AMI June 2015 Digital

June 2015 www.audiomediainternational.com

International

TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS FOR THE PRO-AUDIO PROFESSIONAL

GEO FOCUSWhy business is booming in Belgium at present p14

REVIEWWe put Pioneers HRM-7 headphones to the test p46

HOW TOVlado Meller o ers his top mastering tips p22

How new technology is helping audio suppliers and organisers tackle the modern music festivals many challenges p18

ALL THE RIGHT NOISES

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Ive never been one to make a big deal about my birthday. Ive never hired out an entire nightclub and invited everyone Ive ever met, six months in advance, like some people do. In fact, I

completely forgot that my 27th year was approaching until about a week before. I guess I was just so engrossed in my role on this magazine that it completely slipped my mind. Something like that.

Its perhaps unsurprising, then, that I recently found myself unaware of another upcoming anniversary that I probably should have had in the diary already. This issue comes exactly 25 years aer the first issue of Audio Media was published.

Yep, thats right, two and a half decades since the debut edition, when one of the big questions was Is your business prepared for 1992 and the Single European Market and features included an article on how to choose a tapeless recording system, as well as reviews of the Soundcra 6000 console and Fostex D20 DAT recorder.

I may not be able to remember those days at all clearly, let alone the audio equipment that was around at the time I had just learnt to walk and talk when Audio Media #1 came out, if I recall correctly but it was still an immense pleasure to have a flick through and marvel at how things have changed since those days.

If it werent for Mr Stephen Tayler this whole anniversary thing wouldve probably passed me by. Stephen was an interviewee in that inaugural issue, and I was delighted when he got in touch, suggesting we met up for a discussion on how the industry has changed, and a look back at the project he was interviewed for Kevin Godleys musical chain tape One World One Voice (OWOV).

Were also pleased to be able to offer the thoughts of another man who has witnessed a great deal since June 1990 and even way before then. Having begun his career at CBS Records in 1969, there are few out there with as much mastering experience as Vlado Meller, who remains one of the most in-demand engineers in the business, operating from his new studio in Charleston, South Carolina.

So heres to 25 years since it all began for us. There are many more out there who will have their opinions on how the industry has evolved since the early 90s some say for the beer, others for worse but one things for sure, I cant wait to see what the next 25 bring.

June 2015 3

WELCOMEwww.audiomediainternational.com

1 Color - 100 White

Adam Savage EditorAudio Media International

David Davies has been writing about professional AV and broadcast for 15 years. He is currently managing editor of Sports Video Group Europe and has been

a member of the ISE Daily, IBC Daily and AES Daily teams.

Vlado Mellerbegan his career as a studio engineer at CBS Records before moving into mastering. Now based in South Carolina, he has worked with a diverse

range of artists, including Pink Floyd, Kanye West and Barbara Streisand.

Gregory Ovenden is an audio engineer, working in outside broadcast, and an award-winning wildlife sound recordist. He has worked on various feature films and

animation and TV programmes in location and post-production sound.

Ed Walker has over 10 years experience of working on triple A gaming franchises such as Forza Horizon, F1, GRID and DiRT. He built Sounding Sweet, an

industry standard audio production facility from scratch just over 12 months ago.

EDITORAdam [email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR Jo [email protected]

STAFF WRITER Matt [email protected]

ADVERTISING MANAGERRyan [email protected]

COMMERCIAL DIRECTORDarrell [email protected]

ACCOUNT MANAGER Rian [email protected]

HEAD OF DESIGNJat [email protected]

PRODUCTION EXECUTIVEWarren [email protected]

Press releases to:[email protected]

NewBay Media 2015. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners.

Audio Media International is published by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England.

Editorial tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6002 Sales tel: +44 (0)20 7354 6000

Audio Media InternationalISSN number: ISSN 2057-5165 (Print)

Circulation & Subscription enquiries Tel: +44 (0)1580 883848 email: [email protected] by Pensord Press Ltd

Front Cover: Martin Audio

Experts in the issue A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION

03 Welcome v3JRAS.indd 1 02/06/2015 12:36

June 20154

CONTENTS www.audiomediainternational.com

PRODUCT NEWS6 PreSonus unveils Studio One 3

7 Genelec strengthens SAM series

8 QSC reveals rental programme

PEOPLE10 OPINION Erica Basnicki reports back from the recent BBC Sound: Now and Next event

12 Ed Walker on how developers are starting to see the benefit of good game audio

50 INTERVIEW Steinberg MD Andreas Stelling talks to AMI

ALSO INSIDE9 SHOW NEWS: Mel Lambert rounds up all the highlights from AES Warsaw, and we look at whats on oer at the Develop Conference in Brighton

14 GEO FOCUS: BELGIUM Despite its small size, theres much for the Belgian pro-audio industry to shout about

FEATURES16 RECORDING FOCUS: Exactly 25 years since the first issue of Audio Media went to press, Adam Savage catches up with Stephen Tayler featured in that debut edition to discuss how the industry has changed 18 David Davies looks at how the latest audio tech is enhancing the festival experience

TECHNOLOGY22 HOW TO Mastering engineer Vlado Meller shares his tips for succeeding in the industry

38 EXPERT WITNESS Gregory Ovenden highlights the recording equipment that has helped him in his role as an audio engineer and wildlife sound recordist

40 AMI RECOMMENDED Digital recorders

REVIEWS42 Radial JDI Stereo44 Crane Song Insigna46 Pioneer HRM-748 Amphion One1849 Manley Force

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PRODUCT NEWS www.audiomediainternational.com

The new DMS800 reference digital wireless microphone system from AKG is now available.

According to the brands UK distributor Sound Technology, it offers everything that made its predecessor, the DMS700 V2, an outstanding performer, while adding features that provide extra versatility.

The DMS800 features two digital audio outputs for Dante and AES EBU, along with improved design and mechanics for the DHT800 handheld transmier, plus interchangeable microphone heads. In addition to the DHT800 transmier, the DMS800 system includes the DSR800 stationary receiver and DPT800 wireless body pack transmier.

The system offers two balanced XLR and two unbalanced jack connectors, as well as digital wireless audio transmission with low-cut filter, three-band equaliser, dbx compressor and dbx limiter. The DMS800

allows users to choose from a variety of premium dynamic and condenser vocal microphones, including the D5 WL1, D7 WL1 and C5 WL1.

Up to 40 channels are available with the DMS800, which can be used simultaneously. High-end antenna system and multichannel accessories are available to suit the system to individual needs. Built-in Harman HiQnet network remote control and monitoring can be done from a PC via HiQnet Audio Architect soware, Apple iPhone/iPad/iPod or Soundcra Vi Series consoles.

www.akg.com

AKG ANNOUNCES DMS800 SYSTEM

Soundcra has revealed its new Si Impact digital mixing console.

Designed to be as simple as an analogue mixer, the Si Impact features workflow enhancements and DSP power for the stage and studio.

The 40-input console offers live sound digital mixing with ViSi iPad control and built-in Stagebox connectivity for I/O expansion.

In addition to its live sound components, the Si Impact has a 32-in/32-out USB recording and playback interface that provides multitrack recording and playback directly from a DAW. A free download of Ableton Live 9 Lite is included.

The consoles fully motorised faders come equipped with Soundcra FaderGlow illumination technology and LCD channel displays or scribble strips for visual feedback and operation.

The Si Impact provides 32 mic/line inputs, 40 DSP input channels (32 mono inputs and four stereo channels/returns) and 31 output busses (all with full DSP processing and GEQ) with 20 sub-group aux busses and four mono/stereo matrix busses.

Eight XLR/0.25in combi-jacks are available for line inputs and instruments,

while a four-band fully parametric EQ is included for each channel and bus on the console. The new Si Impact also offers studio-grade effects and dynamics from Soundcras sister companies BSS, Lexicon and dbx.

The Si Impact supports up to eight VCA masters and eight Mute groups, plus 26 motorised input faders and LR/Mono (fully motorised with four fully customisable fader layers). The console features a 5in colour touchscreen display for access to show setup, patching, FX and security.

