Download - Psn live 2015 digital
www.digico.biz
DiGiCo UK Ltd. Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road,
Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600
Heard in all the right places... with all the right faces
PSNEurope’s essential annual analysis of the European live sound business
www.psneurope.com
P41STILL ON TOP THOSE SHARP DRESSED MEN FROM TEXAS ARE BACK!
P26BOUTIQUE IS BESTIS IT ALL OVER FOR THE TRADITIONAL BIG FESTIVAL?
P30BE CONSISTENT THE PUNTER WANTS THE SAME SOUND IN EVERY SEAT, RIGHT?
2015
VOLUME 10
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MAKERS OF PSNEUROPE
032015
is brought to you by the makers of PSNEurope
2015
EditorialA fresh approach for 2015... here’s how
p4
Sound EngineersHow it looks from FOH (or monitors)
p6
PA/Hire CompaniesSelect views of the people with the kit
p7
Exquisitely proportionedThe rise and rise of boutique festivals
p26 Craving consistencyThe state of PA: is it all about ‘the same
sound in every seat’?
p30
Ever closer: recording and performanceLive capture is practically de rigueur
p35
ZZ still on topThe Texan rockers in Germany
p41
P10
The FOH engineer
P12
The PA company boss
P13
The educator
P14
The festival organiser
P16
The crew boss
P18
The guitar technician
P20
The PR guru
P22
The sound levels expert
P24
The venue owner
P42
The festival regular
Views from the top
04
2015
Hello and welcome to PSNLive 2015,
our annual ‘temperature-taking’ of
the European live/touring sound
industry.
For this, our tenth edition, we
altered the look and size of the publication, in
keeping with the revamp of PSNEurope
a couple of months ago. But, more than this,
we’ve overhauled the approach to the yearly
market reports.
Previously, an independent research house
spent many hours grilling engineers, PA company
bosses and other live sound professionals in
order to build up a complete picture of the audio
landscape. And, it must be said, the data revealed
has shown, for the most part, only gradual
change in our industry. We don’t expect fireworks
and paradigm shifts every year, of course not, but the predictability of the results
have not met our expectations with regard to the time and effort involved in
mining them. (Perhaps I’m being too honest here. But still...)
So, for 2015, a different, leaner method: we stripped back the surveys to a
handful of key questions, posted them online and asked YOU to come to US. This
passive implementation has meant, inevitably, smaller sample sizes (less than
15 respondents for each survey). However, key trends and indicators have still
emerged, as you will discover on pages 6-8.
The reports are complemented by another innovation. From p10 onwards, you’ll
find ten ‘Views from the top’, whereby we quizzed incumbents of key industry roles
on the ups and downs of the business. Not just the engineers and hire companies
either, as you will see. (Yes, we had to finish with the ‘festival regulars’ – ie, the pop
stars – for the back page.) The result is a range of insights from a diverse group of
individuals, all of whose careers are inextricably linked to the fabric of live sound.
Add to this a look at boutique festivals, sound coverage for large events, and the
tech involved in capturing live sound – plus a quick burst of ZZ Top(!) –
and PSNLive 2015 is, in short, a whole heap of great reading! Enjoy!
Dave Robinson, Editor (and keyboards)
Editor Dave Robinson
Deputy Editor Jon Chapple
Managing Editor Jo Ruddock
Advertising Manager Ryan O’Donnell
Sales Executive Rian Zoll-Khan
Head of Design Jat Garcha
Production Executive Jason Dowie
© NewBay Media, 2015. 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 Genuis are subject to reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems. NewBay Media is now the Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 1998 in respect of your personal data. NewBay Media 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.Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontlanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA
Our contributors and some of their best live experiences…
2015
Erica Basnicki“Smashing Pumpkins at The Phoenix in
Toronto; January 3, 1996. I queued for
hours in –35°C weather to be at the front
of the stage. They were at the height of
their fame, the venue was intimate and,
yes, I was right up at the front. It was
beyond epic.”
Mike Hillier“My favourite festival moment has to be
seeing Radiohead’s Thom Yorke come
back on stage for the encore on the
Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, 2003. The
entire crowd was still singing the reprise
from Karma Police. It just humbled him,
and his smile reached from ear to ear. His whole stage
persona completely slipped.”
Kevin Hilton“Greatest live act in terms of stature was
BB King at the Royal Albert Hall in the
late 1980s, a slick but soulful show made
all the more memorable when I drank
champagne on stage with the sound
crew once everyone else had gone. For
intensity of performance, Peter Gabriel at Wembley Arena,
in the 80s AND in the 2000s.”
Marc Maes“The greatest act I’ve seen live was the
August 1977 double bill of Carlos Santana
and (flamenco virtuoso) Paco de Lucía
at the Plaza de Toros in Barcelona. The
best festival experience I’ve had was
Stevie Ray Vaughan performing at the
Northsea Jazz Festival’s Garden Pavillion in 1985 – rockin’
and bluesin’ the jazz audience. And my favourite venue? The
Roma, Borgerhout, Belgium!”
Phil Ward“Kraftwerk at the Tribal Gathering Festival
of 1996 was the perfect circumnavigation
of a cultural globe, completing a journey
that began in 1974. Then, at Glastonbury
around 2003, I was at FOH with old
mucker Andy Lenthall and a mutual
friend just as McCartney took the stage…”
Mike Clark “The best act I’ve seen live was a gig by
the Neville Brothers, plying their funky
New Orleans wares under a star-studded
summer sky at Umbria Jazz; this would
also win the prize as my best festival
experience, from the arena with the big
crossover names to the jam sessions in the bars.”
David Davies“The Barbican’s imposing concrete
edifice isn’t to everybody’s taste
(personally, I like its Ballardian overtones)
but the venue itself remains one of the
greatest symbols of London’s diverse
musical culture. Outstanding memories
of the pplace include the force of nature that is Keith Jarrett
blazing through jazz standards accompanied by Gary
Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, and satirical genius Randy
Newman drawing on a songbook with few equals.”
NewBay Media
1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, UK, N1 8LN
Market report: Sound engineers06
2015
Engineering a solid future
Although the number of live events,
especially during the summer, has
continued to increase in recent years,
the optimism of sound engineers
hasn’t exactly been unwavering. Rapid
turnarounds required by intensely scheduled tours, as
well as insufficient back-up and support, have meant
that the lot of the touring engineer hasn’t always been a
happy one.
It wouldn’t be accurate to say that these concerns
have disappeared from the 2015 report, but taken
overall this year’s responses do point to an increased
sense of momentum about live sound. Activity levels
are strong, and are expected to remain so, while new
technology and streamlined workflows are being
embraced more fervently. However, there are longer-
term concerns that should be noted carefully: for
example, some fear a lack of innovation in events
production, while others highlight a lack of properly
skilled engineers coming into the industry.
This year, we appealed for engineers from across
Europe to come forward and express their views rather
than approach them directly. Since this constituted a
more passive approach than in previous years, the total
responses were somewhat fewer in number than we
might have wished. Consequently, what we have here
are more the thoughts of a very informed focus group
than a comprehensive survey per se.
Nonetheless, those who did answer did so diligently,
so there is still plenty of food for thought contained
within the results of the 2015 Engineers’ Survey.
Core data
Once again, the UK constituted the largest single share
of survey respondents, while The Netherlands was
responsible for the second largest amount of responses.
Other respondents came from markets as far afield as
Colombia and the UAE.
In terms of overall activity levels, 66.6% of
respondents said that their activity levels have
remained the same or increased in 2015 to date when
compared to 2014. Underlining the present health of the
mainstream festival market, larger festivals constitute
the largest increasing share of our engineers’ work,
followed by smaller festivals and general touring [E1].
In a result that points to overall improved economic
conditions, 40% of contributors expect their average
payment per project to increase overall in 2015, with
only 10% predicting a decline. This should be cheering
news for anyone looking to train to enter the industry, or
perhaps move across from the studio world.
It has been a tradition of previous PSNLive reports
that insufficient budget and resources as well as
inadequate set-up preparation time top the list of the
factors most likely to impact live events negatively.
Absolutely no change there this year, and with acts
looking to cram in evermore dates as their recorded
income continues to dwindle to dust, it’s a situation that
is unlikely to change any time soon.
Technological transition
The fact that nearly all live sound engineers have
moved over to digital desks is taken for granted at this
point, but the extent to which they have engaged with
networking and more sophisticated onboard software
and effects has been shown to be variable. However, on
the evidence of this year’s report, broader technological
transition is now firmly underway.
To wit, two-thirds of engineers confirmed that the
type and feature-set of systems they use for live sound
work has changed significantly over the last few years
[E2]. Meanwhile, nearly 89% of respondents confirmed
that audio networking is now supplanting traditional
point-to-point connectivity in their daily working lives by
either a significant or moderate margin – an emphatic
result after several years of decidedly erratic responses
on this topic [E3].
Future facing
With nearly 89% of respondents declaring themselves
to be very or moderately optimistic about the future
of the live sound business in the UK and Ireland, there
is certainly no sense of imminent risk. But responses
to the longer-form questions do reveal some deeper
concerns about the long-term outlook.
No surprise to find that noise restrictions constitute
a commonly-cited challenge to live sound events
[see festivals feature, page 26, for more discussion
of this subject]. But even more frequently aired is a
reservation about the access to training (or lack thereof)
After several years of reports revealing fluctuating levels of optimism, the
2015 PSNLive Engineers’ Survey indicates a surge of confidence about the
future and emerging audio technologies, says David Davies
Significantly 66.7%
Moderately 33.3%
Hardly at all 0%
'Keep it analogue!' 0%
E2: To what extent have the type and feature-set of
systems you use for live sound work changed
over the last few years?
Significantly 66.7%
Moderately 22.2%
Not really 11.1%
'What is audio networking?' 0%
E3: To what extent is audio networking now
supplanting traditional point-to-point
connectivity in your daily working life?
Larger, 'mainstream' festivals 50%
Smaller, 'boutique'-style festivals 40%
General touring 1%
Events NOT based around live music 9%
E1: In which of these areas of activity have you
witnessed the greatest uplift in recent years?
072015
and standard of younger engineers coming into the
profession. “There are too many people willing to push
up faders and claim to be an engineer, yet who possess
next to no knowledge about spec’ing or even setting up
a mid-level PA system,” maintained one respondent.
There were also calls for governments and local
authorities to make it easier to stage live events in
response to a question about what can be done to
encourage further growth of the business. “There
should be more leniency with regard to SPL levels,”
suggested one respondent, while another urged the
Powers That Be in the UK to take a more supportive
approach to the industry’s overall contribution to
the economy: “The [Government’s] blinkered view is
depressing at best. We have some of the best artists
and technicians in the world, and we punch well above
our weight.”
There has been a fair amount of talk lately about
possible over-saturation of the touring and festival
markets. Most respondents didn’t seem overly
concerned about a theoretical decline, although
diminishing opportunities for bands to get started at a
grassroots level are giving cause for concern.
Whatever the future holds, the fact that an increasing
number of live sound engineers now have ‘portfolio’
careers that may include studio/installation projects
and educational work, among other duties, should stand
them in good stead.
