PSNEUROPE Having a Fine time p58
MAY 2014
www.psneurope.com
THE BUSINESS OF PROFESSIONAL AUDIO
Taking the reins
Saddling up to deliver live theatre direct to cinema Horny for Audix!
p31
Introducing...
PSNTraining p12
p42
NAB news
p28
Sub woofers! Kitting out HMS Alliance
p51
May 2014 l 03
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welcome Photo: Jake Young
EDITOR’S COMMENT
“No one wants to waste a golden business opportunity – but most of us are naturally wary when such occasions appear”
Front cover main image photo credit: Brinkhoff Mögenburgza
NO ONE LIKES to look a gift horse in the mouth, as we say here in the UK. No one wants to waste a golden business opportunity. But most of us are naturally wary when such occasions appear. “What’s the catch?” we ask – because there usually is one. It still came as a bit of a surprise, then, when Gareth Wilding of Fineline/Five Arrows Leasing (FAL) explained the Regional Growth Fund iniative to me. There is no hitch here, as far as I can make out. In simple terms, then: if (ahem) my fictional PA company Drobinson Sound of SE London wants to secure a loan on £100k worth of line array gear, by making an application through FAL, I may qualify for £20k – 20% of the total amount – for free. And all courtesy of our lovely UK Coalition Government. Then, effectively, all I need to do is prove that this loan has led to the creation of two sustainable jobs (one for every £10k granted) in a later audit, in order to tick all the boxes and hang on to the gratis cash. (I’ve still got to repay the £80k, of course.) It really does seem to be that straightforward – hence me waxing on about it here. Check out the interview with Gareth on p58. While we’re at it, there’s another raft of golden opportunities heading your way, dear reader: the Pro Sound Awards! The lobbying window is well and truly open and will remain so until the end of May, but, as we keep on saying, you’ve got to be in it to win it. So – if you know an individual, team, event, project or studio that is worthy of unmitigated praise, let us know. Drop your neatest 300 words into an email and let us know... More details on p6! Dave Robinson Twitter: @psneurope
IN THIS ISSUE... NEWS 4 Mach Audio announces comeback 5 inMusic acquires D&M Professional 6 Pro Sound Awards 2014 update 8 Industry appointments 10 Events and expos 12 PSNTraining – it begins! 14 New products STUDIO 18 Miloco: new partnerships 20 Yamaha Nuage takes Europe by storm 24 Sphere Studios ups sticks for LA 26 DJ Zany mad about the AWS 948 BROADCAST 28 NAB Show round-up: Sennheiser, Avid 29 Broadcast WAV conference a success 30 Savalas Sound talks Shetland and video games 31 The rise of live theatre direct to cinema 33 Feature: The virtual radio studio LIVE 36 37 38 41 42 44 46
SSL Live console for Agorà Mark Graham: LOUD and still proud Franz Ferdinand tour with Allen & Heath iLive SDUK ends Movek deal Volbeat on Audix, Coda, DiGiCo and more New UK distributor for Nexo Feature: The new wireless
INSTALL 50 Dolby Atmos: a speaker-maker’s dream 51 HMS Alliance restored by DJW 52 Pioneer showcases club sound in Booom! Ibiza 54 L-Acoustics KARA comes to Liège 55 SPACE, Italy’s first Ambisonics room BACK PAGES 57 Hither & Dither 58 Industry talk: Fineline’s Gareth Wilding
04 l May 2014
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news EUROPE
Return of the Mach Professional loudspeaker manufacturer Mach Audio has made its pro-audio comeback after a lengthy period of inactivity, writes Murray Stassen MACH AUDIO has returned to the pro-audio industry following several years of dormancy. Alexander Donath, managing director of Mach Audio Europe, spoke to PSNEurope at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt. “Mach Audio’s ambition is to become a serious factor in the global professional audio business,” he asserted. Mach speakers were originally developed for the audio business unit of Martin Professional in 1993. At the time, Mach was based in Frederikshavn, Denmark, where the company’s equipment was designed and manufactured. Europe and the United States were Mach’s initial target markets, but by the early 2000s the company saw substantial growth in Asia, leading Mach to set up a factory in China for the mass-production of sound, lighting and fog equipment. In 2006 Martin Professional decided to phase out Mach Audio and focus solely on Mach lighting equipment. Mach’s audio activities were halted for six years, until the acquisition of Martin Professional by Harman in 2012 and the release of the Mach brand. Donath explained: “This was quite the right time to release
installation and have multiple mounting options,” said Donath. “The range starts with a two-way 8-inch plus high-frequency driver cabinet and, at the moment, ends [with] 10 models with a two-way 15-inch/2-inch loudspeaker box. “On the other side we have the Touring Series, also [a product] from [our] past, developed by Danish engineers, with everything standard you need – starting … with our new model, the MTN10T: a classic two-way 10-inch plus high-frequency driver horn-loaded unit.” With a current core focus on Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the company is reintroducing its most successful products, such as the C-Range and CW subwoofers, in addition to the new products launched at Prolight+Sound. “The headquarters of Mach Audio is now in Hong Kong,” Donath concluded. “We are regaining the distribution [for]
Alexander Donath at the Mach Audio booth at Prolight + Sound Mach Audio from Martin Professional. A cooperation of Canadian and Hong Kong investors took over... and restarted the business to reinvent Mach Audio.” The company officially returned to the market in 2013, launching its first ever line-array system to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the development of the Mach brand. In Frankfurt this year, Mach debuted its DSP-driven
The Mach Audio WLA Series loudspeakers and a lightweight power amplifier. “The product range we have consists of a large range of C-Series loudspeaker cabinets, which are specialised for
Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and another colleague is in Hong Kong and supplying the entire Asia Pacific market from there.” Q www.mach-audio.com
UNITED KINGDOM
Focusrite celebrates 25 years under Phil Dudderidge By Murray Stassen FOCUSRITE AUDIO Engineering, renowned for its mic preamps, EQ/dynamics, audio interfaces and networked audio devices marks 25 years under the leadership of CEO Phil Dudderidge (pictured) this year. Dudderidge took on Rupert Neve’s Focusrite company in 1989 and has since nurtured the business into becoming a household name amongst audio professionals. To celebrate this milestone, two London Routemaster buses were used to take Focusrite employees from their offices in High Wycombe to a celebratory lunch in rural Oxfordshire. One of the buses is owned and maintained by Dudderidge. An ‘iced-A One’ – a cake version of one of Focusrite’s flagship preamps – was presented to Dudderidge at the event. Q www.focusrite.com
May 2014 l 05
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For the latest news www.psneurope.com
news inMusic CEO Jack O’Donnell
UNITED KINGDOM
Ambitious inMusic targets installation Jack O’Donnell’s group acquires exclusive rights to all current D&M Professional products. By Dave Robinson INMUSIC BRANDS, the group behind DJ/controller names including Numark, Akai and Alesis, has acquired the exclusive rights to all current Denon Professional, Marantz Professional and Denon DJ products, as well as the exclusive right to build new products under those brands in perpetuity. The deal enables inMusic CEO and owner Jack O’Donnell to take a significant step into the installed sound arena.
According to a statement from the Florida-based company: “The Denon and Marantz brands remain the property of D&M Holdings, who will continue to use them to produce products designed for use by mainstream consumers.” “By adding Denon Professional, Marantz Professional, and Denon DJ to our family of brands, we’re strengthening our base of DJ assets while extending our
footprint in the professional market to the commercial installation and contractor segments,” says O’Donnell. “We’re excited about the products and technologies developed by these established brands, and look forward to writing the next chapter in the D&M Pro story by creating new, innovative products for Denon Professional, Marantz Professional and Denon DJ customers.
Jim Caudill, CEO at D&M Holdings, adds: “We are pleased to have reached agreement with inMusic to license the rights to the D&M Pro brands, as this is another step in our strategy to continue focusing on our core consumer brands.” The shedding of the three brands follows D&M Holdings’ sale of the Calrec broadcast marque to private equity firm Electra Partners in March. D&M also disposed of Allen
&Heath to Electra in June 2013. O’Donnell’s inMusic, meanwhile, continues its bid for dominance in a number of technology markets, notably ‘live performance controllers’ but others too. The company, which began with the Numark brand in 1992, scooped up M-Audio and AIR Music Technology from Avid in 2012. It also owns the Alto brand of affordable loudspeakers and audio mixers. Q www.inmusicbrands.com
UNITED STATES
VP role for van Straten as QSC splits into three By Murray Stassen QSC AUDIO Products has announced that Ray van Straten has been promoted to vicepresident of QSC Professional, the newly formed business unit that will serve customers in the retail, rental, production and distribution divisions. The news of van Straten’s
Ray van Straten
promotion comes as QSC Audio splits into thee separate business units, QSC Professional and QSC Systems and QSC Cinema Business. QSC Systems will focus on serving customers in the integrated systems business, and will be headed by Joe Pham, QSC president and CEO, who will serve as its interim VP. The
new QSC Cinema Business unit will be headed by existing unit head Barry Ferrell, QSC senior VP and chief strategy officer. Joe Pham, QSC president and CEO, says: “In his time here, Ray has proven himself to be a creative, sales-oriented marketer, innovative problem solver and a respected, resultsdriven leader. I have no doubt
that Ray is the right person to drive our [professional] business and I look forward to experiencing the results of his team’s success.” “Leading the charge for the Professional Business Unit is an incredible opportunity and I look forward to working with all of our stakeholders, both internal and external, to help ensure that the QSC brand experience is both satisfying and rewarding in every way,” adds van Straten. Q www.qsc.com
06 l May 2014
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PROSOUND DAWARDS
news
Thursday, 25th September 2014 Ministry Of Sound, London
EUROPE
Pro Sound Awards – Lobbying a-gogo! WE’RE OFF to a flying start for this year’s Pro Sound Awards! Sony Europe has been confirmed as the first major sponsor for the second outing of the Awards, to be held at the Ministry of Sound on 25 September 2014. “Sony are delighted to return for a second year to sponsor the Pro Sound Awards Broadcast Audio category, highlighting the importance of professional audio solutions within the entertainment and news gathering industry,” said James Leach, marketing manager, professional audio, Sony Europe. “We’re very pleased that James has helped kick off this year’s plans with the heavyweight support of Sony,” said PSNEurope’s Dave Robinson. “We hope to welcome more sponsors over the coming months, to make the 2014 edition of the Awards even better than last year!” The lobbying period for the Awards began last month and immediately, the new Best Theatre Sound category proved to be extremely popular, with a healthy number of suggestions as to who should be a winner already logged. Pitches for the Best Studio and Marketing Campaign have also been quickly out of the blocks. But, we need more! Yes, dear reader, we want to hear from you too! The lobbying period continues until the end of this month, 31 May, so drop us a line with your suggestions. See the boxout (right) for what the categories are, and who is eligible. In a nutshell: write (up to) 300 words on who/what deserves wider recognition, and email it to prosoundawards@ intentmedia.co.uk. Lobbying is free, anyone can do it, and making your thoughts known is easy. Early bird tickets are currently available for the 25 September event for just £79+VAT, and include The Pre-Roll, our early evening session of lively panelstyle discussion, new for this year!
Sony’s James Leach launches the PCM-D100 portable high res audio recorder at the BVE show earlier this year
process involves looking at the performance of those nominated companies over the past year, plus the information provided by the lobbying emails. We DON’T base finalist positions on the number of emails we receive about a particular company. A shortlist of finalists for each category will be presented to a large panel of judges from across the spectrum of the pro-audio industry. These judges ultimately will choose the winners of each Pro Sound Award (with the exception of the Grand Prix and Lifetime Achievement prizes – these will be chosen by the Awards team – while the Audio Pro International team will choose the Rising Star winner). And then we wait for the big night, when all is revealed: 25 September at the Ministry of Sound.
Read through the categories and see which one(s) you feel you want to make a pitch for: either nominating yourself, your team, an associate, or just a project or person you have been impressed with and want to give wider recognition. Provide as much factual information as possible – data and evidence of notable successes are invaluable. Up to three hotlinks to relevant material online can also be provided. And by all means ask your colleagues or industry friends to make their feelings known. But please – no more than 300 words per entry. Send your pitch for each award under consideration to prosoundawards@ intentmedia.co.uk. Based on the email nominations, the Pro Sound Awards team will create a list of finalists for each category. This
THE AWARDS CATEGORIES 2014 All suggestions and applications should apply to achievements/events between 15 JUNE 2013 and the close of the lobbying period. O
LIVE/TOURING SOUND O Engineer of the Year Eligible: Any engineer working in a touring, theatre or one-off event environment at FOH or monitor position, who has demonstrated exemplary contribution or performance
O
O
Eligible: Any engineer
O
O
O
INSTALLED SOUND O Best Permanent Installation Project Eligible: Any service
Best Temporary Installation Project
O
O
Broadcast Event of the Year
O
Team of the Year Eligible: Any broadcaster/ service supplier showing exemplary contribution to the creation/delivery of audio content for a commercial broadcast project/event
O
MARKETING INITIATIVE Eligible: Any team (from the manufacturing/ distribution/ reseller/ consultancy sectors) showing originality/innovation – within a marketing campaign for professional audio
BROADCAST AUDIO O Best Facility Eligible: Any broadcast studio/post-production house demonstrating outstanding contribution to or on a broadcast project
O
Eligible: Any broadcast event, where sound makes a significant impact/ contribution, worthy of wider recognition
Team of the Year Eligible: Any specifier/ consultancy/installation company showing exemplary work with audio on a commercial project or projects
Best Sound (Post-Production) Eligible:Any sound design team or post-production outfit who has contributed significantly in the ‘sound-topicture’ stages of the creation of a commercial project
provider/equipment supplier/distributor/ installation team demonstrating outstanding support on or contribution to a permanent installation project
Eligible: As above for permanent, but for a temporary installation project
Best Studio Eligible: Any recording/ tracking facility which has shown exemplary work
Best Theatre Sound
STUDIO O Engineer of the Year
Best Recording Production Eligible: Any commercially available audio recording (single/album/soundtrack) worthy of merit
Eligible: Any sound design individual or team, system supplier or operator(s) who has/have demonstrated an exemplary contribution to a theatrical piece, be it musical theatre or other O
O
Best Tour Sound Production Eligible: Any PA/rental house who shows outstanding work in a live production (theatre, touring, one-off event, festival)
(mastering, recording, post-production) who has contributed significant input or innovation to a commercially available project
O
For more information contact sara.mather@intentmedia.co.uk www.prosoundawards.com
HOW IT WORKS
O
RISING STAR Eligible: Any newcomer, from any sector, worthy of wider recognition
08 l May 2014
www.psneurope.com
industrymovers
Jane Wheeler Sennheiser
Ian Ousey Audio Network
Lamport in the limelight Shure Distribution UK (SDUK) has announced the promotion of Kirsty Lamport to UK head of marketing SHURE DISTRIBUTION UK (SDUK) has announced the promotion of Kirsty Lamport to UK head of marketing. Lamport joined Shure Distribution in 2007 as marketing communications manager and continued to carry out this role after taking on her next title of systems and broadcast marketing manager. SDUK managing director Peter James, comments: “Excellent collaboration between regional Shure distribution centres has both
secured the success of our new distribution strategy and achieved stunning results from European-wide marketing initiatives such as the Shure Call for Legends campaign. “I’m excited to be able to develop and drive the UK marketing team, and to be working more closely with Shure associates across Europe and the other manufacturers that we represent in the UK and Ireland to attain further outstanding results,” comments Lamport. www.shuredistribution.co.uk
Mick Whelan Adamson Systems
Ian Ousey has been appointed has been appointed CFO of Audio Network, specialist in music for film, television and video. Ousey was previously the CFO of FremantleMedia Group. Robert Hurst, CEO and co-founder, says: “Ian’s extensive global CFO experience and his complementary skills will facilitate a reshaping of the executive management team.” www.audionetwork.com Mick Whelan has joined Adamson Systems as director of US operations. Whelan started his career as chief engineer for Electrotec and moved into positions with JBL, Crown, Electro-Voice and Sennheiser. CEO of Adamson Systems, Brock Adamson, says: “His experience as both a live sound engineer and working with manufacturers and reps will be invaluable to our organisation.” www.adamsonsystems.com Dr Enrique Perez Gonzalez has been named chief technology officer for Solid State Logic’s board of directors. Dr Perez joined SSL in 2011,
Dr Enrique Perez Gonzalez SSL
Nick Williams TC Group
Christian Luecke Allen Heath
leading the development of the SSL Live console. SSL CEO Antony David says: “Enrique is one of those rare individuals who has deep technical ability, first-hand experience of our markets and the skills to manage product research and development effectively.” www.solidstatelogic.com Allen & Heath has appointed Christian Luecke as its new sales and marketing director. Luecke has 15 years’ experience in the consumer electronics market where he managed European B2C business for distinguished organisations, Sony and Samsung. A&H MD Glenn Rogers says: “Christian’s appointment will strengthen the existing leadership team and help us to significantly grow the business over the coming years.” www.allen-heath.com Leif Friestad has been appointed as managing director for VDC Trading. Leif has held senior management roles at various companies as well as a CEO position at Canford Audio. VDC Trading
Leif Friestad VDC Trading
CEO Niall Holden, says: “Leif is of great value to the organisation as he has both international experience and an understanding of the electronics industries as well as professional audio.” www.vdctrading.com Sennheiser has announced the appointment of Jane Wheeler as reseller sales manager for Sennheiser Communications. Jane Craven, sales director at Sennheiser, says: “Jane’s track record in this sector makes us very confident in her abilities to manage an area that is a strong focus for us in 2014.” www.sennheiser.co.uk Nick Williams has been named as TC Group’s business development manager Asia/Pacific for install and tour, with responsibility for the Tannoy, Lab.gruppen and Lake brands. “Having been part of this industry for many years, I am well aware of the prime position that the brands hold, and I look forward to building on these already very strong foundations,” says Williams. www.tcgroup.tc
10 l May 2014
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For more events news visit www.psneurope.com/events
expos&events
EDITORIAL PLANNER
SPOTLIGHT BEYOND HD MASTERS 3 June London, UK www.beyondhdmasters.com
PSNLIVE f The annual report will be
Beyond HD Masters, the European broadcast show, returns to Bafta in London on 3 June. Of particular interest to the pro audio sector this year is the ‘next generation audio’ session, which discusses “the impact of better audio on the in-home viewing experience, explain[s] what is possible in next generation home audio and outline[s] what steps broadcasters are taking – or should be taking – to further this crucial and much-neglected area.” Speakers include Richard Mills, chief technical officer at Onsight; former Institute of Radio Technology research associate Stephan Heimbecher; and the BBC’s Andy Quested.
redesigned and published two months earlier this year!