The Si Impact is the first of its kind in that it truly combines analogue workflow with digital flexibility at a lower price than ever before, said Sean Karpowicz, product manager at Soundcra. www.soundcra.com

SOUNDCRAFT INTRODUCES SI IMPACTPreSonus has announced that Studio One 3, a significant update to its digital audio workstation, is now shipping.

Available in Artist and Professional editions, v3 introduces new options for song arranging and experimentation, as well as new ways to cra unique and evocative sounds. In addition, Studio One 3 enables new methods of controlling and mixing within the application, features a configurable UI for high-resolution displays and is the first DAW to offer a dual platform (Mac and Windows) multitouch interface, according to the manufacturer.

Studio One 3 Professional introduces the Arranger Track, which makes it easy to build and rearrange songs, leing the user copy or move entire song sections via simple drag-and-drop. It has its own Track Inspector that shows all sections of the song, which also doubles as a quick navigation tool.

Extended FX Chains new in the Pro version provide new ways to

build complex, multi-dimensional sounds by chaining and combining effects plug-ins in serial, in parallel by channel, or by frequency with up to five splits.

Multi Instruments allow the user to combine multiple instruments as layers or splits in a single Instrument Track, and play them like one instrument. Further dimensions can be added to a sound by using Note FX on individual Instruments layers within a Multi Instruments.

In total, there are over 70 new features and updates included in the Studio One version 3 upgrade, which is available as both upgrades and full programs at music retailers worldwide and direct from PreSonus.

www.presonus.com

PRESONUS UNVEILS STUDIO ONE 3

Derived from its Horus and Hapi family of Ravenna-enabled interfaces, Merging Technologies has branched into the consumer market with its latest D/A converter.

NADAC (Network Aached Digital to Analog Converter) is available in two versions stereo or 8-channel and is the first device to bring Ravenna networking into the home.

The modern world has become increasingly dependent on networks, both at home and in our professional environments. As network capacities have increased, more people are turning to IT networks for carrying both audio and video, Mergings Chris Hollebone explained.

Gigabit Ethernet clearly had sufficient capacity for high-quality audio, but still was far from ideal without an additional protocol to add

the required precision and management. We looked at alternatives that could offer sufficient accuracy

and reliability with high channel counts and Hi-Res Audio data-rates. The only choice that made sense to us was Ravenna.

Initially developed to meet the requirements of national broadcasters, Ravenna an open technology standard with no proprietary licensing was designed to provide accurate clocking, high resistance to packet loss and low latency. It is now the first and only Layer 3-based IP audio protocol to offer full support for high channel-count DXD and DSD signals. It is also fully AES67-compatible. According to Merging, Ravenna remains the only logical choice for the professional and the audiophile, and is now available in NADAC.

www.merging.com

NEW NADAC FROM MERGING

06 News v3ASJR.indd 1 01/06/2015 16:17

June 2015 7


Pioneer and Onkyo Europe have introduced the SE-MASTER1 flagship headphones, suitable for recording, mixing and mastering in professional studio environments.

The core of the SE-MASTER1 is its 50mm driver units with 25m aluminium diaphragm, which is finished with PCC (Parker Ceramic Coating) a treatment that pushes the performance of the aluminium diaphragms, which is especially advantageous for high frequencies. The SE-MASTER1 is the first headphone in the world to get the PCC treatment.

In addition, a PEEK (Poly-Ether-Ether-Ketone) compounding material is used to reduce distortion and achieve a smoother sound quality. The magnetic forces offer excellent transient characteristics, Pioneer says, and the headphones are capable of reproducing audio of up to 85,000Hz.

It also features the industrys first detachable lateral pressure rods, which enable the user to choose their preferred headband tension for superb sound isolation and comfort over long listening periods.

www.pioneer.eu

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GENELEC STRENGTHENS SAM SERIES

Genelec has launched its 1234 Smart Active Monitoring (SAM) system, designed to achieve accurate and powerful sound reproduction in demanding recording and mixing environments.

The 1234 promises well-controlled directivity and neutral sound reproduction. Supplied complete with a RAM XL (Remote Amplifier Module), the solution represents the best in modern, high performance, large main monitoring systems, according to the manufacturer.

The speaker offers a system frequency response from 29Hz to 21kHz and is capable of delivering 125dB SPL at one metre through a combination of Genelec-designed Class D amplifiers providing 2 x 750W, 400W and 250W of short-term power for the woofers, midrange and tweeter channels, respectively.

The systems 160-litre enclosure features two 12in drivers and a Genelec proprietary 5in midrange driver, along with a 1in treble driver mounted in a large Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW). The dual woofer design extends the control of the directivity to low frequencies, and the Intelligent Signal Sensing (ISS) circuitry saves energy by automatically puing the monitor to sleep when the audio signal has been absent for a period of time.

www.genelec.com

Blue Microphones has announced the availability of the Hummingbird Class A small-diaphragm microphone.

With a precisely tuned diaphragm based on Blues B1 capsule, Hummingbird is designed to be ultra-responsive and deliver extended frequency response, suitable for studio and stage use on drum overheads, acoustic guitar, strings, harp, or any other instrument with fast transients and rich overtones. Hummingbird also features an adjustable pivoting head that allows for 180 of rotation.

www.bluemic.com

BLUE BOLSTERS MIC LINE-UP

07 News v3ASJR.indd 1 01/06/2015 16:22

Waves Audio has begun shipping the Waves H-Reverb plug-in, new so ware based on algorithmic FIR (Finite Impulse Response) reverberation technology designed to deliver richer, deeper reverb tails.

The FIR engine that powers H-Reverb enables customisation of the reverb decay envelope beyond the standard linear forms. H-Reverb also incorporates Waves analogue modelling along with a drive control. This design also enables input drive.

H-Reverb includes a library of artist presets from mixing engineers including Toni Maserati, Brad Divens, Daniel Green, Dave Darlington, Yoad Nevo and more.

Impulse-variable resonant fi ltering is featured for creating unfamiliar and

advanced reverb eff ects, in addition to an EQ and dynamics module for compression, ducking and de-essing. The plug-in also features full build-up timing and shaping and support for full 5.1-channel surround setups.

Mick Olesh, Waves EVP of sales and marketing, stated: We went to great lengths to make this the most comprehensive and best-sounding reverb plug-in possible, incorporating invaluable input from industry-leading mixing engineers.

www.waves.com

WAVES H-REVERB NOW SHIPPING

June 20158


JoeCo LimitedTel: +44 (0)1954 250 300Email: [email protected]

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Live 24bit/96kHz audio acquisition no computer required Records to USB2/3 drive for instant ingest into post production Remote control via iPad with JoeCoRemote Runs off 12V power source for location use Optional MADI or Dante interfaces Optional 2U XLR breakout panel

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D.A.S. Audio has released the Sound Force Series of club systems designed for todays dance venues where exceptional sound, imposing power and impressive looks are key requisites.

The new range presently off ers four models comprising mid-high, mid bass, and subwoofer options. The SF-112 is a mid-high three-way cabinet, which allows for passive or biamp operation. The mid-range is handled by the D.A.S. 12HQ loudspeaker. High frequency reproduction is trusted to the D.A.S. M-75N neodymium compression driver used by the manufacturer on a number of its systems.

The SF-215 is a bass system comprising two D.A.S. 15in loudspeakers in a fourth order bass-refl ex confi guration. The bass cabinets can either be stacked or fl own on both sides of the SF-112 to form a four-way array. Two subwoofer options are available in the Sound Force series: the SF-221,

a double 21in subwoofer comprising twin 21LXN4 loudspeakers in V loaded confi guration and the SF-30A, a powered ultra-low system. The SF-30A employs a 30in push-pull moving magnet transducer powered by a Class D amplifi er, off ering 7,500W continuous power for low frequency reproduction.

www.dasaudio.com

D.A.S. LAUNCHES SOUND FORCE SERIES

QSC has rolled out its Rent It Now programme, a tool designed to connect customers with participating QSC rental companies.