Conclusion
The quality and availability of those personnel
embarking upon their careers does represent a genuine
concern, but in general engineers are continuing to
enjoy the benefits of the live event explosion that began
in the mid-Noughties. Time-poor and over-stressed
they might be, but overall they remain very busy and
– as the answers to the technology questions reveal
– highly engaged with the changing demands of their
profession.
Addressing the longer termFestivals and large-scale touring are keeping many PA firms busy
throughout much of the year, but greater diversification looks set to be
crucial to the sector’s long-term prosperity. David Davies sifts the results of
the 2015 PA/Hire Companies’ Survey
Despite fluctuations in the broader
economy, the PA/Hire Companies’ Survey
has generally painted a fairly upbeat
picture of the sector in recent years. The
explosion in the number of live events
since the mid-Noughties has meant that activity levels
have remained reliably solid, while diversification into
other areas such as conference and theatre work has
also strengthened many players’ hands.
For the 2015 survey, we appealed for PA/hire
companies from across Europe to come forward and
express their views. Again, like the Engineers’ Survey on
the previous page, our more passive approach meant a
smaller return; however, the responses outlined below
should still be regarded as indicative of a business that
continues to perform strongly throughout most months
of the year.
Core data
As in previous years, the UK constituted the largest
single share of respondents. Other countries
represented in this year’s responses include France, the
Netherlands and Norway.
Echoing the results of the last few years, overall
activity levels have stayed approximately the same for
the majority of respondents when compared to 2014
(63.6%). A reasonable percentage reported an increase
(27.3%), with only 9.1% citing a decrease.
Similarly, a question about average payment
per project evinces little evidence of change, with
a comfortable majority (63.6%) reporting that it is
generally staying the same. Only 18.1% reported a
decline, which perhaps shouldn’t give too much cause
for concern at this stage.
In an interesting contrast to the 2015 Engineers’
Survey, where larger festivals were said to constitute
the area in which engineers have seen the greatest
uplift in recent years, general touring (40%) and
smaller/‘boutique’-style festivals (30%) scored best
among the PA/hire firms [P1, over the page].
Time and resources
In another echo of the Engineers’ Survey responses,
insufficient budget/resources and inadequate set-up/
preparation time were reported to be the factors that
typically have the most negative impact on live sound
projects. Plus ça change there, then.
PA/hire firms also noted that the type and feature-set
of systems they use for live sound work has changed
substantially over the last few years. Indeed, 87.5%
DJ superstars Axwell & Ingrosso at last year’s V Festival at Weston Park, with sound by SSE Audio Group
Market report: PA/Hire companies08
2015
said their set-ups had altered ‘significantly’ – the result,
no doubt, of the transition to digital operation that has
characterised the post-millennial period.
Further underlining this development, 50% of
respondents observed that audio networking is now
supplanting traditional point-to-point connectivity
in their daily working lives by a ‘significant’ margin,
with 37.5% reporting a ‘moderate’ impact. After some
distinctly variable responses to networking-related
questions, it is cheering to report that only 12.5% opted
for ‘what is audio networking?’ by way of response [P2].
In the final specific area of enquiry, a heartening
87.5% of respondents declared ‘moderate’ optimism
about the future of the live sound business in the UK/
Europe – with absolutely no one reporting themselves
to be disillusioned [P3].
Digital delivery
For the first of this year’s ‘open’, longer-form
questions, PSNLive asked PA firms to highlight the
primary ways – structurally, organisationally or in
terms of personnel levels – their companies have
changed over the last few years.
By far the most commonly cited response was the
move towards digital systems, although there were
also references to enhanced and more responsive
organisational structures – as one respondent put it,
“new equipment, better trained staff, better premises
and infrastructure, all leading to efficiencies and
greater service for our customers.”
Next, survey participants considered the extent to
which diversification is now an important component
of their company philosophy. A significant majority
indicated that it is now crucial to achieving prosperity;
as one respondent put it, “diversification is the key
to our growth. Without it we would not be where we
are today.” Another simply noted, “more eggs in more
baskets [is the way to go].”
Most respondents indicated that their overall project
mix has changed somewhat during recent years, with
greater amounts of corporate, theatre and festival
work among the frequently cited developments. As
one remarked, “these days we have a more stable mix
of theatre and festivals, which are more or less the
same year after year, and the calendar is [otherwise]
filled with one-offs. Previously we tried to take
anything thrown at us.”
Finally, participants were asked for their opinions
about the recent debate surrounding possible over-
saturation in the live touring and festival sectors.
In general, there did not seem to be a great deal of
concern at present, although several respondents
alluded to a long-term change in the festival scene
pinpointed elsewhere in the 2015 edition of PSNLive
(see page 26). As one remarks, “I see less work in
large festivals [in the future], and a rise in small local
festivals where things other than music are important.”
Summary
‘PA/hire companies holding steady’ might be a
reasonable sub-title for this year’s survey report.
Activity levels are good, and there is a more than
reasonable sense of optimism about the future.
But perhaps most crucially of all, the technology
questions reveal that companies are pushing forward
with new systems and workflows – in other words,
seeking the progress that will be vital to continued
competitiveness.
Significantly 50%
Moderately 37.5%
Not really 0%
'What is audio networking?' 12.5%
P2: To what extent is audio networking now
supplanting traditional point-to-point
connectivity in your daily working life?
Very optimistic 12.5%
Moderately optimistic 87.5%
‘We're all doomed!’ 0%
P3: To what extent would you say that you are
optimistic about the future of the live sound
business in UK/Europe?
Larger, 'mainstream' festivals 20%
Smaller, 'boutique'-style festivals 30%
General touring 40%
Events NOT based around live music10%
P1: In which of these areas of activity have you
witnessed the greatest uplift in recent years?
Out front for techno act Howling is engineer Tommy Williams with a new Allen & Heath GLD-80 Chrome digital mixer
P10
Can a die-hard analogue man embrace digital networking? And why small clubs and festivals are changing the world
Who are you?
Jon Burton, jobbing sound engineer.
What do you do?
I am primarily a live sound engineer. Over my career I
have done about 50/50 FOH and monitors.
Where do you do it?
In the last few years I have primarily been a FOH
engineer for, among others, The Prodigy (top left) and
Bombay Bicycle Club.
About six years ago I also built a small recording
complex in Sheffi eld with a colleague, Dave Hadley,
called The Laundry Rooms. We have fi ve control
rooms sharing a central live room. I have rediscovered
recording and done a few singles and albums in
the last year. Primarily I use my room to mix live
recordings for DVD or YouTube release. I do have a bit
of a reputation as an analogue engineer and my mix
room refl ects that, with a big analogue desk and loads
of outboard, including some of the 20 or 30 delay units
that I own. I have a weird dub addiction…
Why do you do it?
I’ve always been interested in sound and have been
working in music since leaving school. I played in bands
but also began engineering fairly early on. I did tours
in my early career where I was playing in the support
band and mixing the headliner.
What’s your biggest success to date?
My biggest success to date is probably still being
given the chance to do it! I love mixing and I’m lucky
to have worked with some great bands. I am one of
those rare people who look forward to work every
day. Getting the chance to do The Prodigy has been
great and it suits my style of engineering: I have a
keen interest in sub bass, which the band are happy
to encourage.
What’s the biggest challenge coming up?
The biggest challenge I see is fi ghting the corner for
sound over convenience. Having spent years trying to
get the best sound possible, I do feel pressurised into
forsaking it for convenience.
I was an early adopter of digital. I have no problem
going forward but until it sounds – actually sounds –
better mixed on digital I will try and remain on the best
desk for the job – which for me is grey, made of steel
and wood with a leather armrest.
I’ve always seen my job as being the band’s engineer,
and my role is to get the best for the band. Being my
own system tech is something I fi nd compromising. As
soon as I set up my own system I feel compromised.
When faced with a diffi cult gig I will go for the easiest
option. If you walk into a gig as a tech, you look at the
most practical, easiest way to solve the problems. As
an engineer I go in with a more challenging, questioning
attitude. My tech will say it will be fi ne with eight
speakers – I say why not 12? We settle on 10…
Having said that, I feel it is my responsibility to keep
up to date so last year I did Martin Audio MLA and d&b
training. I always try and stay up to date. However, just
because I have done all the theory I should never be let
anywhere near rigging and motors.
What is the ‘issue’ that never seems
to go away?
That’s an interesting question. Money is the most
obvious thorny issue that blights any industry. Being
upfront about money is always a good policy. Spell out
what you expect, and what they can expect from you.
Judging that fi rst bid is never easy, though, and it’s true
you get what you negotiate. But if you agree too easily,
don’t moan afterwards!
Do you care about digital audio networking?
I do care about digital networking, as I care about audio
quality and I care about latency. Once a signal is in the
digital domain I try and keep it there until the end of
the chain. Latency, though, is the curse of the modern
system. It ruins your mixes; it ruins your system! Why
aren’t we all shouting about it?
I have an issue with standards as well. Why have
them if people are going to do a special ‘not compatible’
version of MADI, for example? Don’t you manufacturers
ever talk to each other?
Are you fi nding more and more venues
have their own loudspeaker systems
permanently installed?
Loudspeakers in clubs are now better than ever before.
I have been in 200-capacity clubs with little line
arrays that sound fantastic! [But] maintenance is
another matter.
How else is the touring scene changing, from
where you’re standing?
The main change for me in recent years is the number
of festivals I now do. The year before last I worked all
year, but I only did seven days of traditional touring. The
rest was festivals. I don’t mind, but it is a diff erent style
of mixing. Festivals can be great but the factors are not
all under your control.
My colleague Ray Furze summed it up nicely: for a
great sound at a festival you need a good engineer, a
good PA, a good band and good weather! The four very
rarely come together at the same time…
What technical solutions have made your life
better in the last few years?
For me the greatest advance has been the introduction
of modern line arrays. I doff my cap to Christian Heil
and Marcel Urban. These men – along with Paul
Bauman – have done more to change my job than any
others.
Looking to the future, I am starting to teach more
and get involved in educating the next generation of
engineers. I’ve also started at university part time
so I can fi nd out how academia works, and I continue
to write for magazines and lecture online for
Soulsound.
www.laundryrooms.co.uk
2015 Views from the top
12
35 years with Britannia Row Productions… “and I’ll probably still be here in another 35”
Who are you?
This morning, I was Bryan Grant.
What do you do?
I’m managing director of Britannia Row Productions. We
rent out people and equipment to the live entertainment
industry. That covers gigs, tours, events, sporting
events... anything that makes a noise, we do.
What is your biggest success to date?
Still being here, I think [laughs]. Waking up every
morning with most things working, coming into work
and the business is still here – and we’re having fun. I’m
serious about that, I suppose.
As I said to Derek Zieba just before he died, we’ve
been to places, seen things, and done things that most
people wouldn’t even begin to dream of. We’re very
lucky in that respect. There are people who live their
whole lives in boredom. I’ve never considered what
we do as work. I’ve always considered “work” to be
something that you don’t want to do, but you have to get
up in the morning and do it to put money on the table. I
think people in our industry are lucky in that what they
do aff ords them a living. So what they do fi rst is what
they want to do, and secondly they can make a living at
it. That’s as good as it gets, isn’t it?
What is the biggest challenge that is
coming up for you?
Still being here! Every morning’s a challenge [laughs].
