ﬂeet of vans, that began with one man’s decisions about everything from the position of a microphone to the position of a chorus. Martin changed the professional recording industry from within, setting up the Association of Independent Recorders in 1965, followed by the two AIR studios – the first of which contributed, alongside Olympic and Trident, to the abandonment of white laboratory coats and all inhibitions. Many engineers flourished under his tutelage, becoming pioneering producers in their own right, while the original recordings, once so shockingly new, gradually took on the mantle of classics: constantly refreshing and refreshable even as the world moved on. Dave Harries joined Abbey Road as a technician in 1964, and quickly found a team that coalesced around a mild-mannered, softly-spoken father ﬁgure: “Firstly, he was such a likeable man,” Harries recalls. “Secondly, such a modest man. Thirdly, he was

exceptional in that he was a classically trained musician, a score composer and a conductor: how many pop record producers can you say that about?” Harries built AIR Lyndhurst alongside Malcolm Atkin, an AIR Oxford Street acolyte since 1974 and a man given a breathtaking task by Martin after only four years there: “The chief tech resigned two weeks before George announced that he was going to build a studio on Montserrat,” recounts Atkin. “And he turned round to me, just a technician, and said, you can do that… I was only 26! That was the ﬁrst studio I ever built, thanks to George’s extraordinary faith.” The legacy is staggering. It was such an odd partnership, at the heart of it, of English gent and Scouse upstarts. In the end it was discipline that he gave to The Beatles – landing their jets on his Royal Navy aircraft carrier – and the secret psychology of the record producer in an age when artists needed more careful handling than ever. It’s because of that alchemy being right that we now have all this gold.

How much? Too much!

DAVE WIGGINS is a freelance marketeer and pro-audio pundit

he comments made by various PA rental company owners this month (p48) highlight an issue which affects most sound equipment rental companies globally, but to which most equipment manufacturers have historically paid little overt attention: namely, the long-term commercial performance of rental equipment. It’s been an issue for years, but as long as the live production industry relies on PA rental operations to supply the hardware, the manufacturers who supply those companies should perhaps consider more closely the commercial aspects of owning their equipment. For most rental companies this is vital and it is different for almost every item. Lots of things in a touring rig are regarded either as consumables or of sufficiently low capital value to be absorbed into the day to day running costs, but the ongoing ownership costs of many items is important. It’s a complex equation that includes purchase cost, utilisation, maintenance costs and residual value over varying periods and is subject to the

vagaries of technological fashion. So how does a manufacturer come up with products that simultaneously satisfy the operational needs of users and provide owners with a decent return on their investment? One historical example was the Midas Heritage 3000 console – it combined a very clever multi-purpose design (back when there were still monitor and FOH consoles) great audio performance, build quality that was appropriate for road use and a long product life during which it remained essentially unchanged, all bolstered by a sturdy commercial model led by the manufacturer. For its many owners, high utilisation combined with low ownership costs supported by strong residual values made the H3000 the all-round winner it was for years. What can we learn from this in 2016? There are other things that traditionally work well commercially. Top-drawer loudspeaker systems are solid investments, arguably even more so since the widespread adoption of line-source systems and the

www.psneurope.com/business

polarisation of that market into clear leaders and followers. Less glamorous items (amplifiers, flightcases, mains distro systems et al) can also be good, simply by doing what they do over long periods and not breaking. Some smaller things also pay for themselves many times over and this helps to balance the equation somewhat. It will always be difficult for manufacturers to deliver a bulletproof commercial model with an emergent technology or a major paradigm shift in equipment, where highspeed development over a short-ish period allows delivery of a steady stream of ever more capable products, usually at diminishing prices. Once through that period though, many manufacturers should then have the ability to offer their customers products that tick both operational and commercial boxes – in particular, any technology which allows a relevant and continuous upgrade path should be more attractive in the longer term. Those whose products tick all the boxes should enjoy a significant market advantage…

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P14 APRIL 2016

Movers and shakers

Martin Audio’s MD manoeuvre Soundcraft/Harman’s Harter heads to High Wycombe

ominic Harter, formerly of Soundcraft/ Harman, took on the role of managing director at loudspeaker manufacturer Martin Audio in March Martin Audio, ﬁrst formed in 1971, remains part of the Loud Technologies group, based out of Seattle – though the company is understood to have been “for sale” for several years. Harter replaces Luke Ireland, who has been leading the company since June 2014. “I’m excited by the energy, talent and love of the brand within Martin Audio,” says Harter.

Phil Price has been named president of the Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers for a term of three years, taking over from Tony Smith. www.isce.org.uk

International Audio Group has appointed Peter Peck as head of marketing for its Wharfedale Pro division. Previously, Peck held positions at Yamaha and Steinberg. www.iaggroup.com

Originally joining the Harman group in 1998, primarily to manage the systems supply of equipment to the Millennium Dome project, Harter (right) went on to become sales manager with BSS Audio and ampliﬁer brand C Audio. He left the Harman fold in 2002, spending 10 years with PA systems maker Turbosound as director of R&D and, ultimately, sales director. He rejoined Harman to head up the Harman Mixer BU/ Soundcraft’s global sales operation in December 2012. www.martin-audio.com + See CDD success feature, p60

Yamaha Music Europe has appointed Alex Warren as a new commercial audio sales representative for the UK and Republic Of Ireland. www.yamahaproaudio.com

Fabrizio Romano Bolzoni Powersoft’s new sales manager, rack amps, where he intends to focus on the company’s dealer network development. www.powersoft-audio.com

Sound engineer Jonny Clark joins award-winning rental house Entec Sound & Light as head of sound. “We are very fortunate”, says Entec’s Noreen O’Riordan. www.entec-soundandlight.com

Matthias Bauer has been named the new technical sales consultant ProAVM and MI at Klotz,. In this role Bauer support the national and international sales department. www.klotz-ais.com

www.psneurope.com/business

DEALER NETWORK Essex-based Event Sound & Light (ESL) has become the latest partner to join the Martin Audio MLA loudspeaker array network after investing in a new MLA Compact System 24. The order was fulﬁlled by Martin Audio dealers, LMC Audio. A product demo arranged by Martin Audio and LMC Audio at the Bedford Millennium Studios that convinced them of the sale. As a result, ESL placed an order for 18 MLA Compact cells, six of the large MLX subs and four DD12 enclosures. www.eventsoundandlight.com www.martin-audio.com www.lmcaudio.co.uk Audio-Technica has announced the appointment of a new distributor in Denmark. From 1 April 2016, Kinovox Scandinavia will assume responsibility for Audio-Technica’s range of professional microphones, headphones and accessories in the territory. “I am delighted to have entered into this new agreement with Kinovox. The company has built an excellent reputation working with highly regarded brands and I’m very pleased to see Audio-Technica added to their offering – I consider them true microphone people,” says Dre Klaassen, Audio-Technica export sales manager. www.audio-technica.com www.kinovox.com

P16 APRIL 2016

ISCE offering sound measurement training BY ERICA BASNICKI

14 April ISCE: Sound measurement techniques Wigan, UK www.isce.org.uk

27 April Dante audio network day London, UK www.whitelight.ltd.uk

10-11 May PLASA Focus: Leeds Leeds, UK leeds.plasafocus.com

17 May HD Pro Audio: Avid S6L London, UK www.hdproaudio.co.uk

Real World recording experience with BeatCamp The Institute of Sound and Communication Engineers (ISCE) is once again running its sound measurement techniques training course on 14 April 2016 in Wigan. The course covers the measurement of essential acoustic design parameters, such as background noise level and reverberation time. Attendees will learn which frequency weighting and sound level meter integration time settings to use, how to measure the STI intelligibility performance of a sound system, and the typical site issues that can affect or even invalidate the readings. Course presenter Peter Mapp has lectured all

over the world and was nominated ‘Instructor of the year’ by the National Sound Contractor’s Association of America. He is a contributing author to several technical reference books on audio and acoustics and has written and presented numerous papers to the Institute of Acoustics and Audio Engineering Society. Mapp is a member of several British and International Standards committees and is currently chair of IEC 60268-16, the standard for the measurement of the Speech Transmission Index (STI). For further details and to book, please visit http:// www.isce.org.uk/isce-training/

Audient introduces tuition scholarship BY DAVE ROBINSON The Kilburn-based Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) has introduced the Audient Scholarship, in association with the British audio equipment manufacturer. Representing sponsored tuition for a one-year Professional Diploma in Music Production at the north London facility, the Scholarship begins at the start of the next academic year, September 2016, and leads to a ‘Cert HE Creative Music Production’ which is the foundation for two years of further study on the BA (Hons) Creative Music Production course. The creation of the Audient endowment coincides with a major refit and overhaul of the ICMP recording studios: central to this is a control room with an Audient ASP8024 analogue mixing desk, and two adjoining live rooms. New facilities manager, Mike Sinnott (ex-Alchemea), says: “The ASP8024 is a great sounding console with great mic pres. It also looks great and provides the flexibility to configure to our taste.” Open to applicants from all financial, social and cultural backgrounds, the recipient of the Audient Scholarship will apply through the ICMP website with a link to Soundcloud for their work and a short personal statement around why

they should be selected. Audient’s marketing manager, Andy Allen (pictured, left, with Sinnott) says, “We have always been proud supporters of music education and our new partnership with ICMP offers an exciting opportunity for one lucky student to start their career on the right path. The facilities on offer at ICMP are outstanding and to have an Audient console at the heart of them is a testament to Audient’s investment in education.” icmp.co.uk audient.com

www.psneurope.com/training

BY ERICA BASNICKI

This May, BeatCamp is offering aspiring music producers the opportunity to pair up with industry pros to record tracks in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios. During the two-day immersive experience, participants will be matched up with another music producer and tasked to create a track together. At the end of the weekend, the ﬁnished tracks will be released as an album on iTunes. The event takes place the weekend of 6-8 May, with tickets starting from £795 (€1,030) per person with the option of full board accommodation at the Wiltshire-based studios. Those selected to take part will receive masterclasses and critique from industry ﬁgures including Matt Black (half of music duo Coldcut); Chris Hughes (Tears for Fears producer) and David Bates (A&R behind Dire Straits and Wet Wet Wet). They will also have access to professional session musicians and singers and well as getting the opportunity to hear their mixes through the studio’s famous SSL 9000 XL K desk. Marc Langsman, co-founder of BeatCamp, explains: “Some of the biggest tracks of recent years were the result of artists working together with others. Collaborating shows you a different way of working that can push and inspire you.” Real World’s Tim Oliver adds: “Our studios offer a unique and inspirational environment.” realworldstudios.com thisisbeatcamp.com

P17 APRIL 2016

Belgium

International times This year’s ‘International Week’ (15-19 Feb) at the PXL Music University College in Hasselt featured some 30 workshops, masterclasses and sessions, introducing knowledge and expertise while opening opportunities abroad, notes Marc Maes

ith some 200 students altogether, publicly funded PXL Music offers bachelor educations in music, music management and engineering (studio and live audio). Most of the lecturers work as freelance alongside their job in the music industry, thus giving a to-the-point view on today’s music business. The school is located in a new music campus, with a footprint of 1,600sqm, and features spacious classrooms, meeting rooms, fully equipped rehearsal rooms and a double studio conﬁguration: students can work either on an SSL Duality or on a Neve VRP 48 desk. “There’s a double target with the ‘International Week’,” explains Gert Stinckens, PXL music department manager. “We invite lecturers from abroad, experts in their own ﬁeld, to convey their knowledge to our students. They are developing innovative ideas and teaching elements that aren’t featured in the normal curriculum of the college. And we also welcome former PXL alumni, who made their way on an international level, to give feedback to our students. That’s what the ‘International Week’ is about.” A typical example for the ‘International Week’ was Greg Cohen. Besides his life as a bass player who played with John Zorn, Tom Waits, David Byrne, Elvis Costello and many others, Greg Cohen is a music teacher at the Jazz-Institut-Berlin. “In our typical pop/rock music college, Greg introduced jazz, klezmer and world music,” explains Filip Heurckmans, lecturer studio engineer at PXL. “Two sessions dealt with ‘how to survive as a musician’ and ‘how to record bass sound’.” Another highlight was the (Skyped) masterclass on the SSL Duality console. “Chris Jenkins, SSL director of commercial applications gave an insight on the design of the SSL AWS and Duality consoles and issues like ‘how to get old-school analogue consoles giving DAW control?’,” continued Heurckmans. “The session was organised in collaboration with SSL importer Joystick Audio and co-hosted by lecturer studio engineer Werner Pensaert who also provided an introductory class on working with the SSL Duality.” Other classes included a vocal workshop by (Zap Mama singer) Marie Daulne, and a tandem session by lecturers Malcolm Toft, designer of the Trident consoles, and his partner-engineer Bruno Wynants of Ocean Audio, on the “analogue console in a digital world”. Artist and tour manager Andy Inglis hosted a lecture on music management/live sound in a UK music club, the national

Workshop building a DIY BASTL (Photo: Franck Duchêne)

and international music market. “The key issue of this ‘International Week’ is to cross borders,” underlines Frank Duchêne, lecturer in music production analysis at PXL, and curator of the week. “By getting our students to talk with both lecturers and alumni working abroad, they can be persuaded to pursue their path outside Belgium. Most of the sessions were booked up solid, and a healthy barometer: many students want to go abroad.” Department head Gert Stinckens is convinced that

the biggest challenge is to ﬁnd partners abroad who are willing to open trainee posts or vacancies to foreign graduates. “One of our alumni could work as a trainee in Jamaica’s Tuff Gong studios – a great experience but not evident. It takes quite some effort to match graduates with studios or vacancies in record or management companies.” After some 20 lectures and sessions, the week was concluded by a masterclass on the design of the Kii Three cardioid studio loudspeakers by developer Bruno Putzeys. “It’s all about supporting innovative ideas, also from local designers,” explains Duchêne. “Putzeys and iDeal Audio’s Matthias Aerts set up the workshops: one in a ‘living room’ environment, a second one in our Neve control room. During a network reception hosted by the Belgian AES students, the Kii Three was officially launched before an audience of professionals – closing this year’s ‘International Week’.” www.pxlmusic.be

Bruno Putzeys lecturing about Kii Three speakers (Franck Duchêne)

(L-R): Filip Heurckmans; Gert Stinckens, Vaclav Pelousek, Ondrej Merta, Far right: Frank Dûchene, Seated: Micha Volder and (right) Arne Van Petegem (Photo:: Marc Maes)

www.psneurope.com/training

Digital Mixing Consoles for Live Sound, Theatre and Broadcast

SD7

SD5

SD10 DiGiCo’s digital evolution really began with the release of the D5 Live – a breakthrough console that turned the pro-audio world on its head, and raised eyebrows across the industry. A super-powerful and slick piece of kit, with a massive feature set, which would set the standard for years to come. Fast-forward 5 years, and the first of the SD Series was born – another real trend setter, combining a quick and intuitive user interface, and sonic capabilities that are still yet to be beaten. Each console in the range retains that classic analogue feel, with the ultimate in digital processing. The SD Series raised the bar in many ways: not only in terms of power and flexibility, but creativity; never before had engineers

S21

SD8

SD9

experienced Super FPGA technology, which allowed for massive I/O capabilities, and the ultimate dynamic toolbox, easily accessible at the press of a button or via the touch screen. From the rackmount SD11, all the way up to the flagship SD7, and everything in between, there is an SD console suited to every possible audio application - and they all pack a similar punch. Be it a bar or club gig, a stadium world tour, or a massive broadcast event such as The Grammys or The Oscars, the SD Series is so often the go-to.