The programme allows visitors to QSC.com to fi nd participating dealer rental locations that rent QSC products for various portable live sound applications.

A Rent It Now bu on now appears on portable live sound product pages (mixers, loudspeakers and amps) and when clicked, lists rental locations by geographic proximity to the user. The programme is the third component

(along with Hear It Now and Buy It Today) of a direct referral partnership between QSC and the companys resellers and rental channel partners.

Rent It Now has been initially released in the US, and will be deployed worldwide in the coming months.

www.qsc.com

QSC REVEALS RENTAL PROGRAMME

(along with Hear It Now and Buy It

German manufacturer X-Machines has been given offi cial certifi cation from Steinberg for its new Recorder.1 live recording system.

X-Machines sees Steinbergs Nuendo Live so ware as the ideal complement to Recorder.1 labelled as the worlds fi rst 1U recorder to off er up to 194 input channels and allow simultaneous use of up to 390 I/O channels.

Recorder.1 was designed for professional use with MADI or Dante audio networks. Record-ready in 33 seconds, the 19in rack-mountable device enables 24-plus hours of

recording in a EBU-compliant RIFF64 format.

Its also designed to be easy to use, and promises rock solid reliability, even under extreme recording conditions.

www.steinberg.net

STEINBERG CERTIFICATION FOR XI-MACHINES

Patrick Strenge (left) with Steinberg managing director Andreas Stelling

08 News v3ASJR.indd 1 02/06/2015 11:37

With a reported aendance of close to 1,600 registrants slightly more that the total from last

years gathering in Berlin together with some 70-plus brands on show during the companion exhibition, the 138th AES Convention can be considered a major success for the 14,000-member society.

Convention co-chairs Bozena Kostek and Umberto Zanghieri, together with their team of able volunteers, organised a rich and varied programme of technical papers, workshops, tutorials and related events that provided a wide variety of thought-provoking sessions covering just about everything from converter design through to PA systems and immersive playback via headphones.

From an opening-day session on Subjective Loudness of 22.2 Multichannel Programs, which described Japanese state broadcaster NHKs plans for 8K images with multichannel sound and investigations into suitable

loudness measurements techniques based on the current ITU R BS.1770 standard, through to MPEG D Spatial Audio Object Coding for Dialogue Enhancement for hearing-impaired and normal-hearing audiences, aendees were treated to presentations from talented academics and researchers at the top of their respective games.

During a well-aended workshop session on film sound developments, the co-owners of Dreamsound Studios Warsaws first Dolby Atmos-certified re-recording stage presented the results of a fascinating study into the correlation between Atmos panning and the localisation of phantom sound sources. Using various samples of filtered pink noise being directed at experienced listeners from nine targeted locations around a central seating area, Kacper Habisiak and Marcin Kasinski determined that such individuals could more easily identify sound coming from the front quadrant and rear corners, and less easily from

the sides; the implications for immersive sound mixing are obvious, with enhanced localisation of height information at high rather than lower frequencies.

Ilpo Martikainen, founder and chairman of Genelec, delivered the 32nd Richard C Heyser Memorial Lecture on the subject of Monitoring Loudspeakers Can They Be Truthful Quality Control Tools? With close to 40 years of experience designing reference monitors, Martikainen concluded that improvements in directivity control and room-response functionality can be considered successful innovations, but that the role of the room in which the systems are located is still underestimated. As much as possible, monitors should be immune to the room, he stated, and easily adaptable to a variety of environments. There are

more than 300 different models designs available, he concluded, encouraging the audience to make their own critical choices.

The popular Project Studio Expo, which has become a regular feature at recent AES Conventions, included a number of sessions on such topics as Plug-ins Considerations, presented by Maciej Polanski from Musoneo.pl, Warsaw, Tracking in the Box by sound engineer Sebastian Witkowski and Mixing in the Box from music producer/engineer Jaroslaw Yaro Plocica.

POLE POSITIONMel Lambert provides a summary of the main highlights from the 138th AES Convention the first to take place in Poland.

www.aes.org

June 2015 9

SHOW NEWS: AES/DEVELOP CONFERENCE

The Develop Conference is described as Europes premier forum for the exposition and discussion of all maers relating to the

development of video games from creative and technical issues through to business affairs and with over 1,600 developers aending, its also an excellent networking opportunity.

Featuring the game industrys leading visionaries and best-of-breed practitioners, Develop comprises dozens of conference sessions via a series of themed tracks, including the ever-popular one-day audio track.

This years audio offering will cover a wide range of content from console game production and indie game development to mobile and tablet audio, led by such multi-award winning music and audio developers as ex-Rockstar Games alumni Will Morton and Craig Conner, who have worked extensively on the acclaimed Grand The Auto series, and Playdeads audio director and creator of Limbos award-winning sound, Martin Stig Andersen.

In a session titled The Big Bang: Navigating Explosive Change in the World of Freelance Audio, Hornet Sounds Ciaran Walsh and guests will

discuss how changes in the way games are made is affecting the game audio freelancer.

Meanwhile, Sony Computer Entertainment Europes Simon Gumbleton and Nick Ward-Foxton will examine audio for virtual reality experiences in VR Audio Bootcamp: Exploring the new Technical and Creative Frontiers for Sound Design in Virtual Reality Experiences.

Curator and host John Broomhall commented: This year promises both in-houser and freelancer alike a smorgasbord of varied, exciting sessions with a stellar speaker line-up. Their discussions will cover the future of freelancing, planning massive triple A audio productions, sound and music for VR, dialogue best practice, melding audio into game play and game mechanics, and producing world-class Foley.

Andy Lane, director at organiser Tandem Events told AMI: The sound and music components of todays video games are a vitally important part of the entertainment experience. Our delegates can expect to sit back and absorb the collective wisdom of a diverse range of top game audio talent once again this year as well as enjoy networking with the industry at large, right beside the seaside in buzzing Brighton.

www.developconference.com

What? Develop ConferenceWhere? Hilton Brighton MetropoleWhen? 14-16 July

InformationGAME TIMEThe 10th edition of the Develop Conference for game audio pros promises another cracking line-up for 2015. Heres a rundown of this years schedule.

09 Show News v3AS.indd 1 02/06/2015 14:48

It was an absolute privilege to be able to mingle among audios brightest creative minds, discuss future sound technology and share ideas and inspiration at BBC R&Ds recent

Sound: Now and Next conference. For two days the BBC Radio Theatre

at Broadcasting House in London was packed with over 200 sound geeks/gods of various stripes. My own personal geek-o-meter was in the red the entire time as the creative possibilities of sound were explored through talks from the likes of sound recordist Chris Watson, re-recording mixer Martyn Harries and electronic musician/inventor Tim Exile.

Most importantly, it was an excellent opportunity to get hands-on with the astonishing research advances in psychoacoustic engineering, audio for virtual reality and immersive sound on display at the Technology Fair.

Among them was the Moodplay interactive experience, which put DJ duties in the hands of listeners via an app. Rather than pick a song, participants chose where they were at emotionally (quirky, brutal, pathetic, dreamy etc) and Moodplay responded with mostly appropriate musical suggestions.

BBC R&D also demonstrated how the Web Audio API can take into account a listeners individual listening environment using their devices microphone, and apply personalised compression in real-time to maximise audio quality. Anyone who has

ever blasted their eardrums pressing Play on their device aer last listening to it in a noisy environment can appreciate how useful personalised compression can be.

Dolby and the Fraunhofer Institute had their versions of personalised audio for broadcast, which will change how we consume televised content by giving viewers the power to mute certain audio content (so long, uninteresting announcer) or tune in to non-traditional audio sources (i.e. the conversation between an F1 driver and the pit crew).

There was more. Plenty more. But the boom line is that sound is geing more personal, more immersive, more responsive... more exciting.