There are diff erent sorts of challenges. It could be
the next big gig we have to do. That could be the Foo
Fighters; I hope Dave Grohl is going to get better and
play. I think the Rugby World Cup is going to be a real
challenge; we’re doing 13 stadiums there. But we have
lots of people around us who rise to the challenge far
better than what I can.
The challenge as Mike [Lowe, fi nancial director]
and I get older is to have a business that can carry
on. It’s not that we’re tired of it? To respond to those
challenges, we’ve got a great team of people in our
middle management. I can see them looking at me
sometimes thinking, “Poor old sod… go and sit in the
corner somewhere!” It’s fi ne; it’s what should happen.
Could you ever retire?
I don’t know. Is retirement stopping? I have too much
fun. The way this business works, your work is your life
and your life is your work.
There will come a time, I guess, when someone will
say: “For God’s sake, piss off !”
What about the business, if anything, do you
really dislike?
I think being dictated to by people who don’t understand
or respect what it is we do, and what we contribute
to the business. The people who know the cost of
everything and the value of nothing. It’s an old cliché,
but the lowest price isn’t necessarily the best price.
I dislike being put into situations where I can’t deliver
what I regard to be the best possible audio. I dislike
being compromised in that way, and sometimes we are.
I dislike people who don’t have respect for other people.
What is the one issue that never goes away?
There is a lack of respect for audio. You can have
everything else spot on; if the sound isn’t working, you
don’t have a concert. It’s the most fundamental thing
about performing in front of more than a few hundred
people. It’s so fundamental it’s been forgotten.
I wouldn’t say I want us to be sanctifi ed or put on
a pedestal, but let’s just all respect what each other
does, give each other credit for that and help each other
achieve the best we can.
How do we achieve that?
It’s just education, I suppose. We in the audio industry
have been our own worst enemy. Sound engineers tend
to be very laid-back people. Lighting designers and set
designers and choreographers tend to be people that
stand up and shout and get what they want. We infl ict
our own wounds.
Time for engineers to stand up and be
more assertive?
It’s more about other people not thinking. What would
you say to a crowd of 20,000 people if there was no
sound? It’s funny, isn’t it: we built this whole industry up
on amplifi ed sound. The fact that you can even play to
100,000 people isn’t because the lights are so bright, is
it? It’s because they can hear you.
What adventures are you looking forward to next?
I tell you what I always look forward to: going to a gig.
It may not be the hippest thing in the world, the biggest
band or the one with the most artistic merit.
But what I occasionally get is a reminder of why I got
into the business: when you see a hundred, a thousand,
or one hundred thousand people having the greatest
time. Or somebody playing an instrument you’ve never
heard before and you think: “Wow, what is that noise?
How did that happen?” When somebody sings a song
that brings you to the edge of tears. That is why I keep
at it.
www.britanniarow.com
2015 Views from the top
The former owner of Tiger Hire is giving something back to the industry he loves…
Who are you?
My name is Jim Parsons. I used to own a PA company
until I realised how daft that was. It took me 28 years
to realise this.
What do you do now?
For the last 10 years I have been running a live sound
degree course.
Where do you do it?
Based in Plymouth, UK, dBs Music is a specialist
music technology provider that allows me the
freedom to design and run the course in a way which
combines structured learning with plenty of practical
work using cutting-edge audio technology. We have
a 400-capacity working venue as the main teaching
environment and we have pro gear like Midas, Avid
and Martin Audio – which is not always the case with
publicly-funded college courses.
Why do you do it?
I felt for a long time that the old ‘junior dogsbody’
assistant engineer pathway to learning live sound
engineering was a bit random as it really depended
on the senior mentor engineer being able to
communicate information clearly and accurately, and,
of course, it depended upon them being right in the
fi rst place.
The other thing is that the live sound industry has
undergone rapid change over the last 30 years. In
the past, being physically strong, having a driving
licence and having a positive attitude were the main
prerequisites for a budding engineer. Now you need
to know, understand and remember pretty complex
technical stuff , particularly since digital technology
has revolutionised sound consoles, audio networks
and loudspeaker control.
The good news is that this all means that there’s
a good variety of jobs for the new generation of tech-
savvy technical crew in this digital age. So I suppose
my goal is to inspire and train the new specialist
technicians and engineers who ultimately will replace
my generation.
What’s your biggest success to date?
I fi nd my role in education very rewarding. You know
why? When I fi nished the last lesson of the academic
year in May, the whole graduating class applauded.
What’s the biggest challenge coming up?
Here at dBs Music we have a new collaborative
partnership with Martin Audio, so Plymouth’s own
sonic guru Simon Honywill will be instructing the
new students in September in the mysteries of
loudspeaker design – and particularly the principles
and operation of the revolutionary MLA speaker
system. This of course is the main challenge that
we always face: keeping up to date with the rapidly
changing technical landscape. Not so diff erent to
running a PA company, really!
What is the ‘issue’ that never seems
to go away?
There are some basic laws of physics which govern
all audio, and understanding the principles of
acoustics and the mechanics of sound transmission
and reception will always be at the core of live sound
education. This will never change – unlike the latest
mixing desk upgrade.
What can the industry do better to
encourage youngsters?
The relationship between young live sound students,
equipment manufacturers and sound rental
companies is crucial to the renewal and development
of the new professionalism in pro audio. In particular,
manufacturer-led equipment training is essential to
the successful adoption of new technology because
this in turn makes the student more employable to the
rental company. It’s a kind of synergy in operation.
Can they get work?
We have good relationships with all our local sound
companies and a steady trickle of students end up
fi nding employment with them. Education is now an
expensive business for any student, so I fi nd that most
of them are keen, hardworking and really want to have
a career in some part of the live sound workplace.
Why are there more courses now than
ever before?
Unfortunately, there are quite a few courses available
now, both publicly funded and private – meaning
pay to learn – and many cover a bit of everything
connected with music technology. This means that the
student ends up with a little bit of knowledge about
lots of diff erent subject areas, but has no proper depth
of understanding about any one thing. This is what
sets the dBs Music live sound degree apart from the
rest: we live and breath pro audio, obsess about it and
dream about how to do it better. That is what we do!
If you were 18 today, what advice would
you need?
Now is a great time to be 18. Get as much education
and training as you can, take every opportunity that
you are off ered, buy some decent ear protection and
don’t restrict yourself to particular job roles or types
of work. Remember: you always need to keep on
learning so that you’re prepared for the future.
www.dbsmusic.co.uk
Views from the top13
2015
14
Bringing a little bit of Caribbean sunshine to the centre of Europe
Who are you?
My name is Lode Verschueren (top centre). I fi rst
organised the Antilliaanse Feesten (Caribbean Festival)
in 1983 when I was 27. And I’ve just become a “young”
grandpa…
What do you do?
I’m a full-time festival organiser – and happy to say that
I’m my own boss. I’m a free man, and that’s my biggest
victory in life. Before, I worked as a surveyor…
Where do you do it?
The Antilliaanse Feesten is being staged in the tiny
village of Hoogstraten, with some 20,000 inhabitants.
Indeed, Hoogstraten is the very centre of Europe,
equidistant from Cologne, Amsterdam and London.
That’s why we’ve called our festival company ‘Belgium
Oversees’ – a tongue-in-cheek reference to illustrate
that we oversee the music we put on, better than some
who actually perform it [laughs]. No, really, we claim to
be the one festival bringing all of the Caribbean musical
styles together. For 31 years now, we’ve staged the
festival at the Blauwbossen riding school, a beautiful
landscape in the woods.
Why do you do it?
I have to admit I didn’t know Caribbean music at all –
but I was curious and fascinated by what I discovered
– so organising the festival was a combination of
coincidences and lots of passion. I started organising
the festival in the punk and blues era; friends tried
to talk me out of it, but they were wrong, it turns out.
Starting up wasn’t easy but I’m happy to see that, over
the years, we’ve built an audience consisting of both
‘Europeans’ and also lots of expats with roots in the
Caribbean living in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany
and France.
What’s your biggest success to date?
Don’t ask me for hard facts, names or fi gures! I think
my biggest achievement is to keep the festival fresh
and inspired after all those years. And to remain
independent and not be part of the big multinationals
controlling the live market. To be independent,
successful and medium-size – that’s what it’s about.
What’s the biggest challenge coming up?
It’s along the lines of the previous question. The main
issue is to pass on the passion – crucial when it came
to setting things up – to the next generation. Continue to
give the event an identity of its own, off ering a fresh and
innovative programme with an attractive festival site. In
terms of business, we try to adapt: for instance, adding
extra stages – this year’s festival has fi ve!
What’s the issue that never seems to go
away?
The fucking weather! I have a billboard in my offi ce
saying ‘Don’t mention the weather!’. Bad weather
conditions do have their infl uence. Although all of the
stages are in huge tents or marquees, the festival
requires ‘Caribbean’ weather. Last year we had a heavy
rainstorm just as the campsite gates opened…
Is organising a niche festival an advantage?
Actually, I see no direct disadvantages – we made a
clear choice as to the festival’s identity. If we should lose
this typical aspect by mixing other musical styles or
adding pop bands, we would loose our core audience
and not be able to attract new public.
How loyal is the audience?
Very loyal – we see it on social media and in
communications with the visitors. Every edition attracts,
weather permitting, some 15,000 people per day, plus,
for a few years now, several thousands in the campsite
the day before the festival weekend. We don’t have
any exact fi gures on hand – the only thing we know
from polling at the entrance is that 56 per cent of the
audience are female. In the months prior to the festival,
our audience is very involved with what we do via social
media. We don’t attract festival tourists driving from the
Graspop Metal Meeting to the Tomorrowland dancefest.
Many of our visitors attend only one festival: ours.
And what about the evolution in Caribbean
music?
Our audience is very open to new musical trends. The
most popular new bands are massive on the social
media and YouTube. Bands that didn’t exist six years
ago now get 100m views in Latin America. Those are
the bands we want at the festival, in combination with
traditional salsa and merengue orchestras. This year
we have Grupo Niche, a Colombian salsa orchestra
with many horns who attract a huge audience here.
The advantage of having multiple stages is to be able to
have style accents throughout our programme.
Flying so many bands from Latin America
must be a logistical challenge…
This could have been my ‘issue’, but it has grown on
me over the years. I’m used to solving problems, like
this week when a band’s booking agent is off the radar
for fi ve weeks with Schengen visa and fl ight tickets
pending – with one month to go till the festival, this
requires daily following up.
What is the festival’s future?
I believe in constant innovation as the key to its
future. Caribbean and Latin American music moves
on, and it’s our job to keep our fi nger on the pulse.
www.antilliaansefeesten.be
2015 Views from the top
16
Mixing sound fi t for an Olympian with the other Pavarotti…g y p
Who are you?
Angelo ‘Pavarotti’ Camporese, born in Borgoricco, the
north-eastern province of Padua, Italy, and audio chief
on productions by Agorà, Italy’s largest rental company.
What do you do?
In the case of particularly complex events or
installations, I’m responsible for the technical/logistic
coordination necessary for all members of the
production team to carry out their individual jobs in the
best possible way, optimising the entire operation’s time
schedule and technical set-up.
Where do you do it?