Global Launch Hall 3.1 Stand F50 5th April - 8th April 2016

SD11 But it doesn’t end there. DiGiCo has made quite a statement with its latest console, the S21. It’s a baby SD7, at first glance – and the two actually have a lot in common: the same core engine, the same dynamic processing, and even multiple touch screens. S21 packs all the power of its big brothers into a super-compact shell, and and keeps DiGiCo right on the cutting edge of the pro-audio industry. Also, the release of Stealth Core 2™ processing takes the SD series to yet another unsurpassed level of channels, busses and processing power.

DiGiCo UK Ltd. Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600

www.digico.biz

P20 APRIL 2016

New products

FOCUSRITE RED 4PRE

What is it? A 58-in/64-out audio interface featuring four of Focusrite’s specially-developed ‘Red Evolution’ digitally-controlled mic preamps. Details: The preamps boast –129 dB EIN and 63dB of gain, while software control allows recall of settings and stereo linking, plus conﬁguration of HPF, polarity invert and individual phantom power. And another thing… The Red 4Pre includes Focusrite’s ‘Air’ effect, which recreates the sound of the transformer-based mic preamps from the company’s ISA range. www.focusrite.com

RATIONAL ACOUSTICS

JBL

B&C SPEAKERS

What is it? The latest version of the company’s dual-channel, FFT-based software analyser, now with easier measurement conﬁguration.

What is it? An updated version of JBL’s conﬁguration and control software for live sound systems, with a host of new improvements.

What is it? A subwoofer with a new, longer, four layer aluminium voice coil.

Details: SMAART v8 features easier measurement conﬁguration, a new tab-based interface, broadband metering for all input devices, Smaart-to-Smaart API remote control and improved stability and security.

Details: New features include streamlined device discovery, a simpliﬁed process for specifying the number of cabinets in a circuit, support for JBL’s VTX M Series monitor speakers and EQ improvements.

And another thing… A new multi-window capability allows users signiﬁcantly increased control over their software environment. www.rationalacoustics.com

And another thing… JBL Line Array Calculator integration now offers the ability to import an array created in LAC into Performance Manager with just one step. www.jblpro.com

SMAART V8

HIQNET PERFORMANCE MANAGER 2.0

www.psneurope.com/technology

21DS115

Details: The copper clad aluminium wire voice coil measures 30mm long, 116mm in diameter, and features a 1700w AES power rating, 99db sensitivity, and over 16.5mm of Xvar. And another thing… “The result is more energy in the gap, higher sensitivity, lower distortion and better overall performance,” says B&C, who are based in Bagno a Ripoli, near Florence, Italy. www.bscspeakers.com

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P22 APRIL 2016

The strategic position: Harman Professional Solutions Division

Augmenting the machine Blake Augsburger has spearheaded a dramatic restructuring at Harman Pro Audio. He even changed it’s name. Here he talks openly and exclusively to Dave Robinson about the future

he last time PSNEurope sat down with Blake Augsburger was in July 2010. On the agenda were some hot topics: manufacturing issues in Mexico and Austria, investment in AVB, the purchase of Brazilian driver maker Selenium ahead of the World Cup and – most tantalisingly – what acquisitions might be coming next. Little did your correspondent know just how aggressively Augburger’s division was going to feast in new markets: ﬁrst gobbling up Danish lighting maker Martin Professional in December 2012, next Dutch beamsteering expert Duran Audio in October 2013, then video control giant AMX in May 2014 (for a cool $365m). But in order to fully exploit all these new verticals, some radical reworking of the company infrastructure has had to take place. Thus Harman Professional Solutions Division was officially inaugurated on 1 October 2015… and once again, PSNEurope was invited to California to sit down with the executive vice president (Harman International) and president, Professional Solutions Division & Americas country manager. There were a few surprises in store…

Let’s start with the new company structure. BA: We used to be organised around products: a mixer business unit (BU), a microphones BU, a signal processing BU and so on … Then we started the acquisitions – ﬁrst lighting, then video. Our strategy the whole time has been to sell complete systems or solutions. In fact, we even changed our name: we’re now the Harman Professional Solutions Division. But it’s difficult to [sell solutions] when you’re set up with a P&L based on products, because your motivation, your ‘solutions’ targets are not necessarily aligned with the guy who has, say, the same P&L for mixers. We were having a hard time taking advantage of our new lighting and video offerings and integrating them into what we were already doing. For instance, AMX sold direct, [while the] audio brands sold through a distribution channel, so we had channel conﬂicts. We had things holding us back from taking full advantage of what we’d been building. So, we put everything together, broke down the walls and created two Strategic Business Units (SBUs): Enterprise, our installation business, and Entertainment, our tour, cinema and retail business. We went from having seven product-based SBUs to two large SBUs, centred around the customers they serve, which allows us to see complete solutions down multiple channels.

We had things holding us back from taking full advantage of what we’d been building

Before, the product BUs had their own engineering departments – they made great consoles and ampliﬁers, etc – but while products worked well together, they weren’t “seamless”. Now, putting the teams together, the engineering team is driving a product roadmap based on a complete solution: for a nightclub, for a rental company and so on. This solves so many problems, internally and externally – we can talk about it with our customers and sell at a high level. The beneﬁts are large.

While the new structure went ‘live’ on 1

www.psneurope.com/business

October 2015, how long before that have you wanted to do this? A year ago. It was a lot of work – it’s a big shift – we’re more than a billion dollars in revenue with 4,000-plus employees, it’s a big ship that you’re turning around.

Have you managed to do that without throwing people overboard? Some people self-selected out. There were some upgrades, and some mutual separations. As a whole, the casualties have been small and fairly painless. Whenever you do something like this, there’s always

P23 APRIL 2016

going to be a bit of a challenge.

And hiring? We’ve always focused on hiring the best mixing guy, the best signal processing guy … now we want to hire the best stadium guy, the best hospitality guy. The guy or gal who knows more about the hotel business than the BSS router.

Back to the structure … On the Entertainment side [under Bryan Bradley], there are two Customer Solution Units – Scott Robbins for the Retail CSU, Brian Divine for the Touring and Cinema CSU. If you look at Enterprise, run by Kevin Morrison in Dallas: he has Kevin Bowyer running CEG [corporate, education, government], that’s our traditional AMX business, a lot of conference rooms and huddle spaces, selling to banks and hospitals, any kind of corporate environment. Then we have Hospitality under Dave McKinney – cruise ships, nightclubs, casinos, houses of worship – that’s also where we put the broadcast business and the Studer brand. And then there’s Large Venue – stadiums and arenas, transportation, trains stations, theme parks.

Moving stuff around is a pain, it’s hard work, but it’s not our ﬁrst rodeo, we’ve been doing this a long time That pretty much encompasses the main verticals we serve. The logic makes a lot of sense, it ﬂows well. I’ve listened hard and don’t think I’ve heard a negative comment about the structure yet. We’ve been heavily communicating about this, and I think it’s the right way to go. It gives us the structure we need to take the next step.

Looking at the acquisitions: AMX, as you have already implied, was a very important step. AMX is a big video player, for switching and video infrastructure. That was a big piece to the puzzle. I’ve been working on this acquisition for 10 years.

Before that, Martin Professional was the ﬁrst major acquisition, in December 2012.

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That’s been a good deal for us, we bought them at the right time – the deal’s been good ﬁnancially, they had the right products coming out at the right time.

What was the main consequence of that acquisition, as far as manufacturing goes? We have built a large production facility in Hungary, and have moved our lighting production from Denmark to Hungary, and all of our mixing production from Potters Bar to Hungary. We already have several thousand people in Hungary who work for the automotive group (in Székesfehérvár) to the west of Budapest; the new factory is 90 minutes to the south. It’s all about costs: it’s very expensive to do production in Denmark and the UK. We’re very happy with the labour quality in Hungary, and having a team there already, it seemed like a natural ﬁt. We were out of production at Potters Bar at the end of the year and out of Denmark in March. We’re already building lights and some Studer consoles there.

Back in December 2009, you said how you’d spent a lot of time and money working on the “biggest console facility in the world” in Potters Bar. It seems a shame all that is going. It’s no longer cost viable. [Emphatically] In six years, business

P24

The strategic position: Harman Professional Solutions Division

APRIL 2016

has changed dramatically. It’s much more competitive. To keep moving forward, you’ve got to keep an eye on your costs, push technology and innovation, and try to stay ahead of the other guy. In 2009, that was the best I had; today, I have critical mass for large-scale, highquality electronics manufacturing in Hungary. By doing this, we’ve stepped up our game considerably. One of our strategies was, we wanted to manufacture the whole chain. All our loudspeakers, for instance: control the entire vertical – a wood mill, we make our own transducers, the whole chain. In 2009, we didn’t have enough critical mass to open our own manufacturing facility, because back then, we didn’t own Martin Professional. If I’d have built a factory in Hungary and just put Studer consoles there, I wouldn’t have had enough volume to make the cost calculation work. But now, I can fill that factory, absorb all the overheads and take maximum benefit on the low hourly rates. So it makes sense. But I would have done it a long time ago if I could have figured out how to do it. Running these small factories is tough: it takes away from what I want to focus on, which is engineering and innovation. Moving stuff around is a pain, it’s hard work, but it’s not our first rodeo, we’ve been doing this a long time. At the end of the day, the customer is going to get a better quality product coming out of Hungary, I really believe that.

Let’s get back to the audio acquisitions (after all, this is Pro Sound News!). Duran Audio was next in 2013. That’s more of a technology play for us, in particular Intellivox technology, for train stations and airports, reverberant areas, and Duran gave us that. It was a good deal.

Be proud of your sound

And then there’s the tunnel business … [A lot of Duran’s revenue was generated by voice evacuation and emergency systems in road tunnels – Ed.] But a lot of that business has been put on hold after the 2008/2009 crisis – we’re still hoping that will come to fruition. The jobs are there, just not the money. Oh, my gosh, if you were to look at the opportunity business for tunnels … but it will come back in time. In live sound, too, we’re looking at how we apply the Duran beam-steering application. There’s a lot there we can use.

Are you still “aggressively pursuing opportunities”, as you’ve put it previously? As a corporation, no. [Pauses] You are always looking – it’s a continuous process – but I couldn’t pinpoint what we’re looking at. I will tell you that I’m really busy absorbing this reorganisation and taking care of my factory in Europe, so give me a little time – when we’re done with that, then we can talk about this then [laughs].

Let’s look at some brands and some products. The Soundcraft Performer console, with its lighting control features: In July 2012, that was a brave attempt to create a new market. Is that still something you’re still looking at? There’s a little bit of that going on, but it’s very limited – for nightclubs or small bands. But if you were doing a professional production, you probably wouldn’t follow that path.

Another European brand: AKG. How is that performing? We’re doing OK – it’s really good with headphones, we’re doing much, much better with wired mics, we need to do better with wireless. It’s proﬁtable, but we’re still number four [behind Sennheiser, Shure and Audio-Technica]. But it has a bigger role in the total corporation, because we do a lot in consumer headphones and in automotive: a lot of European cars have an AKG mic in the dash. It’s powerful within Harman, but it’s an area we’re focusing on: we see opportunity and they do have killer, top-of-the-pyramid product.

Your biggest brand: JBL. We’re still not seeing VTX on riders in Europe …

Wireless Microphones

Wireless IEM

But it’s getting better. We’ve made some recent wins – SSE Audio Group for instance – and there are more in the pipeline. Part of the beauty of this new structure, and having a CSU speciﬁc for Touring, allows us to go out and focus on that vertical market. And if you were to look at the priority list for touring audio, number one is Europe. We’re going to have more demo gear there, more full time people there to run it, we’re going to take it by storm. We are deﬁnitely doubling down on improving our business in Europe! My message to you is we are focused, and we are going to do better. The VTX V20 is a great box. We’ve always had the products, just not the structure to go after that market. And up until last year, our rigging wasn’t as fantastic as it is now. We didn’t even have a demo rig in Europe before!

You said in 2010 you were “a thousand percent” invested in AVB. Here’s the deal: I’m still in too far, and I’m still in a thousand percent! [But] I’ve got to do what the customer wants, and right now, the customer wants a Dante solution. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve taken a whole agnostic approach to networking. AVB works well in automotive because you don’t need a switch. The work we did there did not go to waste. And if someone comes up with a switching solution, we’re in the game! But my eggs are not all in that basket, and they never were. [Meanwhile] a majority of customers want Dante now.