On the down side... Despite this, there was a bit of a grumble that some key BBC staff were missing from the conference, specifically, commissioning editors and content producers. The people who can actually give the green light to experiment with these wonderful new technologies and introduce them to a massive audience.

Its an understandable sentiment. For the most part, sound is only important to people who either work in sound or have a natural inclination to appreciate it.

Hearing is an under appreciated sense and those of us who care passionately about what we listen to and how we listen to it are in the minority. As the conference drew to a close, there was a

sense that it will remain that way until the almighty commissioning editors and content producers wave their magic wands, and bestow onto the public a keen appreciation for aural entertainment.

Heres why thats total nonsense: Isabel Plahaus and Achim Fell of Germanys WDR two speakers at the conference worked long and hard on 39; a radio drama that extended beyond traditional radio broadcast into a gaming app. Not only was 39 well received by critics, but iTunes named it a Best New App, which drew in thousands of new users.

Recho the Foursquare of sounds has caught the eye (ears?) of online publications like PSFK and Vices The Creators Project. Its also a joy to use: log in and find geo-located sound messages near you. The recordings could be a tip, a story, a spur-of-the moment rant or part of a game... but its treasure hunting at its finest and a modern day version of what draws people to amateur radio.

And wouldnt you know it, even the BBC is unleashing its sonic experiments onto the public. Currently, the BBC Taster page allows users to select radio programmes based on a topic of their choice via the BBC Radio Explorer page. Previously, users were given the chance to experiment with responsive radio, choosing a desired length for a documentary on British author Derek Tangye (The Cornish Gardener).

Yes, historically, sound has never been front and centre. Film came first, then we

added sound to it. Radio was dandy until television came along. But these are all ideas and impressions of the past.

There was a key moment in which host extraordinaire LJ Rich asked delegates who among them were musicians. Nearly every hand shot up in the air, followed by a shy but audible tier almost like a revelation to be among such a large group of people who share a common passion for sound, via music.

Community spirit There isnt a person on the planet who needs to explain their love of music. Is it really such a stretch to extend that love of music to a love of sound, or to think that people outside the audio industry would make that same leap? Is it a stretch to think that listeners are ready for new experiences in broadcast audio? Cinematic audio? Portable sound?

If the Sound: Now and Next event was any indication, there is much to look forward in the audio world, and its happening with or without anyones external validation. The technology is there, the will to make it happen is there, but most of all the audience is there, and they are listening.

SOUND COMES OF AGEThe days of audio taking a back seat appear to be over, writes Erica Basnicki, following an immersive experience at the BBC Sound: Now and Next event in London last month.

ERICA BASNICKI

Erica Basnicki is a freelance writer for the professional audio/music technology industries and an occasional sound designer.

June 201510

OPINION www.audiomediainternational.com

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As an audio professional with over 10 years experience in the creation and production of sound for video games and visual media, I have

always pushed myself to improve my skills, but I have also evangelised the value of good quality audio to the producers and directors of the games I have worked on.

The word value has several meanings it is not the digits surrounding our equipment controls that I wish to consider, the moral rights or ethics of audio, or in fact budgets and monetary value, but rather the importance or worth of audio when compared to its visual counterpart.

At the beginning of my game audio career I frequently felt that audio didnt command the same aention or respect as the visuals. We oen seemed to be on the back foot and at the mercy of the ever-changing game development goal posts very much reactive rather than pro-active. When compared to our film, television or music production brothers we had seemingly limited resources. We didnt have the necessary equipment, facilities and support to create the audio experience we wanted to.

Over time I started to feel very differently about the game audio work I was doing; I was actually part of something that was developing and gaining respect in a more rapid way than in many other areas of game development. The game design department began

asking about how sound and music could be used to support their gameplay concepts, and as game audio guys we started to be included in more meetings about the ideas and features that we would ultimately have to support from an audio point of view.

As surround sound became more commonplace and the technology became capable of reproducing high-fidelity positional sound at runtime, audio was embraced as a way of adding to the overall game production values, but also as a way of making the experience more immersive. This inclusion of audio has brought the audio quality bar up to meet that of the high visual standards that current generation consoles are capable of reproducing.

The value of audio is arguably more difficult to define than that of its visual sister. It is oen the case in audio that less is more and for creative reasons, adding value might even be creating space for silence. When one looks at a short section of film or visual media, it is oen very clear that a lot of effort has gone into creating a visual feast of perhaps fast cars, explosions, helicopter shots and complex visual effects. Even when

the visuals have been created rather than recorded there seems to be something infinitely more tangible about the visual experience as opposed to the audio mix.

InteractionWhen developing a game there is a third dimension, which depending on the game genre could be more important than either the visuals or audio production values, and this third dimension is gameplay. Not only does the modern cinematic game audio mix have to support the next generation graphics, but also more importantly it needs to do this while supporting the gameplay and being tied to the input from the gamer. Interacting with a game is oen quite literally tangible and therefore perhaps the most valuable aspect of all.

Audio in games has become more valuable; it is no longer possible to hide behind the limited channel counts, low-resolution playback and file compression, as these limitations are no longer a valid excuse. Many game development studios and audio outsource companies have invested heavily in their audio production facilities over recent years, and this has helped raise the audio quality bar and add value to game audio in general.

So what is next for game audio, assuming that I am correct in my theory that audio has now largely met the cinematic high fidelity quality bar of films?

I believe that the value of game audio will continue to be embraced not only by the big triple A console game developers, but also by the smaller independent mobile developers that are looking to add value to their gaming experiences. Perhaps binaural audio for mobile gaming will become more commonplace, and with the audio expectations of the new virtual reality technology, developers are looking to their audio departments and outsource partners to not only support that highly immersive experience, but to build on the technology and techniques that have been developed over the last 10 years as the value of audio appreciates.

APPRECIATING GOOD GAME AUDIOEd Walker, owner of recording studio Sounding Sweet, offers his thoughts on why sound is becoming a more crucial factor for video game developers, and his predictions on the future of the sector.

ED WALKER

Ed Walker has over 10 years of experience working on triple A gaming franchises such as Forza Horizon, F1, GRID and DiRT. Having built his audio production facility Sounding Sweet from scratch just over 12 months ago, Walker now finds the studio a finalist at this years Develop Awards.

June 201512

OPINION www.audiomediainternational.com

12 Opinion 2 v3ASJR.indd 1 01/06/2015 16:24

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BUSTLING BRUSSELS While diminutive in landmass, there is nothing small about the European powerhouses role in the pro-audio industry. Ma Fellows examines the countrys growth and fi nds that spirits are high, unlike many of its neighbours. Population:

11 million

June 201514

GEO FOCUS: BELGIUM

Famous for its characteristic culture and enticing cuisine, Belgium continues to make a name for itself in the pro-audio industry. The home

of the European Union has appeared to buck the trend and pull ahead of the pack as much of the rest of the continent ba les against austerity measures and residual economic recession.

Despite the global/European economic situation where the tendency is that most markets tend to slowly recover from the fi nancial crisis, over here in Belgium there is some interesting room for optimism, explains Pedro Van der Eecken, associate/mixer at fi lm and TV specialist The Image & Sound Factory. As we see a steady increase in international productions

that come to Belgium, we can conclude that currently our country and its companies can be seen as an extremely interesting partner for various kinds of audiovisual projects.

The market is proving its ability to excel where others are lagging behind, and this may stem from a unique positioning and economic approach.

The Belgian market is a small but relatively busy market, says Paul Van Hees, MD at Apex Audio. Besides the local public and private players, there are also the European institutions in Brussels that account for a signifi cant part of the business. Its a small market but most players are not only focusing on the Belgian market; most Belgian companies also address other European markets like France and Holland.

strength in numbersOf particular note is Belgiums recording sector, which enjoys a lucrative climate thanks to the governments generous stance towards the countrys many studios and post houses, as Van der Eecken explains: The Belgian government provides us with valued incentives with regards to production companies that want to produce fi lm, TV and game projects in the country, ranging from subsidies to tax-shelter initiatives that make some reasonable budgets available. Due to a more specifi c regulation, most partners/clients have a high, lets call it an international, level of professionalism on the fi nancial as well as the technical side.