Wherever the events are – more or less worldwide
nowadays. I’ve worked in every country in Europe with
Italian artists’ tours, plus events in Tunisia, Egypt and an
entire year in the UAE, working out of Dubai.
What do you do it with?
A computer, e-mail, meetings and even more meetings,
to perfectly understand events’ technical requirements,
and the necessary jobs involved, form the team that
meets these requirements, allocate individual jobs, train
the staff in the event of technical upgrades and draw up
the list of equipment required; making certain the rental
company can provide it or, where necessary, fi nding the
most appropriate alternatives.
What has given you the most satisfaction?
Every event involves a challenge, hard graft and
satisfaction, but having contributed to the realisation
of three Olympic Games (Turin’s 2006 Winter Games,
Sochi 2014 and the European Games this year in
Baku, organised by the European Olympic
Committees) with a world-level organisation, off ering
technical solutions to projects that were defi nitely
complex and very varied, after months of
commitment, dedication and intense human interaction
the positive results were an enormous satisfaction.
On the sports front, I was also system manager and
network manager at Hampden Park, Glasgow, for the
2014 Commonwealth Games.
What’s your next big challenge?
There are similar events to those already mentioned on
the agenda, as well as smaller events with the same
technical complexity.
What ‘issue’ that never seems to go away?
Budgets to be respected, appropriate technical
solutions, over-tight time frames for planning.
On one hand, choosing the right staff to respond to
the need for professionalism regarding the use of the
technology required; on the other, paying particular
attention to the ability of each member of the team to
cooperate in harmony with their colleagues, since large
events often involve lengthy work schedules and calm
cooperation. Taking great care with the make-up of the
team ensures the best results.
As well as being an audio chief, what’s your
background in the live event or music world?
I began as a sound engineer in 1986, then progressed
to PA management and later system designer. For
years I worked on the technical aspects of the audio
and lighting divisions of a rental company, which
enabled me to accumulate in-depth knowledge of
the ‘philosophical’ and design approach to sound
reinforcement systems, with a particular focus on new
technologies – devices using important technological
solutions that frequently integrate audio, lighting and
video in the same network. I’ve been working as a
sound chief since 2000.
I also work on technical staff training, so that the use
of these solutions becomes increasingly normal – at
fi rst glance they may seem diffi cult for their complexity,
but in the end they’re they only ones that off er the
fl exibility necessary to meet clients’ increasingly varied
requirements.
How did you become an audio chief?
I started out in situations that were much simpler and
are still the norm today, where one of the technical
staff had the job of also following the events’ general
organization and was the reference point per skill and
knowledge, while still continuing to play an operational
technical role. In more complex events, this obviously
becomes a such an complicated job that all your time
and energy goes into coordination, to ensure that all
those involved have the necessary means for carrying
out their jobs.
How would you rate the standard of Italian
audio chiefs with those abroad?
I’d say they have similar roles, even if traditions are
diff erent – from the US and northern European world
in general we’ve learned a lot regarding organisation
and logistics, combining this with the fl exibility
which distinguishes Italians’ modus operandi. This
fl exibility was the ‘added value’ we brought to this
industry, which requires increasing fl exibility and
rapid decisions and meets a positive reaction on the
international productions we worked on.
What artists would you like to be or have
been the audio chief for and why?
Names such as The Wall, Pink Floyd and U2 are
without doubt examples of top-grade production
in my generation’s imagination, but the Olympic
Games are in fact the world’s largest “show” as far as
audience numbers are concerned, and the impressive
production machine that is part of the ceremonies
off ers great stimuli from a technical and emotional
point of view.
Do you fi nd it frustrating that other
technicians involved in live event industry
(sound engineers, lighting console ops)
often have a higher profi le than audio
chiefs?
Not at all. If you consider the aim of the operation
you’re working on and believe in the team you’re a
member of, you realise that there are certain roles
that are natural interfaces with the ‘outside world’. In
our fi eld, these are normally the people who ‘press
the buttons’ – the sound engineer or the production
manager, who can give overall insights on the events.
The work behind the scenes is carried out by team of
highly specialised technicians working with passion,
dedication and professionalism, all fundamental for
achieving the end result. This is suffi cient personal
satisfaction for me but, obviously, having the
opportunity to express your point of view is without
doubt a pleasure.
2015 Views from the top
18
“Too many arse-lickers and snakes in the grass”: it’s not the same as it was
Who are you?
Dario Cappanera, known by everyone as ‘Kappa’ and
born in Leghorn, Tuscany, in 1973.
What do you do?
I began playing guitar at the age of eight, and have
played in numerous bands since, worked with
instruments, amps and guitars and owned an
[analogue] recording studio from 1993 to 2000.
I’ve worked as a guitar and bass tech since 2001,
but thanks to my studio experience, I’ve a fairly
comprehensive background in the audio world –
cabling, keyboards, drums, mics, etc.
Where do you do it?
I’ve mainly worked in Italy, but from 1990 to 1992 lived
and worked as a guitarist and tech in Austin, Texas; in
London in 1993; then, back in Italy, in various studios
in Milan. Once on the scene, I worked mainly in Italy,
above all when Diego Spagnoli ‘enrolled’ me with
Vasco [Rossi] in 2003. I went back to the States, to LA,
for the whole of 2009.
What do you do it with?
I have an unpretentious workcase containing the bare
essentials: Boss tuners, overdrives and boosters for
acoustic guitars, jack cables, soldering gear, all the
tools necessary for guitars, including hex keys in
millimetres and inches for all kinds of bridges, spare
potentiometers and jacks… in short, all the odds and
ends necessary for emergency repairs on the road.
What’s your biggest success to date?
I’ve worked as a guitar tech for a lot of musicians, but
my biggest satisfactions were with Vasco Rossi – from
2003 to 2014 I was his band’s guitar and bass tech (for
Maurizio Solieri and “Gallo” Golinelli) – and for another
great guitarist, Mike Scott, ex-guitarist with Prince,
with whom I worked on tours and events with [Italian
singer] Giorgia.
What’s the biggest challenge coming up?
Changing my job! [Laughs] Seriously, I’ve been
globetrotting since I was 18 and I’m 41 now. I’d like to
stay at home with my family; working conditions aren’t
what they used to be, plus I no longer have the passion
and desire to experience music as I once did. It seems
to be all business and technology now – too cold and
impersonal, too many arse-lickers and snakes in the
grass… it’s not the world I once knew.
What is the ‘issue’ that never seems
to go away?
With Italian musicians, rather than a roadie or tech,
you need to be a psychologist, as there are too many
improvised artists and prima donnas, too many
bigheads and a load of moaners. In short, they expect
you to look after them too much.
As well as a tech, do you do any other work in
the live or music world?
I play in an Italian metal band, La Strana Offi cina. I’ve
played with a lot of other artists and I also have a
blues project where I sing too. I’m a songwriter, too,
have acted in a fi lm and am also a yacht skipper…
I’m always on the hunt for new challenges and crazy
things to do. I’m quite eclectic, and in ‘simple’ tech this
seems to annoy folk sometimes.
How did you start work as a tech?
After some session work in 2000, I realised it wasn’t
the job for me: I’ve always hated pop music, which is
Italy’s most successful genre. My roots are in blues
and rock ’n’ roll, so, undecided on how to make a living
and having closed my studio, I decided to try my hand
as a roadie with DeltaV, a band I’d already worked with
as a backliner, stage manager and monitor engineer.
It was hard, crazy work, but there was friendship,
esteem and a great atmosphere. Then, in 2002, I got
the call from Diego Spagnoli.
How would you rate the standard of Italian
techs with those abroad?
As far as professionalism, ability and know-how is
concerned, Italian techs are in no way inferior to those
from abroad, but there are some big diff erences: US
and European techs deal exclusively with the backline!
On the other hand, here in Italy, we’ve always worked
with everything, from cabling to snakes, mics, the
risers or stage set and loads of other crap. I think that
this has given us that ‘something extra’, since, in my
modest opinion, I think if you’re involved in hundreds
of other audio aspects you learn a lot more!
What musician would you like work with as a
tech and why?
I’d have liked to have been the guitar tech with one
of my icons, Gary Moore (RIP), or Zakk Wylde, whom I
got to know well during the years on the road, and Joe
Bonamassa.
Do you fi nd it frustrating that other technicians
involved in live events always have a higher
media profi le than techs?
In my career as a musician, I’ve always been involved
in the promotional aspects – interviews, video and
photo shooting, etc. – and I think it’s part of the job, but
as far as roadie and tech work is concerned, I prefer
to stay in the background, not in the spotlight. I leave
that crap to the various prima donnas that populate
backstage areas worldwide!
2015 Views from the top
Unite Your Audience
Without upsetting the neighbours.
MLA ensures that the audience, FOH engineer and artist have a
rocking good time, without upsetting local residents.
Powerful, exciting, crystal clear sound that envelops the entire
audience, but cuts off just beyond.
That’s the Martin Audio Experience.
Unite your audience at www.martin-audio.com
Glastonbury Festival
Hyde Park
EDC, New York
20
Getting the right publicity for concert tours and festival appearances is a skill
and, despite the open internet fi eld provided by Facebook and Twitter, some
directed guidance and good old common sense remain valuable assets
Who are you?
Judy Totton of Judy Totton Publicity. I’m based in
London and work in the UK, though I do have media
contacts overseas. I promote big events, charity
shows, companies and theatre, as well as artists
releasing albums or touring. Some of my current
clients are Bill Wyman, who has just released his fi rst
UK solo album in 33 years, Joan Armatrading on her
last big world tour, Andy Fairweather Low and his
band The Low Riders, Joe Brown and Paul Brady. I’ve
represented many artists from all genres over the
years and been involved with big festivals including
Blenheim Palace and 11 years of Castle Donington
Monsters of Rock.
What do you do?
I look after the artist, handling their profi le. I aim to
get the best possible coverage for them and the job
or project at that time. If someone is promoting a
tour then the focus is to sell tickets and make sure
as many people as possible know a gig is happening.
It’s basic common sense, seeing where the target
audience is. This means dealing with the whole
gamut: newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and selected
digital outlets. I write the press releases and often the
biographies.
The other side of my activities is photography. I
studied photography at the Royal College of Art and
initially photographed small theatre companies. After I
moved into music PR I put photography to one side but
later found it could be useful. I photograph a lot of live
gigs and other situations, as well as my own clients.
It’s something I love doing.
How did you end up where you are now?
I started out in music publicity at Magnet Records.
After two years there I joined CBS where I worked
with a wide variety of artists from The Jacksons to
ABBA, with John Cooper Clarke, The Only Ones, The
Vibrators and many more in between. By the late
1970s Epic records was being split away from CBS
and a lot of internal changes were happening. I wasn’t
sure what to do, and it was artist agent Ian Flukes who
suggested I set up my own company.
That was 1979. John Cooper Clarke and The
Only Ones came with me and within a month I was
approached by Status Quo. Toyah soon followed and
then Haircut 100 and Orange Juice. From there I never
looked back.
What’s your biggest success to date?
I hesitate to say because it depends on how you
measure success. Does it mean covering all the bases
on a job or is it getting the biggest client? If it’s the
latter then I’ve worked with David Bowie, the Dalai
Lama and Steve Miller. I also won an industry PR
Award on four occasions. But is it more successful
to get someone in Time Out or t The Telegraph or on
Jools Holland’s TV show? Or maybe it’s just keeping
somebody out of the papers.