How was the World Cup for you? America's most popular range of wireless microphones and IEM including the world’s smallest belt-pack transmitter

Awesome. We did 10 out of 12 stadiums. We did Sao Paolo airport and underground, Rio airport we’re doing for the Olympics… We bought [Brazilian driver manufacturer] Selenium for those two events, and it has deﬁnitely exceeded our expectations and helped us pay for the acquisition. Brazil is not a great place to be right now, but it’s done well for us.

And it’s all paid for?

wireless sound solutions visit: www.raycom.co.uk email: sales@raycom.co.uk call: 01789 777040

Oh yeah. And we’ve used that as a starting point for our automotive business, by building a factory in Manaus. [Laughs] It’s the hottest place you’ve been to in your life! www.harmanpro.com

www.psneurope.com/business

System enhancer.

The new DS10 Audio network bridge is not just an ordinary Dante interface: it is the next step in the d&b system DSSURDFK ,Q FRPELQDWLRQ ZLWK WKH G E DPSOLĂ&#x20AC;HUV WKH QHZ DS10 streamlines the complete d&b sound reinforcement V\VWHP 2QH SLHFH RI UHPRWH FRQWURO VRIWZDUH RQH DXGLR QHWZRUN EULGJH RQH FRQVLVWHQW DPSOLĂ&#x20AC;HU '63 SODWIRUP DQ HQWLUHW\ ZKHUH HDFK Ă&#x20AC;WV DOO www.dbaudio.com

Welcome to System reality.

P26 APRIL 2016

Studio

Main studio control room

FRANCE

Miscendo finds right blend Guillaume Schouker talks to Nicolas Stawski as he builds the reputation of his new studio project

ecording engineer and producer Nicolas Stawski has opened the Miscendo Recording Studio in the former Studio D of Studio Omega, (also run as Dcybelart Studio) in the community of Suresnes on the western outskirts of Paris. Véronique Péry, company chairwoman of Studio Omega, reveals, “ When I took over the business premises in 2014, I preferred to share the premises with young recording engineers and composer/musicians, as to create a busy and pleasant working place. An opportunity to take over two recording facilities and offices, still in Suresnes, made me decide to grant the wish of Nicolas who was hoping to take over the full lease from early 2015.” Péry recalls: “This young recording engineer who was brought up at Studio de la Grande Armée [located at Porte Maillot, not far from the Champs Elysées] came many years ago to do sessions in our [Omega] Studio A. He was like a kid at Toys R Us!” “We always kept in touch,” continues Péry, “even if he was working in a competing studio. When he learnt that I was taking over the lease in 2014, we started talking and rapidly formed a contract. I liked his entrepreneurial, fighting, optimistic character and it all drove me to accompany him in this huge project.” Miscendo Recording Studio’s owner, Nicolas Stawski, explains, “The idea of grouping my mixing activities together with my production ones seemed to be extremely convenient to me. So I decided to choose this control room, larger in dimensions than my original idea, but which enabled me to build my proper mixing configuration.” Stawski didn’t want the risks or complications of building something from scratch. “Starting from an existing studio that has proved itself was a reassuring idea. Also, on the financial point of view, it was easier

to take over a structure and control the installation budget.” Miscendo Recording Studio is based around an SSL AWS 924 console with two Avid Pro Tools version 11.2 HDX (2 x 196 I/O). Stawski says: “Though I am accustomed to working on an SSL 4000 G series or a Neve VR60 console, I came across the SSL board a bit by chance and I’ve never quit it since. I mix a lot with the Pro Tools system and analogue [outboard]. “The SSL AWS enables me to add the tonal characteristics of the pre-amps and also of the EQs when I need them. Furthermore, the control of the monitoring is very pleasant and reliable. It is also a very practical surface to drive the Pro Tools and integrate fader mix automation.“ Main monitoring is through an impressive system consisting of Kinoshita RM7 Vesa and TAD Custom speakers with JMF Audio 9001 amplifier. Stawski continues: “This is the result of a lot of deep reflections with the company JMF Audio. I was a great fan of their amplifiers, but also of their mentality and approach regarding monitoring. By identifying my needs, they offered me this set-up we tested out. This was, in my sense, the right answer to my needs. My set-up goes straight from the console to the amplifiers, which gives me the most straight forward sound.” Outboard equipment includes Universal Audio LA2A, Neve 1073 DPD,

www.psneurope.com/studio

Neve 8803, dbx 160A, Empirical Labs Distressor, SPL Vitalizer, Bricasti Design System 2; in addition to Pro Tools, the engineer runs Logic Pro X, Waves Mercury, AutoTune (of course!) and VocAlign. The larger business premises of Miscendo is also home for several studios, busy with composers or producers. “They work autonomously but use Studio A sometimes for recordings or mixing. The main idea is that they can beneﬁt from the structure and the pooling of each other’s talent! It is a skills core which we develop and share.” Since its opening, Miscendo Recording Studio has seen projects and artists such as Shy’m, Kenji Girac, Tenny, Black M, Grand Corps Malade, Ridsa and the musical Les 3 Mousquetaires [The Three Musketeers]. And the name of the facility? ‘Miscendo’ in Latin means mixing or blending. Perfectus! jmf-audio.com www.reyaudio.com solidstatelogic.com Twitter: @miscendostudio Plenty of space in the live room

P28 APRIL 2016

Studio

UNITED STATES

Phill’s still rolling An exclusive extract from the autobiography of the man who recorded them all Following his captivating and illuminating appearance at PSNPresents in March, engineer and author Phill Brown has allowed us to reprint an exclusive extract from his book, Are We Still Rolling? Studios, Drugs and Rock n Roll – One Man’s Journey Recording Classic Albums. So let’s go back to June 1976, and Brown is in the USA to record Robert Palmer’s third solo album (later to be named Some People Can Do What They Like) with Steve Smith producing…

e started work at Clover Recorders, a 16-track recording studio at 6232 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. The studio had been set up by Robert Appere, an American engineer I had met on my first visit to L.A. in 1972. Appere was a speedy, intense man with an aggressive sense of humour. He had recorded Little Feat’s Dixie Chicken album and always had his fingers in various pies. The studio was neat, compact and a similar size and layout to Basing Street’s Studio 2. The control room housed an excellent API desk, UREI compressors and a few effects, including the usual 1970s equipment of ADT machines and harmonisers. The monitors felt accurate, and it appeared to be an easy room to work in. The studio room was moderately live and could comfortably accommodate about 10 musicians. There was also a collection of offices, a games room and a corridor with drink machines and telephones. The small staff was friendly and relaxed, and I immediately felt at home. We started work on the 2nd of August with Richie Hayward on drums, James Jamerson on bass, Paul Barrere and Steve Cropper on guitars, Bill Payne on keyboards and Jody Linscott on percussion. For some of the tracks we used various combinations of other musicians – Michael “Spider” Webb and Jeff Porcaro on drums, Pierre Brock, Carol Kaye and Chuck Rainey on bass and James Alan Smith and William D “Smitty” Smith on keyboards. As usual we worked quickly, with Robert in the studio doing live vocals and directing the band. For the first eight days we started at 7pm and worked through until about 4am. This gave me plenty of time off in the mornings to swim, sunbathe and adjust to LA time. We then moved to 2pm starts with a slightly different band – we now had the combination of Jeff Porcaro, Paul Barrere, Smitty, Bill Payne, Pierre Brock and Jody. This became a favourite combination of mine, both for the playing and for the characters themselves, but the discipline was loose and it could be difficult to get everyone together in the studio at the same time to start work. The days were

always slow to get started, and there was always somebody missing – usually to be found on the telephone. About 10 days in we all gathered one day at 2pm in the control room for another day’s recording. We were discussing what song to record next, as all our selected demo songs now had master takes that we were happy with. Paul was chopping out lines of coke on an empty 2-inch tape spool, and as usual there was a relaxed, nonworking atmosphere. I loaded up the 16-track tape machine with fresh tape and powered up various compressors and outboard equipment. Robert went to the mic and started singing the opening lines to the Lowell George song Spanish Moon. Bill Payne joined in on electric piano. Slowly, one by one, the rest of the band joined in and they soon settled on an even tempo. When Jeff Porcaro started playing harder I thought we could be onto something, so I put the 16-track machine into record, re-checked my levels and signaled to Robert that we were rolling. A minute later Robert yelled, “Okay. From the top,” and Jeff counted in. They were off. Six minutes later we had a complete take. Jeff’s drum stool had broken after a drum fill, but he kept on playing, half standing and with a large grin on his face. An excited and noisy band came into the control room for a playback – they knew it was a good take. It had a neat, sneaky intro and settled into a great feel between bass and drums – steady and tight. The track started to build and soon the whole band was flying, Hammond organ, electric piano and guitar all spiraling around each other. Everyone listened with their eyes closed and big grins on their faces. The track continued to play, featuring Smitty on organ and then stripping down to basic instrumentation. It was a great take, and Steve said what we were all thinking, “Fucking great, guys. That’s our master.” It was now 2:45pm. Steve said, “Okay guys. What song are we gonna do next?” – déjà vu. We overdubbed and mixed Spanish Moon later that evening. A finished track recorded, overdubbed and mixed in a day – so easy. Originally, staying in the house on Mulholland Drive had seemed a good idea, but Lee entertained a great deal and threw around three parties a week, which often carried on all night. We would come back from the studio tired at 2 or 3am to be met by the Hollywood cool (and on one occasion [Santana drummer] Michael Shrieve and Joni Mitchell). We would feel obliged to be sociable and stay up drinking beer, playing pool and taking coke from a large pile in the middle of a glass table, snorting it through a rolled up $1,000 bill. We also had to listen to a vast collection of LA space cadets who recited poetry, told stories about extraterrestrials or tried to impress us enough to get a gig with us. After a

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Brown (left) recording with Robert Palmer (right) and assitant Barry Page (rear) in the ‘70s

Brown at PSNPresents in March

couple of weeks we’d all had enough. The ﬁnal decider for me came when I returned home one night and found some guy with a blonde in my room – not only in my room, but also in my bed, screwing. I crashed in Jody’s room, and in the morning Robert and I checked into apartments at the Sunset Marquis. Steve and Jody followed two days later, and we all stayed there for the rest of the album. It was good for all of us to be back at the Sunset Marquis again and to be able to enjoy some privacy. Steve’s girlfriend Stephanie turned up, and little was seen of either of them outside of studio hours. Robert still disappeared into the night after sessions for unknown activities. One night he rang my doorbell at 5am. “I was looking for something to smoke, and, well, look… I’ve got a double act happening. Why don’t you come along and join in?” he slurred. Realising with some surprise that Robert had brought two women home to his bedroom, I replied, “Er… here’s some hash. Probably not, but I’ll think about it.” I went to bed. Robert’s next album was called Double Fun, but there was probably no connection.

Are We Still Rolling? Phill Brown Studios, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll One Man’s Journey Recording Classic Albums

© Phill Brown 2010. Extract taken from Are We Still Rolling? Studios, Drugs and Rock n Roll – One Man’s Journey Recording Classic Albums, published by Tape Op Books (www.tapeop.com), distributed by Hal Leonard (www.halleonard.com), available via Amazon

P30 APRIL 2016

Studio

The unique Neve desk in control room A (All photos: Jean-Baptiste Mondino)

FRANCE

A spirit of continuity One year ago, Saint-Germain Studios opened in Paris, rue de Seine – an address made famous by Acousti, the oldest independent recording studio in France. As Franck Ernould notes, the music has returned

ituated close to Saint-Germain Boulevard in central Paris, Acousti studios were founded in 1963 by a rich American music lover, who dedicated the place to jazz recording. Housed in a building in the back of a quiet courtyard, Acousti had, on the upper floor, a 1,000sqft space with a 13 feet-high ceiling and superb acoustics, hosting a gorgeous Steinway ‘D’ concert piano. Attracted by French art de vivre, many American jazzmen recorded there in the 1960s and ‘70s (including John Lewis, Steve Coleman, Shirley Horn, Charlie Haden…), along with French singers (Juliette Gréco, Mouloudji) and more. A second, smaller studio was built on the ground floor to host more sessions. Alain Cluzeau became Acousti house engineer in the 70s. A former folk musician, he loved acoustic recording, and respected Acousti jazz (Petrucciani, Louiss, Portal…) and film music tradition. In 1980, Alan Parsons produced The Turn of a Friendly Card there; even Mick Jagger came in for several sessions. Sold by its original American owner, Acousti kept busy into the ‘90s, despite radical technological choices – no SSL, but two Euphonix CS3000 consoles, and no digital multitrack. But it was not to last, and in 2012 the studio filed for bankruptcy. Enter Pierre Guimard, Matthieu Tessier and Raphael Hamburger. Guimard and Tessier are Choke Industry label founders; Hamburger is a film musical supervisor and a label manager too (Hamburger Records). Each of them already owned instruments and studio gear, but they nevertheless bought a lot of equipment at the Acousti vintage clearance sale, including tape recorders (a 24-track Studer A827 and ½-inch Ampex) and microphones. A new studio name was also sought. Guimard:

The historical Saint-Germain studio, complete with its Steinway ‘D’ grand piano.