JUNE f World Cup/sound for stadiums Caxirolas at the ready: here comes Brazil 2014 f Widgets and essential kit Thingamabobs, whatchamacallits and other important accessories
EVENTS Your complete calendar of expos and conferences for the months ahead
f On the Road diary, part 1
Groezrock 2–3 May Meerhout, Belgium www.groezrock.be
Install Awards 12 June London, UK www.installawards.com
Rock Werchter 3–6 July Werchter, Belgium www.rockwerchter.com
The Great Escape 8–10 May Brighton, UK www.greatescapefestival.com
Isle of Wight Festival 12–15 June Isle of Wight, UK www.isleofwightfestival.com
Hop Farm Music Festival 4–6 July Kent, UK www.thehopfarmmusicfestival.com
Eurovision Song Contest final 10 May Copenhagen, Denmark www.eurovision.tv
Download Festival 13–15 June Donington Park, UK www.downloadfestival.co.uk
Love Supreme Jazz Festival 4–6 July Sussex, UK www.lovesupremefestival.com
On tour with pro audio’s finest f Previews: ABTT, InfoComm Show season, round two Deadline: 21 May Distribution: 4 June
JULY f The Modern Conference
AES Brasil Expo 12–15 May São Paolo, Brazil www.aesbrasilexpo.com.br
Rock im Park 6-9 June Nürnberg, Germany www.rock-im-park.com
InfoComm 2014 14–20 June Las Vegas, US www.infocommshow.org
Wireless 4–6 July London, UK, and Birmingham, UK www.wirelessfestival.com
Streaming Media East 13–14 May New York City, US www.streamingmedia.com
Pinkpop 7–9 June Landgraaf, Netherlands www.pinkpop.nl
Hurricane Festival 20–22 June Scheessel, Germany www.hurricane.de
Montreux Jazz Festival 4–19 July Montreux, Switzerland www.montreuxjazz.com
f InfoComm review
Rock in Rio Lisboa 25 May–1 June Lisbon, Portugal www.rockinriolisboa.sapo.pt
PEVE Digital Entertainment 10–11 June London, UK www.screendigest.com/events/peve
Glastonbury Festival 25–29 June Pilton, UK www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk
IT Broadcast Workflow 8 July London, UK www.broadcastworkflow.com
Distribution: 10 July
Acoustic Festival of Britain 30 May–1 June Uttoxeter, UK www.acousticfestival.co.uk
Next TV Summit London 11 June London, UK www.nexttvsummitlondon.com
Graspop Metal Meeting 27–29 June Dessel, Belgium www.graspop.be
Exit Festival 10–13 July Novi Sad, Serbia www.exitfest.org
Beyond HD Masters 3 June London, UK www.beyondhdmasters.com
ABTT 11–12 June London, UK www.abtttheatreshow.co.uk
Roskilde Festival 28 June–6 July Roskilde, Denmark www.roskilde-festival.dk
Umbria Jazz 11–20 July Perugia, Italy www.umbriajazz.com
Rock am Ring 5–8 June Nürburg, Germany www.rock-am-ring.com
T in the Park 11–13 June Kinross-shire, UK www.tinthepark.com
VOLT Festival 2–6 July Sopron, Hungary www.sziget.hu
Sea Dance Festival 15–17 July Budva, Montenegro www.exitfest.org
f Commonwealth Games preview f On the Road diary, part 2
Deadline: 27June
AUGUST f Line arrays f Compact consoles f On the Road diary, part 3 f IBC preview, part 1 Deadline: 25 July Distribution: 11 August
12 l May 2014
www.psneurope.com
training UNITED KINGDOM
Welcome to a better life! GAINING KNOWLEDGE. Raising your game. Upskilling. Becoming the product champion, the go-to person, the guru. Expertise is an important commodity in the pro-audio sector. And we can help you access it. Starting this month, PSNTraining (PSNT) is our threeway vehicle to bring you what’s going on in the training world. PSNT comprises a newsletter and a website – launching later in May – supported by this editorial page, every month in the print edition. PSNTraining will highlight courses, projects, online packages, teaching seminars, demo days and more. In fact, any enterprise that points you in the direction of essential knowledge, honing your skills or just practical advice. Online, we will be hosting videos, white papers, a diary of forthcoming events and other resources, as well as regular news and announcements concerning any and all the training opportunity information we can get our hands on. We will also be inviting thought-leaders, trainers and others ‘in the know’ to share their wisdom and advice about a range of subjects. In fact, if you’d think you can contribute, why not drop me a line at my usual email address? Watch out for the newsletter soon! david.robinson@intentmedia.co.uk
CEDAR UNVEILS CAMBRIDGE TRAINING FACILITIES By Murray Stassen CEDAR has installed a stateof-the-art training facility at its Cambridge headquarters in the UK. The facility, which is equipped with three fully-expanded CEDAR Cambridge processing systems, can be used to train up to four students at a time. Students can take advantage of hands-on product training that will equip them to tackle audio restoration for remastering, archives and libraries, problem-solving in post-production and broadcast and forensic casework. Alan French, senior trainer for CEDAR’s forensic division, says: “We use the room for training customers, and to keep our dealers up-to-date so that they are better able to support their own customers. We have had very positive feedback from both.“ All training courses are certificated and run for 1–3 days depending on the level of training required. Initial CEDAR Cambridge courses are free of additional charge with the purchase of a CEDAR Cambridge system, and advanced courses are also available.
DIARY 6, 8 and 13 May Soundcraft Vi Series showcase Where: Sound Technology,
BACKSTAGE ACADEMY IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING SPOTLIGHT
Letchworth Garden City, Herts
By Murray Stassen
v4.8 software update for existing
UK-based event production training centre Backstage Academy became the first training institution to exhibit at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt this year. PR and marketing manager Rachel Esson says: “On the first two days of the show, we took enquiries for training from professionals from Taiwan, South Africa, Japan, Russia, Kenya, Switzerland, Germany and the UK. “Whether we speak to college tutors, venue-owners or technicians, the response has been the same throughout the show: ‘We need this kind of training in our country.’” Backstage Academy has now announced the launch of a new BS 7909 course. The two-day course is aimed at people working in the entertainment and events industry who want to gain an understanding of temporary electrical systems. BS 7909 standards were introduced in 2008 and are increasingly cited by venues as the minimum requirement for those working on the electrical systems to ensure compliance. Backstage Academy technical director Gareth Welbourn says: “With the development of new technologies in our industry, we are working in an increasingly ‘plug and play’ environment where it is easy to become complacent about electrical design.
Notes: Showcase of Vi3000 console,
Vi consoles and Soundcraft Realtime Rack www.soundcraft.com
6 May APRS event The Backstage Academy team, joined by visitors from South Africa, at PL+S
Where: Abbey Road Studio 3, London, UK
Notes: Stefan Bock of Pure Audio Germany will discuss the use of the Blu-ray format for high-resolution audio-only releases A demonstration of the correct handling of a temporary electrical system “The BS 7909 course Backstage Academy is offering should be very appealing to all who work with such systems to understand and ensure their safe operation.” In other Backstage Academy news, David Hughes has been appointed as work placement manager. “Many of my students have used their training and work placements to progress into leading roles within our industry,” says Hughes. www.backstage-academy.co.uk
www.aprs.co.uk
8, 9 and 22 May 9–10 July Calrec Apollo console training Where: Kensington Hilton, London, UK
Notes: One-day sessions on the desk, panels, wiring, operation, DSP, network and rack modules, plus any application questions. www.calrec.com
SENNHEISER SOUND ACADEMY LAUNCHES RF COURSE
22 May
CEDAR Studio
By Murray Stassen
Microphone techniques
Gordon Reid, managing director of CEDAR, adds: “For practical reasons, we decided to tailor the courses for individual requirements and to hold them when requested rather than creating a formal schedule. “Given that all our trainers – whether in the entertainment or forensic and security arenas – are very experienced employees who have been involved in specifying the products, evaluating them during development and using them on significant projects once released, there’s no need for them to read from a script, and the tailored approach has proved to be by far the most productive and useful for the end-users.” www.CEDAR-audio.com
The Sennheiser Sound Academy launched a new RF Expert course in February, set to run until September 2014. The course will see 23 wireless professionals from the worldwide Sennheiser organisation receive further training to become RF experts in order to support their customers in the planning and execution of large events involving wireless technology. The first on-site training session took place from 24 to 28 February in Wedemark. Sennheiser Sound Academy manager Kirsten Wessendorf foresees that RF training will become more and more crucial due to the extensive wireless microphone systems that are present at cultural
and sports events, TV shows and large concert tours as well as the increasing complexity of the production environment. “Also, the production team at big events is very international, with many different groups of professionals working together. For that reason, intercultural training is a fixed part of the expert course,” adds Wessendorf. The 23 participants in the course come from 14 countries and following the on-site week of training at the company’s headquarters, they will continue to be coached by experienced local tutors in their region. Two further on-site training sessions will round off the RF Expert training programme before it finishes in September. www.sennheiser.com
workshop with DPA Where: LMC Audio Systems, London
Notes: Focus will be on mic techniques for the live environment and how this crosses over into recording studio situations www.dpamicrophones.com
A range of commercial packages are available: Contact advertising manager, Ryan O’Donnell, +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, ryan.odonnell@intentmedia.co.uk
14 l May 2014
www.psneurope.com
technologynew products Jon Chapple compiles this month’s list of hot new products DIGIGRAM
LX-IP RAVENNA What is it? Digigram’s first RAVENNA/AES67-enabled Soundcard. Details: Featuring ultra-low latency down to one audio sample per IP packet, up to 256 RAVENNA I/O channels from multiple RAVENNA streams and a full MADI interface, Digigram states that the new card is “ideal for high-density audio production or automation applications in radio and TV broadcast studios.”
And another thing: The LX-IP RAVENNA is the first – but by no means the last – of many Digigram products that will feature RAVENNA technology. The company was one of the first big names to sign up to the RAVENNA consortium in 2011. www.digigram.com
HK AUDIO
PL110 FA What is it? A compact variant of the PULSAR speaker series. Details: Like its larger siblings, the PL 112 FA and PL 115 FA, the PL 110 FA also houses a 1,000-watt, bi-amped power system, which delivers 650 watts to its 10-inch
woofer and 350 watts to the tweeter. And another thing: An intelligent multi-band limiter which tames spiking bass signals ensures the PL 110 FA’s audio image remains stable even at high volumes. www.hkaudio.com LACIE
FUEL
EIGHTEEN SOUND
XG10 What is it? A line source waveguide with a 1-inch throat entry. Details: The XG10 has a transmission line acoustic design that minimises internal reflections and acoustic loss, and the unique throat shape has been optimised for lowering air distortion.
And another thing: The waveguide has been optimised to provide a 10˚ vertical dispersion angle, while the horizontal coverage angle can vary from 80˚ to 120˚ depending upon the specific cabinet design. www.eighteensound.com
And another thing: The Fuel offers more storage than any 2.5-inch wireless hard drive on the market. www.lacie.com
KH 120 D
CC2 What is it? The second-generation digital audio engine by Fairlight.
And another thing: According to Fairlight, the engine is “perfectly suited
ability to create its own WiFi network and act as a hotspot when connected to the Internet via WiFi, and Airplay compatibility for mirroring content on a larger screen.
NEUMANN
FAIRLIGHT
Details: Based on Fairlight’s Crystal Core Technology, the CC-2 boasts 1,000 channels, 100 live inputs and over 100 output buses, making it the fastest and most powerful audio engine ever made.
What is it? A new 2TB hard drive from Seagate brand LaCie.
Details: Targeted at professional users, the LaCie Fuel offers wireless streaming of content to up to five devices without an internet connection, the
What is it? The digital version of the Neumann’s KH 120 A monitor.
to today’s ‘submersive’ surround sound formats, including Dolby AtmosT, DTS MDA and NHK 22.2.” www.fairlight.com.au
Details: The KH 120 D improves on its predecessor with an additional BNC input for AES/EBU or S/P-DIF formats (24-bit/192kHz), enabling “seamless digital workflow” right up to playback on the studio monitor. And another thing: Unique to the KH 120 D is a digital delay unit for both the analogue and digital
input channels, which allows the monitor to be used for tasks where time-alignment is required,
including audio-video synchronisation and time-delay compensation. www.neumann.com
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technologynew products RME
RADIAL ENGINEERING
SB-15 TAILBONE What is it? A new high-performance signal buffer. Details: The SB-15 is designed to sit at the beginning of the signal chain and drive multiple pedals without the added noise that can plague highimpedance circuits.
And another thing: Combine two 9V outputs from your power brick and the Tailbone will convert them to 15VDC for Tonebone pedals. www.radialeng.com
FIREFACE 802
What is it? A 60-channel, 192kHz high-end USB and FireWire audio interface. Details: An updated version of the award-winning Fireface 800, the Fireface 802 combines ultra-low latency with “the legendary RME driver stability and maintenance,” active jitter suppression, individually switchable reference levels for all inputs and outputs and full standalone functionality. RME describes the Fireface 802 as “a highly integrated pro audio solution – a full-blown studio – all within a 19-inch enclosure”. It features
TotalMix FX, RME’s digital high-end mixer and signal router, driven by two powerful DSPs, with integrated EQ, dynamics and reverb/echo effects at up to 192kHz and a built-in monitoring controller. The 802 can be controlled from an iPad using the TotalMixFX application. And another thing: Fireface 802 is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and up, and Windows 8, 7, Vista and the now-cruelly abandoned XP (Service Pack 2 and up). www.rme-audio.com
WAVES AUDIO
VITAMIN SONIC ENHANCER What is it? A multiband harmonic enhancer and tone-shaping plugin. Details: Catering to both studio and live mix engineers, the zero-latency Vitamin delivers “a warm, vital result that is comparable to what users would get from a parallel chain of EQ, compression and saturation processors.” Vitamin’s intuitive controls let users smooth or accentuate
punchiness and dynamics, determine the crossover frequency between the plugin’s five bands and – with the enhanced version – control the mix of the direct signal. And another thing: When Vitamin is in stereo mode, each band has a width control that lets users create wider sound images or make room for a vocal in front of the mix. www.waves.com
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Studio SOUNDBITES London-based audio college Alchemea has upgraded its programming room in preparation for the launch of its new three– month electronic music production (EMP) course. A Minimoog Voyager XL and a Novation Bass Station 2 have been added to Alchemea’s arsenal of hard and soft synths, and the room’s audio interface has been upgraded to a UAD Apollo 16 and an Ableton Push Controller installed. The inaugural EMP course starts on 28 May. www.alchemea.com Unity Audio has supplied an Earthworks PM40 Pianomic to the Royal National Theatre in London. Ed Ferguson, National Theatre sound manager and associate sound designer for the musical The Light Princess, decided to purchase the PM40 following a string of “extensive tests.” Unity Rock MKII active monitors were also used for the first Dolby Atmos music mix for the Paramount Pictures film Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Russell Crowe. www.unityaudio.co.uk DirectOut named Aspen Media, its UK distribution partner, ‘Distributor of the Year 2013’ at this year’s Prolight + Sound exhibition. Stephan Flock, CEO and CTO of DirectOut, commented: “Aspen Media is a reliable and solid partner, not only selling our products, but also developing ideas and solutions to create the best result for our customers in the UK and elsewhere.” www.aspen-media.com PPL, the not-for-profit music licensing company, announced in April that its internationally mandated members – consisting of record companies and performers – will be receiving record international revenues in its quarter one distribution. Laurence Oxenbury, director of international, PPL, says: “Our concentration on improving global licensing and distribution processes and the delivery of revenue means that they can focus on creating music.” www.ppluk.com
For the latest studio news www.psneurope.com/studio
EUROPE
Miloco kicks into high gear New studios, partnerships and website for the everexpanding studio brand. By Murray Stassen and Jon Chapple THIS YEAR is proving to be a busy one for Miloco, with the recording services provider announcing the addition of five new studios to its list of international facilities, a new partnership with Pieces of 8 Music and the launch of a new website for Miloco Gear. Miloco Gear sells new and used pro audio equipment, and the company says that it is making use of its extensive network of audio professionals, collectors and studios to source rare and vintage kit. Miloco Gear also offers a brokerage service for the selling of equipment or whole studios, and is working in conjunction with Fineline Media Finance to offer financing solutions for purchases. Lake Malvik, located in the village of Runemo in northern Sweden, has become the first Swedish studio to be managed by the Miloco Group. The studio has been built in a large detached farmhouse and features a large range of guitars, effects, amplifiers and keyboards, a converted stone walled cellar for recording guitars, and a “secret” vocal booth inside a natural echo chamber. Miloco has partnered with mix engineer Henry Sarmiento to launch Sonic Vista Studios in Ibiza – a writing and recording retreat located in a 400-yearold villa on the hills of the White Isle. Featuring a private swimming pool and views of the Ibiza hills and Mediterranean Sea, it offers a wide range of services for recording, mixing and mastering.