What is the ‘issue’ that never seems
to go away?
Perhaps people’s expectations. Sometimes you
can work with a company that has very realistic
expectations and on others an artist can be swayed by
people around them saying things like “I saw so-and-
so on TV – you should be too.” But that particular artist
might not fi t with the programming. Or maybe it’s just
that one media person out to prove themselves that
crosses the line. Or the editor with an agenda.
Is the sound at live events something you have
to deal with in your work?
If the sound in a concert hall is too loud the gig can get
a bad review. Very loud sound will reverberate through
your body and can make you sick, so however talented
or wonderful an artist is they will get a bad review. I’ve
also had situations where I haven’t been responsible
for seating my media guests and they’ve been put in
poor seats where the sound coverage hasn’t been
good enough, which has drawn a negative reaction.
The internet and social media have changed
how the music industry works. Has it aff ected
your job and is there still a requirement for
publicists in the traditional mould?
There will always be a need for human interaction. I
see my role as the cement between the bricks joining
journalist and artist. Good relationships count for a
lot. The medium has changed in recent years but the
message is the same.
And despite social media, print, TV and radio
continue to be important outlets. People still read
newspapers, not just the nationals but regionals as
well. National TV and radio can still have a big eff ect
while a good piece in national print can also infl uence
the broadcast media. I think traditional PR continues to
have a viable role and fulfi ls an essential function.
www.judytotton.com
2015 Views from the top
THE NEW TOURING ICON
+
Find out more at labgruppen.com
RPM CLASS TD CAFÉ
CHANNEL
MATRIXCH PFC
22
Not upsetting the neighbours is a priority for promoters. Obtaining the
right level is a matter of science, but being a music fan helps too
Who are you?
Edward Crofton-Martin, principal acoustic
consultant at Able Acoustics. I am a Member of
the Institute of Acoustics (MIOA), as well as an
Accredited Associate of the Chartered Institute of
Environmental Health (ACIEH) and an Incorporated
Engineer (IEng).
What do you do?
I solve problems related to noise. More specifi cally,
I specialise in acoustics and environmental
noise control. This involves determining practical
methods of noise control by applying the scientifi c
theory of sound (acoustics). I work with events
managements companies and promoters to help
achieve a balance between music noise levels that
are suffi ciently high to make the event workable
whilst at the same time minimising disturbance to
nearby residents. Promoters and event managers
are increasingly aware of the benefi ts of avoiding
complaints and possible confl ict with local
authorities.
I am also an accredited expert witness in the
fi eld of acoustics and noise control and have
prepared reports and given evidence relating to
entertainment noise in the High Court.
Where do you do it?
Most of my work is UK-based although I do get
asked to provide advice and assistance for events
outside the country. I have worked at Glastonbury,
Hyde Park Concerts, Move Festival Manchester,
Homelands Dance Festival and the Brit Awards, as
well as at Earls Court with artists such as Muse,
Kylie Minogue and Madonna. I also got to work
at the former Millennium Dome while Sir Paul
McCartney was using it as a rehearsal venue.
What do you do it with?
Sound pressure levels are measured in decibels,
which work on a logarithmic scale. The actual
measurements are done using specialised and
calibrated laboratory grade equipment capable of
measuring individual frequencies to get accurate
and reliable measurement data.
When do you get called in?
It is generally a condition of the licence that a
competent and experienced person is brought in at
an early stage and we would start by liaising with
all relevant parties, including promoters and the
local authority. One of the fi rst things that needs to
be done is to check the viability of the event against
recommended levels: a concert running below
95dB(A) does not tend to provide satisfactory
entertainment for the audience while topography
of the local environment may not be suitable if
guideline limits are to be met.
Should the proposed event location be viable
we would then consider elements such as the
timetable, running order, stage location, speaker
layout/orientation and noise from set up and de-
rig, sound checks/PA testing, vehicle movements
and installation of welfare facilities. We would also
identify the nearest noise-sensitive premises and
agree suitable monitoring locations.
How do you set the requirements for
each project?
This typically involves calculation. We use
specialist software to build a computer noise
model and assist in evaluating the eff ectiveness of
any mitigation measures. This also helps formulate
a noise management plan, which would contain
measures to control noise, a complaints procedure
and procedures in the event something goes
wrong. Prior to the event itself we would undertake
sound propagation tests. This is done using pink
noise played through the PA system and then
measured simultaneously at both the mixer and
the nearest noise-sensitive premises to determine
the maximum permissible levels. During the event
we take measurements at the agreed locations.
This allows us to assist the promoter in ensuring
any set limits are not breached. Following the
event we would report the measured levels as well
as any investigate action that may have
been required.
Are there diff erent considerations for
various types of gig?
Every event is considered individually but
depending on the venue type and the amount of
events to be held, the limits vary for music noise
levels when measured or predicted to 1m from the
façade of any noise sensitive premises. For events
continuing or held between 23.00h and 9.00h the
music noise should not be audible within noise-
sensitive premises with windows open in a typical
manner for ventilation. Control can be exercised in
this situation by limiting the music noise so that it
is just audible outside the noise sensitive premises.
What’s your biggest success to date?
Getting backstage passes to see my favourite
bands and being paid for it!
What’s the biggest challenge in
your work today?
Increasingly people seem prepared to resort to the
courts to resolve their disputes. The expert witness
work I do is always a challenge because the key is
to communicate technical concepts in a manner
the court can understand – and some of these and
the applicable British Standards governing good
practice are extremely involved.
What is the ‘issue’ that never
seems to go away?
There is a popular misconception that over-
estimates the use of foliage. That is the idea that
if there are some bushes or hedgerows between
the source and the receiver they are is going solve
the problem by providing an acceptable amount of
acoustic screening. Then there is always someone
in the crowd who thinks you are the ‘noise police’
waiting to shut the event down, when the opposite
is true.
www.ableacoustics.com
2015 Views from the top
24
A proper restoration man. We forgot to ask what colour he likes his drapes
Who are you?
Graham Walters, Chief Operating Offi cer for the
Academy Music Group and Live Nation Entertainment.
What’s been your biggest success?
With so many venues (14 in the AMG portfolio), it’s
diffi cult to pinpoint just one as we have so many
events, but for Academy Music Group, continuing to
expand our business over the last 15 years and the
opportunities that come with that, make every day
interesting.
All our venues are unique and many iconic, such
as the world famous O2 Academy Brixton and O2
Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, steeped in
history, and O2 Apollo Manchester and O2 Academy
Leeds, renowned for their cultural infl uence in the
respective cities.
AMG venues range from traditional theatre and
cinema-style from Scotland down to the South coast,
with warehouse buildings to club formats, so the live
experience off ered across the estate is both varied
and original.
What’s the biggest challenge coming up?
Maintaining old buildings with grand histories is
always a challenge, and can often come with as many
complications as they do charm, but that really is part
of the joy.
From a technical point of view, revisiting
established venues, we opened sites in Birmingham
and Bristol at the start of the year 2000, so keeping
up with progression and investment in lighting, sound
and video technology.
We’ve invested in scalable capacities and
confi gurations, such as draping options for short hall
formats, as well as an on-going investment plan to
upgrade facilities, both front of house and back stage.
New LED screen technology features at our venues
in Leeds, Leicester and Newcastle to name but three,
as well as front of house facilities at O2 ABC Glasgow
with our partners at O2, who we are also looking
at front of house Wi-Fi solutions to enhance the
customer experience across the estate, so keeping
ahead is part of those challenges.
What’s a big ‘issue’ that never seems to go
away?
Within our industry as a whole, there are always hot
topics, for example: pricing of tickets to ticket resale
in diffi cult economic markets; the pound vs the euro;
many say lack of headline artists for bigger venues
and festivals. There’s always something.
According to a recent UK Music report, gig
attendance is up 23 per cent since 2011.
Are you feeling the benefi t? What’s your
experience of the booming live market?
Business has been good particularly over the last
couple of years and we have opened up well for 2015.
We’re looking at a strong autumn, post-festival season,
and this year alone Academy Music Group venues
will host some 3,000 events, with up to three million
customers through the doors. Live Nation venues are
also performing well which host around 1,000 events
a year across the four LN venues including gigs,
comedy, theatre, sport, conference and exhibitions.
It’s obviously not something that’s fi ltered
down to the smaller, independent ‘toilet
circuit’ venues, with what seems like clubs
and live venues closing every week. Does
that have a knock-on eff ect on you guys?
It’s always sad to hear when small venues are closing,
as we have several ourselves with O2 Academy2
rooms across the UK. It does highlight how diffi cult
it is to have a sustainable live music business, that
level (small rooms/pub circuit) is so important to
the development or artists and the wider live scene.
Before those acts get to play Academy Music group
venues, it’s where they learn their trade, likewise
where many promoters come from, cutting their teeth.
What’s your view on the closing of The
Arches in Glasgow?
It’s never good to hear of venues closing, The Arches
is a much loved and established venue, home of many
great club nights and gigs. It certainly complemented
our two venues in Glasgow (O2 ABC and O2 Academy)
very well and we worked very closely with them.
How the live music scene has changed since
you started out – for better and for worse?
With any industry there are extreme highs and lows,
it’s a constantly evolving machine. With advancements
in technology to marketing tactics, ticketing, trends in
talent, it changes all the time, but at the end of the day
there is nothing quite like the feeling of watching your
favourite artists. When they walk out on stage, there
really is nothing quite like it.
www.academy-music-group.co.uk
2015 Views from the top
XX
2015
26
2015 Boutique festivals: Small but perfectly formed
Exquisitely proportioned
One quick search of The Festival
Calendar website confi rms the extent
to which the UK summer festival sector
has blossomed over the last ten years.
From Birmingham’s dance-oriented
Electric Daisy, to the Bruton Reggae Fest, to the
classical and jazz-driven Petworth Festival, there
is quite literally an event to match every possible
musical penchant.
The fact that many of the newer events belong
to the sub-30,000 attendance category underlines
the extent to which expansion of the sector is being
driven by the smaller events. But although ‘boutique’
is a commonly-deployed buzzword, these events
display a remarkable level of diversity, with some
newer events zeroing in on one specifi c genre while
others pursue a multi-disciplinary approach mixing
music with literature, movie screenings and more.
What does tend to unite them, however, is the
general emphasis on creating a more rounded and
(whisper it) pleasant festival-going experience. Part
of the strategy here has been to reconfi gure events
in a more family-friendly fashion as the most recent
festival boom generation gets older and starts
having children, but at a more basic level it has also
translated to elements as seemingly straightforward
as an improved quality and selection of food and –
quite frankly – decent toilets and washing facilities.
Hedonism in its various forms is unlikely to
disappear from the festival scene any decade soon,
but at the risk of making a drastic generalisation it
would be fair to say that at the newer generation
of events one is more likely to fi nd revellers
perambulating with a jug of Pimm’s than reclining
drugged-out in a ditch. More seriously, with new
events popping up all the time, several pertinent
questions rise into view, not least: precisely how does
one go about delivering a popular new small festival
at this stage of market maturity? And is greater
diversity of attractions the most reliable route to
success? PSNLive decided to fi nd out by talking to two
of the brightest additions to the festival fi rmament
over the last ten years.