Belgium always tended to target high-level expertise, especially on the

technical side with a lot of well-educated professionals. There is a good amount of work available and we have a few very advanced studios and companies that can compete easily with the big names on the other side the pond.

And this culture enables the cultivation of the international business which Van Hees notes is so key to Belgiums success. These incentives mean that we have seen an increase in international projects as well as the amount of local productions, Van der Eecken continues.

More productions mean more jobs, more facilities and far more know-how. We are located in the centre of Europe, easily reachable by many means of transport. We have a lot of know-how, state-of-the-art equipment, we speak a

14-15 Geofocus v3ASJR.indd 1 01/06/2015 16:24

June 2015 15

GEO FOCUS: BELGIUMwww.audiomediainternational.com

n Maximum SPL at concerts limited to 95dB(A) LAeq, 15minn Decibel restrictions on live/broadcast events

Have there been any signi cant changes to legislation, regulations or laws that have a ected the industry in recent years?

n Thanks to many incentives like tax shelters we can say that the pro-audio market we are in is boomingn Quite di cult for the independent engineer

How would you say the Belgian pro-audio market is currently faring?

lot of languages and the food and beers are just great.

Aside from economic benefi ts, technical expertise and good beer, Fredo Gevaert, owner of Temple of Tune studio, believes that the national character has been paramount to the countrys success: Commitment, professional pride, self-critique and devotion to the job is what I think sets us apart from many other countries. Its not always the lack of money that is the problem, more o en it only takes a bit more eff ort. And we Belgians do that very well.

Delving deeper into Belgiums recording sector, Gevaert sheds some light on the current shape of things for post houses and studios in the country: In Belgium we are producing a lot of TV series and movies for a very small market 6 million inhabitants, excluding the French-speaking part, he explains. So we learned to make the best out of the small budgets we dispose of. This has resulted in great cra smanship and effi ciency of a few people/companies. We have really excellent fi eld recordists and audio post companies.

As for the French-speaking part, where there is not so much local production, they have developed a fantastic and highly skilled dubbing community, which provides a substantial part of all the dubbings for France.

We are doing very well. 2014 was our best year ever, and it looks like 2015 will even surpass that, Gevaert reveals.

The reason is that we have been in the business for over 25 years, which has enabled us to build a tight connection with our clients.

Van der Eecken has enjoyed similar successes with many international partners from around Europe: For all of them it is the combination of reachability on the international scale, competitive pricing and the high level standards that we keep that makes Belgium a valuable option for their productions. And not forge ing the various state incentives that make Belgium fi nancially a very interesting place to come over to and work on their projects.

and the bad news...Of course, however promising the outlook may be at present, it couldnt be without its grey clouds. As Van Hees puts it: Budgets have decreased over the last few years. Customers want the same functionality or service for less money.

Gevaert elaborates: The market has defi nitely become more sensitive regarding spending. Clients want be er quality, be er service and faster turnaround for less money. This means that we have to deal with more complex client relationships. We need to make quotes for easy, mostly basic jobs, which in the end turn out to be complex and time consuming. So we o en end up in endless discussions where the weakest link needs to give in. Most o en this is not the client.

This is, of course, the result of ever-shrinking budgets, and middle-men who eat a substantial part of the budget just because they can tax shelters, consultants, fund raisers, etc. That being said, we do see a smaller part of our clientele which has become more loyal, who dont go shopping for the lowest quote. In other words, the gap the split between cheaper and high-end is becoming wider, thereby pu ing pressure on the value for money business.

where next?With promising successes at its back and its feet planted fi rmly on the ground, Belgium looks optimistically ahead to even more lucrative times in the future. Though perennially diffi cult to predict, our industry professionals weighed in on their forecasts for the future.

For the next years to come, we foresee more integration of functionalities and more compact products for the market, says Van Hees. Budgets are still tight so our business needs to deliver more for less money.

For Van der Eecken, the prevalent theme of international work will continue to be one of the biggest factors: We have seen a shi to more than 50% of our work coming from abroad and we expect that this number will still rise in the years to come.

However, for Gevaert things do not look so optimistic as he anticipates issues which may prove to complicate

work in the sector: We think that the gap between cheap, fast, try-to-squeeze-the-last-drop-out-of- everything-and-everybody facilities and the ho est-place-to-be-facilities will only become wider. The market of value for money is under big stress, and only a few old-timers (like ourselves) can survive due to the loyal clientele. But I see li le or no new blood in this mid-section of the business.

But as good as things may be going now, it takes more than a favourable climate to uphold success. Belgian pro-audio companies must seize the platform presented by the upturned market, and there is much debate about exactly how to do that. For Van Hees, it is simply about building upon their product off ering: For the years to come, we will focus on the expansion of our existing product lines, both for professional audio and AV.

For Van der Eecken, the focus is on achieving and maintaining high-quality output to secure business. We have to keep up with the high-quality production standards that we hold, and therefore we keep investing in the latest technology in combination with the training and development of our engineers and staff , he asserts. Professionalism with deep technical skills in combination with a friendly atmosphere is the key to what we are achieving on an international scale and is as far as Im concerned the way to continue.

How do you expect your sector to perform in 2015 compared with 2014

Stay the same

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

Better

Worse

0%

14-15 Geofocus v3ASJR.indd 2 01/06/2015 16:25

June 201516

RECORDING FOCUS www.audiomediainternational.com

Weve been so busy trying to keep up with the multitude of manufacturers celebrating important

anniversaries this year that we almost forgot about a milestone of our own.

Thats right, 25 years ago this month, the debut issue of Audio Media was published. Now, I know weve moved on from the days of the old AM, but it would be wrong not to mark the occasion in some way, surely?

And what beer way to do this than catch up with engineer and producer Stephen Tayler, who was interviewed in that very first edition in June 1990 about One World One Voice (OWOV), an ambitious project masterminded by Kevin Godley that saw Tayler and fellow producer Rupert Hine record hundreds of musicians in a variety of locations all over the world for a musical chain tape.

The idea was that each new musician met on the journey would have to either come up with something that would follow on from the previous artists contribution, or add to what was already there, with Sting, Lou Reed, Dave Stewart, Joe Strummer and Eddy Grant all taking part along the way.

And so, to recognise a quarter of a century since OWOV and the birth of our beloved magazine, we took a trip down to Real World Studios, where Tayler operates out of one of the long-term spaces, to test his memory of the

recording process and get his thoughts on the impact of technology on his profession.

Nowadays, a portable equipment list for a job like this would be fairly brief, and made up of gear designed to fit into a rucksack, but that wasnt the case back in the early 90s.

On the Move It was like we think were going to go somewhere and we might need to record in a beautiful recording facility, a hotel room or on the street. We needed elements for recording, microphones, playback systems, but how can we do that and make it portable? recalls Tayler, whose other notable achievements include mixing the last two Kate Bush albums, and fulfilling an unusual vocal engineer role for her recent sold-out live shows at Hammersmith Apollo in London.

These days you could have an audio interface, a laptop, a bundle of microphones, headphones, maybe a playback speaker and theres your system. Back then, a small portable multitrack recording device really didnt exist, so I opted to get two portable Sony TCD-D10 Pro DAT machines one for playback, one for recording and this was the basic idea, but thinking about redundancy I thought wed go for four of those.

We were offered another fairly compact solution an eight-track cassee machine from Tascam. The idea

for that was that it would be something I could compile onto when we were on the move. It ended up being incredibly useful for recording bands.

One of the many changes Tayler has noticed is the ease with which engineers can now record on the move, and the fact that many jobs in 1990 that had to be done on the fly can now be pushed back, and revisited later on.

We had to think ahead and be decisive, explains Tayler. Today, youd probably say I dont need to make that decision now, I could leave it open-ended. The ability now to be able to defer decisions has had a profound effect on the final result.