Jimmy Hogarth’s Hoxa West London-based writing studio Hoxa, owned by leading British producer/songwriter Jimmy Hogarth has also been added to the company’s growing list of facilities. The studio consists of a large day-lit open control room and is based around a Neve 8058 MkII console and Pro Tools HDX – however, tape can also be used on the studio’s Studer A800, which is synced up with CLASP. The final two new studios, announced on 16 April, are H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg – the “main creative playground” for producer Franz Plasa and one of Germany’s most sought-after recording facilities – and SAM Studio in Lari, a state-of-the-art residential studio located in the 12th century village near Pisa, Tuscany. Lastly, Miloco’s announcement of its partnership with Pieces of 8 Music will see the two companies offer boutique producer and engineer
Sonic Vista Studios, Ibiza management services. Pieces of 8 Music was founded by James Morgan, who has many years of experience in A&R. The first four additions to the Pieces of 8 Music roster are Darren Lawson, Mark Allaway, Matt Lawrence and Mo Hausler. Morgan explains: “With the support of the Miloco team, I’m confident that it will not only be a successful partnership but will also provide many opportunities for growth and development in the long-term.”
Miloco managing director Nick Young, adds: “As the Miloco family grows we are constantly looking to help further the careers of engineers and producers who come through our studios by offering them further avenues of work. With the experience James has gained at Universal he is perfectly positioned to help Pieces of 8 succeed.” Q www.miloco.co.uk www.milocogear.com www.piecesof8music.com
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studioreport UNITED KINGDOM
Searching for perfection at Urchin London-based producer, engineer and Urchin Studios regular Dan Cox speaks to Murray Stassen about recording, studio building and the MPG awards DAN COX is making a name for himself as one of the UK’s best up-and-coming producers and recording engineers, having racked up a reputable list of credits on records by the likes of Tom Odell and Denai Moore, as well as the forthcoming recording Axels and Sockets from the Jeffrey Lee Peace Sessions Project, which he recorded with Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth, Jim Sclavunos from The Bad Seeds and James Johnston from Gallon Drunk. Cox also engineered and co-produced two tracks, Age and Tease Me, off the Ivor Novello and Mercury nominated Is Your Love Big Enough by Lianne La Havas, which was named iTunes’ album of the year in 2012. This year, he won the prize for the Breakthrough Engineer of the Year at the MPG awards. PSNEurope visited Cox at Urchin Studios in Hackney to discuss the origins of Urchin, his recording style and what it’s like being an MPG awardwinner. “It’s part of the DNA of a studio that people play in a room together,” says Cox. “I met Matt [Ingram], my business partner, from playing in a band with him, so you know – the roots of the studio are based on being in a band.” Cox met Ingram when he was playing drums for Gordon
Various keyboard and handheld percussion instruments are available for use
Raphael, best known as the man who produced The Strokes’ seminal album, Is This It. “We had this idea of having a production team, but then we were left with the question of: ‘Where do we base this out of?’” Cox and Ingram subsequently set up shop in Raphael’s old Limehouse studio for roughly five years before the current Urchin Studios was built. Urchin now features a large live room flooded with natural light, a floating drum kit and various keyboards, pianos, synths and amplifiers. The control room is based around an old 40-channel Trident 65 mixing console, which is integrated with Pro Tools HD3. “The studio is designed and broadly focused on the idea [of capturing live performances],” explains Cox. “From the control room, I can see 80% of the live room at a glance so with things like line of sight, we really thought about it. The idea is that you can set everyone up and everyone can see each other.” In addition to the classic analogue Trident desk, Urchin Studios’ control room is equipped with a six-channel split Amek BCII console, Dynaudio BM6a and Yamaha NS10M studio monitors and a four-channel API 3124 and API 3124+. There is also a two-channel dbx 160VU, an Empirical Labs Distressor
Dan Cox with the 40-channel Trident 65 Console in the control room at Urchin Studios
Urchin features a floated drum kit, high ceilings and large windows and two Digidesign 192 digital recording interfaces on hand. The facility took three months to build and was designed by Tony English, the MD of studio design company Slowglass and senior supervisor, art director and acoustic engineer at Alchemea College. “Tony’s not just a studio builder and designer – he’s really good with ideas and aesthetic and feel,” comments Cox. Denai Moore was the first artist to record in the new studio, and Cox tells PSNEurope that the track from that session was one of the tracks submitted for consideration by the MPG judges. “We actually got a signal running from this room to that room [the control room to the
live room] at 11 o’clock at night the day before the first session, so it was pretty tight.” In spite of that first session being described as a “mad panic,” Cox states: “It’s very important as a producer or an engineer to try and keep the stress cordoned off from the artist, so that their main focus is just making a record.” The recognition that Cox is receiving for the records being made at Urchin seems to be proof that his calm and professional approach to making records is working. “I’m not in the business of setting up things just because it’s the established way,” asserts Cox. “At the moment, we’re thinking quite a lot about letting the vocal performance inform
the rest of the track. You end up putting the vocal performance really at the centre of what’s going on…which is a really interesting way of working. We’re really into that idea of a performance being at the heart of the recording, versus the idea of recording the drums and then editing the bejesus out of them.” Joining Cox on the Breakthrough Engineer of the Year award shortlist were Matt Wiggins and Catherine Marks – who, between them, have credits ranging from Paul McCartney to PJ Harvey and Adele – so it would be an enormous understatement to say that the competition was tough. “I was just happy to be recognised to the point of being shortlisted,” says Cox. “I thought, ‘My name is on this list next to Flood and Moulder, Paul Epworth and Ethan Johns,’ a lot of people who have been doing it for a long time and are people who I greatly respect, so that was enough for me… and then I won it!” Q www.urchinstudios.co.uk
20 l May 2014
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studionews
A Nuage movement? Yamaha/Steinberg’s integrated audio solution makes its mark in three studios in Europe. Jon Chapple reports NUAGE, THE much-fêted integrated audio post system jointly developed by Yamaha and its subsidiary Steinberg, has now found a home in a number of studios in continental Europe. Announced to fanfare in November 2012 but only shipping in the last few months after a short hiatus, Nuage combines Yamaha hardware with Steinberg’s Nuendo
SoundShack, baby, SoundShack… Nuage in Hamburg
DAW software to provide an integrated studio system with clear designs on challenging the “industry standard” of Avid’s Pro Tools DAW and its associated control surfaces. PSNEurope gathered plaudits from three of the first clutch of owners. First up – alphabetically, that is – is The Shack (and its sound department, SoundShack) in Hamburg, Germany, a creative
When building a second, bigger studio room in 2013, The Shack was looking for a “very console-like DAW control system” Konrad Peschmann
W
EUROPE
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studioreport ... and with Stone PP’s Tomas Zavaesky W
Nuage at Belgium’s Temple of Tune...
content provider which offers pro audio and video services, animatics, narratives and music composition for major advertising agencies. When building a second, bigger studio room in 2013, founder Konrad Peschmann said the company was looking for a “very consolelike DAW control system” and praised Nuage’s haptics, look and feel, large number of faders and “high grade of integration into Nuendo”. Stone Postproduction, in Bratislava, has installed Nuage in one of its audio rooms, replacing a mouse and keyboard workflow with the Yamaha controller. The install includes a Dante audio network solution using the Nuage PCIe card and interfaces, and a large workspace unit utilised as a 19-inch rack. Stone founder Tomas Zavarsky, who has over 15 years’ postproduction experience, primarily
“There is simply nothing else on the market that can do as much as Nuendo 6 with Nuage” Fredo Gevaert in TV and advertising, was one of the earliest adopters of Nuage. Finally, the Temple of Tune, in Kuurne, Belgium, which specialises in radio commercials, TV and film, believes Nuendo “has so many advantages compared to other DAWs”, praising its flexibility, speed and user-friendliness. Fredo Gevaert, Temple of Tune’s owner, comments: “All our studios are connected with a network of hard disks, so that we can quickly move files around when several studios [are working] on the same project. The Nuendosoftware uses ‘open standards’, which makes it easy to work with more users. “It’s very flexible for a fair price and fantastic quality. There is simply nothing else on the market that can do as much as Nuendo 6 with Nuage.” At the time of going to press, news of several further installations was imminent. Q www.shack.de www.steinberg.net www.stonepp.tv www.temple.be www.yamahaproaudio.com
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studionews UNITED KINGDOM/UNITED STATES
Sphere heads for LA – but Battersea rooms remain open Battersea Park Studios is the new name for the facility once occupied by Francesco Cameli’s studio, as he heads to California to create Sphere US. Dave Robinson reports SPHERE STUDIOS in Battersea, London, has closed its doors after 13 years. Owner Francesco Cameli has quit the UK for Los Angeles, where he intends to open a new facility next year. The Italian says he decided to relocate after becoming “bored” with the scene in the capital. The ability to work with rock bands “has migrated away from London,” he says. “There is no shortage of recording work for choirs, strings and X Factor-
style backing tracks, but there is no organic interaction here. There is no loud rock music in London!”
Now an opportunity has come to work in the US – initially with a “big rock producer” who Cameli does not name – and he
“There is no shortage of recording work for choirs, strings and X Factor-style backing tracks, but there is no organic interaction here. There is no loud rock music in London!” Francesco Cameli
plans to seize it. “LA is more my environment,” he says. Sphere was designed by Munro Acoustics and opened in 2001. It has been “busy pretty much every year since it opened”, with the seven production rooms full “practically 100% of the time.” Duran Duran were a permanent fixture for 10 years and heavy users of Studio 2, while The Script have just left Studio 3 after a three-year stint. Cameli
rated Sphere’s Studio 1 as “one of the best Neve rooms in town”. Genesis, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Mariah Carey and Muse have also all been clients. Cameli has earmarked an 18,500sqft facility (formerly a refrigerated Baskin-Robbins plant) in Burbank for his next project. He has transported the
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studionews Cameli: Won’t miss London’s “politics, bullshit and backstabbing”
UNITED KINGDOM
Wired Masters relies on PMC Power By Murray Stassen KEVIN GRAINGER and Cass Irvine, co-founders of South London’s Wired Masters, have recently installed a pair of PMC MB2 XBD-Active monitors in their second mixing/mastering
entire contents of Sphere, bar a Pro Tools rig and the Neve 88R console used for recording Adele’s album 21, to the west coast, and he plans to have an Andy Munro-designed studio up and running by mid-2015. “I’m not going to miss London.” he said with a sigh. “The politics, the bullshit, the backstabbing – I have no interest in playing the sort of games you had to play to get a look-in [here]. Having said that, Sphere has been busy for 13 years. How many studios can claim to have recorded four Queen DVDs, a James Bond soundtrack and an Adele album? It’s hard to single out a highlight – other than being able to stay open for as long as we did, and closing on my terms.” However, Cameli’s departure is not quite the end for the former SW11 launderette. The new owner – a firm of property developers – is still running rooms in the renamed Battersea Park Studios “pretty much as they were”, according to producer Gavin Goldberg. A resident of a Sphere production room since 2008, Goldberg now occupies Studio 1 with his writing partner Andy Wright, while Duran Duran have made the full transition into Studio 2. Other rooms there are also busy, he reports, while certain staff have been retained from the Sphere days. “The owners have refurbished the place a little, and are trying to keep everyone happy,” Goldberg told PSNEurope. “We don’t know what the long-term prospect is, but, for the next year or so, you could say the lunatics have taken over the asylum.” Q Battersea Park Studios: +44 20 7326 9450
suite, complementing the PMC BB5 XBD-As in their other main room. “Our clients love them,” says Grainger. “And you don’t need to blast them, either; they sound great quiet. You can still feel the air moving, even at low
listening levels, and still have a good idea of how it will sound in a club – but without destroying your hearing.” Irvine concludes: “Within a month, I had really fallen in love with them.” Q www.pmc-speakers.com
Wired Masters co-founder Cass Irvine, at the controls with his PMC s
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studioreport NETHERLANDS
Zany agrees with Solid State Logic Eindhoven’s Innersound Studio has chosen an SSL AWS 948 console to produce the Low Countries’ most popular dance beats, reports Marc Maes RAOUL VAN Grinsven – aka DJ Zany – started his recording facility, Innersound Studio, some 20 years ago. Today, the studio is located alongside three other production studios and offices in Eindhoven, Netherlands, as part of holding company Fusion bv. With Zany’s trademark hardstyle electronic dance music (EDM) heating up dancefloors worldwide, Van Grinsven mainly concentrates on production work for his own material and tracks by labelmates on the Fusion dance label. “With dropping physical music sales, even in the 12-inch vinyl market, the only way to make our music viable is DJing every weekend,” says Van Grinsven. “Along with digital download sales,
getting on stage is what pays. I consider my productions publicity to boost my DJ bookings.” Innersound’s first console was a Mackie 32/8 bus, and although Van Grinsven was happy with the desk’s sound, time pressures and multiple production assignments urged him to look for other solutions. “I’ve always been fascinated by those huge consoles you see in the US,” continues Van Grinsven, “and I absolutely wanted such a desk at Innersound. After I had traded my two Yamaha O1V desks for a Sony DMX-R100, I still remained hungry [for one]. With Cubase and Logic steadily gaining ground, the Sony turned out [to be] a bit slow, and I decided to start
DJ Zany and his AWS 948 at Innersound Studio working ‘in the box’ until I could afford an SSL console.” When, in August last year, Jules Fransen, sales manager and product support engineer for Joystick Audio Netherlands, came to see Van Grinsven’s production studio, this presented an opportunity for a long-awaited SSL desk. “I wanted to expand my peripherals – I had already bought a Tube-Tech SMC 2B compressor and two Slate Pro Audio Dragons, running my ‘in the box’ recordings through analogue
supplied two PMC IB2S-A demo-monitors. “The studio was equipped with Genelec 850 studio monitors,” explains Van Grinsven. “I was used to their sound, but working with an SSL also requires top-quality monitoring, and what struck me was the very detailed musical reproduction of the IB2S speakers. We’ve been A/B testing the monitors for two weeks and the verdict was in favour of the PMCs.” Innersound became the first studio in Benelux to install PMC IB2S-As.