Location, location, location
For many of the more recent additions, the answer
appears to be ‘accentuate the unique’ – whether that
be in the form of cuisine, activities or, most likely, the
location of the festival itself. That certainly seems to
have worked out well for the Port Eliot Festival, which
takes place just over the Cornish ‘border’ at the end
of each July and has been running for 12 years now.
“Port Eliot is very much informed by its location,”
confi rms associate director Colin Midson, pointing to
The last decade has witnessed an explosion in the number of smaller,
niche-orientated festivals across the UK and mainland Europe. But how do
these events go about off ering truly unique experiences to festivalgoers
facing an ever-greater panoply of options, and what is the outlook for the
larger festivals driven more by headline acts? David Davies reports
XX2015
GLASGOW | 20-21 JANUARY, 2016 LEEDS | 10-11 MAY, 2016
272015
the festival’s setting in the grounds of an historic
priory that is home to the Earl and Countess of St
Germans. “For example, we have activities in the
walled garden and one of our stages is located
in a bowling green. Down by the river we also
have canoeing, so there are a lot of site-specifi c
activities.”
Midson – who was a long-time attendee of
the festival before joining the directorial team in
October 2014 – believes that the “steady” growth
of the event has been a crucial ingredient of its
success. “In the second year there were only 1,000
attendees and now we are up to about 10,000, but
I don’t think there is any real desire to take it much
larger than that,” he says.
Interestingly, Midson reveals that festival
director Cathy St Germans’ original vision for
the event was to focus primarily on literature.
The explosion in the number of literary events
to complement the long-established likes of the
Hay Festival can be explained in part by “readers
connecting with authors on social media and
Capital Sound stands by at Wild Life in June
Boutique festivals: Small but perfectly formed28
2015
having the desire to see them in person. But in my
experience, literary festivals can be a bit ‘one-note’
– basically authors either giving a presentation or an
interview about their latest book. So ultimately Kathy
took the decisions to take it broader.”
The team has certainly achieved that as the 2015
line-up – which includes writers Sarah Waters, Iain
Sinclair and Simon Armitage on the literary stages,
and The Unthanks, The Lilac Time and Villagers on
the music stages – amply demonstrates.
‘The complete experience’
Kendal Calling in the Lake District is another event
whose organic growth trajectory indicates what
appears to be a common trait in this festival category.
Only 900 people attended the first event, in 2006, but
this year some 23,000 are expected. Unlike Port Eliot,
music has always been the core component of Kendal
Calling’s offer, but co-founder Ben Robinson believes
that the gradual addition of other elements over time
has stood it in good stead.
“We have always looked to book great musical
acts, of course, but more than anything it is about
offering the complete experience,” says Robinson. “My
observation is that those festivals which are relying
on the big headline names are more likely to struggle
if they don’t manage to secure them. It’s quite a big
commitment to spend three to four days in a field, so
it has to be amazing to justify the time and expense.”
The 2015 event certainly has its fair share of major
names – among them Elbow, Snoop Dogg and The
Vaccines – but alongside an increasingly compelling
array of dance and electronic acts, comedy and
performance art. Brand-new for 2015, meanwhile,
will be a woodlands area featuring sculpture and
immersive arts, established with the support of the
Arts Council.
“It seemed like another logical step,” says
Robinson. “I think the underlying point here is that you
have to keep innovating and adding new attractions
while always retaining the core creative spirit [that
inspired the festival in the first place]. You have to
make sure you avoid stagnation.”
To which end Robinson and his team have now
embarked upon the process of building a portfolio of
events, having announced plans for a new festival,
Forgotten Fields, to take place in Tunbridge Wells this
August.
PA company prosperity
By some estimates there were as many as 1,300
festivals in the UK in 2014 (although one suspects
that a significant number of those might stretch the
definition of ‘festival’ as we understand it beyond
breaking point). Whether or not this is ultimately
sustainable, the dramatic enhancement of the
summer schedule can, in the short-term, only be
perceived as good news for audio providers.
“We have probably seen a 30-to-50 per cent
increase in our festival business between the start
of May and the end of August over the last few years,
and a lot of those are what would be termed smaller
festivals,” says Paul Timmins, general manager of
Capital Sound. “2015 is again looking very busy, and
I think in part that is down to our investment in three
different varieties of the system that so many events
are keen to use now – the Martin Audio MLA [Multi-
cellular Loudspeaker Array].”
The good results that Capital has achieved with the
MLA in minimising noise off the British Summer Time
Hyde Park festival site has been well-documented
and does not require reiteration here. But Timmins is
sure that its successful deployment there has helped
“Port Eliot Festival is very much informed by its location… we have activities in the walled garden, one of our stages revolves around a bowling green and there is canoeing down on the river” Colin Midson, Port Eliot Festival
Kendall Calling (to the faraway towns, etc.)
292015
to spread the general renown of the system, which
enables control of every single cell in the array for
highly directive sound coverage.
“There is a desire to achieve higher levels within
the festival site compared to the off-site situation,”
he says. “There have been a lot of events where they
were struggling to get much beyond 96dBA at the
FOH [because of noise restrictions], which isn’t really
at the enjoyment level and is quite likely to prompt
people coming over to the desk and asking for it to
be turned up. MLA allows you to add another 3–4dBA
without creating noise issues off-site.”
LIve at Chelsea, and the brand new rock and dance
festival Wild Life, which took place at Shoreham
Airport in June, are among the many more boutique
events to which Capital Sound is applying the MLA
system this summer.
G. Reaper Festival?
These examples alone point to the current rude
health of the smaller festivals sector – but if
anything, it could be that we are set for even greater
proliferation of sub-30,000-capacity events as the
larger events increasingly confront some challenging
generational obstacles.
Perhaps the greatest of these – and let’s make
no bones about it – is death. Although many of the
heritage acts have continued to play longer than
MINI GEMS: FIVE SUBLIME SMALLER EUROPEAN FESTIVALSIt’s not just the UK that has witnessed a surge
in the number of more compact summer
events… just take a look at these five top
picks from mainland Europe recommended
by friends of PSNLive, industry observers and
other assorted experts:
• La Roche Bluegrass Festival,
Roche-sur-Foron, France (29 July–2 Aug)
Family-friendly roots music.
• Mysteryland, Haarlemmermeer,
Netherlands (29–30 Aug)
Electronica, interactive theatre and more.
• Flow Festival, Helsinki, Finland (14–16 Aug)
Power plant setting for living art, live music and
excellent food.
• Aste Nagusia, Bilbao, Spain (22–30 Aug)
Basque-flavoured smorgasbord of music,
dancing, sports et al.
• Soundwave, Tisno, Croatia (6–10 Aug)
Rock, dance and much more on the idyllic
Croatian coast.
anyone (not least themselves) expected, the now-
bulging obituary pages of the rock music monthlies
indicate that mortality is destined to intervene
more frequently than ever during the next decade.
Meanwhile, for those who do persist in treading the
boards as long as humanly possible, their continual
reappearance on the circuit every year in response to
plummeting recorded music income runs a serious
risk of inciting customer indifference.
“There is a limit to the number of major heritage
acts, and for those festivals who are more geared
towards them, success at getting them will be
dependent on who has the deepest pockets I guess,”
says Grant.
”Hinging a festival around headline acts seems
to be missing the point of festivals, anyway, I would
suggest. Something like Glastonbury does have lots
of major names, but more than anything it is now a
rite of passage for Middle England and doesn’t rely
on the names to sell tickets.
“Similarly, WOMAD doesn’t rely on big names;
rather it offers a unique musical experience in a very
pleasant environment and that’s why it continues
to grow. To my mind, festivals were, and are, about
having a temporary shared time with reasonably like-
minded people. If that becomes a chore for everyone
involved, including those who work them, they will
decline.”
“The underlying point is that you have to keep innovating and adding new attractions while always retaining the core creative spirit. You have to make sure you avoid stagnation” Ben Robinson, Kendal Calling/Forgotten Fields
Legendary promoter Harvey Goldsmith is among
those to have highlighted the major acts issue and to
predict in response the continued rise of mixed-arts
events – and as long-term industry observers, Harvey
does have the tendency of being right.
In this regard, among others, smaller events
are one step ahead and already have the mentality
of continued (gradual) evolution that seems
fundamental to their survival. In short, small(er)
might not just be beautiful – in the longer-run, it could
be the only way to go.
Craving consistency
Consistent, even coverage throughout
an entire venue is not a fad or a new
trend,” says Rational Acoustics’ Jamie
Anderson. This is the one point on which
everyone can agree. No one wants to put
up with, or deliver, awful sound.
Naturally, sound quality has always been a focal
point for PA manufacturers. Lately, the idea of
providing “the same sound in every seat” appears to
have increased in importance. Where opinions on the
matter begin to diverge is in trying to establish who
is driving this demand.
Anderson explains: “Audience members listen to a
performance from one point in space. They generally
do not know if the sound is better or worse in the
next section over. What they care about is sound
quality and fi delity. It’s the production companies
and system engineers who care about coverage and
consistency.”
Martin Audio’s marketing director, James King,
agrees: “The audience tends to be able to only judge
in terms of whether they can hear clearly enough
from their position and whether as a whole they are
moved by the concert experience. If not, they take
to social media to complain and worst case to the
promoters to ask for their money back. Depending
upon the scale of the issue it can also break through
into mainstream media.”
Case in point: In 2013, Live Nation refused
to refund Iron Maiden fans in Stockholm after
widespread complaints about the gig’s sound quality:
barely audible guitars and muddy vocals. According
to reports, Live Nation investigated the issue with
concert staff but ultimately dismissed the complaints
on the grounds that “sound experience is subjective”.
Sweden’s National Board for Consumer Disputes
agreed with the fi ndings.
Prior to 2013, concerts in London’s Hyde Park
were criticised for their less than optimum sound
quality, marring performances by high-profi le acts
such as Paul Simon, Arcade Fire and Blur. The gigs
just weren’t loud enough.
So far, there have been no reported complaints of
sound quality variance from one seat/audience area
to the next. That’s not to say that there won’t be any
in the future.
“As ticket prices for seats at live events are ever-
increasing, the audience’s expectations are rising
proportionally,” explains Michael Creason, product
manager, system applications and training, Meyer
Sound.
Even the artists are becoming aware of this. For
their latest tour, U2 has been “experimenting” with
a new sound system comprising speaker arrays
suspended from the ceiling, in order to provide equal
coverage for everyone in the audience. (According to
Reddit users, the sound isn’t great. Oh, well.)
One would be inclined to assume that PA houses
are also pushing for the best possible coverage from
their investment, naturally. King notes that “since
MLA has now solved the Hyde Park conundrum and
highlighted what can be possible, MLA has gone on
to win more and more festivals around the world.”
Consistency may have always been important,
but, as systems like the MLA have shown, technology
is becoming a major factor in improving what can
realistically be achieved.
Hardware or software?
Now the question is what role DSP should play – if any –
within a system. Here the variances are even wider.
On one end of the spectrum is KV2. As Dave
Is the promise of consistent sound coverage more
important than ever, or is it simply easier to deliver?
Erica Basnicki takes a well-balanced look...