For Better or Worse? So are we really beer off with all this seemingly helpful technology, or has the ever-increasing practicality of audio equipment made things too easy? Does Tayler prefer the days when his role was more complicated, but perhaps required more skill, or has he become a fan of modern methods?

There is room for both approaches. I really appreciate the fact that I had to learn under those circumstances and Ive seen things change. There are times where I love to leave things open-ended but also I like the discipline of having to make a decision and see what happens next. It would be a good thing for younger engineers to try out some of the original techniques.

It also depends on the project youre doing, but judging by some of the tracks Im sent to remix and I see the level and depth of processing and treatments that they have gone through, Im led to believe that they have been worked on and worked on continuously. Sometimes I find that if I remove all the in-line processing I go Ah! Theres the sound! I think its easy to go round in a vicious circle and keep adding to it. When you dont have that, it makes you a lot more disciplined about what youre doing.

Its clear that he believes those coming through at the moment could do with learning a few of the classic techniques, but what about the way the tech itself has evolved?

I do think it is beer in every way. We still have everything that we had before, but its opened up the world of recording and audio to lots more people, although there might not be so many specialists as there were before, reveals Tayler.

With the kind of processing thats available in programs such as Logic, or any kind of DAW, it can lead people in similar directions, and people do start emulating other peoples work. Theres nothing wrong with that, but Id like to see people having to work a lile bit harder to be more individual. There are a lot of people like that, but it worries me that the preset psychology is leading to a lot of homogenisation.

I want to encourage people to step outside the boundaries.

June 2015 represents 25 years since the birth of Audio Media and Kevin Godleys highly ambitious musical project One World One Voice. To mark both anniversaries, Adam Savage caught up with engineer Stephen Tayler interviewed in the first ever issue to discuss, among other things, how technology has moved on since the early 90s.

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A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

16 Live Focus v3JRAS.indd 1 02/06/2015 13:53

What is changing at PLASA Show London for 2015?Building on PLASAs successful Focus model, PLASA will host the 5 sector specific areas replicating the highly valued networking atmosphere which has proved so popular at the Focus shows. The five sectors are audio, lighting, AV, staging and, new for 2015, broadcast. With seminar theatres and networking areas in each zone it enables the visitors to easily locate the products, brands and companies and facilitates business opportunities.

Featuring a brand new format with sector focused hubs

for AV, lighting, audio, staging and broadcast; live

demonstration zones, new exhibitors and new feature

products. All backed up by PLASAs renowned Professional

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55%specify or are final decision makers, that is more than 5,000 key buyers

86%of visitors use exhibitions as a key source to find product/service information

44%of visitors havent visited any other show in the past year

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havent visited any other show, either domestic or international in the past year, and 55% are final decision makers that means more than 5000 key buyers.

As a visitor, you can expect to see some of the worlds top brands using the show as the launch pad for new and innovative products, including live demos. Many of these will be seen in the ever-impressive line up of entries into the annual PLASA Innovation Awards.

What does PLASA consider to be the hot topics for the industry today?There are several important issues, we believe one of biggest is education. As part of our free to aend educational programme, we will be featuring aspirational sessions from world-class

Lighting Designers, audio, video and set-design specialists; panel sessions discussing topics such as the 4K content revolution, digital console architecture, noise issues, ethernet for live sound and lighting, traditional light sources to LED and the future of stage technology; training sessions from industry experts on live sound, projection mapping and lighting in film and television.

Additionally the programme will cover general industry issues ranging from the development of apprenticeships for

What else will visitors get from a content point of view?PLASAs renowned seminar programme will, as always, cover a broad range of subjects and is completely free to aend. The knowledge that can be gained is considered by many to be an

What can visitors expect from this years show?From the exhibitor viewpoint, PLASA is a truly international event, with a fih of its visitors travelling from 74 overseas countries; 44% of visitors

live event technicians and freelancers rates of pay, to the impact of arts funding cuts and updates on current legislation such as CDM 2015, as well as sessions from a wide cross-section of industry organisations including BECTU, ASD, ISCE, IPS, Soulsound, ALD, STLD, PSA, ABTT and The Theatres Trust.

invaluable tool as they progress through their careers.

What other networking opportunities will there be this year?PLASA Show prides itself on being an important business event in the international calendar and to facilitate more networking opportunities we have extended our opening hours to 8pm on Monday 5th October as well as bringing back features like the show bar. Other events include Knights of Illumination on Sunday 4th October, and The Innovation Awards on Monday 4th October.

Whats New at PLASA 2015

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June 201518

FEATURE: FESTIVAL SOUND

Incredibly, its that time of year again. If you were one of the 175,000 people fortunate enough to secure a Glastonbury ticket, the chances are that the spectre of this event

still the largest greenfield festival in the world is dominating your summer plans. For everyone else, there is an ever-growing abundance of other festivals to contemplate, ranging from the mainstream mainstays like V and Reading/Leeds, to more boutique events such as Green Man in south Wales and Weekend at the Edge of the Lake in Switzerland many of them held in picturesque surroundings.

But while the artist roster and format of festivals now varies more widely than ever before, the issues facing PA companies remain relatively unchanged. Ensuring accurate and consistent coverage in climactically challenging conditions is likely to be at the top of the list; similarly, much thought must be given to optimising audio for individual

stages and minimising spillage between them and beyond the site perimeter. Then there is the perpetual need for audio systems to be quick to set-up and configure, and sufficiently space-sensitive to cope with what may be cramped operating conditions.

In terms of audio delivery itself, these events are oen taking place within an increasingly restrictive regulatory environment. Limits of 65dB (generally measured at the perimeter of the festival or the nearest residence) are increasingly ubiquitous, while other regulations not least the UKs Control of Noise Regulations, which specify an absolute maximum exposure for staff (inclusive of hearing protection) of 87dB also need to be taken into account.

The lot of the festival sound supplier may be a rewarding one, then, but its hardly wall-to-wall happiness. In which context it seems reasonable to ask what steps manufacturers have been taking to help provide more festival friendly-

audio solutions and in the context of a schedule that oen requires sleep-depriving turnarounds, what other tools are being developed that promise to make PA suppliers lives that lile bit easier.

Sound affectsThe fact that noise problems relating to festivals are now frequently the stuff of non-trade news headlines underlines the extent to which this remains (no pun intended) a live issue. Just look at the lengthy saga of the Hyde Park Festival, where multiple annual events have brought complaints from nearby residents that shows were too loud and concertgoers that they were nowhere near loud enough.

The noise issue is a worry, says Funktion-One founder Tony Andrews

with wry understatement. It is less of a problem in the United States where you have such huge open spaces to work with, and there are fewer people around to be bothered.

There is a window where it has to be loud enough to be exciting and not too much to crush people, and a good engineer will have a well-developed

FESTIVAL BLUES?The frenetic festival circuit remains a vital revenue generator for many audio suppliers but with oen stringent noise limits and other specific environmental considerations, it is hardly free of challenges. David Davies looks at some of the latest solutions helping PA companies to optimise the festival audio experience.

Getting great festival sound is a complicated algorithm that needs to take into account not just the size and conguration of the audience, but the various possible interactions such as festival dcor, the number and placement of other stages and

the proximity of neighbours as well as zoning restrictions.

Florent Bernard, L-Acoustics

L-Acoustics K Systems in action at Tomorrowland in Belgium

18-20 Feature v3ASJR.indd 1 01/06/2015 16:53

sense of that. But although with US events you can prey much go as loud as you want, the reality is that in the UK and [mainland] Europe the limits imposed mean it can be difficult to achieve a satisfying sound.

Andrews well-documented disenchantment with the more traditional festival circuit has increasingly led him towards a cultivation of the dance world, which he deems to have a less conservative, more open-minded approach to audio specification. Nonetheless, he is hoping for a broad festival audience for Funktion-Ones forthcoming loudspeaker system, Vero. Previewed in Marchs AMI and expected to ship later this year, Vero is a complete touring system, comprising Vero speakers, flying system, amplification, and a bespoke design and prediction soware package that allows users to optimise array designs for smooth audience coverage and impact.