“The SSL sounded very ‘greasy’ and it was love at first sight – in combination with Logic X and Cubase 7.5, it was astonishing” Raoul Van Grinsven compression and bouncing back in the box,” says Van Grinsven. “Jules happened to live in the neighbourhood and he’d suggested I go for a Cranesong HEDD processor, and, together with the Tube-Tech and the Dragon in tandem, the sound was superb.” Fransen told Van Grinsven about the new SSL AWS 948 console, and a one-day demo session convinced Raoul to use the analogue desk. “The SSL sounded very ‘greasy’ and it was love at first sight – in combination with Logic X and Cubase 7.5, it was astonishing. It was a huge investment but really worth every euro. It’s a new world opening up. I ran some of my ‘in the box’ tracks for a remix on the SSL and the result was so much better.” When Van Grinsven took delivery of the new console, Joystick Audio also
Mathijs Indesteege, sales director at Joystick Audio Belgium, counts a growing number of dance producers among his clients. “Apparently this is one of the niches in the music market that’s not affected by the [eurozone] crisis. The growing professionalism and quality of many dance producers leads them to brands such as SSL and PMC,” says Indesteege, referring to earlier investments by local EDM greats like Peter Luts and DJ Basto. “As for [Innersound’s] new PMC speakers, the IB2S-A series are, as main monitors, more compact, combining power and definition. The built-in DSP system allows them to be tailored to the control room’s acoustics.” Q www.djzany.nl www.fusionbv.com www.pmc-speakers.com www.solid-state-logic.com
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For the latest broadcast news www.psneurope.com/broadcast
broadcast SOUNDBITES Endemol’s Sport studios in the MediArena in Amsterdam have been equipped with two 42-fader Studer Vista 5 digital mixing consoles. The consoles were supplied by Studer’s Dutch distributor Heynen and installed by system integrator DutchView. “There is no comparison between the present configuration and the situation before, with usage of all eight audio channels, the incoming lines, live studio production, commentary positions and playback from EVS via the excellent interface between Riedel and Studer.” www.endemol.com www.harman.com Filmmakers from the University of York’s Department of Film, Theatre and Television have been nominated for a national award from the Royal Television Society. John Mateer, who leads York’s BSc in Film and Television Production, says: “We designed the BSc Film and Television Production course with the goal of enabling our students to become world-class filmmakers and TV programme creators, and our students are rising to the challenge.” www.rts.org.uk www.york.ac.uk CTV Outside Broadcasts is to put a new 4k, 3G truck into operation towards the end of next month. OB11 is currently being systems integrated by Sony Professional, working to designs by CTV’s heads of department. According to technical director Hamish Greig it will be the biggest truck in the company’s fleet. www.ctvob.co.uk Back2Back Productions is working on an upcoming TV show for the Discovery Channel called Cars That Rock, featuring AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson as host. Location sound engineer George ‘Aris’ Anastassopoulos is using digital hybrid wireless microphone technology from Lectrosonics. “Cars That Rock showcases Brian’s expertise on speciality cars and driving and also gives viewers a glimpse at his personal life when he’s not performing,” comments Anastassopoulos. www.lectrosonics.com www.soundforfilms.com
UNITED STATES
NAB 2014: Sennheiser and Avid make key announcements The NAB Show in Las Vegas saw major announcements from Sennheiser, which has signed up for Dante, and Avid, which introduced the MediaCentral Platform. Dave Robinson reports MICROPHONE AND headphone giant Sennheiser announced its support for the Dante multi-channel audio networking protocol at NAB in Las Vegas. “By joining this standard, we will be able to optimally cater [sic] to our customers in the broadcasting and live sound worlds,” explained Claus Menke, head of portfolio management for Sennheiser’s Professional Division. The first product to make use of the network technology will be the company’s flagship Digital 9000 wireless microphone system, launched in the late summer of 2012. A Danteenabled expansion card for the receiver will be launched in summer 2014. The signing of an agreement with Dante developer Audinate just ahead of NAB reinforces a
Avid CEO Louis Hernandez, Jnr, unveils ‘Avid Everywhere’ strategy that has seen Sennheiser align itself with all of the leading networking technologies: in 2013, Sennheiser signed the RAVENNA Partnership Agreement with ALC NetworX GmbH, following in the footsteps of its subsidiary Georg Neumann GmbH, and the company has been a member of the AVnu Alliance since 2010. NAB also saw Pro Tools developer Avid make several key announcements around ‘Avid Everywhere’, its strategic vision for the media and
The MA64 MADI to AES audio converter: for all your needs UNITED KINGDOM
4HM eyeing pro audio UK MADI specialist “widens range and focus” with new website and products. By Jon Chapple 4HM, THE British manufacturer of MADI interfaces, monitors and format converters, has signalled its intention to reposition itself in the wider pro audio sector. With a new website, www.4hmaudio.com – for comparison, its previous URL was www.4hmbroadcast.com
– and a slew of recent product announcements that have placed as much emphasis on audio infrastructure for live sound and installation as they do for broadcast, 4HM director Craig Lovell describes the company’s recent developments as focusing on “widening our appeal so that [we] are
entertainment industry revealed last year in Europe. The company introduced its new Avid MediaCentral Platform and a set of modular application suites that “together represent the most open, integrated, and flexible media production and distribution environment in the industry.” The initiative will aid creation, production, distribution and rights-management of assets through a centralised model. It was first presented to the market during IBC last September.
“The media industry is going through a period of unprecedented change and needs a leader to step forward with a clear vision for the future,” stated Avid president and CEO Louis Hernandez, Jnr. In other NAB news, Dan Dugan Sound Design and iZotope were among the winners of TV Technology magazine’s inaugural ‘Best of Show’ awards. Q www.audinate.com www.avid.com www.sennheiser.com
equally applicable in whatever environment MADI is found – whether it is broadcast, live sound or … installed sound.” “Our primary focus when establishing 4HM was to provide unique interface solutions targeted towards the broadcast sector,” Lovell continues. “By focussing our efforts on providing broadcast MADI solutions we have gained a great deal of experience in developing products for use in highly demanding on-air applications – including for many of the world’s major sporting events, such as the London Olympics. “However... MADI is an established format that covers many aspects of professional audio and is not unique to broadcast alone.
Fortunately, the 4HM team has decades of experience in other market sectors, including live sound, fixed installation and recording – so, with our foundations firmly set in place, we feel that the time is right to expand our product portfolio with the aim of providing interesting problem-solving MADI equipment for other market sectors.” The company’s latest innovation is the “unique” MADI-MON, which permits the monitoring and interrogation of incoming MADI streams, including embedded data; full and simultaneous conversion of up to 64 channels to both AES/EBU and AES3id formats; and MADI to MADI format conversion. Q www.4hmaudio.coma
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broadcastnews UNITED KINGDOM
Barry Grint welcomes guests to the special MPG event
MPG, engineers ride the Broadcast Wave Barry Glint “very pleased” with industry support for Broadcast WAV event By Jon Chapple THE MUSIC Producers Guild (MPG) on 9 April hosted an event which invited mastering engineers to learn about Broadcast WAV. As the industry prepares to adopt the Broadcast WAV file format (BWF) as the best means of embedding ISRC data into future recordings, the MPG said the event “highlight[ed] the
importance of this initiative and [gave] recording professionals the information they need to make it a success.” It was sponsored DAW manufacturers MAGIX Sequoia, Merging and Prism Sound, all of whom recently announced their support for the initiative by backing file exchange between their systems. Alchemy Mastering’s Barry Grint headed the MPG’s
campaign to get Broadcast WAV accepted – in place of ordinary WAV files, which don’t contain a method for embedding ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) information – by the music industry. He tells PSNEurope: “I am very pleased with the support this event has received – not only by the number of mastering engineers who attended, but also internationally via our live
video stream. There have been hundreds of unique viewings via the link on the MPG website and 40 simultaneous during the event. “The next stage is for the BPI and AIM to notify their membership to switch to Broadcast WAV.” ISRCs, the internationally recognised system for identifying sound and music
video recordings, are uniquely allocated to every song and music video recorded and registered with royalty payment agencies, ensuring the copyright holder is always properly remunerated for their work. Broadcast WAV – which can carry ISRC information – was created by the European Broadcasting Union in 1997. Q www.mpg.org.uk
UNITED KINGDOM
Studer and Artel interface for audio data carriage By Kevin Hilton A NEW technical alliance between Harman group member Studer and Artel Video Systems sees the deployment of the console company’s A-Link audio data streaming technology on the IP, direct fibre and managed optical networks developer’s modular DigiLink video carrier system. A-Link is part of the Vista X digital mixing desk and uses 3G video interfacing to create an audio interface that can transmit 1536 32-bit channels on
Andrew Hills: “This is significant”
one cable. DigiLink is designed for wide area networking of video and associated data over fibre and IP. Explaining what this means for Studer users and audio in general, Studer product director Andrew Hills, says, “It shows that our A-Link high capacity audio interface is directly compatible with video transport systems. The ability to carry 1,536 channels of audio over standard video infrastructure is highly significant.” Studer has an existing networking relationship with
UNITED KINGDOM
Speakers from Dolby and Cisco confirmed for Beyond HD Masters By Jon Chapple SPEAKERS FROM Cisco and Dolby have been confirmed for the Beyond HD Masters 2014 programme. This year’s conference returns to Bafta in London on 3 June. Keynote speaker Simon Parnall is a Cisco Distinguished
Engineer, leading research and collaborative activities and acting in a “thought-leadership capacity” both inside and outside the company. Joining as a panellist is Roland Vlaicu, a senior director at Dolby Laboratories. Vlaicu has worked with Dolby since 2000 and helped lead
the successful launch of the Dolby E format, which earned a Primetime Emmy Award in 2005. Prior to joining Dolby, he helped implement Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound technology at ProSieben Television, Germany’s second-largest commercial broadcaster, where he worked
Riedel through the MediorNet system but Hills says the agreement with Artel will not affect that: “Our collaboration with Riedel uses the MediorNet system as not only a distribution system but also as a router able to split up the A-Link audio down to mono channels. Artel is a long distance carrier for the provision of links between cities tens if not hundreds of kilometres apart. It does not have individual audio channel routing capability, which is normally not necessary as the desks have large routers built in in the distribution networks department and was a member of the CTO’s office. Other speakers include Richard Mills, chief technical officer at Onsight; former research associate at the Institute of Radio Technology, Stephan Heimbecher; and the BBC’s Andy Quested. Highlights of the 2014 show include the ‘next-generation audio’ session, which discusses “the impact of better audio on the in-home viewing experience, explain[s] what is possible in next generation home audio and outline[s] what steps broadcasters are taking – or
anyway. We do not see these as competing systems.” The interface is already available as, Hills explains, “there was no development work required – it is just plug and play”. He adds that there are plans for long distance trials on the US Eastern seaboard “in the next month or so”. There is also an agreement with router manufacturer Evertz to incorporate A-Link audio interfaces into its video products. Q www.artel.com www.studer.ch
Cisco’s Simon Parnall should be taking – to further advance this crucial and muchneglected area”. Q www.beyondhdmasters.com
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broadcastreport UNITED KINGDOM
Shetland and beyond Scotland’s Savalas Sound describes “incredibly exciting creative challenge” of BBC programme and reveals plans for the future, writes Jon Chapple the team at Savalas was to record the unique settings and environments synonymous with the Shetland Islands’ rugged and isolated terrain. “To capture the essence of Shetland, we really had to go there,” explains series dubbing mixer and Savalas managing
director Kahl Henderson. “We spent six days touring the islands, recording beaches, harbours, clifftops, towns and wildlife. The local dialect is a huge part of the sound of Shetland, so we corralled lots of willing Shetlanders into [Lerwick cinema] Mareel and
Dubbing mixer Iain Anderson (L–R) brings Shetland to life recorded them as they pretended to be police officers and the like. These recordings became the basis for the show’s soundtrack and, along with the original production audio... and John Lunn’s amazing score, the sound of Shetland emerged.” Savalas is based in Glasgow, not in London’s Soho, making it something of an anomaly in British audio post-production. But since its formation in 1998, the studio has become one of the industry’s most interesting players. Henderson tells PSNEurope that Savalas’s location is something he’s never dwelled on: “We get a certain kind of project here because of our location, and maybe don’t get another type of project simply because we’re
not in Soho. But it doesn’t really bother me at all because we end up working on some really great stuff because of where we are.” Next up for the company is Swung, a feature film about (what else?) swinging, and – hot on the heels of its acclaimed trailer for Fable Legends – an upcoming new “big game project” from a début developer, on which Henderson is excited to be making his mark: “Obviously on things like Fable and Halo you’re coming in on an established franchise, whereas with [this project] we’re getting to create part of the world from scratch, which is really good fun. “And fingers crossed for a third series of Shetland!” Q www.savalas.co.uk
Photo: Williams Martini Racing
SAVALAS SOUND, Scotland’s largest audio post facility, has revealed how it created the “spectacular sonic landscape” of series two of BBC One crime drama Shetland. Set on the remote island archipelago of the same name, the challenge presented to
UNITED KINGDOM RAYCOM, THE UK-based distributor of professional wireless audio for the broadcast industry, has supplied a wireless audio and IEM solution to Presteigne Broadcast Hire for use by the BBC during its coverage of the 2014 Formula 1 season. Manufactured by Wisycom, the system has been designed for use during pit lane walkabouts, pieces to camera
and paddock interviews. The kit supplied to the BBC includes MRK960 two channel receivers, MTH400 handheld microphones, MTB40 plug-ons and MTP40 belt pack transmitters, as well as in-ear monitoring via MTK952 dual trzzzansmitters and MPR30 true-diversity receivers. Q www.raycom.co.uk www.wisycom.com
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broadcastreport UNITED KINGDOM
Broadcasting the sound of theatre BROADCASTING IS usually associated with radio and television but as a description of distributing live or recorded performances to a wide audience it also covers digital cinema relays of plays and musicals. As the demand for live theatre direct to cinemas continues to grow, sound engineers are combining broadcast, live sound and post-production techniques to retain the power of the performance and take it to the cinema audience. In the early days of television there was the view among those developing the technology, the establishment and early broadcasters that people would not have TV sets in their own homes. Instead they would go to special venues and watch transmissions of live events, as well as scheduled programmes, on large screens. That idea was soon undermined as TVs made their way into front rooms but – 60 or so years later – there are echoes of it in live event cinema. These relays of theatre, music or operatic performances from major venues in the UK, the US and Europe bring performances to wider audiences, usually those who can’t get tickets for hot shows – or can’t afford them – or aren’t able to get to the theatre in question. An audio specialist in the field is SounDesign, run by Conrad Fletcher, who describes the work as a mix of four disciplines: broadcast, live sound, film dubbing and music. “It’s very challenging but ultimately very rewarding when we get it right,” he says. Fletcher worked for the BBC but began his career in sound in West End theatre and so sees what he does now as “a sort of return to my roots”. To bring the four different strands together for event cinema, SounDesign created the Mixbus, an 8m-long, under 7.5 tonne mobile equipped with a Studer Vista 8 console in a suite that can be configured for various surround sound formats, with monitoring for 6.1, 7.1 and SDDS.
Photo: Ellie Kurttz
As the demand for live theatre direct to cinemas continues to grow, sound engineers are combining broadcast, live sound and post-production techniques, writes Kevin Hilton SounDesign was part of the first 4k live-to-cinema transmission for War Horse
Fletcher and the Mixbus team Mixbus was named Broadcast Audio Team of the Year at last year’s Pro Sound Awards for its work on NT Live, the digital cinema relay of shows from the National Theatre on London’s South Bank. Last month SounDesign worked on the NT’s 50th anniversary celebration, involving excerpts from 22 plays and three musicals in a two-and-a-halfhour presentation, distributed to international cinemas and broadcast on BBC Two in stereo and BBC Two HD in 5.1. Also in March it was part of the first 4k live to cinema transmission when War Horse was relayed from the New London Theatre. Fletcher says MADI is used
“an awful lot” in this work; depending on the theatre, although he says most now use DiGiCo consoles, it is possible to interrupt the MADI stage boxes or take a feed direct from the desk. “For War Horse we had two MADI streams and one stage box,” Fletcher explains. “We needed redundant feeds and I wanted us to run off the broadcast sync generator, so we used four DoTec MADI sample rate converters to decouple the digits and make us independent of each other.” Microphones are necessary for d-cinema productions so that every line is heard by the remote audience but in such a way that the performance in the
auditorium is not affected. “We use a combination of radio mics, plant mics, float mics and a 5.1 audience set-up as well as feeds of all effects and music mics,” says Fletcher. “The object is to make all the radio miked actors sound like they are being heard with a boom. During rehearsals a lot of effort goes into getting perspective into the mix. We have found that varying the perspective even a tiny amount makes the show more involving. Every line is hard mixed and then placed to match the shot.” On NT shows Fletcher and his team get two rehearsals before going live to cinemas. They multitrack the first rehearsal from incoming feeds on to a 128 track MADI recording system based on Merging Technologies Pyramix. Fletcher says an important step is to watch a rehearsal at a cinema and do two to five days rehearsing “off-site” until everyone knows the show. Ian Sands is another leading exponent of audio for live theatre broadcasts. Already known as a sound recordist on television drama and feature film productions, Sands has worked on a number of theatrical events for production company Digital Theatre in recent years, including
the Olivier Award winning Merrily We Roll Along, Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Don Giovanni. His approach is to watch each play, have discussions with the theatre crew and then record three performances. Instead of using a mobile, Sands and his crew usually build a control room in the theatre, based round an Allen & Heath iLive series console connected to JoeCo Blackbox or SADiE XRX recording systems. Sands agrees that there has been a considerable shift to MADI but says audio over IP systems, notably Dante, are “coming along as well”. The productions Sands has worked on have called for in the region of 28 radio mics, plus effects play-in, music (if necessary) and an audience mix. “We do ISOs of everything, sometimes ending up with around 55 tracks,” he says. “From the recordings we can repair anything if the performance is going to post production. We can also do something like ADR in TV drama or film, where, if a line has been obscured in performance, we get the actors on stage without an audience and run through the dialogue without any action to get a replacement,” Sands comments that on some productions the channel count is over-specified to ensure all the words are captured clearly and cleanly. “For Macbeth at the Liverpool Everyman [in 2011] with David Morrissey there were only 14 actors but 25 mic channels on the desk because there was a lot of doubling up with people playing more than one role,” he explains. “In that case we allocated faders to each character rather than the individual actor, which made following them easier.” For the audience the result of all this effort is a cross between watching television and going to see a movie; the performers may perhaps feel the same nerves and trepidation as their predecessors in early TV when most shows, including drama, went out live. Q www.digitaltheatre.com www.iansands.co.uk www.soundesign.co.uk
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broadcastfeature WORLDWIDE
Virtual — the next reality for radio studios? The hardware fader has long been a comforting tool for radio presenters and engineers, but new touchscreen technologies are challenging its dominance. Kevin Hilton reports on whether a minority area might become the norm a virtual presentation desk, with all mic and line fader functions, including switching and processing, run from a touchscreen that in turn controls a PC or server for play-out and distribution to the studio centre or transmitter. Among those attempting to redesign the radio studio in this way is Lawo, which claimed a world first when it launched its crystalCLEAR virtual radiomixing console at NAB in April. This eight-fader radio “desk” has two main components: a 1RU DSP engine; and a multitouch Windows application for control, which offers features such as AutoMix and AutoGain. Lawo spokesman Wolfgang Huber explains that the thinking behind the new product was to offer something that was simple and could “achieve more efficient workflows.” Huber acknowledges that, in general, radio studios “have not changed in the last two
The crystalCLEAR virtual console by Lawo: the key to a more efficient workflow? decades.” While the thought of replacing physical equipment with a less tactile, computerbased controller might concern some presenters and even engineers, Huber does not see this as making things more
with less training required for operators and saving time and money overall.” Lawo used NAB to gauge reaction to the crystalCLEAR, and Huber says the company will now watch how this market develops.