Studio B control room, rebuilt with a Duality console

“Acousti was an emblematic name, but somewhat old-fashioned. ‘Saint-Germain’ emphasizes the studio location, near Boulevard Saint-Germain, and identiﬁes it as new: we wanted to emancipate from the past, while fully respecting it.” The same respect was applied when refurbishing the place. Fifty-year-old wood panels and ﬂoors were carefully cleaned, and the trapezoidal acoustic treatment elements from the ‘60s left in place. The three partners wanted a Neve console for Studio A, the control room of which they left almost intact. They had already found an old Neve in New Zealand,

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but [Neve specialist] Blake Devitt told them about a unique BBC 44-channel, U-shaped, mixing console, made in 1970 for radio drama production. He came to Paris to install it himself, upgrading it with Flying Faders automation. This unique 3188 desk is now the jewel of the Studio A, hooked up to a powerful Pro Tools HD rig. Inaugurated later, the control room of Studio B has a more modern approach, hosting an SSL 48-channel Duality console. The studio itself is smaller (400sqft), and the control room was completely rebuilt by [studio architect] Christian Malcurt. There’s a third smaller control room, equipped with a small Studer console, often used by Universal Publishing to work with new artists. French producer François de la Brière also has his own production/mixing facility there. As Hamburger says, “We were lucky to be able to preserve one of Paris’ oldest and most mythical recording studios. The economical situation for music is difficult these days, and it may seem mad to invest a lot of money in such a place. But we deal with demanding customers, who know they will be satisﬁed here.” Guimard: “In a studio, a musical creation place, every instant is important. People love the studio, the acoustics, there’s a peculiar mood here. We offer high-level services, with a house engineer, Stan Neff, and three assistants, while keeping the original atmosphere intact. It’s a mix of vintage and high-end contemporary tools.” The studios have been pretty busy in the last year or so: several scores for movies, a tribute to Chet Baker, albums by famous French singers Patricia Kaas and Marc Lavoine, and the studio regularly hosts musical TV shows. A 5.1 set-up for the B control room is next in the plan…. www.facebook.com/lesstudiossaintgermain

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P32 APRIL 2016

Technology feature: Headphones

Rudimental perform at Brixton, replete with Audio-Technica headphones

It will all end in ears

From high-end headphones suitable for recording in the studio and on the road, to more personalised products reﬂecting the user’s ‘personal style’, there is plenty of evidence to substantiate the claim of one key industry observer that “the market for professional headphones has never been stronger”. David Davies proﬁles some of the most striking recent launches.

t might not be the area of professional audio that generates the greatest number of column inches, and it is certainly hardly ever the cause of widespread industry controversy. But for its sustained track record of reﬁnement and subtle innovation, the pro headphones market surely deserves to be a more frequent topic of debate. What’s more, practically everyone attests to the sector’s continued good health. “I don’t think the market for professional headphones has ever been stronger, actually,” suggests Tom Harrold, marketing manager EMEA, AudioTechnica. “We’re seeing more and more music production taking place in non-studio environments, from bedroom setups to programming/mixing while artists are travelling – all places where traditional monitoring is either impossible or sub-optimal. Pro monitoring headphones are now good enough to allow artists and producers to get serious work done away from the studio – and the relatively small outlay for even a great set of headphones is an investment people are very willing to make.” Philipp Schuster, product line manager, headphones & headsets at Harman’s AKG, also draws attention to the underlying quality drive and the burgeoning “interest in mobility – even in professional users. Music is produced on the road and in hotel rooms more often than ever before. That means meeting the growing need for lighter, more comfortable and more portable headphones without sacriﬁcing the best sound.” Unsurprisingly, the upshot of these developments is that pro headphones remains highly competitive, “but customers see the value in spending appropriately to get a product that will perform properly – particularly if they’re using them in demanding professional (or aspiring professional) situations,” notes Harrold. “So while they want

to get a good deal, of course, pro headphone customers don’t always buy solely on price.” Jannik Schentek – portfolio manager for professional headphones, pro division at Sennheiser – agrees that the market is “very competitive, especially in the price segment below 200 euros. DJ headphones continue to be extremely strong, in parallel with EDM, and Sennheiser is well-positioned here. We have actually just launched the HD 25, which is among the all-time classics in this area. The studio business is also going strong, and we see a rise in the demand for home recording headphones as well.”

QUESTION OF COMFORT Although there are plenty of allusions to improved technical features – extended frequency response, superior cabling and so on – there is no doubt that ‘comfort’ is the most commonly used term about the latest generation of headphone designs. Ease of use over protracted listening periods, both in the studio and on the road, is clearly – and very understandably – a key priority. For example, from Audio-Technica, there is the ATH-R70x – billed as the company’s ﬁrst pair of open-back reference headphones and “designed to deliver very natural, accurate sound in a model that’s extremely comfortable for long sessions. They’re incredibly light at only 200g or so – thanks partly to the headphones’ aluminium honeycomb mesh housings, which are also acoustically transparent – meaning that the R70x never becomes fatiguing.” Following through on his aforementioned identiﬁcation of the increased demand for “lighter, more comfortable and more portable headphones,” Schuster points to AKG’s K182 – “a pair of affordable, closed-back studio headphones that [takes these] needs into account. Foldable, robust and, like

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Pro monitoring headphones are now good enough to allow artists and producers to get serious work done away from the studio – and the relatively small outlay for even a great set of headphones is an investment people are very willing to make.

Tom Harrold, Audio-Technica all of our latest headphones, it’s sensitive enough to provide ample output when connected to mobile devices.” Ease of use for the engineer is also highlighted prominently in the materials surrounding Sony ‘ﬂagship’ headphone product MDR-Z7. Designed to deliver the “best in sound and comfort for audiophiles”, the MDR-Z7s offer reproduction of subtle high frequency sounds up to 100kHz, as well as featuring 70mm HD drivers featuring Liquid Crystal Polymers, and a full metal design. Meanwhile, Sennheiser has made comfort a chief priority for the revamped HD 280 pro headphones, on show at Prolight + Sound this month ahead of introduction in the summer. “The HD 280 has been one of our most successful monitoring headphones, ever since we launched it 15 years ago. The new version features various mechanical

P33 APRIL 2016

Setting up the KSE1500 for use on the go

The Shure KSE1500 Electrostatic Earphone System

improvements – one of them being a new headband design and padding that results in increased comfort during monitoring jobs,” says Schentek.

to 24-bit/96kHz conversion rate, customisable four-band parametric EQ with five standard and four user-defined settings, rechargeability and input level meters. “The KSE1500 system provides the level of quality reproduction and customisability that allows you to confidently mix/master/work on your project, even when you are away from your control room,” says Sean Sullivan, manager, global product management at Shure.

STUDIO SPECIFIC Increasingly, servicing the needs of producers and engineers calls for multiple working environments – pro studio, project studio, rehearsal room et al – to be taken into account. And that means noise cancellation and ease of connectivity tend to be on highly placed on the customer’s shopping list. On the topic of noise exclusion, Christian Ern – head of portfolio management, select headphones, consumer division at Sennheiser – points to the company’s NoiseGard advanced active noise cancellation technology, described as “a proven and tested solution to cope with demanding use scenarios. […] Headphones featuring NoiseGard use four microphones to efficiently monitor and block ambient noise, and thereby provide a perfect listening experience in even the noisiest environments.” Not surprisingly, the boom in portable solutions has also raised the bar in terms of connectivity. “Wireless headphones and especially products featuring Bluetooth technology have definitely been a growing segment over the past years,” says Ern. “Consumers want to be able to enjoy excellent sound anywhere and subsequently look for portable solutions. Sennheiser has long-standing expertise in the field of high performance wireless audio, which is the foundation of our latest Bluetooth models in the Momemtum and Urbanite ranges.” Harrold also highlights the Bluetooth boom: “As a manufacturer of high end hi-fi and consumer-focused headphones as well as professional models, we’ve of course noticed a move to Bluetooth and innovative control in the wider headphone market, but professional users remain focused on the need for honesty, reliability and comfort.” Design standards of in-ear products are on the rise, too, in partial response to the portability trend. Launched at NAMM 2016, Audio-Technica’s E40, E50 and E70 “represent interesting developments in portable sound,” says Harrold.

HIGH-END HEROES

Shure’s Sean Sullivan: “Europe is performing well, the US too”

“The industry’s seeing a real demand for high-quality earphones that can do ‘double duty’ for on-stage in-ears and also allow musicians to use them for production, etc. Previously, really great sound was the preserve of larger, over-ear headphones, but driver technology now allows us to deliver amazing sound in the in-ear format. It’s something that customers are responding to very positively, so it’ll be interesting to see how this segment of the market develops in the coming years.” Shure, too, has been active of late in this area with products including the KSE1500 Electrostatic Earphone System, which consists of single-driver, Sound Isolating electrostatic earphones matched to a USB digital-toanalogue converter. The KSE1500’s feature-set includes up

Whilst there is no denying the present level of competition in the mid to lower tiers and ‘prosumer’ areas of the market, there is little sign of slowdown in the creation of new products positioned firmly at the higher-end of the market. For recording, mixing and DJing, it seems, quality remains non-negotiable. Among the most notable recent launches into this area is Audio-Technica’s M50x, which is an updated version of the M50 that has “sold in enormous numbers worldwide for tracking, mixing, DJ and general listening duties,” says Harrold. “The M50x has quickly become one of AudioTechnica’s best-selling products and features upgrades including detachable cables and improved earpads, while retaining the M Series sonic signature.” The flagship of the line is the M70x and “displays that signature sound, with an extended frequency response, which makes them extremely detailed and revealing. They’re also non-folding (unlike the M50x) and feature an aluminium frame, which marks them out as a more dedicated studio-oriented option than the M50x.” Without doubt one of the highest-profile of all hightier launches of the year, the Sennheiser HE 1 even

Music is produced on the road and in hotel rooms more often than ever before. That means meeting the growing need for lighter, more comfortable and more portable headphones without sacriﬁcing the best sound

Philipp Schuster, AKG www.psneurope.com/business

P34 APRIL 2016

Technology feature: Headphones system is truly pushing the limits of the acoustically and technically feasible; it combines a very special, new ampliﬁer concept with highest quality materials and craftsmanship. And while this is a truly unique product, it reﬂects the spirit and workmanship that goes into every Sennheiser product.”

You say you want a what?

PERSONAL STYLE

Sennheiser’s Jannik Schentek – portfolio manager for professional headphones

arrives complete with its own dedicated campaign song (Tiny Human by long-term PSNEurope favourite, singer/ songwriter/producer Imogen Heap). A descendent of the iconic, electrostatic Orpheus HE 90/HEV 90, the HE 1 features no fewer than 6,000 individual parts. The headphones cover an ultra-wide frequency range of between 8Hz and 100kHz, whilst the distortion level of just 0.001% at a sound press level of 100dB is said to be the lowest ever measured in a sound reproduction system. Gold-vapourised ceramic transducers are used to deliver outstanding electrical and acoustic performance, while the vacuum tubes are wrapped in high-quality quartz bulbs to prevent any sonic inﬂuence. With a quoted UK price tag of £40K, the HE1 is certainly located at the very top of the high-end, but its technical credentials are undisputable. For Schentek, the introduction of the HE1 means that Sennheiser “has opened a new chapter in audio excellence. This new reference headphone

Although seemingly a more minor trend in the pro market, there is also evidence of what Ern describes as a “growing desire among customers to express their personal style and character with their choice of headphones”. To this end, Sennheiser points to the Momentum and Urbanite ranges, and most recently of all to the F703 Sennheiser x Freitag (x as in ‘multiplied by’). “Limited to just 1,500 units, this edition of our Urbanite headphones was designed in collaboration with Swiss accessory manufacturer Freitag and features our Urbanite Black on-ear headphones – each of them turned into a oneof-a-kind model by Freitag, with bold coloured swatches of recycled truck tarpaulins covering the headband. For a complete, individualised look, the headphones are accompanied by a case which is manufactured from the same piece of tarpaulin featured on the headbands,” explains Ern. On the basis of the examples gathered together in this overview, it seems reasonable to conclude that innovation is currently at an all-time high in every part of the headphone market. While vendors certainly need to be price-aware, it is portability and enduring quality that remain the market’s primary drivers. And what’s more, this can be said to apply on a truly global level. “Europe is performing well, the US too, and Japan and parts of Asia are really driving forward,” says Sullivan. “We notice this in particular with portable headphones and the amount of activity taking place there, and also in a general push for quality.”

AKG K182: “Affordable, closed-back studio headphones”

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(L-R): Sennheiser’s Norbert Hilbich (director spectrum affairs & system design); Daniel Sennheiser, holding the reproduction HD414s; Robert Genereux (business director system design, strategic collaborations)

Shards from Jimi Hendrix’s and Pete Townshend’s shattered guitars... The brown fringe jacket Roger Daltrey wore at Woodstock…. Handwritten lyrics for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles… The suits worn by John Lennon and George Harrison on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band… All of these incredible artifacts are to be included in a major cultural retrospective to be held at the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum in September 2016. Called You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966–70, the exhibition will explore the era-defining significance and impact of the late 1960s upon life today. It follows the success of 2013’s David Bowie Is and once again, Sennheiser technology, including the GUIDEport system and the emerging AMBEO 3D environment, will play a major part in the presentation and production of the show. Details of Record and Rebels 1966-70 – which will run from September 2016 to February 2017 – were revealed at former legendary ’60s bar (now a private club) the Bag O’ Nails in London at the end of February. Introducing his company to the guests and journalists invited to the launch, co-CEO Daniel Sennheiser spoke of how his grandfather’s business had mass-produced the HD414 headphones starting in 1968, and how it had gone on to be the “most sold headphone in the world”. “My grandfather [Fritz Sennheiser] asked the distributor at the time how many they could sell,” recounts Daniel, “but no one could imagine having a hi-fi sound ‘in your head’. The distributor said, maybe 500 worldwide. But grandfather said, to make it work financially, I need to make 5,000. “So he made 5,000 – and it was sold out in three months. And today, more than 12 million pieces have been produced. And we can still sell you replacement earpads for a 1968 pair!” revealed Daniel.