PA: Same sound in every seat?30
2015 German artist Peter Maff ay on tour with a Meyer Sound LEO system (Photo: Ralph Larmann)
“
www.kv2audio.com
ESR215
Theatre applications are particularly
demanding, the quietest of sounds are
often crucially important to the show.
Similarly Orchestral and Jazz performances
have huge variations in levels.
The KV2 Audio ESR Series has been
designed to deliver an impressive full range
response with extraordinary dynamic
range. Every aspect of an ESR system
is aimed at delivering total accuracy
and audio quality.
Test the ESR Series in your performance
space today - you will be able to hear
a pin drop...
”I can honestly say that the decision
we made to use KV2 point source speakers
instead of a line array was absolutely right!
After years of using line arrays in our business
it seems that a lot of people including me just
have forgotten the advantages of a point
source speaker. Together with the offered
quality of KV2, the enormous ability of SPL
and the harmonic spread, the result
is amazing.“
Andreas Hammerich,
Theatrical Sound Coordinator,
Stage Entertainment GmbH
When you need to hear
a pin drop...
PA: Same sound in every seat?32
2015
Croxton, sales director at KV2 explains: “At KV2 we
have one simple and clear rule. Software will never
replace hardware when it comes to sound quality.
You cannot fix poor speaker design or bad circuitry
with DSP. At KV2 we focus on getting every aspect
of a system’s design electronically and acoustically
right so that there is no need for digital correction.
As soon as DSP is introduced into the signal path a
ceiling is put on a system as far as resolution and
clarity goes. Today the majority of manufacturers
limit the resolution and clarity of their technology
with DSP.”
Eschewing the popular notion that line array
technology is best, KV2 launched its VHD5.0
constant-power point-source array in Frankfurt last
April. Instead of DSP, KV2 utilises ‘20MHz digital
delays for time alignment, trans-coil speakers
for greater control and superfast electronics for
far lower non-harmonic distortion’ to provide an
audience (and that’s a much bigger audience than
what VHD2.0 was built for) with the best possible
sound.
Croxton doesn’t see it as bucking the trend as
much as an anticipation of the live sound equivalent
to the current vinyl resurgence. “It will take time
but, just as we have seen in the recording industry,
the cycle will eventually come full circle. Artists
and audiences will demand higher levels of sound
quality. The most important thing is we don’t lose the
emotion in the musical art form to technology.”
The counter-argument to the ‘hardware first’
approach is best explained by Jeff Rocha, president
at EAW: “Fundamentally the industry has been doing
things the same way and using the same basic tool
(a curved line array) for about 20 years. All products
in the market are variations on that theme. After
launching Anya and Otto into that space it has
become clear that engineers have been waiting for
‘the next thing’. The universal expectation has been
that it would heavily involve digital processing and
control which would yield substantial benefits in
terms of performance, control and workflow.”
EAW’s Anya arrays and Otto subs rely entirely on
the Resolution software control – no down-fill or
long throw modules required – to deliver consistent
coverage throughout a venue. The benefits are that
the system itself is smaller therefore can be flown
faster, uses fewer motors, etc., while also providing
the same instantaneous adjustments as any system
modified or controlled digitally.
A balanced approach is best
“The ability to steer the shape of sound requires a
combination of software and hardware to be effective,”
says Rik Kirby, VP of sales and marketing at Renkus-
Heinz. “In fact, you can’t achieve the necessary results
by only employing one without the other. Yes, a good
DSP and software might allow the engineer to gain
and frequency shade to improve the consistency of
response throughout the coverage area, but a system
designed with the appropriate driver spacing and
alignment, the right calculations and algorithms in
software and the right DSP to realise them can allow
the engineer unsurpassed control, even the ability to
steer beams of sound to miss hard surfaces that might
cause reflections and room reverb.”
It’s what made the company’s IC2 arrays top
choice for California’s Long Beach Arena’s Pacific
Ballroom. “The IC2 delivers such even sound
pressure level from front to back,” says Andy
Batwinas of Electrosonics, the company responsible
for creating the system. “When we did the demo, it
was set up at the far end of the arena and shot down
the long way. You could walk the whole space, cover
the floor, and keep it a solid 98dB SPL from one side
to the other.”
It’s the route most manufacturers are taking:
using DSP and speaker design in combination
to achieve the best coverage as possible. The
differences are in the technologies that drive their
cabinets.
The MLA way of achieving this relies on multiple
cells within an enclosure, each with its own DSP, and
processed using optimisation software. It was a big
Smaart at the Ride of Eastern Culture Festival in Białystok, Poland (Photo: Krzysztof Polesinski, Airpol Sound & Light)
Meyer Sound’s new LEOPARD system debuted at the Moers Festival (Photo: Ralph Larmann)
shift in line array technology and for rental houses,
it did mean an initial outlay for a new system. The
upside, according to King, is that it’s a solution that
can be developed for a number of years to come at a
minimal cost:
“We have gone the route of marrying hardware
with sophisticated software and we see this as the
way forward in the future too. Our solution marries
acoustic heritage of all horn-loaded techniques,
controllable individual acoustic cells each with their
own DSP, and our proprietary Display software. This
allows full control over where sound needs to be
and where to avoid, and allows for actual results to
track extremely accurately with predicted ones. The
benefit also of the software platform is that this can
improve and develop over time, without the need
for hardware change, so the system as a whole can
actually get better over its lifetime rather than being
uncompetitive.”
As reported in May (‘Good vibrations’, PSNEurope
May 2015), d&b audiotechnik has also stepped
up to the challenge of providing consistent sound
throughout a venue in a major way. The d&b
solution centres around ArrayProcessing, a major
new feature included in the recent update to the
company’s ArrayCalc simulation software. Using
complex algorithms, ArrayProcessing redistributes
peaks and troughs in both SPL and tonal balance.
Each cabinet in an array must be driven
individually, and so for any large-scale system there
would be an investment required for the additional
amplifier channels. However, here is no new system
involved; ArrayProcessing is backwards compatible
with d&b’s J-, V- and Y-Series line array systems and
the software itself is free of charge.
At Meyer Sound, the combination of elements that
make up the LEO family – LEO-M loudspeakers, the
1100-LFC/900-LFC low-frequency control elements
and the Galileo Callisto loudspeaker management
system – work in harmony so that “engineers can
easily achieve the sonic vision they had to struggle
to create with previous technology”, says product
manager for system applications and training
Michael Creason. “Mixing is no longer the ‘chore’
of ‘keeping the vocal on top of the mud’. Now every
subtle change the engineers make in a signal is
clearly represented in the sonic picture and the
system becomes more like a blank canvas than a
graffiti wall.”
Creason adds: “Further to this, all the other
trappings, such as streamlined rigging systems,
durability, accurate prediction software and
performance monitoring/reporting, all contribute to
a total system solution that gives both the users and
the audience a top-notch experience. A strong chain
has no weak links.”
Thinking outside the box
In many ways, hardware and software have worked
together to improve consistency for a long time... just
not necessary housed within the same physical product.
Having on-board DSP has in no way eliminated the need
for these additional tools.
As early as the 1980s, software-based acoustic
modelling has been helping system designers create
and configure an ideal setup within a specified
venue. One of the earliest to enter the market was
Modeler, an acoustic design and analysis program
by Bose.
“Prior to the introduction of Modeler, and other
computer-aided sound system design tools (EASE,
AcoustiCAD, PHd, etc.), sound system design was
performed using pencil, paper and a calculator,” says
Rob Kosman, product manager for engineered sound,
tools and electronics at Bose Corporation. “In many
cases the selection and arrangement of components
was based on an educated guess of how well the
system would perform. With the introduction of the
personal computer many felt it would be far more
efficient for the computer to do the calculations,
allowing the engineer to explore various scenarios
and ‘what-if’ explorations.”
Meanwhile, modelling software in general
has since been widely embraced by other PA
manufacturers, and continues to play an important
role in system design. Among them is L-Acoustics,
who recently announced an update to its Soundvision
software to version 3.0. The new version is fully
re-designed on a new architectural platform and is
reportedly up to 40 times faster than its predecessor.
At the time of its launch in 2004, Soundvision was
the first 3D sound system design package capable
of operating in real time, a feat we take for granted
now. In fact, it’s safe to say there aren’t many system
designers who remember (or want to remember)
the pen and paper calculation days. Access to
modelling software is a given and, according to
Florent Bernard, director of applications, touring, at
L-Acoustics, it’s possibly the only software you really
need.
“The reality is that good sound still relies
majorly on physics – choosing the right cabinets
for the job and optimising them in placement and
design. Design your system well – with a tool like
Soundvision – and you shouldn’t have to worry about
performance issues. Its unique ability to model in 3D
and in real time allows designers to account for both
horizontal and vertical coverage, taking into account
cluster interaction, room geometry, etc., giving them
the full picture of a complex sound design.”
Of course, another player that’s been this game for
awhile is Rational Acoustics’ System Measurement
Acoustic Analysis Real-time Tool, Smaart. Now on
version 7, “Smaart can help evaluate loudspeaker
systems, but it cannot fix them,” says Anderson. “If
you start with speakers that do not have a consistent
response through their entire coverage pattern,
there is almost no way you will have the same sound
in every seat no matter how much technology you
throw at them.
Anderson concludes: “The way to achieve the
same sound in every seat is not through
technology alone, nor is it solely through better
box design. It’s a combination of the same things
it has always been… the right products for the
application, chosen and deployed correctly by
competent, experienced audio professionals. The
rest of it – in-box DSP, modelling and prediction
software, analysis software like Smaart – are all
tools to help achieve the goal.”
www.bose.co.uk
www.dbaudio.com
www.eaw.com
www.kv2audio.com
www.l-acoustics.com
www.martin-audio.com
www.meyersound.com
www.rationalacoustics.com
www.renkus-heinz.com
(Note: Some sections of this piece appeared in the June
issue of PSNEurope)
332015
MLA has “solved the Hyde Park conundrum” says
Martin Audio’s James King (Photo: Erica Basnicki)
XX2015Recordists often have to bring their own mics and set them up at
classical gigs: this crossed pair is the work of BPM Recording’s Ken Blair
Ever closer: recording and performance
Once a mainstay of the record and
recording businesses, the live album
is now almost a thing of the past.
In-concert recordings have not gone
away completely, it’s just that today
they’re more likely to be for B-side, bonus or ‘format’
tracks on studio albums or special downloads. This
change began 20 years ago and over that time many
of the big names on the mobile studio scene – RAK,
Advision, the Rolling Stones Mobile, Fleetwood and
Manor – have been consigned to history.
In many cases recordings are now made directly
from the FOH desk, something made possible by
advances in technology, digital and interconnectivity
in particular. This has led both console and digital
audio workstation manufacturers to build-in features
to satisfy a common need. SADiE developed its LRX
multitrack location recorder as a 16-track machine
ten years ago, which Steve Penn, senior support
engineer with SADiE owner Prism Sound, says was
quite early in the development of this equipment.
“Traditionally SADiE has been used in classical
recording and to begin with engineers used it
in conjunction with CD duplicators from stereo
recordings,” he says. “We’ve now added a MADI card
because a lot of live desks are using that. When we
developed the MTR multitrack software, engineers
could plug in the system and set their sources, which
was quite important in getting the LRX into rental
companies for dry hire.”