“The increasing use of gesture-based IT products will be the main driver for the acceptance of more IT-like console user interfaces” Andrew Hills, Studer difficult: “Nothing needs to be more complex than it needs to be. By simplifying things, there is the opportunity to create workflows that help people be more efficient. For radio stations it could mean fewer technical staff are needed,
HIP TO P SQUARED Despite claiming a “world first”, the NAB showing of crystalCLEAR came six months after British radio automation specialist P Squared, known for its Myriad play-out system, showed a prototype
THE SLOW MOVE TO VIRTUAL RADIO STUDIOS Virtual technology in the context of radio studios has a fairly broad definition, ranging from touchscreencontrolled mixing systems to remote studio operation. North America has embraced the former through Wheatstone’s Glass-E virtual mixer package. The Corus Entertainment radio group in Toronto has 10 news desks each using the system to control the manufacturer’s 1RU VMI (virtual mixer interface) rack unit. Phil Owens, who runs Wheatstone’s eastern US sales, explains there is no physical console associated with this operation – all mixing for incoming news and uploading of finished clips to the server is done through Glass-E/VMI.
The newsroom at Corus Toronto
In Europe, AVIT Radio in Denmark is using Glass-E in an OB truck to control studio operations, while Radio 1 in Zurich uses it to remotely control the LX-24 Series Control Surface. The BBC is currently refurbishing its local stations under the ViLOR (virtualised local radio) project. The object is to maintain dedicated studios in each town or city on the network while establishing a centralised networking and distribution centre. Stations are gradually being re-equipped with Axia digital consoles, Glensound Electronics analogue interfaces, Scisys (VCS) automation and Broadcast Bionic’s PhoneBOX call handling system, with processing at the BBC Mailbox facility in Birmingham.
touchscreen console at the Radio Academy TechCon in Salford. Commercial director Liam Burke acknowledges that Lawo had probably been working on its offering for “a long time,” while the VRM (virtual radio mixer) came out of a project last summer for a university intern working with P Squared. “The basic idea was to prove, conceptually, whether you could use standard PC equipment to run a broadcast radio mixer,” Burke explains. “There are lots of virtual consoles and mixers, but they tend to be aimed at production and so lack many broadcast features. We also wanted to test the concept of a multi-touch interface as we have seen a steady growth in enthusiasm for touch as a control method in general, and we believe that we are now at a tipping point where multitouch interfaces, and low-cost but reliable hardware, means that we will be using technology differently in the next few years.” Burke says that, in theory, the VRM is split between two separate elements: the user interface (UI) and the processing engine, which can work independently of each other. “So it is entirely possible that the VRM UI could control a different mix engine, or indeed a thirdparty control surface connecting to the VRM engine,” he comments. “Certainly I suspect there will be studio/source switching applications controlled directly from Myriad now we have the core technology.” Since TechCon, P Squared has continued to develop the VRM, partly because it had a “fundamental design flaw” in
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THE CONSTANT factor in the development of radio studios is the mixing desk: the control panel for all incoming and outgoing audio sources and the badge of power for presenters and technical operators alike. While these have become less electro-mechanical and more data-based – with the control surface driving a DSP engine increasingly located in an apparatus room away from the presentation booth – the frontend would still be recognisable to radio types from the past because of the channel strips with faders, equalisation, panning and input selectors. In 20 years from now, some on-air consoles may be completely unrecognisable to not just announcers from the days of “steam radio” (were they to somehow jump forward in time) but also to many working in the medium today. The aim of some manufacturers and developers is to produce
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broadcastfeature that it was based on a single ASIO sound card, which Burke says was good because all inputs and outputs used the same clock and ran at the same speed. “We know that to make a product version plausible it would need to work with more than one sound device, and to make it viable for the lower-cost market that might involve multiple low-cost single I/O sound devices,” he says. Ultimately, the budget end of the market is the target for the VRM, with Burke envisioning a two-mic, four-stereo version running on inexpensive sound cards for £50, with the capacity to add more channels at a few pounds each when necessary. Because of this, and play-out still being P Squared’s core business, he says the company is under no illusions that VRM would be worrying either Lawo or Axia. Wheatstone is another major player in the radio console market and one that could take issue with any claims by Lawo or P Squared to have been the first to demonstrate a working virtual desk. Phil Owens, who oversees eastern US sales for the manufacturer, says Wheatstone has been working in this technological area for seven to eight years, starting with an interface for the E Series console: “We worked with a TDM router as the backend of all our radio boards and then developed a control application using a TCP/IP link as the physical controller, which became a virtual app for a laptop or PC.”
Wheatstone says presenters are comfortable with the Glass-E virtual mixer and “don’t feel the need to grab a fader as much as they used to” space at the broadcast centre, so Owens comments that a small, touchscreen device controlling a server, often located elsewhere, was “perfect for that application.” Since then, he adds, Glass-E has been adopted at larger set-ups now that presenters and other operators are “comfortable with it and don’t feel the need to grab a fader as much as they used to.” OLD HABITS DIE HARD This lack of tactility – knowing that when a fader is opened something will happen – and the reliance on IT infrastructures, rather than more traditional broadcast ones, is a cause for concern among those who prefer the more established form of mixing. “I have serious concerns that virtual consoles do not provide the necessary tactile feedback for live operations,”
AEQ’s CAPITOL digital console and its all-important hardware faders media – will be “the main driver for the acceptance of more IT-like console user interfaces.” AEQ is currently working on two virtual products, but with conventional hardware still
“Our touchscreens are integrated in surfaces that always include faders, because being able to manipulate the device is a vital aspect and virtual faders so far do not reproduce this sensation” Gustavo Robles, AEQ The result was the Glass-E virtual mixer, which Wheatstone describes as the “ultimate remote access tool,” running with an audio codec to get output back to the studio. Owens says the initial demand for Glass-E came from two types of radio station: more traditional ones working with presenters using a console and play-out system for live assist, and those that were automation only and based – as he puts it – “in a closet.” The connecting factor was a lack of physical
observes Studer product director Andrew Hills. “On many occasions the operator must look into the studio or at monitors to see cues whilst controlling the desk. They must have tactile feedback to know the current position of the fader they need to change and that they have control of the right element under their hand.” However, Hills adds that the “increasing use of gesture-based IT products in everyday life,” like smartphones and tablets – particularly by those in the
playing a part. “We created … one virtual console [with a] surface like an exact copy of the traditional control surface of two of our digital audio mixers, the FORUM and CAPITOL,” says international sales director Gustavo Robles. “Initially, these virtual consoles worked only on PC, but are now on tablets as well. Basically, these are applications that offer the same options of control as the hardware surfaces but on a remote IT device. In most cases, where customers
are using virtual control surfaces it is more for supervision of remote unattended studios or occasional actions in network stations. Robles continues that AEQ is also working on touchscreens that offer virtual versions of many typical hardware controls found on consoles, such as potentiometers and buttons. “But in this case these touchscreens are integrated in hardware control surfaces that always include faders, because being able to manipulate the device is a vital aspect for many operators and virtual faders so far do not reproduce this sensation.” Liam Burke comments that there will always be scepticism about virtual technology until people use and become more confident with it. “The fact is that almost all radio stations run PC-based play-out systems that run 24/7 for weeks and months at a time, and they are doing a lot more than a mixer would do. Most of the digital mixers are also just Linux appliances, anyway, so people are already using virtual mixers. I think there will always be people who prefer a physical fader, but for others, the flexibility and opportunity of touchscreen will overcome initial concerns. But the biggest problem facing PC and digital systems is latency.” Tim Lowther, head of projects and portfolio management at Global Radio, picks up on this last point, saying that bandwidth for carrying audio, whether round
a studio centre or from remote locations, is a major issue. “For getting signals from a presenter’s home studio you rely on good, stable bandwidth,” he says. “The main broadband suppliers are now offering high-speed connections but the internet is a congested place. If a connection is not fast enough a virtual system won’t work, [however] good a product it is. We’ve seen that even when devices are sitting next to each other on a table.” Lowther observes that while the technology to create a virtual console exists today, the hurdle is getting people to give up the tactile security of the fader: “Presenters know if a channel is open or not just by feeling the fader while they’re speaking. With a touchscreen they wouldn’t know that unless they looked at the screen. There’s also the question of whether it will be possible to touch two different parts of the screen at the same time for crossfades.” Despite these technical queries, Lowther says the technology has moved on considerably in the last 10 years, and British broadcasters such as Global, the BBC and Bauer have been looking into its application. “What we’ve got to do is make these systems as responsive and stable as possible,” he concludes. Q www.aeq.eu www.thisisglobal.com www.lawo.com www.psquared.ne www.studer.ch www.wheatstone.com
ERGONOMICS AND THE RADIO STUDIO Working comfortably and efficiently in any work environment is the ideal in any office-based company, but the increasing reliance on computers has made it a primary concern after the realisation of how debilitating RSI and similar conditions can be. With IT now a firm part of radio broadcasting – and presenters and engineers sitting for long periods in the same position at mixing desks – ergonomics are playing a major part in studio design. This was highlighted during the 2013 Radio Academy Festival TechCon, in a session entitled New Adventures in UI (User Interfaces), which asked if studio design was getting the best out of presenters. Lisa Baker of design and development consultancy DCA looked at crucial areas including
A demonstration of P Squared’s VRM at TechCon 2013 posture and repetitive movements, while Ali Shah and Robert Freeman of the BBC Blue Room, which is associated with the broadcaster’s R&D department, looked at possible future UIs. They observed that gesture and voice control were maturing and could have an influence on how broadcast equipment is controlled. All very Minority Report.
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For the latest broadcast news www.psneurope.com/live
live SOUNDBITES Capital Sound provided sound reinforcement for an exclusive gig with Kylie Minogue at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London in March. The performance was part of MasterCard’s Priceless London, a series of offers and events for MasterCard holders. Capital supplied Martin Audio’s new MLA Mini system, which consisted of main hangs of eight Minis with side hangs of four. Capital Sound general manager Paul Timmins says the MLA Mini was “the perfect tool for the job.” www.capital-sound.co.uk The world-renowned Kammerspiele theatre in Vienna has been equipped with a portable POLARIS touch console following a recent refurbishment. The theatre, built in 1910, was completely gutted and rebuilt during the project, with Salzbrenner Stagetec Mediagroup commissioned to install the audio system. The POLARIS console will now take over as the main console for mixing the Kammerspiele’s wireless microphones and orchestra. www.stagetec.com
The Bulgari after Podd worked its magic
ITALY
UNITED KINGDOM
SSL Live for Agorà
MJ Xscapes with Podd Sound
FOH engineer praises “high-level analogue sound,” says Jon Chapple
By Jon Chapple
FOLLOWING ITS star turn supplying the audio system for Feburary’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia (see last month’s PSNEurope), Italian rental company Agorà has purchased an SSL Live console to support its local and international music, sports and corporate events. The console has already hit the road with one major client, Italian blues singer Mario Biondi, whose front of house engineer, Piefrancesco “Hugo” Tempesta, has been using it on tour for two months. “Before I decided to use the SSL Live... I did a simple but efficient test,” says Tempesta. “I used one channel and carefully listened to the performance of the mic pre, summing and overall sound quality, which reminded me of the high-level analogue sound
LONDON-BASED sound hire specialist Podd Sound, using a QSC WideLine-8 PA with associated Shure UHF-R and ULX-D wireless microphone systems, provided PA and commentary facilities for Sony Music’s first UK playback of the new Michael Jackson album, Xscape. Held in the main ballroom at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, on 31 March, the launch was attended by international media and assorted celebrities, supplemented by video messages from album producers LA Reid and Timbaland and the event was hosted by Radio 1 Xtra’s Trevor Nelson. Q www.poddsound.co.uk www.qsc.com www.shure.eu
SSL’s Giovanni Blasi (centre) with the Agora team that I was used to. I had no doubt in my mind that this was the console for me, and I feel very confident in my choice.” Agorà, founded in 1990, has become renowned for its high-profile international events. In addition to the 2014 Sochi games, the company has
provided audio equipment for concerts by Santana, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Elton John, the Live 8 benefit concerts in 2005, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Q www.agoraaq.it www.solidstatelogic.com
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livereport UNITED STATES
LOUD
Earlier this year, Pro Sound News (US) editor Frank Wells spoke to LOUD CEO Mark Graham following his realigning of the Mackie and EAW brands
and still proud
MARK GRAHAM has led LOUD Technologies as CEO, president and chairman for three years now. In 2011, Graham told PSNEurope (and US sister title Pro Sound News) that he was busy decentralising the operation and management of LOUD’s various brands, putting the staff in more autonomous work groups, building up the resources for each and making the brands more independent while not isolated. “The transition’s done,” Graham proclaims. “Now we’re all ready for the next phase and taking on the next layer of challenges. “2013 was a big year for LOUD,” he continues. “Our goal is, obviously, to build strong, good brands. We organise ourselves to have brands that are connected to our customers, making decisions at that level and quickly. We’ve done all that, but the other goal is to build strong leaders and leadership teams. To have an effective decentralised organisation you have to do that.” Graham cites a senior staff member as calling LOUD the “proud parent of high-achieving children”, and, as with children, “you live vicariously through them and really start to feel the
results and enjoy the chance to celebrate with them on their successes. In 2013 we saw the teams really hit their stride, they executed their plan to cross a bunch of fronts very well and their businesses ran extremely well because of it.” He offers the example of EAW, which started 2013 with a thinner top-level leadership team, “but we added in a VP of operations manufacturing, Matt Moriz [and] a VP of sales [Rusty Waite].” (Two new employees have recently been added to the marketing team, Waite reports: an art director and an events and marketing coordinator.) “We completely retooled the R&D team; now you have EAW with a hot product [Anya], actually several of them, and a really strong leadership team [under Jeff Rocha] and they’re off and running strong. And in the Martin Audio team they’ve been on a run for a while and we’re just thrilled with them.” When Graham began his tenure at LOUD, he says he sat down and talked to the team, saying, “I know this model that you’re in, I’ve been in it, I hate it.” The team agreed, he recalls, and now the value of a decentralised, brand-focused model is being
Mackie DL1608: “[This] has been a huge hit”
realised. “Innovative product, reliable supply, high quality, service and support as you expect, is all just there and humming.” (In a PSNEurope report of October 2013, the Martin Audio management described how their loudspeaker business had been empowered to “do what we want to do” in the decentralising process.) Three years ago, perception of the LOUD brand Mackie had changed from that of a market leader to more of a perennial brand of affordable, commodity level gear. “The quality is outstanding,” asserts Graham. “The [DL1608] digital
Mark Graham: “Ready for the next phase and taking on the next layer of challenges”
“There’s no amount of whizzy marketing or any type of pricing strategy or whatever you think that’s going to drive us to success. It’s product.” Mark Graham mixer has been a huge hit and then the series of innovative powered loudspeakers that are coming in have all been extremely successful. We’ve built, I hope, some credibility and [proved] we can consistently deliver innovation and that we can be a reliable good partner. If you’re a dealer or a contractor, you have to have a reliable partner because you make your living by selling the products. We’re actually at the point now where the momentum is naturally picking up.” While hesitant to share details of what’s in Mackie’s pipeline, Graham says that in the categories where Mackie previously
drove the market, “you can expect more of that and soon… we have to lead and we want to. We like it.” In crowded market categories, Graham says “innovation and creativity” will be the basis for Mackie’s initiatives, mentioning adaptive loudspeaker technology, networking, digital mixing and digital processing as elements that “will come together in interesting, awesomely fun products.” He continues, “There’s no amount of whizzy marketing or any type of pricing strategy or whatever you think that’s going to drive us to success. It’s product. And so we need to invest, we need to invest more. In the three years I’ve been here, we have gained momentum and I continue to push. We are laying the bets down.” Graham says that LOUD came out of 2013 better than 2012 and “with a head of steam that gave me some confidence that we’re getting greater