P36 APRIL 2016

Broadcast

Jeroen Kijk in der Vegte (left) and Bart Lamberigts at Studio Stevens (Photo: P Fitzgal)

BELGIUM

Everything but the transmitter With a Prodys IP-codec and high performance access to a ﬁbre-optic telecom network, Studio Stevens can deliver radio content to any station in the world, notes Marc Maes

tudio Stevens is the brainchild of two radio professionals: Jeroen Kijk in de Vegte, who made his way as presenter, producer and voice-over for leading Dutch radio and TV stations, and Kenneth Stevens, a radio DJ for Belgian commercial station Qmusic. In 2011, the pair decided to share a loft “somewhere between Brussels and Hilversum”, and Antwerp was an obvious choice. “A first step towards today’s fully fledged radio studio was the installation of a 19” rack with an amplifier, monitors, headphones and an ISDN connection to transfer the audio content to client stations in The Netherlands like RTL Television and the Dutch public radio

NPO,” explains Kijk in de Vegte. As business continued to grow with radio presentations, technical radio content production and voice-over assignments, Stevens and Kijk in de Vegte decided to upgrade the studio conﬁguration. “The plan was triggered by the assignment to produce live-broadcasts from our studio to client radio stations,” continues Kijk in de Vegte. “A contract for a weekly live broadcast for Dutch NPO Radio 2 from our studio. The show had to feature local guests, artists, politicians…” The location of the studio in a beautifully restored warehouse near the Antwerp port suited the plan. The concrete/steel elements were covered by acoustic curtains,

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while daylight comes in through fourfold glazing. For Kijk in de Vegte, as a programme maker, content was more on his mind than the technology. Therefore, he appointed Amptec for the integration of the new studio. “With DHD consoles being omnipresent both in the Netherlands and Belgium we automatically came in touch with (DHD distributor) Amptec,” he says. “Amptec and their project manager Bart Lamberigts have a tremendous background from their work with almost all Belgian public radios, and are specialists in audio-‘EBU-compatibility’. That was crucial in the whole installation process.” “The key issue was that the workﬂow at Studio Stevens should be identical to the workﬂow in on-air studios in

P37 APRIL 2016

Hilversum or Brussels,” comments Lamberigts. “We opted for a configuration that allows swift transfer from this studio to the various Master Control rooms with Studio Stevens’ clients, but actually to any broadcaster adopting the EBU SIP-standard in terms of IP connectivity.” Amptec installed a ‘self-op’ radio studio configuration consisting of a DHD SX console, an Omniplayer radio automation system and a Prodys Prontonet IP codec. Avid Pro Tools 10 completes the set-up. “We use the Omniplayer for simple editing jobs, but when it comes to craft-editing, we use Pro Tools, offering a wider range of possibilities for the editing of station-calls, telephone interviews or production promotion trailers,” says Kijk in de Vegte. “And again, compatibility is the word: whatever we do on Pro Tools is on-air-ready, as both systems work on a shared storage, linked to the Media Park in Hilversum.” For live-contribution into a programme, a second IP/ISDN codec and a telephone hybrid are also available. In terms of IP, Lamberigts put in place a turnkey solution for the studio. “When it comes to installing and programming routers an firewalls, these are things that require dialogue with the other parties involved. The fact that we, as Amptec, are present with most leading radio stations helped ‘to open the right doors or ports’ so to speak,” underlines Lamberigts. “Radio today is talking to audio people and IT-network people, and I’m happy to say that everybody was willing to think along.” The new fibre connection at Studio Stevens was linked up to the Proximus provider platform in January, offering a combination of minimal delay and unlimited bandwidth, allowing to transfer uncompressed soundfiles. “Basically, the audio content is transferred without processing,” continues Kijk in de Vegte. “Each radio station has its own ‘audiobranding’ – we only use processing for the monitor chain, to provided the ‘live on-air’ feel. And we use the Empircal Labs EL8X Distressor on the microphones, another de facto standard.” With Studio Stevens now being fully connected and operational, Stevens and Kijk in de Vegte are convinced to work in a future-proof environment. Apart from their regular assignments for radio production, presentation or voice over tasks, Studio Stevens is making way as location studio either for live broadcasts or long-distance interview booth. “In addition, the new fibre connection allows us to serve as redundant remote back-up for radio stations. In case of power failure or calamities, we have the technical configuration to take over the station’s studio functions.” Current clients of Studio Stevens include Qmusic, NPO Radio 1, 2 and NPO Soul & Jazz, and TV channels RTL4, RTL5, RTL 8. www.studiostevens.be www.amptec.be

Self-op broadcasting workstation (Photo credit: P Fitzgal)

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P38 APRIL 2016

Technology feature: Storage

Audio and storage: learning to share Sound recording has embraced computer-based technologies and beneﬁted from sophisticated drive-based storage systems. But now there is a growing move towards shared working and networked servers, as Kevin Hilton reports

ack in the heyday of tape – both analogue and digital – it is unlikely that engineers and producers looked at a reel and thought about storage. It was a recording medium – the fact that it also stored what had been recorded was almost taken for granted. The shift to computer-based recording and the growing influence of the IT world has shifted the emphasis, with storage and being able to move and track the data it holds now the priority. Like computing in general and other specialist areas such as video editing and visual effects production before it, the audio world is coming to terms with the transition from local hard drives alongside the recording workstation to a networked set-up in which a central storage server gives several people simultaneous access to tracks and projects. This collaborative form of working is becoming something of a standard in broadcasting and post-production, while music, because of its more self-contained nature due to more people working in ‘home’ studios rather than big studio centres, still tends towards the stand-alone, drivebased approach. This change in operations is making manufacturers of localised systems reappraise their business model, while at the same time realising they are entering a more homogenised market. “Everything is moving towards shared server storage,” comments Martin Muggee, marketing communications manager for Sonnet. “In the end it’s a direction we’ll take but for a company our size it’s a market that can be tough because everyone is doing it now. So what people have to offer is a standout product.” Right now Sonnet, says Muggee, is focused on SSD (solid-state drive/disk)-based storage technologies. These include systems for Mac and PC using PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) cards connected to Thunderbolt 2 expansion devices for either desktop or rackmounted situations. The company also offers a pro storage range for both audio and video, based on RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) and fibre. Muggee says that SSD is currently a standout product, providing specific features for professional applications with particular needs, such as audio. “The speed is greater with SSD than shared hard drives,” he states. “It has found uses in audio recording because it can support hundreds of channels, even though the highest capacity is 2TB. But the most common requirement seems to be 1TB.” Muggee adds that the direction for companies such as Sonnet is into

The TerraBlock range from Facilis

Avid’s David Colantuoni

shared drive storage but it’s not going to happen soon: “It could take a while because SSDs are still viable.” G-Technology is also a proponent of drive-based, directattached storage rather than the networked approach, although Mark Billington, the company’s sales manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says that doesn’t mean it couldn’t produce that kind of device. G-Technology was founded in 2004; because one of the founders was a former video editor it addressed specialist professional applications from the beginning. G-UNIT The ﬁrst product was the G-RAID, which Billington says is now in its eleventh or twelfth generation. “The idea was to produce something that could be kept cool for optimal

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James McKenna, vice president of Facilis Technology

working but that was also robust and quiet for studio environments,” he comments. While G-Technology’s drives are not specifically tuned for audio Billington observes that they are robust enough for live recording and do not have problems with idle time, a benefit for sound engineers who need quick access to tracks while mixing. There is the perception that as the IT market matured the cost of storage came down while capacity went up. Billington agrees with the general premise, saying that the first hard drives 20 years ago cost around $100,000 for a mere 885 Megabits. While everyone else seems to be in the realms of Terabytes (TB) and even Petabytes (PB), that can be overdoing it for audio, even with the proliferation of tracks for both recording and post/broadcast, where

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multiple channels are needed for alternative languages and audio description as well as surround sound. “In pro-audio we don’t find that general storage capacity is a major driver,” Billington comments. “Some people are happy with several TB but 1TB, or even less, can be enough. What people want is a fairly high number of tracks – 100plus – to play out but also the quiet running and reliability.” Among the companies that have taken the shared, networked route is Studio Network Solutions (SNS), with its EVO system. Yan Gilbert-Miguet, pro-audio and video technical sales consultant with SNS’s Europe distributor MediaPros, says EVO in both its SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage) incarnations is used for audio in one-stop video post houses with a general storage system or sound-only facilities. “It’s popular with radio stations and dubbing stages for film and TV, which will be using mainly Pro Tools,” GilbertMiguet comments. In terms of performance requirements needed for audio he says latency is more of an issue than bandwidth. “SCSI drives were popular for audio because of the low latency,” he explains. “What people are looking for is throughput of I/Os. The bandwidth requirements for something like 300 tracks is very small so that can be easily within a GB connection.” BRANCHING OUT Digital audio and video workstation manufacturers such as Avid have expanded from their core products, which already had a basis in IT and computing, to produce their own storage systems. Avid moved from the Unity media server to the ISIS, which is used by both broadcasters and post houses for collaborative working. The range goes from the large-scale 7000 through the 5000/5500 to the recently released small, more budget conscious 1000. This server is finding favour in the post market, where many facilities do not need more than 20TB of storage but find the sharing aspect useful. David Colantuoni, senior director of product management and creative tools at Avid, says that while musicians using Pro Tools are continuing to rely on local, non-shared storage, companies in the post-production and broadcast markets are now looking for a wider capability. “The ISIS is Ethernet-based and gives those users the network and sharing capability they need,” he says. “Of course, the next level for Pro Tools is the cloud, which is the ultimate in colocated interaction.” Avid storage does have specific features for audio through what Colantuoni coyly describes as its “special sauce”. This, he says, makes it more possible for the server to playback hundreds of tracks at the same time. Many storage system manufacturers are seeing a change in the TV, film and music sectors with the transition from direct-attached, block-level storage to networked, shared systems. “The change has to be with both optimisation in the applications that access the data off disk and the increase in the speed of network connections and disks,” comments James McKenna, vice president of Facilis Technology.

Despite the vision side’s enthusiasm for shared storage, McKenna says the shift in the audio world has been slower. “This is due to the low requirement for capacity, the high requirements of drives in many networked systems and the smaller budgets in sound mixing as opposed to the picture editing,” he says. “Also, the sound engineer tends to focus on the quality of the work rather than the efficiency of networked storage. When storage servers are used directly in the audio mix room they tend to have drive groups dedicated to just those rooms to avoid traffic with the video playback.” McKenna agrees that the business of storage is partly about increased and increasing capacity while the cost per GB goes down. “The alternative is lower capacity at a higher cost but with more performance,” he says. “That’s the SSD or Flash storage dynamic, Many audio workﬂows are based on Flash because the large capacity of spinning hard drives isn’t required but speed and tolerance is. Plus, SSD is easier to cool, which means less noise in very quiet environments.” EditShare entered the market aimed speciﬁcally at storage for location work. The company now has a range of shared media systems, plus the Flow media asset management (MAM) program and ingest/playout technology. Bill Thompson, product manager for storage products at EditShare, acknowledges that audio storage requirements have moved on from basic stereo tracks to

Managing the storage Putting something somewhere is all well and good but it’s got to be found when needed. In the storage world this is where media asset management (MAM) comes into play. This has been a growing area in ﬁle-based working and plays a major part in shared storage, as Bill Thompson at EditShare observes: “With today’s productions you can have thousands of audio assets and with no convenient way to track these an integrated MAM application is critical.” EditShare produces the Flow MAM, which also plays a part in ingesting material into the system. Through metadata, Flow is able to identify audio ﬁles, pulling up information such as format and duration. Avid has its Interplay MAM for audio and video, while Facilis offers the FastTracker app, which James McKenna says plays a part in specialised businesses such as sound effects libraries. “These require a management layer to search for names and tags given to a certain category or type,” he explains. “There is also the ability to audition tracks prior to accessing the session.”

The ISIS 1000 system for use in both broadcast and post

multiple channels for language versioning, sound effects, Foley and surround sound. “In reality audio can be treated as any other media in terms of production and storage requirements, as these server systems are optimised for handling multiple streams of high bandwidth data.” This means, Thompson says, that essentially audio can be treated as just another media stream, although there are speciﬁc considerations: “What is important is the number of audio streams and how you handle them. For example, the standard HD video format will support 16 channels. This really impacts the way you can record audio to your storage system and there are a lot of recording solutions that can’t accommodate 16 channels. They might only accommodate a stereo pair or maybe four or eight channels.” Audio types, particularly in post and broadcasting, are coming to terms with the changing nature of storage and what it can do for them. Many facilities continue to treat the audio department as a stand-alone, with sharing between the mix studios and sound editing suites but not as far as the larger video/visual effects storage system. But more general, mixed systems are beginning to appear. Just bear in the mind that there is a slight irony in all this

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collaborative working, as highlighted by Yan Gilbert-Miguet: “The paradox of shared storage is that the systems that work best are the ones with the least amount of sharing going on.” www.avid.com www.editshare.com www.facilis.com www.g-technology.com www.sonnettech.com www.studionetworksolutions.com

The Interplay MAM for audio and video

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La belle époque Active Audio has just taken a majority shareholding in APG. Paddy Baker and Dave Robinson met the new management in Paris