One specific feature, Geometric Energy Summation (GES), looks set to have a particular resonance with festival sound suppliers. By eliminating the need for inconvenient and expensive delay positions up to distances of 1,000 or more, GES allows natural tailoring of coverage paerns and sound pressure levels to keep sound focused on the audience, controlling the off-site environmental impact.

Not surprisingly, many other loudspeaker developers have been dedicating significant amounts of R&D time to keeping more noise on the site, on the audience in other words precisely where it is needed and nowhere else.

Ruediger Nuernberg is a freelance sound engineer for Electro-Voice and Dynacord, among others. I think the best PA manufacturers provide a product portfolio, which thanks to consistent sound and variable dispersion angles always guarantees homogenous coverage without having too many individual systems within one product range, says Nuernberg.

In terms of practicalities on-site, you cannot compensate the extremely important physical distance, continues Nuernberg. Of course, you can influence the dispersion in the lows with the according array arrangement. In reality, this will be where the greatest

influence will be. With regards to the tops, this however is limited. Towards the rear of the system, you can certainly minimise the sound through appropriate structural measures. But apart from careful planning of the angles of the arrays, you quickly run out of options.

In terms of specific EV products, the X-Line Advance continues to resonate with festival sound providers, indicates Helmut Seidl from parent company Bosch Communications Systems: An X-Line Advance system always consists of components like system controllers, DSPs and amping, which are perfectly matching the line array. By using the same core elements the sound engineer has a familiar sound environment he can trust and knows also how the system reacts in different situations, which makes it easier to control.

Alongside skilled ears, prediction soware and highly directive audio tend to make a vital difference to securing satisfying results, according to L-Acoustics director of touring, application, Florent Bernard.

Geing great festival sound is a complicated algorithm that needs to take into account not just the size

and configuration of the audience, but the various possible interactions such as festival dcor, the number and placement of other stages, and the proximity of neighbours as well as zoning restrictions, says Bernard. The challenge demands not just a great system, but a system engineer who knows how to use planning soware like [L-Acoustics] Soundvision in order to design a festival set-up that will walk the fine line between giving strong, quality sound to festival goers, while avoiding polluting other stages or neighbours.

Extensive directivity control is vital, he says, alluding to the ability of L-Acoustics K1 and K2 systems to offer directivity control in both the vertical and horizontal planes. This finesse is crucial when you need to avoid sending sound to a neighbouring stage or a nearby penthouse apartment, says Bernard, adding that rental companies who acquire K1 and K2 systems are trained by L-Acoustics on how to configure the systems.

In terms of specific festivals, Bernard points to a number of recent success

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June 2015 19

FEATURE: FESTIVAL SOUNDwww.audiomediainternational.com

For many PA companies these days, one central component of making life easier is a dependable and easy-to-configure recording solution. Be it for quick turnaround or more delayed release, a huge number of acts are now keen to have a permanent record of their festival appearances.

Founded by audio industry stalwart Joe Bull, JoeCo has become a perennial choice for live performance capture. Many PA companies are now looking for a reliable recording solution that takes up minimal rack space, requires lile monitoring, and can operate reliably for hours at a time, even in high temperatures, says Bull. For these reasons, JoeCo digital and analogue recorders have become a first choice, as primary or backup systems, for recording entire festivals lasting over several days, because they deliver on all counts. Hard drives can simply be changed at the end of each day and material is ready for instant

repurposing for broadcast, Live from albums or other applications.

Specific products to have resonated on the festival circuit include the 64-channel BBR64-MADI recorder. Compatible with all professional MADI-equipped consoles, it provides a straightforward, compact, single-cable plug-in solution for capturing sets, without the need to have a computer (with all its associated interfaces and operating system quirks) at FOH. Using an external hard drive which can be formaed on the BBR itself also enables bands and production teams to source recording media while on tour if necessary.

The company has also registered festival outings (with acts including Two Door Cinema Club and Natalie Imbruglia) for its BlackBox Player solution for live performance playback. BlackBox Player technology has also enabled artists and bands to easily incorporate their backing tracks

into their roll-on/roll-off festival performances, triggered either from FOH, or more oen from a band member on-stage. JoeCo Players are available with a range of analogue and digital interfaces and can be remotely controlled via iPad, or footswitch, says Bull.

In terms of live performance capture, the changing economics of the music industry mean that this trend is only bound to intensify. Live recording, notes Bull, is no longer the preserve of a few mega bands who can afford to take articulated OB trucks to capture their festival performances its important for all performers to be able to offer the live experience to as many fans as possible aer the event. Supplementing the DVD or Blu-ray release of a festival performance with well-recorded and professionally remixed sound is good for the bands and good for the professionals operating the PA companies.

Compact concert capture

Power-to-size ratio was a key consideration in the development of Powersofts X8


June 201520

FEATURE: FESTIVAL SOUND www.audiomediainternational.com

stories, including the Calling Festival concerts in Clapham, London, in 2014: This was a festival where many in the industry doubted the event could be successful without breaching the stringent sound restrictions. Another sound provider even pulled out of the event as they felt unable to guarantee meeting the regulations. SSE stepped in and, with solid design and full use of the L-Acoustics K System features, especially an ingenious subwoofer configuration, they were able to deliver 100dBA at FOH while maintaining all off-site levels at regulation, measured by Vanguardia Consulting throughout the event.

Glasto gloryThe general opinion among many in the industry is that Martin Audios MLA (Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array) system is something of a game-changer, not least with regard to its directive abilities. James King, director of marketing at Martin Audio, steps forward to explain some of the core design principles: Acoustic cells housed within each cabinet are independently controlled by their own amplifier and DSP channel, a total of six in each MLA. The user specifies the required sound levels to occur at various points within the venue and beyond the perimeter, and then intelligent soware automatically determines the speaker configuration and individual speaker cells within to produce that result.

The technique has achieved some notable successes, not least at last years Glastonbury Festival. This control allowed system engineer Mark Edwards to specify and execute a 6dB drop off over the 300m-long audience area, with

incredibly even frequency response, says King. As a result, headliners including Arcade Fire and Metallica could play at 104-105dBA the first time such high levels had been achieved in the history of Glastonbury as noise limits are really strict.

As for the aforementioned Hyde Park events, the MLA system is generally felt to have brought about a dramatic improvement. To which end, Jim King from promoter AEG remarked: Headliners at Hyde Park are now performing at levels well in excess of 100dB, which was unthinkable only two years ago. This has been achieved while maintaining even beer control at off-site monitoring location and with consistently lower number of complaints from the community.

Not just about noiseBut specifying audio for festival applications has plenty of other considerations, not least optimising set-up time and the need to accommodate multiple artists, genres and performance styles. Although we have undoubtedly witnessed a certain atomisation of the market lately into genre-specific events, the worlds aention still tends to revolve around the major multi-artist festivals where each new day is just as likely to bring a performance by Adele as one from AC/DC.

For a PA company looking at the programme of each festival, the greatest issue is to deliver into the set-up a system able to reproduce with the same level of quality all kinds of music from acoustic to electronic music, says Grgory Dapsanse, executive vice president R&D, innovation and marketing at APG France.

Ease of configuration and reconfiguration are therefore crucial factors addressed by APGs highly modular Uniline family, which comprises a high-powered sub, a bass cabinet capable of being flown, a full-range loudspeaker and a dedicated downfill speaker. This means it is very easy to take out a certain element if it is not required for a type of performance, for example, you are unlikely to want the high-powered sub for acoustic-only music like a small jazz group.

Luigi Chelli, sound engineer at Powerso, neatly encapsulates some of the priorities from an amplification perspective: Today, more than ever, tight scheduling is unfortunately the way to go. Far-from-optimal sounding venues and/or reduced set-up time can kill your end-results. In order to gain the most from the time le optimisation must be the word: optimisation of the load in/load out times, of mains wiring/patching, of PA rigging and tuning.