economic stability” in spite of the lack of confident consumers in the retail markets – LOUD brand retail sales were up, but “didn’t set the world on fire”. On the higher end of the food chain, the number of capital expenditure projects “on the books” for LOUD family product purchases gives him “a lot of confidence”. Looking at geographically segmented markets, Grahams says, “China is a big driver.” After a regime change, Graham says you could just tell “it’s not what it used to be” and LOUD’s brands are “adjusting strategy to respond to the changed Chinese economy,” though “every one of our brands was materially up in China last year – It speaks well to the strength of our partners. We have very strong partners in China. So, while the overall activity in the market was down, we are taking share and that feels good. [The US market] feels stronger than it’s felt in a long time. It’s not back but it’s a lot better than it was. Europe is finally feeling more stable…” Overall, says Graham, “I’m more optimistic right now than I have been in a long time. It builds and builds.” Q www.loudtechinc.com www.mackie.com
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livereport WORLD
The
Alex Kapranos: a big fan of Allen & Heath’s iLive
Right Action Franz Ferdinand embarked on a worldwide tour in March with PA and consoles supplied by Wigwam Acoustics. Simon Duff caught up with the audio crew when coupled with the flexible nature of the surface and their approach to scene storage, it makes for a very versatile environment. Of course, it sounds great, too!” For monitor requirements, the fourMonitor engineer Tom Howat surveys his kingdom piece use a combination of IEM and wedges: drummer Paul Thomson uses a hard-wired IEM; Bob Hardy, on bass, and Alex Kapranos, on guitar and vocals, favour both IEM and wedges; while guitarist and keyboardist Nick McCarthy goes for wedges only. In total, Howat creates six wedge mixes, five stereo RF IEM mixes and one stereo hardwired IEM mix, three effects sends and two mixes for FOH and monitors. Howat’s approach to mixing for the band is a ‘hands-on’ one, but he does make some great from where I’m standing!” show list, which keeps Howat use of some scene recalls says Kapranos. And from on his toes and requires his to redeploy fader assignments Hardy? “Looks great too!” console to be both flexible and on the iLive surface, thereby Mixing at FOH is Michael intuitive. The iLive meets his bringing channels up in front Parker, who has clocked well needs. “Yesterday, the group of him as needed. “This saves over 1,000 gigs with the band. pulled a new song out of the me from digging into layers too He mixes on an Avid Profile, a hat, which involved plenty of often and keeps the ‘manual’ console with which he has been swapping around and band approach flowing,” he says. touring since 2006. He notes: members changing roles – Alex Both band and crew like to “I can still do my best show with on keys, Nick on lead vox, etc – keep things fluid, creative and it. The plug-ins are the thing so I put a partial scene together not always fixed to a preset quickly during sound check, and for me – there is some pretty specific stuff that I couldn’t do it all did as I thought it might. I on another board as easily. We also restructured the system to have a passive split that sends include a further stereo aux mix. the signal to my Profile stage Nick looks like he might try rack and Tom’s iLive rack – some IEM on our next jaunt, so four BNCs down to me.” after a judicious ‘store all’ and Wigwam Acoustics supplied with only a tiny bit of tinkering a d&b audiotechnik J-Series needed. Very good!” PA – 24 boxes in total – 20 d&b For wedges, Howat likes to V-Series and eight Q-Series use double 12-inch LF drivers subs. For the British Academy plus a centre-mounted HF venues, Parker used in-house driver, and currently uses d&b systems and no J-Series, with audiotechnik M2s. For IEM, he just the Qs positioned in specifies Sennheiser SR2050s or strategic areas for filling in G3s. The band has some kind any coverage dead spots. He words for the iLive: “Sounds Tom Howat and the iLive: “snappy and responsive... and powerful”
FOUR ALBUMS into their career, indie disco mainstays Franz Ferdinand set off in support of their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, with a d&b audiotechnik J-Series PA, Allen & Heath iLive console and, for FOH, an Avid Profile. Tom Howat is the band’s monitor engineer, having joined the Franz Ferdinand set-up in August last year after their previous engineer decided to come off the road. “They are a great band to work with,” comments Howat. “There is plenty of technical awareness between them and a clear and succinct knowledge of their own requirements, and they want to enjoy every show and crowd as much as they can.” The 2014 tour begun in the UK, taking in a range of medium-sized venues and academies, before moving to Europe and North America – then in the throes of a busy festival season. Howat is using an Allen & Heath iLive system with an iDR10 mix rack, T112 surface and PL10 accessory controller. “I came across the iLive systems while working for Morrissey over the past couple of years,” he explains. “The iLive system is snappy and responsive. The ‘networking’ side of it is powerful and,
notes: “When we have our full PA, it’s a great time. The other days are more challenging, but I think we’ve managed to get a good result every time – most of the academies these days have a decent spec – although we have replaced the main stacks a couple of times so far.” Other key audio crew include PA techs Pete Seddon and Sid Rogerson. Howat is also keen to thank Wigwam Acoustics, and Wigwam’s Geoff Muir in particular: “He has been very supportive of me in terms of using the iLive and also provides exceptionally good service.” Throughout the summer festival season, Franz Ferdinand will tour with just control at FOH and Howat taking a reduced monitor set-up. “ I am devising a way of doing the show on an T80 surface,” Howat concludes. “This would make the monitorworld footprint even more compact, which will be handy on festival stages – both for our own group and for other folk, resident monitor systems and other guest desks. We will also have a ‘B’-rig on the road for part of the summer due to logistics, so compactness will help in that regard.” Q www.allen-heath.com www.dbaudio.com www.franzferdinand.com www.wigwamacoustics.co.uk
PROSOUND DAWARDS Thursday, 25th September 2014 Ministry Of Sound, London
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Thursday 25th September, Ministry of Sound
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> 17 Awards including NEW additions for 2014 LIVE: Best Theatre Sound and STUDIO: Best Sound (Post-Production)
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The myMix network-based personal monitoring and recording system
SDUK hands Movek to Synthax By Murray Stassen SHURE DISTRIBUTION UK (SDUK) has announced the end of its British distribution agreement with Movek. SDUK is the UK distributor for Shure, QSC, DIS, Sound Devices and Radial Engineering. A review of SDUK’s distributed brands was prompted following the internal reorganisation that took place last year. US-based Movek is the manufacturer of the myMix networkbased personal monitoring and recording system. Effective 1 May, SDUK will be passing all responsibility for myMix
sales and support to UK-based distributors Synthax Audio UK. Peter James, managing director of Shure Distribution UK, explains: “As we moved to a selective distribution strategy and restructured our organisation to support specific channels it became increasingly apparent that some products within our portfolio fell outside of our core strategy. myMix is an innovative product that we are proud to have been associated with and we wish Movek all the best with their new distribution partnership.” Q www.mymixaudio.com www.shuredistribution.co.uk www.synthax.co.uk
WORLD
ICELANDIC DREAM poppers Sigur Rós recently completed the final leg of their twoyear world tour using d&b audiotechnik D80 amplifiers supplied by Skan PA. Tom Tunney, Skan’s system designer for the tour, explains the D80’s appeal: “We took a d&b system out for Sigur Rós late last year. The most
immediate thing we noticed was an indirect benefit of the active power correction: when we applied the ‘pull’ on the service with no gain reduction anywhere on the signal path, it just sounded clearer.” Tunney also praised the system’s compact packaging. Q www.skanpa.co.uk
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livereport DENMARK
Playing along to the (Vol)beat After years of hard work, Danish rockers Volbeat find themselves touring America, the European festival circuit and beyond. Erica Basnicki discovers how so many have fallen under the band’s spell… vocals an Audix OM7 is used, as Mikkelsen believes it “helps minimise bleed”. Mikkelsen has favoured the brand for a while, and for a number of reasons: “When I chose Audix many years ago, it was all about the
“There’s D2s in the first five toms, and then there’s a D4 in the 16-inch and a D6 in the 18-inch tom, which is used more as an effect. They’re all mic’ed on the inside because the volume on stage is just too much. It’s really loud up there.” Elsewhere on the kit are ADX51 mics on hi-hat, an I5 every second cymbal – “a brilliant, simple snare mic,” says Mikkelsen – and a D3 mic on the snare bottom. Rounding off the kit are two D6 mics on the kick drum, which Mikkelsen uses in combination with a drum trigger: “With bigger shows, especially outdoor festivals, it becomes too dry to just have one source of sound, so the kick is a blend of both.” On the rest of the stage, guitars and bass are all DI’d, and every band member is on Sennheiser 2000 IEMs – with the exception of Poulsen, who prefers wedges. In Europe, the band uses d&b M2s wedges, while in America it’s Clair CM-22 stage monitors. PA-wise, Mikkelsen is using a Coda Audio Airline LA12
“We spend a lot of hours together during the year, and if you hate each other it’s going to be a long f***ing year!” Kristoffer Hinrichsen, monitor engineer, Volbeat
FOH engineer Mads Mikkelsen with monitor engineer Kristoffer Hinrichsen “THEY HAVE enough of their own, so why import something different?” Volbeat’s FOH engineer Mads Mikkelsen reflects on how difficult it is for foreign bands to break into major music markets such as the US and UK. It’s a challenge Volbeat has overcome, and one which Mikkelsen has been a part of almost since day one. From backstage at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, New Mexico, Volbeat reflect on how far they’ve come – literally – from building up their fan base at home in Denmark. Mikkelsen recalls they early years: “We did a tour where the band played for eight people in bars. Everybody was loading in and out and sleeping in the same hotel room, if not sitting in the van. It was good times.” Those eight people soon became several thousand as Volbeat’s live gigs won them new fans after performances at Roskilde Festival and on tour
with Metallica. It was around that time that monitor engineer Kristoffer Hinrichsen joined the Volbeat “family” (as he calls it): “We spend a lot of hours together during the year, and if you hate each other then it’s going to be a long fucking year,” he laughs. With things kicking off for the band, Hinrichsen took on a different kind of challenge. “It’s definitely the loudest band I’ve ever mixed monitors for,” he says. “The guitar stacks probably put out between 114 to 120dB of distorted guitar. If you ever look at the RTA (real-time analyser) of that, you will see it’s very wide band in the top and very wide band in the bottom, so fitting a vocal in there sometimes gets very tricky. It takes a few tricks to actually be able to get that vocal loud enough for Mike [Poulsen, lead singer] to hear himself properly.” One trick is microphone choice, and for Poulsen’s
Both Mikkelsen and Hinrichsen work with DiGiCo desks. Hinrichsen will swap between an SD7, SD8 and SD10 depending on the size of the show, whereas Mikkelsen is keeping his FOH footprint small: “I carry a lot of Waves plug-ins on the board as well as running on a DiGiGrid. I actually mainly use the desk as a big patch bay for Waves – that’s just how I work. My FOH is very small, straightforward and I can have it on any tour. There’s not that much hocuspocus to it!” There weren’t any magic tricks to speed up Volbeat’s success, either, which very obviously impresses both engineers. Mikkelsen sums it up nicely: “The best thing about this band and this whole journey is that they actually built it up from nothing. They didn’t just get a radio hit, they started on the road and played their way up and succeeded. It wasn’t just handed to them: they worked for it, and for many years. There’s no X Factor, no Idol, no instant band – the way it should be.” Q www.volbeat.dk www.audixusa.com
drum mic’ing,” he says. “The D2s on toms are one of the reasons I chose them to begin with. They give a lot of body to the drum and they just sound awesome – very natural and not ‘plastic’ compared to other microphones of the same size.
system – “Which, is in my opinion, is just brilliant,” he says. “It’s very, very nicesounding, good coverage, good software and amazing speakers. I use some ViRAY for frontfills and centrefills as well.”
The like it loud: Volbeat take the stage with Audix mics
Things are looking up for Volbeat
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UNITED KINGDOM
Audiologic in Nexo deal By Murray Stassen PROFESSIONAL AUDIO solutions provider Audiologic has been named as the UK distributor for French loudspeaker manufacturer Nexo. Audiologic is a provider of pro audio equipment for professional installation contractors and system integrators, covering a diverse range of sectors, including education, retail, corporate, houses of worship and live events. Sales and marketing manager for Audiologic, Andy Lewis, says: “Providing solutions that exactly meet the needs of customers is fundamental to our approach at Audiologic and there is no doubt that Nexo’s products will bring a balance and quality to our range that
will significantly increase the scope of our offer. “I believe that our approach to customer service struck a chord with Nexo in as much as they felt it very much reflected their own outlook on doing business. We are certainly as impressed with their way of operating as we are with their top class product range.” “Adding these high-end products to its range enables Audiologic to offer the broadest possible spectrum of choice to its customers,” says the company. Following the announcement of the distribution deal with Nexo, Audiologic also announced that technical product specialist, Ben Tredwell, had been recruited to strengthen its team. Q www.audiologicltd.com
Phonophobia updates roster with Soundcraft and AKG By Murray Stassen MAIDSTONE-BASED production and dry hire specialist Phonophobia has added a Soundcraft Vi1 console and AKG DMS700 system to its rental inventory. Phonophobia owner Mark Chant says: “We had not done much with Soundcraft since their analogue desks but at this point we decided to jump ship from our previous brand. We bought the Si Compacts for our rental stock – but it was only a matter of time before we moved up to the Vi1, with a 64-channel Vi rack, since some shows and events they go onto are quirky, and require a serious number of I/Os.” Chant continues that he is now upgrading all his radio mics
to AKG’s flagship DMS700 digital system. “These things are amazing – just brilliant,” he says. “Everything is just much better from a functionality perspective – they look and sound great and its silly to consider anything else. Also we know they are HiQnet compatible with the Vi1.” Q www.phonophobia-online.co.uk
(L-R) Phonophobia financial director Sacha Chant and owner Mark Chant
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livefeature
Wireless: the next generation Cost-effective and easy to deploy, a fresh generation of licence-free wireless audio systems is providing a convenient new approach to small- and medium-sized applications, writes David Davies PINPOINTING THE exact moment when a new trend emerges can often be easier said that done, but in the case of what we might loosely term “the new wireless”, August 2013 looks like a pretty sound bet – for that was when Neutrik introduced its Xirium digital wireless system for operation in the licence-exempt 5GHz frequency band. Along with 2.4GHz, 5GHz is one of the two spectrum bands commonly used for Wi-Fi operation. Pro audio’s relationship with licensed operation has always been – to put it mildly – somewhat problematic, but in the postauction era where PMSE (programme-making and special events) access to spectrum is at a greater premium than ever, it is surely no surprise that demand for solutions able to operate sans licence has intensified. Security of the signal is obviously paramount, but it’s apparent that Neutrik and Harman’s AKG – another flag-waver for the new wireless
with its DMSTetrad digital wireless microphone system – have gone to great lengths to ensure integrity. And although these two systems in particular might be significant, it’s clear that there are plenty of other manufacturers thinking creatively about wireless audio and its potential trickle-down to smaller applications… HOPE YOU LIKE OUR NEW DIRECTION Lichtenstein-based Neutrik should require little introduction as an eminent supplier of professional audio, video, fibre-optic and industrial connectors and interconnect systems. But by the ready admission of Neutrik UK sales executive John Perry, it is not exactly known for its wireless solutions. “People don’t perceive Neutrik as a wireless manufacturer, and it does take time to get a few reference projects,” he admits. But already the signs look promising for Xirium, which is designed
“[With Xirium] you can get four channels of uncompressed audio on one Wi-Fi channel … for a lot of events where mobile and quick setup are important, it is going to be very attractive” John Perry, Neutrik to suit a variety of line-of-sight wireless applications, including HoWs, museums, hotels, colleges and conferences. Perry expands upon the
CASE STUDY: XIRIUM ACCELERATES INTO PRO-AUDIO It might be relatively early days for Neutrik’s Xirium digital wireless audio solution, but the system – which operates without licence in the 5GHz spectrum range – has already garnered some notable references at trade shows and summits, live concerts and other applications. At the recent Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, event product company POOLgroup deployed a system at the Samsung booth comprising one NX4TRX, two NX1TX, two NX1RX and two NXA-1060-55 transmitted line signals – two mono channels for the way there, and one mono channel for the way back. The system is said to have “worked
perfectly” in a challenging environment characterised by much activity on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. In the UK, Stage Electrics has lately utilised a Xirium system for its client Center Parcs. Comprising one NX4TRX, two NX1RX-T, one NX1TX and four NXA-14-40-35, the system delivers audio during a fireworks show held twice a week at Center Parcs’ Lake District resort. Operating over a distance of 350m, with three connections around the lake connected wirelessly, the system’s performance is said to have “amazed” the Stage Electrics team. And lastly (for now), Xirium has been racking up some notable live
touring experience. For the latest European tour by veteran singersongwriter trio Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN), Xirium has replaced the cables between FOH and the various measuring microphones in the concert hall, which are used to level and calibrate the main PA systems. Transmission of the uncompressed audio measuring signals was achieved with fixed, sample-accurate latency of 3ms over distances up to 150m. “Measurements have been sped up drastically and the Xirium system has been very dependable and robust for our purposes,” remarks CSN mix engineer Kevin Madigan.