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PG Audio’s Grégory Dapsanse admits that the French manufacturer’s press conferences at trade expos – particularly Prolight + Sound – have always been conducted with a little “theatre”. Here’s the new loudspeaker product, here’s an enthusiastic user to say a few favourable words, and then – plop, glug-glug-glug, chink-chink – have a drop of zesty organic wine and a piece of exquisite soft cheese. Playing to the audience? Oui, monsieur! But, in the last couple of years, the dramatics have had to stop. APG Audio had been losing its way and needed a new script. A fresh face to direct the action, if you will. Welcome then, to the opening show of a whole new season. And the head of Active Audio, the steerable column loudspeakers and installation specialist, is in the director’s chair. Prolight + Sound will set the stage for what the companies are calling an “equity alliance”: Nantesbased Active Audio has acquired 60% of APG’s shares, and Régis Cazin, Active CEO, has joined APG in Paris as operational director. He explains: “I really wanted to keep the existing shareholders as shareholders because they are operational people, and I need them to develop APG and the company.” These include Dapsanse (until recently executive VP for R&D, innovation and marketing at APG Audio, but becomes marketing and business development director), while Philippe Frarier, the current CEO and one of the APG founders, will step down to make way for Cazin. APG Audio had been independent since 2004, after a management buyout from SCV France, which at the time was the largest independent European audio distributor. While, says Dapsanse, the plan had always been to develop APG through technical innovation and international development, by 2015 he and his colleagues felt that it was time “to find another way to manage the company”. An entrepreneur, Régis Cazin has been a part of several start-ups and also has experience in taking over (and turning around) “distressed’ businesses. Before joining the audio industry, he managed companies

making electronics for transportation systems. He joined the audio industry when he took over at Active in 2008. The company had been founded in 2002 by Xavier Meynial, who Cazin says more of a researcher than a businessman. A friend of Meynial, Cazin found that the idea of working somewhere “more fun than the defence industry” appealed. “I enjoy good sound but I was not a specialist, even if I am an electronic engineer. So I could understand what makes good sound, but what I discovered that in terms of market is it’s very special. You have networks of relationships, you have brands with known names, loyalty and existing partnerships: people know a brand for years, and unless that brand makes some major mistakes, they will continue to work with them. And they don’t want to take any risks. So it takes a long time to establish a new brand, a new technology.” Active Audio was growing but, for these reasons, not as quickly as he wanted. Growth from external sources was considered: in fact, Active Audio’s name came up in internal discussions as early as 2014, but “it was too early,” he says. The two parties made contact last November, at the JTSE show. Right from the start, he says, the idea of the two companies working together just made sense: “Everything was so obvious, the synergies were so readable.” Cazin invited the APG team to visit Active Audio at Nantes “to put all the info on the table. It was clear at the end of the day we had much more synergy than I could have imagined on my own.” Cazin comments: “My ﬁrst analysis of APG was they have great knowhow, they have a good image in terms of sound. People are very loyal to the APG brand, and they love the APG sound.” However, “the customers also think there is a lack of innovation for new products and, I would say, a lack of communication for the last few years.” He points to “a lack of leadership” as a fundamental issue for APG in recent years – the “lack of a real boss giving the direction, giving some targets to achieve”. Cazin has shifted responsibilities around within the company, producing a clearer structure with more individual responsibilities. (Putting a positive spin on

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P41 APRIL 2016

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Changing the company, exchanging ideas: Dapsanse (left) and Cazin, Paris, March 2016

the old APG, he characterises it as “a democracy.”.) Dapsanse is now in charge of sales and marketing, but not product development. (“It was too much,” confesses Dapsanse.) One director is in charge of purchasing and manufacturing, anothher will be responsible for R&D – “and we are building a schedule of product launches for the next 36 months”. In addition, as part of a new investment plan, recruitment has already started within the R&D function. “That’s very important, because if we want to develop we need to add new products, so we will increase the development forces.” Cazin says he is committed to this expenditure, and it could even increase if sales outperform expectations.

Cazin says: “I’m still amazed to see so many synergies – much more than I expected at the beginning before knowing APG deeply.” First, there’s the obvious one of having the sales force working across both brands. As far as distributors are concerned, Cazin notes: “The idea is to keep the two networks separated, but with mutual know-how, and of course if one can aid the other, it will be done.” However, in territories where one brand is not represented, it is hoped the other brand’s distributor will step in. “They are not obliged to do this, but it is an opportunity.” There are also technical synergies to be gained: “In the ﬁeld of digital signal processing, which becomes

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more and more important in the pro audio industry, I can say that Active Audio is really strong in that ﬁeld” – and so it can share its knowledge and speed up APG’s product development in that area. There’s more too, he hints: “It’s too early to tell you what, because it’s just at the beginning, but we have ideas for products that could merge the technologies of both companies.” That’s not to suggest any blurring of the brands. “In terms of market and products, we want to keep the markets as they are now,” says Cazin. Broadly speaking, low-power loudspeakers, generating up to 95-105dB SPL are typically Active Audio products; high-power speakers are APG’s territory. APG’s next product launch will be the Uniline Compact, at Prolight + Sound – a development that Dapanse stresses predates Active Audio’s involvement. Its predecessor, the Uniline – a modular line array range that can be scaled to suit small venues all the way up to large festivals – was launched ﬁve years ago. “After a few years without launching a main innovative product, we decided to come back to development... So this was the task of 2015 – going back to the DNA of APG.” He continues: “So we are there with new products in non-conventional line array, with our modular concept, and also an important extension of the electronics range. Now

we will have a complete range of electronics with external processors, simple amplifiers but also now built-in DSP amplifiers, to cover the full spectrum of customers’ needs.” The companies share another philosophy when it comes to the actual building of the boxes. All assembly, for both brands, is in France. Component sourcing for APG is 90% from France, less for Active Audio. “Assembly, we want to keep in France,” insists Cazin, “but we have to save some purchasing costs and so probably for APG we will have to find other suppliers.” “We had an exclusive partnership with PHL, [a driver manufacturer close to Paris] – and that was very practical for us,” reveals Dapsanse. “For the next step, it makes sense to open the door to other manufacturers - in Italy and Germany - that will give us opportunity to be more competitive.” “But we want to keep that ‘Made in France’ feel,” emphasises Cazin. “With Nexo and L-Acoustics [here], we really have an industry to do this, so let’s do it!” What about the market focus? While Active Audio is totally committed to the installation market, with products such as the StepArray digital steerable array and the Ray-On column loudspeaker, APG’s loyalties are around 60% rental and touring and 40% installation. “Over the last five years we focused a lot on the rental market. But

now we think it’s time to extend our market in theatre, sports halls, houses of worship… There are a lot of good examples of markets we could address together with Active Audio, because more and more we see in fixed installation markets, for new venues, there is a requirement for PA messaging and a high-powered sound systems. Consider the Asian market, there is a particular market for the casinos, hotels with bar rooms, restaurants, karaoke... we can supply the whole thing. That makes sense for integrators and sound designers: that they can get the same global support from two French companies supplying the whole system… that could be easier to manage, to design, to integrate. That is part of the strategy.” There’s plenty more to get excited about with the new arrangement: Prolight + Sound will see both brands sitting on the booth of their new German distributor, AHA Audio. (Dapsanse quips, “When people first hear APG speakers, they say, ‘A-ha!’”). What’s more, Active Audio – which still has its own development agenda, of course – will debut an fire alarm system-ready, EN54-certified loudspeaker. The curtain goes up in Frankfurt. Mesdames et messieurs, take your seats: but be ready to give APG and Active Audio a standing ovation. www.activeaudio.fr www.apg.audio

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Paul Carrack and band, live on stage at the Birmingham Symphony Hall in February

GERMANY / UK

Hoellstern... has this been going on? The soul singerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UK tour provided a solid platform for new amps and speakers. Phil Ward was tempted along to the Birmingham leg

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The seemingly limitless wave of German innovation is visible again in a new generation of amplifiers, point source cabinets and line array from two manufacturers in the south of the country. Hoellstern Amplifiers and ProAudio Technology GmbH (PAT), just a few kilometres apart in the area of Freiburg, are building a reputation at home but could now be on the cusp of wider international recognition. Hoellstern, a brand founded under the auspices of ASID GmbH by engineer Udo Höllstern in 2001, has developed Class D amplification, digital signal processing and proprietary ‘Konfigurator 2’ software for the pro-audio market, while PAT now has a full range of speakers, rigging and amplifiers designed for high-end touring and installation by founder and MD Thomas Müller and his team. Pete Sharman, co-founder and co-director of Yorkshire-based rental company Isophase Audio and a graduate of LIPA, is the first UK customer for Hoellstern and ProAudio Technology and the first anywhere, he believes, to tour all of these products on a major scale. “We were looking for more efficient, Class D amplifiers for our existing system,” he explains, “and Hoellstern was recommended by one of their distributors we’d met. We checked out the specs, they looked promising and we got in touch with Udo. We auditioned many Class D amps with onboard DSP but none could match the efficiency or clarity of the Hoellstern units, so we started to add them to our hire stock. We subsequently discovered Hoellstern amps have system set-ups to simulate many manufacturers’ proprietary amps, so we used the amps for multiple projects powering products from Alcons Audio, d&b, L-Acoustics and others…” “The universal DSP loudspeaker library is a kind of hobbyhorse for us, and a very useful feature for our customers,” Udo Höllstern notes. “It was Udo who mentioned ProAudio Technology

loudspeakers, as they had been working on some projects together, so we went out to Germany for a demo,” continues Sharman. “Initially looking for a point source, stackable system for smaller jobs, we demo’d the HT16 Tourset system – the trapezoid cabinet with three 18-inch subs – and it was pretty amazing. We A-B’d it with similar systems on the market but it soon became apparent that there were many advantages to the Tourset: better handling, stacking for transport and of course the primary goal of high-output linear audio. So we took a set, plus some monitors and smaller in-ﬁll cabinets. “The conversation evolved into a discussion of line array, which we knew was in development at PAT, and we made it clear that we really needed something more efficient and less amp-hungry: amps are expensive, we ﬁgured a 4-channel Hoellstern amp could run 16 boxes if it was right, twice as many as we were currently

Hoellstern Class D amps: powerful and integrating well into the touring system

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P46 APRIL 2016

Live

We’ve had some great results in notoriously difﬁcult halls, with favourable comments from audience members and house staff

Graham Bonnett, FOH engineer Pete Sharman (left) and Carrack’s FOH engineer Graham Bonnett

running. Thomas finalised the designs in the light of these talks, and we took delivery of the new VT20 line array in time for last summer’s festival season.” One of these was Yorkshire’s Underneath The Stars, a boutique trip into electro-acoustic pastures and the perfect showcase for the VT20’s phase linearity and clarity at distance. But the system has proved itself beyond the paisley, being immediately used for the speech bubbles of cosmetics company LUSH at a conference at the Bournemouth International Centre. “It was perfect for the corporate environment too,” confirms Sharman, “and we’re still in on-going development with Thomas about things like DSP settings and transportation. It’s his baby, but we can make suggestions for the real-world practicalities that we deal with every day.” All the DSP is in the Hoellstern amps, Sharman explains. “The speakers are designed to harness the DSP powers in the amplifiers, so Thomas has made them specifically to utilise the Hoellstern DSP. It’s a different approach to most companies, one that cements the close relationship between Hoellstern and PAT: Thomas has conformed his designs to be one of the most genetically compatible on the menu.” Isophase now has the largest system anywhere, and it was needed at the cavernous Birmingham Symphony Hall when freelance engineer Graham Bonnett was mixing FOH for veteran blue-eyed soul crooner Paul Carrack as part of an extensive UK tour. “I came to the tour after mixing Paul’s latest album Soul Shadows,” says Bonnett later. “I’m experienced in both fields so feel equally comfortable working in the studio or live.” Anton Dunbar from Isophase assured Bonnett he would enjoy working with the PAT VT20 gear. “The first time we ran it in production rehearsals, I was immediately impressed by the lack of colouration,” he reflects. Now, after mixing with the VT20s for thirty shows on the tour, he finds them smooth sounding and coherent with low distortion. “System or mix EQ decisions we’re making seldom seem related to driver artefacts. I’ve not yet had any need to push them hard, but the headroom seems effortless, with no trace of

power compression. The Hoellstern amplifiers are extremely powerful and integrate well into the system.” PAT’s Thomas Müller backs up Bonnett’s observation: “ProAudio Technology manufactures complete highperformance loudspeakers systems with an ‘integrated system thinking’ in the south of Germany. Highest quality components and the state-of-the-art DSP amplifiers are the basis of every speaker and every resulting system. “A lot of practical features, well engineered accessories, easy and fast handling, the know how from over 15 years in rental and touring business and the five years warranty offer decisive advantages for musicians, bands and rental companies.“ The larger venues on the Carrack tour have combined PAT’s groundstacked point source and flown line array, while other variations have included a straightforward 12-per-side left-right hang with ground subs, for example at Cambridge Corn Exchange or Leicester De Montfort; sometimes a flown centre cluster if there’s a proscenium arch or a tricky room acoustic, as at Victoria Halls in Stoke; even a point-source box on a lighting bar in smaller theatres, plus delays and ground subs as required. Bonnett again: “Rival PA systems seem to me to have their own sonic signature – which I often find myself wasting time and brainpower trying to reduce – but the VT20s present more of a ‘blank canvas’, giving us more control of the voicing. We’ve had some great results in notoriously difficult halls, with favourable comments from audience members and house staff, due partly of course to Pete Sharman’s expert system design and implementation!” In Germany, the VT-20 has been picking up new customers at the rate of one a month since its launch. Hoellstern amplifiers, meanwhile, are attracting attention across Europe but a break into the US has one caveat, for now: “They only run on 230V,” points out Sharman, “and that’s why they’re so incredibly efficient. There’s no 110V mode, yet. The amps have advanced peak and RMS limiters, very high-resolution programmability – two or three decibel places on the dB cut and boost – all on Hoellstern’s in-house software and DSP platform. But the main thing is the efficiency: at

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Birmingham Symphony Hall it was a 16-hang per side running off one 2U amplifier, per side. Without the subs, that would be off one 13amp plug each side! You can get four VT20 elements – or four subs – per channel from the biggest model, which is the 20.4-DSP.” (“An amp city was not necessary!” as Höllstern puts it.) Sharman: “They’re all networkable too: you can build recallable memory files telling you what each channel is driving, which input, which output… all via USB to RS485 using a laptop interface. The programmable mains input limiters let you scale down the draw, especially handy for outdoor gigs on small generators. “The VT-20 has lots of headroom,” he reflects, “it’s easy to mix on and it never seems to need much EQing: you feel confident when you hang it that it’s going to do what it says it will do – which is everything we wanted, really. Having been forced to use venue systems at a couple of stops on the tour due to rigging restrictions, we all noticed much lower distortion and more transparent sound when returning to the VT-20 – confirming the system design is superior.” Or as Paul Carrack’s trusted engineer Graham Bonnett puts it: “I’m not looking forward to times of having to work without them...” www.hoellstern.com www.proaudiotechnology.de www.isophaseaudio.co.uk

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Festival FOH @ Derby Download (Skan PA)