Good power-to-size ratio is another must, and in this regard Chelli points to Powersos X8, which condenses in 2RU a three-phase power distro with auto load-balancing, a fully configurable input/output non-boolean matrix with state of the art DSP, a patch-bay made of 16 Dante I/O, 8 AES3 inputs and eight analogue XLR inputs, as well as an output stage of 8 x 5,200W.

X Series products also acknowledge the burgeoning trend in favour of increasing the granularity of the PA in other words, separating the stacks of loudspeakers in individually-controllable sub-sections. Granularity means more discrete amplifier channels, and lots of traditional rack amplifiers would just cause logistical and set-up

troubles, says Chelli. With multichannel rack devices such as the X Series we overcome these problems: one 4U pre-patched fight-case can drive 16 channels with authority. DSP power with FIR and raised-cosine/asymmetric filtering, controllable in groups and sections, match to drive the system with ease and a high degree of precision.

More regulations ahead?With noise regulations already having a serious impact on festival audio configurations, the years ahead could bring additional measures particularly in terms of working time conditions. Here in Germany it is interesting to see how the regulations might affect working hours in the next years, comments Nuernberg. I expect there will be significant changes, which will strongly affect festivals. In the end, there will be two possible scenarios: either there will be multiple-shi operations throughout the whole festival, or the festival opening hours will be shortened so multiple-shi operation wont be needed.

Keeping an eye on the changing landscape will therefore continue to be vital for festival organisers and their contractors. In the meantime, it is clear that the latest generation of audio solutions are making it easier to achieve results that satisfy performers, aendees and nearby residents.

www.apg.tm.frwww.electrovoice.comwww.funktion-one.comwww.joeco.co.ukwww.l-acoustics.comwww.martin-audio.comwww.powerso-audio.com

Martin Audios MLA system was something of a game-changer in the festival market


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When I began my career in the music business in 1969, things could not have been more different than they

are today. I landed a job with a major label CBS Records which was an incredible opportunity for me to get introduced to the music business, especially for an immigrant looking for any job they can get. And, aside from great pay, my first role as a studio technician allowed me to witness firsthand the biggest artists of the period, such as Simon & Garfunkel, Johnny Cash, Barbara Streisand and countless others coming in and out of the studio. Aer a year as a CBS Records studio technician, I wanted to get in to a more challenging job at the studio, so I jumped at the first opening the mastering department had, despite mixing being regarded as more glamorous. The job came with full salary and benefits, with complete training by seasoned CBS Records mastering engineers. That kind of opportunity just does not exist in todays world.

Today its all on the internet, and a lot of the instructions are shallow, flimsy and not created by mastering engineers. Even in todays best music schools, mastering is only an aerthought in their curriculum. Since the labels and studios are now all separate entities, there are different producers and mixing engineers for each project, making it much harder for mastering engineers to compete in an industry that is so enormous and diverse. Today, experience and your discography are more important than ever. Additionally, home production has become much more prevalent, and the quality of those recordings can fall anywhere on the spectrum from tremendous to mediocre.

Its crucial for mastering engineers to be completely objective and have a wealth of experience to rely on so the clients can go back and mix or record their songs differently, so they are ultimately happy.

Technically speaking, the changes between the 1960s and today have been enormous. The early days were all about razor blade editing and analogue. Two-track masters were delivered to mastering engineers and their job was to cut the best sounding vinyl for a client. The physical limitations of vinyl, tape, analogue EQs, processing and razor editing were very challenging.

Recording, mixing, editing and mastering are now mostly done digitally, and its opened a new world of creative possibilities for everyone involved. Given the way people consume their music these days, we now prepare the files for every different format: CD, iTunes, HD tracks, DVD surround, TV broadcast, etc. Depending on to whom the final files will be delivered, we master in high-res 96kHz/24-bit and even higher when required. Consumers are now able to purchase and download full high-res albums the way it was recorded, without the need for additional data compression like AAC or MP3, which wasnt possible several years ago. With

all of this, todays mastering engineers face a constant and steep learning curve because of the always-evolving technologies being used and built upon.

CHANGES FOR THE BETTER?Regardless of how up-to-date an engineer is on the latest technologies, there are some ways in which the industry today is unequivocally much easier to be involved in. For example, in the 1960s I never couldve dreamed of working on records by the biggest artists of the day from somewhere like Charleston, South Carolina, where I now live and work. The old studio system, in which the labels and studios were all intertwined in a central location, has completely gone out the window, and my partners and I realised several years ago that there was nothing keeping us aached to New York City or any other major metropolitan area for that maer. Everything is sent electronically, from demos to mixes to masters, so we could be set up literally anywhere (and frankly a whole lot of

money has been saved by geing out of New York).

What Im especially proud of in Charleston are the three-day workshops geared towards audio engineering professionals that Ive been hosting for the last several years. There is absolutely nothing more valuable than first-person experience passed on from others, and aer decades of successful experience in this industry, Im more concerned about the next generation of mastering engineers, because this is something you cant learn from a book you need to have a kind of apprenticeship to develop your ear and learn about the techniques, hardware, soware, plug-ins and approach to master whatever genre of music comes your way. No book, manual or YouTube video will teach you that. The workshops are small and personal with students from all over the world, and working with them has been one of the true highlights of my career.

Outside of all of the technical aspects we cover in my workshop, the best advice I could give to young mastering engineers is to take on any type of project, whether its classical or rock or pop or hip-hop, and take on as many as possible. Aer more than 40 years of this, I know that you will not get anywhere if you are afraid of tackling certain genres and sounds, and its why Im proud to have ongoing experience working with everyone from Pink Floyd, Lil Wayne and Barbara Streisand to Metallica, Michael Jackson and Kanye West.

Mastering is more important than ever, because of the way the albums are recorded and mixed these days. Every artist wants the best possible sound for their album and they are the ultimate judge of mastering engineers work. Im proud to say Ive delivered exactly what they want, year aer year there is nothing beer than to see a happy client coming back for more. Looking back on that early crossroads I faced decided between mixing and mastering, I couldnt be happier with the path I took. www.vladomastering.com

SUCCEEDING IN MASTERING Mastering has become almost unrecognisable from how it was in the 1960s, but according to Vlado Meller, its never been more important. The mastering master shares his views on the industry and the tips that got him to the top.

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Sign up for your digital AMI at www.audiomediainternational.com CONTENTS

CONTENTS

28 Opinion The Innovation Game

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36 Source Elements

37 Directory

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Welcome to the latest Audio Media International Buyers Guide, focusing on the ever-evolving DAWs and Plug-ins market.

Although the majority of pro-audio manufacturers will regularly find themselves under pressure to deliver new products on a regular basis especially with there being so many trade shows these days, where visitors always expect something new you could argue that the companies behind the many Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) out there have it harder than most.

Its not enough to simply release some new software and move on to the next project; the launch of a new version is only the beginning. Further updates, tweaks and improvements will need to follow, and you can be sure that your customers will require a helping hand getting their heads around the new changes. Therefore, the world or DAWs and Plug-ins can be a challenging one for both creators and users.

And with there being so many options available some of them offering more than just a few similarities, too it can be tricky to make the correct decision. In our previous Guide, on Microphones, our experts recommended trying out as many models and brands as possible; when it comes to selecting a DAW, youll probably want to try and get it right first time, as mastering your chosen workstation can be a time-consuming process.

To help with this, weve once again asked our software specialist Stephen Bennett to give us an in-depth rundown of the current state of play in this sector (Page 28), and this year weve enlisted the help of four experienced producers and engineers Ian Palmer, Romesh Dodangoda, Katie Tavini and Ryan McCambridge who were more than happy to explain their personal preferences, and offer a few words of advice.

So if youre still unsure where your loyalty lies, or youre just curious to see whats new, I recommend flicking through the next few pages, where you will also find promotional articles from manufacturers and a full directory of companies in this particular field.

Also, make sure you look out for the two other Guides in our annual series coming later this year, on Monitors and Headphones, and Consoles. Adam Savage

Documents

AMI June 2015 Digital