operating principles of the system: “We are really looking at those [environments] where it can be difficult to run analogue cables. For example, I recently did an application for Sony at the Brits aftershow where they wanted two Meyer Sound line arrays connected at the other end of a room along a 30m-long marble floor,” he says. It wouldn’t really have been practical to run cables and what’s more, “the client certainly did not want to see any.” Operating in the licenceexempt 5GHz frequency band, Xirium can send or receive up to eight channels of fully uncompressed 24-bit, 48kHz audio with only 3.4 milliseconds of latency per circuit. Xirium also makes use of Neutrik’s in-house designed DIWA (Digital Wireless Audio)
transmit and receive protocol, along with patented FED forward error-correction. To maximise RF coverage, the diversity antenna system can be augmented with optional directional antennas. The result, claims Neutrik, is robust, noise-free operation, even in heavy local RF traffic conditions. “With a lot of Wi-Fi protocol you have downtime which means people can hop on the channel, whereas [with DIWA] we are constantly broadcasting to the pack,” explains Perry. Comprising five primary components – the NX4TRX 4ch Base Station, the NX1TX Remote Transmitter TX, the NX1RX Remote Receiver RX, the NX1XT-T Touring Transmitter TX and the NX1RX-T Touring Receiver RX – the Xirium system has already received some notable project credits, including a tour with stalwart rockers Crosby, Stills & Nash (see box). But with an increased channel count on the cards and a radar-detector card set to be added – the latter in line with 2015 regulatory changes – Perry believes that the system has only begun to realise its potential. “You can get four channels of uncompressed audio on one Wi-Fi channel,” he says, “so
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livefeature Xirium preparing to welcome CSN at the Royal Albert Hall
The AKG DMSTetrad: a licence-free solution for uncompressed audio transmission for clubs, concerts and conferences
you don’t need a lot of space, and for a lot of events where mobile and quick set-up are important I do think it is going to be very attractive.” Nonetheless, it seems he regards Xirium as a complement – rather than an alternative – to more traditional high-end wireless systems: “It’s a problem-solver rather than trying to be a specific solution,” he says. Inherent in that observation is a clue to why the omens for these new systems appear to be quite so good. FROM CONCERTS TO CONFERENCES Another manufacturer working along similar lines does have rather more form in the area of wireless audio: Harman brand AKG. Introduced at Prolight + Sound in March, the DMSTetrad digital wireless microphone system is – again – a licence-free solution that offers uncompressed audio transmission and 128-bit AES standard encryption for applications including clubs, concerts and conferences. Designed to be simple and easy to deploy, DMSTetrad utilises the 2.4GHz range – also frequently used for Wi-Fi. With 24-bit/48kHz audio coding, the system is claimed to provide studio-quality transmission and a linear frequency response to
suit vocal and instrumental performances. Specifically, the DMSTetrad system features the DSRTetrad Digital Stationary Receiver, the DPTTetrad Digital Pocket Transmitter and the DHTTetrad Digital Handheld Transmitter, available with AKG’s patented D5 acoustics or as DHTTetrad P5 with standard dynamic capsule. Two sets are available: the DMSTetrad Vocal Set including the DHTTetrad P5, and the DMSTetrad Performer Set including the DPTTetrad, together with a C111 L earhook microphone and the MKG L instrument cable. An integrated four-channel audio mixer that “mixes up to four channels directly to one mix output on the receiver” is among the features highlighted by Stephan Scherthan, product line manager wireless systems at AKG Acoustics. Operating in a typical 2.4GHz environment, “it should be possible to operate up to four microphones simultaneously [and], in a very clear environment, it could be possible to use up to six or even more simultaneous channels,” he explains. Small venue live set-ups and HoWs are among the applications singled out as being suitable for the DMSTetrad, but Scherthan is frank about the eternal limitations of licence-free operation. “All licence-free systems face a very hostile working environment,” he says. “After all, it is licencefree and that includes things like smartphones, Wi-Fi routers etc.
The question isn’t ‘if’ a system will encounter such aggressive interference during use – [it’s more], ‘how does a system perform in the face of hostile interference?’” In this regard, Scherthan insists that the “audio conditioning used in the DMSTetrad system is superior [to that of] our competitors.” With the 2.4GHz band unlikely to be part of any future digital dividend, the system’s core audience appears to be fairly secure. But it is clear that Scherthan believes that there are more opportunities to be explored in the context of what he terms a “continuously shrinking frequency spectrum.” “To accomplish the same amount of simultaneously used microphone channels, products must become better
and smarter,” he says. “This can only be achieved by using high-quality components and new technical designs. Future products will also have some degree of awareness regarding their operating environment and will be able to manage conflicts automatically.” ‘HASSLE-FREE’ WIRELESS PA Taking another approach but similarly aimed at achieving rapid deployment is Sennheiser’s LSP 500 PRO. Described as delivering “hassle-free wireless integrated PA”, the LSP 500 PRO is the result of specific customer feedback, explains Simon Beesley, product manager for Sennheiser UK. “It was seen that there was a need for a system that could incorporate all the elements required for a small PA event without having to rig and lay cables,” says Beesley. “[It is very easily scalable] to suit a number of
Multiple Bose SoundTouch systems can work together to create a multi-room listening experience, “playing the same music everywhere or different music in different rooms”
environments and audience sizes, [and the unit’s] delay setting means that the LSP 500 PRO can be used in larger spaces.” Given that the system uses both wireless and IEM equipment, there is “a need to stay within the rules and regs when it comes to useable frequencies, [and] if channel 38 equipment is being used, a licence is required,” explains Beesley. However, a licence-free path is also an option: “Users can opt for the deregulated channels in channel 70 which would mean no licence is needed. There is a drawback as channel 70 has a limited number of available frequencies and this would obviously limit of the size of the system that can be configured.” The advent of more affordable Li-ion battery technology has been a great facilitator for the system, which has received a response considerably “bigger than expected. Obviously we had an idea of a target as far as annual sales was concerned, and at this point we are double that original figure.” With the system marking something of a new departure for Sennheiser, the company plans to respond to customer feedback, which will “inevitably lead to further developments within this area,” remarks Beesley. “Our customers see the benefits immediately and this leads to the LSP 500 finding its way into all sorts of different markets. Some
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The Xirium NX4TRX base station
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of these markets have specific needs and I am sure that units will be tailored to fit.” Underlining its wireless credentials in another domain, Sennheiser chose ISE 2014 as the platform for the launch of its ADN-W (Audio Distribution
Sennheiser is open to customer feedback for the LSP 500 PRO, which marks its first foray into “the new wireless”
Network Wireless) digital conference system, which uses both the 2.4GHz and the 5GHz range for transmission. A hybrid solution that can be combined with wired components of the existing ADN system, ADN-W can accommodate some hefty deployments, with a maximum of 150 wireless discussion units able to be used simultaneously.
WIRELESS INNOVATORS Whether the motivation is a desire to offer an alternative to licensed operation, or a need to extract the cable run problem from the equation of ever-more aesthetically sensitive applications, plenty of other manufacturers are working on new wireless systems. Vieta has won considerable plaudits for its SoLine SoCube wireless loudspeakers for speech and background music – the product line, creative inside and outside of Spain last decade – is currently being revamped. Bose Professional has introduced a number of systems that could be used for domestic and small office applications, including the SoundTouch music system that utilises an existing home or office Wi-Fi network. “Once connected [to the network] SoundTouch systems offer access to Internet radio and
a personal music library, with music streamed at the touch of one of six preset buttons,” explains Sue Harrison, business development manager at Bose Professional Systems Division. “Several systems – from small and portable speakers to home cinema systems – can work together to create a multiroom listening experience, playing the same music everywhere or different music in different rooms.” With cost issues obliging systems to be easy and (relatively) hassle-free to deploy, and pressure on spectrum only heading in one direction, the need for other manufacturers o take a fresh – and frankly more cost-effective – look at wireless audio is bound to intensify in the short- to mid-term future. Q www.akg.com www.pro.bose.com www.neutrik.com www.sennheiser.com www.vietapro.com
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For the latest installation news www.psneurope.com/installation
installation
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SOUNDBITES Software provider Stardraw. com has announced the addition of the 700th manufacturer to the library of its design and documentation software, Stardraw Design 7. CEO Rob Robinson explains: “We’re immensely proud of our record with our symbols libraries. They are key to the intrinsic value of our design products, and we are the only software manufacturer to offer such a comprehensive, userfocused and quality service.” www.stardraw.com The InstallAwards are coming! Organised by PSNEurope sister title Installation, the inaugural InstallAwards ceremony – to be held at the Hilton London Wembley Hotel on 12 June – will recognise achievement and excellence throughout the entire installation sector, including in corporate and industrial, sports and performing arts, residential and educational applications. Get your tickets now from www.installawards.com Grace School in Hertfordshire, UK, recently installed a KV2 ES PA system. Paul Pytches from Mount Grace School comments: “The ES System has surpassed our expectations – the quality of the system is amazing. All who have heard it have been very impressed. We were pleased to be working with KV2, who offered full support throughout the project.” www.kv2audio.com TG Baker has completed an upgrade to the audio system at London Waterloo station. The final design on the concourse includes 21 JBL Intellivox DS180 loudspeakers, and the main train shed features 50 Intellivox DSX280 loudspeakers spread across 18 platforms. Scott McLucas, senior project engineer at TG Baker Sound, says: “We have received comments that the intelligibility has been greatly improved and the system is now performing as it should be for the UK’s busiest rail terminal.” www.tgbaker.com
WORLDWIDE
Into the Atmos-phere 100+ With over 600 cinema screens worldwide already having installed or committed to Dolby Atmos technology, and speaker manufacturers have much to look forward to, says Jon Chapple A REVOLUTION is afoot. Dolby Atmos, along with ‘immersive audio’ formats such as Barco’s Auro 11.1 and DTS Multi-Dimensional Audio (MDA), is changing the way cinema audiences experience film sound – and manufacturers of cinema speakers are reaping the benefits. Dolby calls Atmos’s “adaptive rendering” system – which makes it possible to direct sounds as if they were “dynamic objects,” delivering sound from multiple directions – its “most significant innovation in years”. Atmos can transmit up to 128 simultaneous, lossless audio inputs on up to 64 discrete speaker feeds, including ones placed in the ceiling above the audience. One company seeing positive signs from the growing popularity of Atmos is JBL Professional, which has carried out approximately 200 Atmos installs globally and can count the Empire cinema in Leicester Square, London, Dolby’s UK headquarters in Soho, London, the worldfamous Pinewood film studios in Buckinghamshire, UK, and the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, US, among its customers to date. Chuck Goodsell, senior manager, cinema, at JLB Professional, says that the company’s 9320 cinema surround loudspeaker, which launched in October last year, is a popular choice for commercial Atmos installs. “Since Dolby Atmos requires individual dynamic audio elements over as many as 64 channels, the addition of multiple surrounds – including overhead – as well as additional screen channel speakers has
QSC at CinemaCon: (probably) the largest cinema sound rig ever assembled
JBL ScreenArray loudspeakers adorning the Haus Zoar in Mönchengladbach, Germany’s first Atmos-equipped cinema
5
The number of Academy Awards won by films featuring Dolby Atmos sound in 2014 (Gravity and Frozen)
had a beneficial impact on [our] cinema sales,” Goodsell explains. “[JLB parent company] Harman has continued to work with Dolby to develop the most advanced systems for Atmos deployment globally.” Things are also looking good at QSC Audio Products. “The conversion to digital cinema is nearly complete,” comments
Mark Mayfield, QSC’s cinema marketing manager. “Over 80 per cent of the world’s 135,000 screens have been converted, and, in North America, it’s closer to 95 per cent. There’s no question that the emergence and popularity of these new ‘immersive’ sound formats has created yet another catalyst for sales of ‘B-chain’ technologies
The number of Dolby Atmos film titles announced so far
like processors, amplifiers, and loudspeakers.” QSC recently installed what it believes to be the largest cinema sound system ever assembled, at the Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, for CinemaCon 2014, which featured – tellingly – the largest Atmos rig ever installed. Mayfield says QSC is “obviously supportive” of Dolby Atmos and other immersive sound formats, and points out that its Q-Sys digital audio processing platform is currently the only processor available that accepts a direct digital connection from the Dolby CP850 Atmos processor. All signs so far point to a boom time ahead for cinema-focussed loudspeaker companies. “To give you an idea of the amount of additional sound equipment that might be necessary for these formats, we’ve equipped a 294-seat cinema with 18 surround loudspeakers, three screen channel loudspeakers and four floor-mounted subwoofers behind the screen for a standard 7.1 presentation,” concludes Mayfield. “To demonstrate MDA and other object- and channel-based formats, we’ve added 24 additional surround loudspeakers, three LCRheight screen channels and two LFE subwoofers suspended from the ceiling. All of these loudspeakers require discrete amplifier channels, so the quantity of power amplifiers is significantly increased as well.” Atmos is rumoured to be coming to home theatre systems as early as this autumn. Q www.dolby.com www.jblpro.com www.qsccinema.com
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installationnews UNITED KINGDOM
WWII-era Alliance revived by DJW The sole remaining World War II-era Royal Navy sub has undergone a £7 million audio restoration. Murray Stassen reports THE ONLY surviving British World War II-era submarine, the Gosport-based HMS Alliance, has undergone a £7 million restoration which saw over 50 speakers fitted throughout the 218ft (66m) submarine to bring the retired vessel back to life as a historical attraction for the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. Hampshire-based AV specialist DJW was responsible for the design, programming and installation of the soundscaping system. The audio system is used to recreate scenarios that would have occurred during daily life on the submarine – for example, in an attack scenario, a deafening alarm rings through Visaton loudspeakers, accompanied by the frantic flashing of red emergency lights. Doe comments: “It was a very small, claustrophobic space to
… and out. Spot the speakers!
The Alliance inside… work in, which made getting equipment in and out – let alone installed – quite difficult. It was also tough finding enough nooks and crannies to hide 51 speakers throughout the sub. We wanted to make the experience as real as possible, so it was important to us to hide as much of the equipment as we could. “In the end we used two types of speaker: the Tannoy Di5 and the Soundtube SM31-EZ. The Soundtube speaker is quite
ITALY
INSPIRED BY Milan’s iconic La Scala, a new multi-purpose venue in the Italian city of Merate has recently installed a Yamaha audio system. Funded by the Lombardy city’s administration, Auditorium Merate (pictured) is part of a major project to transform former municipal buildings into community facilities. It was officially opened in December by the city’s mayor, Andrea Robbiani, who wanted a “state-of-the-art audio system
to match the venue’s highquality acoustics.” The system comprises an LS9-16 digital mixing console, fitted with an MY16-AUD Dante interface and Rio1608-D i/o unit; two flown DSR215 and two flown DSR115 active full-range loudspeakers; a pair of floor-mounted DXS15 subs hidden under the stage; four powered DXR12 loudspeakers for stage monitoring; and two HS5 nearfield stage monitors. Q www.yamahaproaudio.com
small but still gives a good sound and was easier to hide in the more difficult areas. We used about 20 Soundtube speakers and about 25 Tannoy Di 5 units, with the rest being made up of reused on board speakers that we refurbished.” The audio is sourced from two Mac minis, with power for the speakers delivered by Audac DPA616 power amplifiers. HMS Alliance is now open to the public following the grand opening of the submarine and a new section – also DJWinstalled – of the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Q www.djwillrich.com www.royalnavalmuseum.org
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installationreport SPAIN
The club viewed from the VIP area
Shake the room A new club, and a new player in the dance PA arena: Booom in Ibiza is the showcase venue for Pioneer’s GS-WAVE stack and XY series. Paddy Baker investigates FOR MANY years, Pioneer has retained a major presence in the world of club equipment, particular in the realm of mixers and CD players adapted for DJ use (the seminal CDJ range specifically). The company moved into the club loudspeaker market last year with the launch of the GS-WAVE stack and the XY series, developed in association with Gary Stewart Audio. Something of a legend in the field of nightclub speaker design and manufacture, designing installations for famous venues such as NYC’s Paradise Garage, Stewart tragically died of cancer midway through the Pioneer project. But his widow was keen to see the work continue as a legacy to him. And after Pioneer’s Alex Barrand demonstrated the new speakers to Giuseppe Cipriani, who was
The heart of the showcase installation in Booom (dropping the ‘!’ for tidiness here) is the four GS-WAVE speaker stacks positioned at the corners of the dancefloor. Three metres high, each stack comprises a WAVSUB multi-fold hyperbolic horn subwoofer with two 18-inch rear-loaded drivers, with a large horn extension; two high-power WAV-LOW speakers for the low to mid range; and on top, the WAV-LENS, loaded with two coaxial compression drivers and fitted with a Pioneer Acoustic Lens (a set of downward-angled slats) for 110º horizontal dispersion. Additional top-end coverage is provided by WAV-TWPOD omnidirectional tweeter arrays suspended from the ceiling.
“When we were designing the speakers, we wanted to build them from the ground up with an amplifier that we can recommend” Alex Barrand looking to open a club in Ibiza for the summer 2013 season, he soon had an order for the first major installation. Boom – and the Booom! club was born. An experienced sound engineer, Barrand’s credentials include helping to design the Martin Audio installation at London’s Ministry of Sound. His role at Pioneer – professional audio manager – encompasses sales, product development, system design, tuning and even programming.
Developed alongside the GS-WAVE is the XY series, which consists of an 8-inch and a 12-inch full-range enclosure, and an 18-inch and a dual 15-inch sub. These have been deployed in the various zones throughout the club, such as VIP areas, paid seating and the space behind the DJ console, which is generally reserved for the DJ’s friends. Barrand has designed the system to produce even coverage in each of these areas, without any sonic ‘hot spots’. By time-aligning the
This is the place, all right!