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Industry commentator and freelance marketeer Dave Wiggins continues his conversations with the industry concerning mixing console choice. This time it’s the turn of the rental houses

here is something of a paradox in much of PA world in that many of the people who use the equipment do not own it, and most of those that own it don’t operate it. Consequently, there are two distinctly different views of much pro-audio equipment and especially the high-value items like mixing consoles and loudspeaker systems. From a manufacturer’s viewpoint the perfect product is one that satisfies both users and owners, but that means meeting two completely different sets of parameters. Some high-value products have arguably pulled off this trick over the years but they are definitely in the minority overall. As with the engineers, every PA rental operation will undoubtedly have an opinion on this but here is a necessarily concise and representative cross-section of UK providers… Chris Fitch’s Skan PA Hire is the production partner of choice for Muse, Jeff Lynne’s ELO, Take That, Biffy Clyro and others, successfully managing touring clients, one-offs and festivals including Glastonbury (the Other Stage) and Download. What’s his take on owning analogue and digital consoles for rental? “From a commercial perspective, the advent of digital consoles has been a mostly negative thing. In the past, it was sufficient to have one or two brands of large-frame analogue consoles. It is now necessary for us to stock several brands of digital consoles. This offers choice to users but results in the need to own more consoles in total as it’s rarely possible to fulfill demand with nothing left over. We seem to go through phases of different consoles being most popular, for example, 2014/15 were mainly about DiGiCo, while 2013 was mostly about Midas. Other years can see high demand for Avid.” “The other driver for holding larger stocks than may otherwise be required is reliability,” he continues. “There are two brands of console for which we always send a spare (be this a complete console or the single-point-of-failure components); this is an additional and unwelcome cost. Failures in digital systems tend

P49 APRIL 2016

to be catastrophic as there are many bottlenecks where all the signal/data is routed or processed. In an analogue system, signals have discrete paths and even the failure of, say, an op-amp on the master buss wasn’t a show stopper – just re-route to a group and away you go.” Fitch reckons the return on capital expenditure for digital consoles is relatively poor, particularly at the high-end. “That said, this is probably true of most pro-audio products with several well-known national and international vendors involved in a race to the bottom over the last few years. “From a personal perspective,” concludes Fitch, “the industry appears to have sacriﬁced audio ﬁdelity and reliability for functionality. I’m not a Flat-Earther and I am not advocating turning the clock back; however, Skan will retain its analogue consoles for the foreseeable future to ensure our customers have a choice.”

lines, mains and analogue lines for comms etc.” Nowell sums up: “Don’t get me wrong, digital is here to stay and there are now consoles out there that sound half-decent. With large shows or anything with rehearsals, digital is brilliant - you wonder how we did it before with multiple scene changes and the ability to snap between scenes at a moment’s notice. In another few years, engineers will stop playing with the toys and start using their ears again. Until then I guess we grit our teeth and hope for the best.”

STILL STOCKING EVERYTHING SSE Audio Group includes not only touring sound operations (in both the UK and France) but also installations, sales and custom fabrications, all directed from their base in Redditch. Group founder John

NOWELL KNOWS CONSOLES Richard Nowell’s RNSS Ltd is a very busy PA rental operation based on central London’s South Bank. There are many strings to their bow but they handle a lot of high-profile one-off events, from music to corporate events, product launches and multi-cultural productions. Nowell says, with typical candour, “The digital/analogue thing is actually a can of worms for all concerned. “For one-off shows, without rehearsal time, digital actually adds to the work. Freelancers in particular suffer as they have to prepare a show file just to get started. Of course, templates help but basically they are required to do this without pay in advance, and on complex shows that can mean three or four hours work. String two or three one-off shows together, each with different bands and consoles, and this is a significant and unfair drain on freelancer time. “For the same reason, last minute console changes add considerably to warehouse and engineer prep time. On a large show this may not matter, but on a small one-off it is a real cost. Similarly, ‘gain sharing’ only works on tours; on one-offs, engineers hate it and we end up with analogue splits into duplicated stage crates. This is madness and we don’t get paid for it.” The promised “simplicity” and “cross-platform usability” of digital has not materialised, opines Nowell. “Consoles are not interchangeable and formats/firmware version numbers are a nightmare. Festivals were supposed to be easier with digital but the fact is we can no longer prep three consoles, set them up and off we go. We now have to get all the show files in advance (assuming we can get agreement on console types and version numbers) in order to check the files load correctly. As each file will use different outputs (say) you can lose the lot by loading a file that changes the output patch. Engineers are often unwilling or unable to send in the files and it is very time consuming to gather them all and test them. “We are not network engineers but are now forced to act as though we are. I have yet to find a console that hasn’t let one or other of our engineers down at some point: the systems are simply not robust. I don’t care what manufacturers tell you, we never had this problem with XL3s.” But surely, especially for one-offs and smaller events, the space-saving and portability of digital must be a huge step up from analogue? “It is true some real estate is saved using digital but last summer we had all three of our H3000s out as the backlash against digital broke the surface. It didn’t really affect the size of the FOH area, just the amount of stuff in it. Even the multicores are not really much smaller by the time you’ve run spare

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Penn is typically forthright when asked to outline the commercial realities of modern console ownership: “Nowadays its a rarity to put together an analogue package and at that point we suddenly remember what a time-consuming process it was! The ability of digital systems to eliminate most outboard gear has made the prep considerably faster and simpler, especially as you can load up standard templates or an engineer’s pre-set show file to put everything where it needs to go in a flash, which has made the digital way the most flexible way. I would argue that, in fact, sound quality is almost irrelevant: sure, the analogue systems had tonal characteristics that people loved or hated, but nobody really questions the sound quality of most of the digital onboard systems these days, and engineers accept that the sound quality of a console costing £5,000 is not

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expected to match one costing fifty grand.” He continues: “The reduced weight and flexibility has also had the opposite effect to what was always the rental companies’ original fear with digital systems, which was that we would lose out commercially because headline artists would no longer need to carry their full FOH or monitor touring package with its sophisticated and usually complex array of outboard equipment. In the new digital world everything could be stored and re-set at the flick of a trackball; at festivals the headliners would use the consoles provided and thus a good source of rental income was going to be lost. How wrong we were!’ “The combination of an engineer wanting to stick with a specific digital format and the small overall desk size has led to a far greater number of console packages being rented out and carried around across the festival season. It’s now common for us to have 40 or 50 console packages out in busy times.’ Penn echoes Fitch and Nowell when it comes to stock levels: “Now all rental companies have to own a larger number of consoles to cater for all the different engineers’ preferences for one operating system over another.” The theme of reliability is also clearly an issue for SSE: “[Build quality] is now improving, but we still rely too much on low-grade connectors and flimsy ribbons,” says Penn.

“Manufacturers have also done themselves no favours by consistently releasing software which is far from stable or not fully debugged, seemingly having little understanding of the naked fear and terror they have generated when the engineer ﬁnds the desk doing mad things mid-show. Preventative maintenance on a far more frequent basis is now essential, and the level of technical competence required to do it is far higher than in the analogue past.”

London Jazz Festival: analogue vs digital 2015! (RNSS)

SUMMING UP THE CHANNELS It’s not the intention or purpose of this article to draw conclusions, more to present a modest snapshot of current opinions. There are however a few issues that would perhaps beneﬁt from some expansion, not least because of how forcefully some of the options contained herein have been presented, and also given the radically different respective viewpoints of the two groups of respondents. Firstly, the focus of this item has been on live music production and touring concert sound and it is quite possible that other sectors of the audio business (theatre, corporate, worship, installation) will have entirely different opinions. From a user viewpoint, and underlining the rugged pragmatism that deﬁnes most live sound engineers, there is clear understanding of the relative merits and current status of both analogue and digital mixing systems. Choices are still

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there to be made and there remain Prepping desks at SSE HQ in Redditch clear deﬁning factors that prompt them, at least for the time being. Secondly, it’s worth underlining the chronological perspective of analogue and digital mixing. By the time the last Heritage 3000 rolled off the production line, large-format analogue mixing consoles had been steadily evolving for over 40 years. By comparison, even 15-ish years in, digital mixing systems must still be regarded as an emergent technology and one that is still moving quite quickly. There is not and has never been any overt obligation for pro-audio manufacturers to develop products which satisfy the commercial as well as the technical demands of their customers, but it seems selfitem (in early 2016) DiGiCo announced the forthcoming evident that those who do will enjoy a signiﬁcant advantage release of a major software upgrade for all their SD-series in the market, especially in the longer term as emergent consoles. technologies mature. Of particular relevance to this article is the comment By a curious coincidence, during the preparation of this made about it by their MD, James Gordon: ‘Our aim has

always been to give the ultimate return on investment for our partners; it is more challenging for them now and we have to offer our support with these levels of upgrades. This is why we continue to take extra steps to enhance their initial investment over a long and beneficial usage period.’ Obviously DiGiCo are not the first manufacturer to release updated software but (as far as I know) they are the first digital console manufacturer to publicly recognise the actual commercial impact of digital consoles on those companies serving the live entertainment business. In developmental terms, this could be the biggest breakthrough in digital mixing yet. + PSNEurope extends its sincere thanks to Pab Boothroyd, Jerry Eade, Mick Hughes, Dave Guerin, Jac Nott, Chris Fitch, Richard Nowell and John Penn for their invaluable assistance in the preparation of both parts of this feature

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P54 APRIL 2016

Live

The view from FOH...

UNITED KINGDOM

Avid Attack steps up system protection Venue S6L on tour with Bristol’s trip hop heroes. Phil Ward rocked up to speak to Robb Allan

eteran live sound engineer Robb Allan has been mixing FOH on Massive Attack’s latest tour, supporting their new EP Ritual Spirit. Allan is using Avid’s Venue S6L console, a product he knows well as an Avid Live Sound Specialist and console design consultant. It’s a return to Avid Venue systems for Massive Attack, as well as a reunion with Allan, having used the compact S3L-X system last summer. This is an upgrade that keeps Avid’s Profile workflow, but dramatically steps up DAE power. “I got involved especially with the touchscreen interfaces,” Allan says, “and how they relate to the knobs. In being part of the design team, Rob Scovill and myself were the old ‘road warriors’ who prevented the youngsters getting too carried away with the iOS stuff! Sometimes you do just need to reach out and grab an EQ, and my plug-in encoders are right there in front of me.” The plug-ins have been upgraded to 96kHz/32-bit, too. “You can really hear the reverb tails,” adds Allan, “even in the Brixton Academy. Everything’s that little bit more dynamic, and doesn’t ‘square off’ like previous generations. It’s the most important step forward since Venue first appeared…” At this legendary London venue, Allen was joined by Al McKinna, Avid’s Principal Product Manager, Live Systems & Consoles, where he spoke of the lengthy design cycle for the S6L. “It’s been about 10 years,” he revealed, “because it’s supported by a completely new engine: we’ve waited for the digital technology to reach the point in its evolution

Allan with reggae legend Horace Andy (left) and drummer Julian Brown (right)

where it can match our aims. Processing is the big one, as the consoles get smaller: RTX is our real-time operating system – it does all the channel processing; and the S6L has the HDX cards dedicated to plug-ins. Both engines run simultaneously, which not only keeps latency low but allows us to have way bigger channel counts than ever before in Venue. We always wanted to increase the buss count beyond anything else in live sound.” It’s not all trip-hop and samples for the S6L, though: both Van Halen and Black Sabbath are putting the console through their ponderous paces right now. Meanwhile, cable specialist VDC Trading supplied cabling assemblies for this tour to Paul Hatt at CS Audio, monitor system and stage package supplier. “I’ve worked with Massive Attack for the past few years mixing monitors, and also supplied equipment for their 2014 festival tour,”

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Daddy G (left) and Robert del Naja (3D) of Massive Attack

comments Hatt. “VDC Trading manufactured a new 64-channel splitter and line system for that tour, which I was very happy with. I felt the time was right this time to invest in a new multicore system, and so approached Adam Jafrabati at VDC to assist.” The band is using house PAs in the smaller venues and bringing systems in for the bigger rooms, some locally supplied across Europe. Versatility was paramount. “We arrived at four lengths of cable: 8-way Van Damme AES Supergreen and 8-way Van Damme Black Series analogue multicore, with VDM connectors and VDM-tail sets at each end, 4-way Van Damme Tourcat multicore for the Avid S6L console at FOH, and 32A 1Phase power. The cables are manufactured to a very high standard as usual, have performed ﬂawlessly and integrate well with the existing VDC supplied cabling elsewhere in the system.”

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Installation

AVnu Alliance: dozen departures “not a cause for concern” AVB-promoting organisation the AVnu Alliance is downplaying the recent exit of several notable players, including Audinate and Powersoft, whilst highlighting the boom in its Industrial sector membership. But not everyone is convinced by the positive message, as David Davies reports.

udio/Video Bridging (AVB) technology promoting organisation the AVnu Alliance is continuing to convey “the foundational beneﬁts of evolved Ethernet” and picking up substantial new members for its Industrial segment. That is the message from marketing workgroup chair Greg Schlechter, who believes the recent departure of a number of pro-audio supporters should not be over-emphasised. Dante developer Audinate ceased its membership in early 2016, while other non-renewals since IBC 2015 include Audio-Technica, Ceton Corp, ClearOne, Echo Audio and LOUD Technologies. Meanwhile, Freescale’s name disappeared off the list after its acquisition by fellow AVnu

Joshua Rush

The decline in audio interest is clear. It’s simply not worth it for audio manufacturers to currently invest in AVB when there is no market for it.