Pioneer’s Alex Barrand and the GS-WAVE stack which he helped to design system, he has also ensured that there is sonic cohesion as you move through the club. Both speaker ranges were developed in conjunction with Powersoft. While Pioneer has its own range of consumer amplifiers, for the professional range it wanted to work with one of the big names in amplification. Powersoft proved to be an excellent fit: partnering with Pioneer suited the Italian company’s wish to move more into the installation market, says
Barrand, and the amplifier maker gave quick, detailed feedback following their meetings. Barrand observes: “I’ve used Powersoft before, prior to working for Pioneer, and I’ve always been very pleased with the results – power handling, the small physical size, and the software – it’s great to have that inbuilt DSP.” He continues: “When we were designing the speakers, we wanted to build them from the ground up with an amplifier that we can recommend. You can use any amplifier, but it’s better to match the performance of the amplifier to the speaker. It enables you to have consistency in your design.” While Barrand wanted VIP visitors to be able to adjust the levels in their areas, he felt that a volume control button would not be robust enough. Instead, they pass a request to club staff, who use a graphical interface (designed by Barrand for the Soundweb London BLU units that control the system) to make the adjustment. The interface can also be used to adjust the EQ – usually to make the
dancefloor less ‘boomy’ at the start of the night when fewer people are present. The installation was carried out by local firm The Shop Ibiza, run by Simeon Friend. “They really enjoyed working directly with Pioneer – this was a whole new business for them,” says Barrand. “Simeon’s gained a lot of exposure from the project – and we’re planning another installation with them.” Barrand remarks that the Booom showcase is already generating leads: one club in mainland Europe is looking to buy six stacks. That’s an awful lot of power. “I almost tried to talk them out of it,” he jokes. “Six? Are you sure you want six?” Your correspondent was lucky enough to have a full early evening walk-through tour and demo with Barrand at Booom in late March. Returning to the club after midnight (nothing opens till the small hours in Ibiza) there was a chance to hear the system in full flow. The sound was just as impressive as during the demo, and the laptop was made available for adjusting the levels in the VIP area. Any attempt to do the same for other parts of the club was firmly resisted, it can be reported, though the devilish (and wholly unprofessional) temptation was there… Q www.bssaudio.com www.gsany.com www.pioneerproaudio.com www.powersoftaudio.com www.theshopibiza.com
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installationreport BELGIUM
KARA brings Liège to life AT THE end of last year, the Théâtre de Liège, in Liège, Belgium, moved into its impressive new home: the prestigious Société Libre d’Émulation building in the heart of the city. Built in 1779 but enlarged and completely refurbished by architects Pierre Hebbelinck and Pierre De Wit, the venue now offers room for two halls, an exhibition area and an 8 x 12m rehearsal room. The investment came from the city of Liège, the province of the same name – of which the city is the capital – the Walloon Region and the Fédération Wallonie–Bruxelles, who together invested €23 million into the project, initiated in 2011. Prior to this, since 1976, the venue was housed in a “preliminary” building. Through the project’s main contractor, Putman Theatec, Riva Audio Visual Solutions was appointed to take on the integration of the theatre’s new audio and video equipment. “We bought our first L-Acoustics speakers, EX112s, back in 1994, so you might say we’re dedicated L-Acoustics users,” explains Pierre Dodinval, sound engineer at the Théâtre de Liège. “Apart from the fact that we’re very happy with the brand and its output, efficiency and polyvalent use, another key element in the choice was that we’re partners in a pool of theatres and festivals in Wallonia who invested in a substantial inventory of lighting, stage equipment, rigging engines – and L-Acoustics. This allows us to borrow extra equipment within the same brand. And L-Acoustics is a steady value on most riders of local and international artists.” Dodinval says that in the main hall – named La Grande Main (The Big Hand), referring to the hand-shaped stands – the combination of 18 clustered KARA speakers, four SB18s (flown), four MTD112s (standing) and two SB28s, plus two 12XTs and six 8XT point
All photos: François Brix
An L-Acoustics KARA system in a new venue strengthens the Théâtre de Liège’s ambition to be the leading theatre in the Belgian French community, notes Marc Maes The Théâtre de Liège’s new home at l’Émulation
Flying KARA boxes source cabinets, is the perfect solution for the increasing demand for optimal sound dispersion. “And that’s why we opted for a line-array system instead of a configuration with delay speakers,” he continues. “The main venue has very steep stands, [where it’s] impossible to place delay speakers. Also, for architectural reasons, we had to decide for a dual source system, and the KARA fits in perfectly,
The view inside The Big Hand right from the orchestra on stage into the hall, offering a sound quality we didn’t have before.” Six 12XT and four 8XT point source cabinets, in addition to the previously owned 112Ps and MTD112s, complete the main venue’s sound kit. In the smaller Salle de l’Œil Vert (the Green Eye Room), the audio consists of eight L-Acoustics 12Ps, four 108Ps
and four 15P subs. Finally, the rehearsal room is equipped with four MTD 112 speakers. Another bonus for the theatre was that the colour of the L-Acoustics speakers was almost similar to the parameters imposed for decorating the inside walls of the venue, making the installation almost invisible. Throughout the whole renovation and installation, the strictest
sound regulation and acoustic parameters were implemented. Alongside the Théâtre de Liège’s 557-capacity main venue and the Salle de l’Œil Vert, with a removable stands and room for 145 people, the theatre also uses the site of the Manège de la Caserne Fonck, a former military riding school. This modular polyvalent hall with a capacity of between 400 and 1,500 people is used for large productions when stage dimensions (75 x 25m) play a key role. Frédéric Vard, director of Riva Audio, says the installation of the speakers and rigging was subject to plenty of paperwork. “We had to obtain permission from the monuments and landscape ministry to drill holes in the ceiling to place the machinery for the rigging and L-Acoustics frames,” he says, adding that the configuration of the sound system is quite powerful in regards to the venue – high-performance in the field of SPL and sub speakers. “The assignment also included that the complete audio system, speakers, consoles and ampracks should be flightcased and mobile, allowing the engineers of the theatre to use the system in other venues [like the Manège] or for touring shows’ convenience.” Riva Audio Visual also supplied digital and analogue mixing consoles (two Yamaha LS9-32s, one Midas Venice F32 and two Soundcraft M Series M8s), Sennheiser wireless mics, AKG and Neumann condenser mics, and Electro-Voice, Shure SM and Beta series and Sennheiser MD series mics – plus a full batch of peripherals. With the bulk of the Théâtre de Liège’s programme being contemporary dance and theatre shows, the venue attracts major international productions. The theatre has also concluded partnerships with major European theatres and, in Belgium, is one of the prime locations in its field. “Today, concerts account for only 5% of the programme, but – like recently with the presentation of a new album by My Little Cheap Dictaphone – we are seeing that the Salle de l’Œil Vert is perfect for intimate concerts and showcases,” Dodinval concludes. Q www.theatredeliege.be www.rivaaudio.be
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The new full-sphere surround sound room at SPACE, Pesaro
SLOVENIA
ITALY
Renkus-Heinz brings Tchaikovsky to Tivoli The PN series: born to ballet By Jon Chapple AUDIO FOR an Imperial Russian Ballet performance of Swan Lake, attended by national and international dignitaries, at Tivoli Hall, Tivoli Park, Ljubljana, was provided by Akustika Pirman,
who supplied a system based on Renkus-Heinz PN-series linearray loudspeakers. “The Hala Tivoli actually has pretty good acoustics for a sporting arena, and it’s possible to get a reasonably good sound in the room,” comments systems engineer Metod Komatar. “The
biggest challenge is the height of the left and right seating areas, and how to cover it consistently using a relatively small number of loudspeakers.” The main system, designed by Komatar and director Joze Pirman, comprised four flown arrays – two left and two right – each with six PN102 line-array cabinets, with six DRS18-2B subwoofers covering lowfrequency reinforcement. Four TRX151 full range cabinets provided front fill for the first few rows, while two more TRX151 boxes onstage served as side fills for the artists. “The PN102 line-arrays deliver a wide dispersion that enabled us to consistently cover a large area with a small number of speakers,” concludes Komatar. The RenkusHeinz system proved itself once again, with a very natural sound and plenty of headroom – critical for classical music.” Q www.akustika-pirman.si www.renkus-heinz.com
Found in SPACE By Mike Clark BASED ON an idea, project and design by Davide Monacchi and Eugenio Giordani, the first full-sphere surround sound room in Italy was recently inaugurated in Rossini Conservatory’s SPACE (Soundscape Projection Ambisonic Control Engine) research and music production centre in Pesaro. The system, which features a Neumann 21.1 system (21 Neumann KH 120 self-powered studio monitors and a Neumann KH 310 subwoofer), will be used for research work in acoustics, audio perception and acoustic ecology; experiments and development of software applications for 3D sound
spatialisation; and electroacoustic and eco-acoustic composition and production of music for museums and performances. The project intends to collaborate for specific research and production projects with other facilities in Italy and similar centres in Europe and North America. Software is run on a Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz Intel Xeon E5 (with 32Gb RAM and 1TB HD) and an iMac 3.4GHz. In addition to equipment for electro-acoustic generation, the set-up at the team’s disposal includes an RME Madiface XT, an RME HDSPE audio interface and a DO/TEC Andiamo 32-channel AD/DA converter. Q www.rossinispace.org
CONTACTS
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Editor Dave Robinson david.robinson@intentmedia.co.uk
hither&dither
Deputy Editor Jon Chapple jon.chapple@intentmedia.co.uk Staff Writer Murray Stassen murray.stassen@intentmedia.co.uk Advertising Manager Ryan O’Donnell ryan.odonnell@intentmedia.co.uk Sales Executive Rian Zoll-Khan rian.zoll-khan@intentmedia.co.uk Head of Design and Production Adam Butler adam.butler@intentmedia.co.uk
Hither and meter Dudderidge shows us the difference between buses and busses
Editorial Production Manager Dawn Boultwood dawn.boultwood@intentmedia.co.uk Production Executive Evan Graham evan.graham@intentmedia.co.uk Digital Content Manager Tim Frost tim.frost@intentmedia.co.uk Office Manager Lianne Davey lianne.davey@intentmedia.co.uk Publisher Steve Connolly steve.connolly@intentmedia.co.uk Correspondents: Mike Clark (Italy), Marc Maes (Belgium/Holland), Phil Ward (UK) Contributors: David Davies, Erica Basnicki, Kevin Hilton
PSNEurope Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN. Editorial: +44 20 7354 6002 Sales: +44 20 7354 6000
Who needs David Guetta when you’ve got the Pioneer crew and superstar DJ editors on hand? L-R: Alex Barrand (Pioneer), the editor, Tania Lee (Pioneer), Lee Baldock (LSi), Steph Dell (Sound Marketing) and Paddy Baker (Installation) at Booom, Ibiza
Some six years ago, when Barney Jameson was acting editor of this title, he printed a rather embarrassing picture of the current editor in Hither & Dither. This picture, then, taken at Barney’s stag do last month, means the matter is now closed
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PSNEurope is published 12 times a year by Intent Media London, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England. © Intent Media, 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owners. The contents of PSNEurope are subject to reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems. Intent Media is now the Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 in respect of your personal data. Intent Media London will only use your data for the purposes originally notified and your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 are not affected by this change. PSNEurope is published once a month. The publishers reserve the right to refuse subscription applications considered inappropriate and to restrict the number of free copies sent to a company or organisation. 2013 subscription rates for non-industry/non-European readers are: UK, £39/€62; Europe, £54/€86; other countries, US$106/170. CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTION Intent Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 7BR, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1858 438786 . Refunds on cancelled subscriptions will only be provided at the publisher’s discretion, unless specifically guaranteed within the terms of the subscription offer. Intent Media may pass suitable reader addresses to other relevant suppliers. If you do not wish to receive sales information from other companies, please write to Circulations and Subscriptions, Intent Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 7BR, UK. ISSN: 0269-4735 (print); 2052-238X (digital). Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA
Congratulations go to Adrian Huckfield (left) of Red Bee, lucky winner of the RTW TM3 compact loudness meter at Aspen Media’s stand at BVE earlier this year. Mind you, it was his colleague David Tinley (right) who had to set it up for him… As you will discover over the page, when Gareth Wilding is not banging on about finance, he likes banging on the bass drum with essential soul outfit Bodkin Lane. (Yes, I know, totally biased, of course)
Celebrating 25 years of Focusrite, Phil Dudderidge’s staff brought along an ‘iced A-one’ cake to the party. Phil trumped them by bringing along his own bus
Please send all contributions for possible publication to david.robinson@intentmedia.co.uk
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industrytalk A sticksman of some repute, Fineline’s Gareth Wilding has just snared the company’s top job. He’s got a hit deal for Dave Robinson, too FINELINE MEDIA Finance’s sales and marketing director Gareth Wilding has just been appointed to head up the whole of Five Arrows Leasing Limited (FAL). Owned by the much bigger Rothschild banking group, FAL, with a staff of around 20, services leasing and asset finance in the IT and veterinary markets, as well as the broadcast, studio and live sound world familiar to Fineline. While Wilding is now responsible for all three divisions, and is charged by Rothschild with expanding the business, he has a very particular message to proselytise to the PA rental market. “The Regional Growth Fund is an extra feather in our cap,” says the sometime drummer with soul band Bodkin Lane. The Regional Growth what? The government, over the last few years, has created something called the Regional Growth Fund: £4.2 billion allocated for assistance in investment and growth for small-to medium enterprises (SMEs). It also enables SMEs to borrow money – if the government can provide additional stimulus by providing deposits for loans, then the approved funders will look on SMEs more favourably. There’s been a lot in the press reporting that banks have been reluctant to support certain businesses, as you know. The criteria to qualify for an RGF grant is subject to job creation and security, as determined by an audit by the BIS (the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). Ten thousand pounds, or any part therefore, of a grant, has to create or secure a job. That’s the only real restriction. So, if you are looking for a grant for £25,000, you have to create or secure three jobs. Companies can apply for a grant of up to £1 million – but of course, then they would have to provide 100 jobs and borrow £5 million! This is only in England, too, because Wales and Scotland have their own initiatives, and it’s got to be outside of London.
Return on investment (ROI) is a big deal in the live sound industry. I know that some loudspeaker gear will probably be worth more in five years’ time than the price being paid for them now, because I’ve seen it happen. The good thing about this business, the kit is all flightcased, it’s all looked after and properly maintained. Line arrays are bulletproof as far as we are concerned, as long as there is the right badge on the side.
Drumming up business Rothschild/Five Arrows had to apply to be part of the RGF initiative? Yes, it’s taken about a year to satisfy all the criteria. Now we have access to a multimillion pound grant pot. The message from government is that they want this money to be distributed, so even if SMEs are unsure whether they qualify, they should contact us. I believe this could be a key product for the live events industry, in a big way. A lot of PA rental companies are regionally based, making six-figure sum investments in line array systems. I see the RGF as an ideal opportunity for them to get some free money to aid their growth. In fact, we have just completed our first deal: a major seller has supplied a brand-new line array to a regionally based hire company, for about £100,000. Let’s talk about the broader role of what you do. Rothschild is a deposit-taking bank, which is where our funding
comes from. With our own money, we make all the decisions, and our underwriting process is not reliant on someone else dictating the terms. Fineline’s primary approach is to fund the assets. So, what we really do is quantify the level of risk we are underwriting. The money we lend is repaid over an agreed period of time,
values will align, at which point we are secure within our asset. What we at Fineline are doing, essentially, is underwriting that gap beforehand, and how long it takes to mitigate that gap. Therefore, if something goes wrong with the deal but that ‘mitigation point’ has been
The message from government is that they want this money to be distributed. I believe this could be a key product for the live events industry, in a big way” Gareth Wilding whereby the balance outstanding is coming down. At the same time, the value of the asset is depreciating. We recognise that the majority of the assets that we fund – especially equipment in the live market – is depreciating at a slower rate than the finance is being repaid. At some point during our agreement, the two
reached, as long as you can sell the kit, then everyone’s happy? As long we can get the goods back – because that’s our main security – we can usually clear any outstanding balances and obligations. Our perception of the risk in our assets is very different to a traditional bank or finance company.
Are companies such as Fineline essential to the longevity of our industry? There will always be someone else to fund the money – for instance manufacturers and their dealer channel, who have to shift the gear they build, might offer extended credit terms for customers and effectively become banks. This has happened a lot recently in Ireland. I don’t think we are irreplaceable, but we have a lot of key customers who would miss us if we were not here and who rely on us to provide a service. We enable businesses to grow at a faster pace – we are making the service more streamlined and easier. And everyone wants to do business ‘easy’. In that respect, we are a critical factor. Do you know a firm of bruisers? [Laughs] No, but I’m sure it wouldn’t take me long to find one! I learned a couple of skills from a repossession agent I knew when I started out, some 26-odd years ago. One involved a Jag that was up on bricks, hemmed in by two Transit vans. They broke into the vans, moved them apart, got four wheels and tyres from a local breaker’s yard, put them on the Jag, drove the Jag away and put the vans back, all in the dead of night, leaving the guy who owed them to work it out. That was in a previous life, of course. Full disclosure here: we play in the same soul band, Bodkin Lane. How did you end up playing drums? I was always banging stuff as a kid. I got a kiddie’s drumkit for Christmas when I was five, started having lessons at 12 and my first proper kit at 13. The neighbours weren’t keen, though. One day, without any forewarning or previous complaints, they presented my mum with a petition and that was the end of my practising at home. Q www.fineline.co.uk