Roland Hemming, RH Consulting member NXP. Calrec and TC Group also exited during 2015, while Focusrite, Powersoft, Renkus-Heinz and Waves ceased membership in 2014. Explaining Audinate’s decision to let its membership lapse in recent weeks, Audinate vice-president of marketing Joshua Rush tells PSNEurope: “When we initially joined the AVnu Alliance, there was a signiﬁcant amount of interest with OEMs for the potential future viability of AVB. Over the years the level of interest has diminished, and as a result, we have chosen not to renew our membership in the AVnu Alliance. Dante is built on standards and we continue to evaluate the new standards based on market demand. For example, during the past year, Audinate released a Dante ﬁrmware update to OEMs that supports the AES67 standard for audio-over-IP interoperability.” The other testimonies gathered together in the Side-

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Roland Hemming

Panel from other departing Alliance members underline the apparent decline of conﬁdence in the AVB roadmap – but Schlechter insists that the technology, and the Alliance, are still going from strength to strength. “As with any Alliance, companies come and go depending on their business drivers and strategy,” he says. “This is absolutely not a cause for concern to AVnu Alliance and the Pro AV Segment within. It is simply a part of doing business and is expected. AVnu Alliance and its members remain dedicated to the core work being done in the pro-AV market with many pro-AV manufacturers active in AVnu Alliance initiatives as well as with AVnu certiﬁcation testing.” Underlining his positive take on the current situation, Schlechter outlines an “aggressive education programme for 2016 to reach integrators, installers, distributors, engineers and tech managers looking for knowledge about

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P58 APRIL 2016

Installation

Meyer Sound CAL 32 speaker, one of the few products certiﬁed by the AVnu Alliance

next generation AV networks.” This effort will include a second annual conference on AVB extension TSN (Time Sensitive Networking), to take place in San Jose from 1213 April, as well as education days at InfoComm and CEDIA in June and September, respectively. Billed as an evolution of AVB, TSN has been developed to provide the ability to use standard Ethernet to support reliable and precise synchronised networking appropriate for industrial control. Accordingly, recent months have seen an inﬂux of new Industrial segment members, including motion control specialist Kollmorgen, industrial automation leader Rockwell Automation and KUKA Industrial Robotics. “Industrial is the newest segment within AVnu so

it makes sense that a lot of our membership growth will stem from this segment for the near-future,” says Schlechter. “More than that, manufacturers in the broad industrial market need evolved network technologies that can satisfy the requirements of next-generation industrial systems, and it has become apparent that TSN provides numerous benefits over today’s standard Ethernet protocols to help radically advance the way industrial companies operate machines, grids, transportation systems and more.” But Industrial growth aside, not everyone is buying the positive outlook offered by AVnu. Audio consultant, project manager and RH Consulting founder Roland Hemming has been charting the progress of networked audio for many years, issuing the comprehensive ‘The Death of Analogue and the Rise of Audio Networking’ white paper in February 2015 as well as regular updates on the availability of networked products. In the latest overview, published during ISE 2016, Hemming cites a total of 92 products using AVB technology (11 of which have passed through AVnu certification) – in contrast to more than 351 supporting CobraNet and 618 working with Dante. (In fact, the latest PR from Dante developer Audinate quotes a total of 675.) Taking account of these numbers and the recent AVnu departures, Hemming tells PSNEurope that “the decline in audio interest is clear. It’s simply not worth it for audio manufacturers to currently invest in AVB when there is no market for it. The technology is good, but until there is substantial adoption of AVB-enabled switches by the IT industry we cannot expect the audio industry to be in the vanguard of adopting this technology.” It might be argued that Industrial will serve as the trailblazer for AVB and that pro-audio may witness greater traction as the prices of the dedicated switches that are required to make these networks operate come down. But in the short-term the aforementioned departures must at least constitute a significant perception problem for AVnu given that pro-audio has long been presented as AVB’s foundation stone. avnu.org

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Powersoft: Francesco Fanicchi, brand and communication director: “The reason that we have left the AVnu Alliance is that we feel this audio networking technology has not been fully accepted by the industry. There are other audio networking solutions that are now widely used (one thinks of Audinate’s Dante) and in effect have become industry standards. “I am not entirely sure why AVB has not quite taken off – whether it is due to the high prices of the switches that discouraged the project or the wrong marketing strategy, I don’t know – but I am sure that from an audio (ampliﬁer) manufacturer perspective AVnu has not met expectations in terms of helping to develop the audio part of AV integration. Also, AVNu Alliance has not favoured those companies who provide only a part of whole AV system, and this means they are ultimately excluded from big projects and installations.” Calrec: Dave Letson, VicePresident of Sales: “Calrec started working with the AVnu Alliance in 2013, and although there has been little take-up in the broadcast industry so far, there have been interesting developments within AVB concerning the Ethernet.Q extensions. Calrec continues to develop AVB-compatible interfaces – along with Ravenna, AES67, Dante, and SMPTE 2022-6 – but are no longer direct members of the Alliance.”

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P60 APRIL 2016

Installation

UNITED KINGDOM

CDD: a smart move and a smart look John Jones discovers just how successful Martin Audio’s range of installation speakers has become, on the ﬁrst anniversary of its launch Leicester Community Sports Arena chose CDD

artin Audio’s CDD range was launched in Frankfurt a year ago and has since been, if not quietly, then certainly very successfully, going about its business. But a chance remark from Celestion’s John Paice during the NAMM 2015 show – that increased component production at his company was being driven by demand for Martin’s new Coaxial Differential Dispersion installation speakers – prompted an investigation that revealed more than just some enviable sales figures. Speaking to Martin’s R&D director, Jason Baird, it immediately becomes apparent that here sits a man whose confidence in the product is born not from mere faith but from complete certainty. This might go some way to explaining why sales in the first month after launch outstripped twofold Martin’s own projections; and why that level of uptake has subsequently continued unabated. To say that something new has come along that perhaps the industry wasn’t expecting or anticipating is a bold claim but the evidence of CDD’s immediate impact would point in that direction. Perhaps this is a standout product not only from Martin’s point of view but also from that of the industry in general. If this is the case, then it begs closer analysis because, of course, co-

axial systems in and of themselves are not new by any means. So, what exactly IS new here? “The market likes the idea of co-axial loudspeakers,” says Baird. “The audio comes from the same place and that ﬁts people’s cognitive model of what a loudspeaker should be.” Martin Audio’s starting point was to look at the limitations most co-axial systems on the market had, to see what could be done to overcome them. Essentially you’re beholden to the low-frequency cone determining the high-frequency dispersion; also because, typically, the high-frequency driver is a long way back, you end up with it ﬁring down quite a long tube before it exits. “As you go up in frequency, the dispersion beams more and more and you end up with a narrower and narrower conical pattern. Consequentially, whilst you get really great reproduction in the hotspot at the crossover point because there is no discontinuity, as the dispersion gets narrower there will only ever be a few listeners who get the optimum sound in the room - most won’t...” The answer for Baird and team seemed to lie in applying a new differential dispersion horn geometriy to a coaxial driver unit. “Essentially, the closer you get to a speaker, you want the dispersion to be wider horizontally and as you move

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The market likes the idea of co-axial loudspeakers

Jason Baird, Martin Audio

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Installation

The distinctive “bow-tie” or “butterﬂy” design

away, you want it to narrow. Picture a rectangular patch of dispersion rather than an elliptical hotspot. We knew that if we could come up with a dispersion geometry that addressed this issue it would be a winner.” The wave-shaping required to achieve CDD’s differential dispersion begins with an aluminium die-cast pole-piece cap which begins to shape the high frequencies in the centre axis of the driver unit. In order to extend that pattern control through the whole pass-band of the high frequency driver, more “shape” needed to be added to the low frequency cone. “The inherent problem we faced was getting the additional waveguides to work without affecting the performance of the low frequency driver.” The solution, arrived at by computer modelling, was the “bow-tie” or “butterfly” design that gives CDD its distinctive, and aesthetically pleasing, look. Baird was also keen to emphasise the progressive nature of the cabinet design itself. He sought a material that had the strength of wood but which could be moulded to meet his vision of an understated, industrial design that was not limited by what is possible with cut panels. Finnish paper manufacturer UPM had the answer in the form of a by-product of their processes called Formi (a combination of cellulose fibres and polypropylene which creates a composite which can be heated and shaped). With CDD, Martin Audio appear to have replicated some of the qualities of their groundbreaking and popular MLA Series (launched in 2010) without the use of DSP. A stated aim for CDD was to achieve the consistency demonstrated by MLA typically over 50-100 metres, for distances of 5-10 metres in installations, using pure geometric acoustics. Measuring the frequency response of CDD in action, produces uncannily similar results to those experienced with MLA. The technology in CDD received its UK patent in the same week that PSNEurope spoke to Baird and he confidently asserted that this will not be its only application - a space most definitely to be watched then. CDD has already begun making its mark in a number of high profile installations – the Sway and Tiger Tiger

The full range of loudspeakers were shown at ISE in February

bar/restaurants in London, for instance. Interestingly, according to Baird, the majority of systems have made their way into new-builds where an integrator can present something of a triple whammy to an architect. Here is a high-end sound system that is going to look cool but unobtrusive, that is packed with the kind of technology that will make your venue sound great and comes at an extremely competitive price. “It’s also worth pointing out that the very nature of the dispersion technology means that you need less boxes in a given space,” says Baird. “We anticipate that the coverage achieved would comfortably reduce the number of required speakers by 25% or more.” Although one might be forgiven for thinking that

www.psneurope.com/installation

he might be rather more voluble on this eye-catching statistic, Baird acknowledges the obvious advantage without fanfare. There’s that confidence again, the certainty that quality sells itself. To date, Martin Audio has sold more than 5,000 cabinets since CDD was launched and the rate of acceptance is increasing: a figure of 15,000 units is projected within a calendar year including significant pre-orders for the “weatherised” version, shown in February AT ISE. Baird also hinted at the driver technology featuring in a range of live sound products, due for launch at PL&S in Frankfurt. In more ways than one, CDD is definitely making waves. www.martin-audio.com

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P65 APRIL 2016

Hither & natter PSNPresents was quite the event: we just canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get enough of it, in fact

On 10 March, PSNPresents brought together the worlds of the recording studio and theatre sound design in an sophisticated atmosphere of story telling, secrets revealed and socialising. Here are more images from the revelry: see anyone you know? (Images ÂŠ Carole Edrich 2016)

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P66 APRIL 2016

Backtalk

Sadie Groom The managing director of agency Bubble & Squeak, talks to Dave Robinson about her work to promote females in the industry – and her handbags

adie Groom founded Bubble & Squeak, a PR, marketing and events company focusing on entertainment technology, in 1999 and is still very much the driving force. She manages a team of ten, plus many freelancers in their network called the Big Bubble, and you can spot them a mile off at a tradeshow from their pink-striped shirts. A keen traveller, she is trying to go to 50 countries before she is 50, is a wife and mother, is going to Glastonbury for the ﬁrst time this year and would like to spend more hours on the golf course.

You just founded FBI (Females in Broadcast Industry) – what’s that and what does it aim to do? The FBI was created a very, long time ago by a bunch of friends who all worked in Soho. Two decades later, I decided to bring the group back as there didn’t seem to be an association for females working in non-craft roles at manufacturers, service companies, broadcasters and post houses. This means women in sales, marketing, operations, engineering and management roles. We then held two packed events at IBC 2015 and from there Lesley Johnson, BBC and Nicki Fisher from Clear-Com and I decided we needed to create a proper group. Whilst we are pretty new and currently surveying the 300 members, our current aims are to: change the perception of women in the industry (we aren’t the only people on a tradeshow stand that can scan badges), and encourage more women to want to join it. One of the biggest issues that seems to come up is about conﬁdence, so our next event (‘How To Speak in Public’) will be held in May in London.

You also work with Sound Girls… This is a great association that now has over 2,000 members worldwide and supports women working in professional audio and music production. I met with them at NAMM this year and attended their She Rocks event

which was a fantastic celebration of what women can achieve in a very humble way. Karrie Keyes the founder and famous for her work with Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers says that women in her ﬁeld are still a rare occurrence and its Soundgirls.org’s mission to change that. I think they will.

…But you’re still best known for your agency, Bubble & Squeak. How did that come about? I was let go from Avid in November 1999 with the promise of the PR account if I went to another agency. I worked for several agencies, but ultimately got fed up with them all… So I phoned my parents and asked what they though about me setting up on my own. Luckily they also owned their own business and said, what have you got to lose? – I replied, a portable TV, a clapped-out Peugeot 205 and quite a few handbags... but I decided to go for it. Age 26, I went out and got myself a tiny office and a computer and sat waiting for the phone to ring. Someone said I was like Bubbles from Absolutely Fabulous – that was not a compliment. Anyway, as I didn’t want to call the agency after my own name, somewhere in my weird imagination I thought of Bubble & Squeak, and it stuck. We’re never going to get the account for the Bank of England with such a name but it really suits the team’s personality and the way we do things.

What’s the biggest mistake your clients make? None, they are all perfect in every single way… Seriously, though, I don’t think they make that many, if they have engaged with an agency usually they have an understanding of how we work and what we can achieve together. It is always easier if the client doesn’t see us as an add-on but as part of their team.

What’s the best event you’ve ever organised? I think that the party we did for Fugitive Studios where we built the band’s stage in the swimming pool at the

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Haymarket Hotel was pretty cool. People still talk about it today. We also organised the ﬁrst few MPG Awards and these were brilliant because the recipients were so pleased to be rewarded and the artists so happy to present to them. As someone who loves meeting musicians, I got to meet some great people, though my favourite band Deacon Blue never made it onto the VIP list. Very disappointing!

Do you think there’s something missing from the broadcast arena? Yes definitely lots more tradeshows, said no one ever... We love a tradeshow in this space but I don’t think we need any more and all sectors are covered well in all territories. Services, wise I think there is something missing where people can find a mentor or industry training. There are also a lot of lifestyle owner businesses and I think some business and financial training would be great – we could always hold them at a tradeshow!

What do you always carry on you? Mobile obviously, lots of pens, lipstick, numerous things to charge my phone, notepad for my millions of lists I make and usually some Lego, all in a nice handbag, of course.

Before you were married, your were Sadie Paris, so you were surely the only person to be named after two DAWs (for those that remember the Ensoniq PARIS)? Plus: Avid is one of your longstanding clients. Was this pre-ordained? I would love to say yes, especially as I grew up in a village in Oxfordshire so lots of my friends parents worked for Solid State Logic. But no, I am the fourth Sadie in the village that I grew up in (the other Sadies provided the babysitting), Paris apparently comes from Scotland and I was bought up on Dr Hook, so there are no real audio credentials in my family. www.bubblesqueak.agency

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