PA OK
Derk Hagedorn, senior marketing manager for live
systems at Avid Technology, observes that the use
of DAWs and other long-form recording formats
has enabled entire tours to be recorded, rather than
selected nights, with no need for a large number of
additional crew. “The technology is reliable enough
that it will capture recordings night after night,” he
says. “That means productions can eke out every
dollar from a tour, as well as streamlining it, and
off er the best performances as recordings.”
Avid has developed its Pro Tools DAW and range of
VENUE digital live consoles so they can be combined
for FOH recording. “When this started an engineer
would need a HD TDM-based Pro Tools system to
record from VENUE,” Hagedorn says. “This then came
down to a number of cards to make the connection,
which was very reliable and didn’t require any
conversion.”
DiGiCo’s D5, launched in 2001 and fi rst used on
Rod Stewart’s tour of that year, was initially designed
to work with the Merging Technologies Pyramix over
a MADI connection. “We launched the desk with a
recorder–playback system using Pyramix and since
then everything has escalated, with lots of ways to
do this,” comments DiGiCo managing director James
Gordon.
DiGiCo now connects to a range of recording
software, including Reaper, Logic and Pro Tools, with
a MADI router sitting at the front of the I/Os. “13–14
years ago people didn’t have many options,” says
Gordon, “but now laptops are fast enough to route 56
tracks.” He adds that this year’s Stevie Wonder tour
is using MADI connectivity with four streams at 96k
producing 120 tracks for recording.
Chris Hollebone, sales, operations and marketing
manager with Merging Technologies, comments that
“more people are recording live and fi nding other
ways of doing it”. This, he explains, could be with a
DAW app on a laptop or a hard disk-based machine
such as the JoeCo. “Pyramix is now also off ering live
There was a time when a big liveried truck lurking in a back
alley meant a live concert was being recorded. Now, writes
Kevin Hilton, there are fewer clues due to computer-based
recording straight from the front-of-house desk
352015Live capture: Rise of the machines
Live capture: Rise of the machines36
2015
sound mixing in the box with recording running at
the same time,” Hollebone says.
Hollebone adds that another “big difference” has
been made by the use of RAVENNA audio-over-IP
(AoIP) technology on Merging’s Horus networked
audio interface. This, he says, is able to connect
stage boxes with the main PA and any recording
system on a single Cat-5 or Cat-6 cable.
RAVENNA’s rival in the AoIP stakes is Dante, which
targeted live multitracking with its dedicated Virtual
Soundcard. Console manufacturer Allen & Heath
claims to have been the first in the market with
a 64-channel interface for this, allowing 64-track
recording to a laptop over Cat-5 without interfacing.
The company has also targeted live recording with
its Qu-Drive multitrack recording and playback
system that can run with USB media as well as SSD,
HDD and SCSI drives. “At the end of the performance
the USB drive or key can be delivered to the
production, artist or manager, saving hassle and
the time associated with file transfer or rendering,”
comments A&H product manager Nicola Beretta.
A similar arrangement is available for the ICE-16
recorder, designed for use with analogue mixers.
Doing it the hard way
Hard-disk multitrack recorders such as the Klark
Teknik DN9696 and JoeCo BlackBox Recorder
have also found favour in this new world of live
recording as back-ups as well as main device. “Our
philosophy has always been that the FOH engineer
should be able to focus primarily on mixing the live
show, even when recording is required,” says JoeCo
founder Joe Bull. He is of the opinion that it is not
really acceptable nowadays to use the live FOH mix
for release material because consumers are more
demanding. “What sounds good through the PA could
sound awful on headphones,” he says. “The best way
of resolving this is to capture the multitrack source
with a BlackBox and then remix offline.”
Paul Hurt of LX3 Live Recording agrees, observing
that the pre-amps on live sound desks are of
“variable quality”; while there are some he says he
would be happy to take feeds from, others he would
not: “I always take my own sources because of
that. Also there are some FOH engineers who drive
into the red, which generally doesn’t work well for
recording.”
Hurt says he is usually called in when an artist
is producing a full album or involved in a live TV
broadcast. While there is still the argument that a
fully isolated mobile studio gives the best chance
of capturing the highest quality multitracks for
later remixing, the trend is now for flight-cased
recording packages, such as those offered by LX3,
Live Here Now and Direct Recording Services.
These operations tend to concentrate on rock and
contemporary music, with classical and orchestral is
FOH engineers have always had a lot to deal with
during shows and that has increased with the growth
in recording straight from the desk. Avid Technology
has applied its interconnectivity concept to the new
VENUE S6L console in a bid to address this. The
S6L is designed to be the front
end for the MediaCentral Platform,
making it part of Avid Everywhere.
“There might be 60 to 200 tracks
recorded a night and the challenge
is keeping track of it all without a
dedicated archivist,” says Avid’s
senior marketing manager for
live systems, Derk Hagedorn. “A
lot of how live sound fits into Avid
Everywhere is down to metadata,
which is embedded in the files and
saves time when the recordings
are taken back to the studio for
mixing.” Hagedorn adds that while
some bands might have a live engineer who would
also mix any concert album release, the convention
is more for a demarcation of responsibilities, so the
mixer needs as much information about the sources
as possible.
Avid Everywhere for live
Dave Millward: multitracking on every show of Morrissey tour
372015
a more specialised sub-set of the market. [Live Here
Now, if you’re out there, please get in touch! –Ed]
Because very few orchestras and classical
ensembles use amplification, the recordists in this
part of the business usually have to manage their
own mic set-ups and sources. Ken Blair of BPM
Sound Recording says he would only share splitters
with the FOH desk to take in mic feeds. Blair has
moved on from quarter-inch reel-to-reel tape
machines when he started out in 1989 through DAT
to SADiE DAWs for full multi-track recording and
CompactFlash recorders, such as the TASCAM HD-
P2, on simpler, stereo-only sessions and as back-up.
While saying that laptops still give him “the jitters,
because you know what computers are like”, his
main rig is computer-based through SADiE. “We
record live on to multitrack and then mix later but
usually with a stereo reference,” he says. “We take
the mic feeds through a multi-core from the stage
into Focusrite Saffire PRO 40 interfaces and then
a FireWire connection to the SADiE. Once I started
using a DAW I realised I didn’t need a mixer any
more, although I still have one. I now mix on-screen.”
Some gigs are bigger than others
DAWs in all forms are now used for recording
alongside the FOH desk at many, if not all, gigs
in rock, pop and R&B today. David Millward is
multitracking every show on his current tour with
Morrisset, primarily, he says, for archiving with
occasional tracks used as B sides. “I am using a
MacBook Pro running Logic with a bus powered
SSD drive to record to,” he comments. “I then have
two inexpensive USB drives, which I archive to
each day. For the last few years I’ve been using an
Allen & Heath iLive-80, so with the addition of an
A&H Dante card, it takes just one Ethernet cable
and an inexpensive Virtual Soundcard licence from
Audinate to connect laptop and console. I also have
a MADIFace card in case we ever need to connect
to any other consoles along the way. This makes
for a very compact recording system that can go
anywhere and apart from having to remember
to press record each night, it does not affect my
workflow at all.”
Tom Odell’s regular FOH engineer, Davy Ogilvy,
says recording straight from the desk to multitrack is
now “a matter of course”. Ogilvy also uses MADIFace
but into Reaper. “I do a stereo reference mix out
of the DiGiCo SD8 so we can hear the live sound
but every channel is also individually recorded,” he
comments. “Tom always finishes his shows with the
song Cruel, which hasn’t been recorded as a studio
track. There’s a chance it will be released as a live
recording, so people can hear the audience as well.”
Despite engineers using their DAW of choice,
Avid Pro Tools is the still name that emerges when
traditionalists bemoan the shift away from mobile
Masters of both studio and live sound technology,
the Floyd were admired and ridiculed in equal
measure for their painstaking approach to
recording and performance. Pulse was originally
intended to be a live record of the band’s 1973
studio album Dark Side of the Moon as performed
on the 1994 world tour but was expanded to
include tracks from other albums, including The
Wall and the then-current The Division Bell. Thirteen
nights were recorded, with six reels of multitrack
tape used for each so that producer/engineer
James Guthrie and singer–guitarist David Gilmour
could choose the best performances and drop in
sections if any fixing was necessary rather than
over-dubbing. Recording was in the then-Neve VR
equipped Le Voyageur II on to two pairs of Studer
A80/Otari MTR90 combinations. The album was
mixed at Gilmour’s Astoria houseboat studio to
produce analogue stereo with QSound processing
emulating the quad immersive effect as used on
the original Dark Side. With the live performance
the priority, Guthrie said at the time that he and the
recording team had to be “as invisible as possible”
so they didn’t disrupt the established routine of
the road crews. As proponents of new technology
Pink Floyd would have doubtless appreciated the
less intrusive benefits of digital, computer-based
recording, although that might have detracted from
the old-school feel of Pulse.
Flashback: The recording of Pink Floyd’s Pulse
Oz Bagnall at Montreux: recording straight from the desk to multitrack is now “a matter of course”
Live capture: Rise of the machines38
2015
www.joeco.co.uk
• Capture or replay live multi-track audio without a computer • Records/replays via USB2/3 drive, or Flash drive • Various analogue and digital versions available • Remote control via iPad with JoeCoRemote • Store multiple Player setlists
LIVE RECORDING OR PLAYBACK? NO COMPUTER - NO WORRIES
JoeCo LimitedTel: +44 (0)1954 250 300Email: [email protected]
BLACKBOX RECORDER | BLACKBOX PLAYERmulti-tracks for the 21st century
JoeC
o
7TH A
NNIVERSARY
SUMMER SALE
STARTS 1S
T AUGUST 20
15
studios. Dave Swallow, who is about to go out on
the road with UB40 (the Ali Campbell, Astro and
Mickey Virtue version), is using Pro Tools, which will
probably record a mooted live album for the band.
“No one has ever said to me, ‘Can you record the
show?’, it’s now just normal for me to take the laptop
and other tools in the case with me,” he says.
Blurred lines
The heyday of the mobile studio in the ’70s and ’80s
helped reinforce the divide between recording and
live engineers. “When I started off there was the idea
that you could put a live engineer in the studio and
get something reasonably good but if you went the
other way – a recording engineer working live –
you wouldn’t because they didn’t understand
acoustics,” Swallow says. “That’s just ignorant,
and the fine line between the two is now even
more blurred.”
Bagnall has used Pro Tools on tours by Jackson
Browne and Ellie Goulding, running in conjunction
with Avid Profiles running HDX cards in the local
rack. Now back on the road with Browne he is using
a KT DN9696 mirrored to two 1TB FireWire 800
Glyph drives with a Midas PRO6 desk.
Browne’s regular engineer, Paul Dieter, is on the
tour, with another live album in the offing. “Paul is
a unique person because he has for many years
been Jackson’s live and studio engineer as well
as producer,” Bagnall says. “I am always amazed
that he does all of these roles so well. I am a live
engineer and have no interest in going in to a studio
as it is such a different way of working and probably
requires a whole new set of skills. This is probably
why they get such good live albums from the shows
as he magically uses a gain structure at FOH that is
more at home in a studio than at a gig.”
Technology has increased the crossover between
live sound and concert recording, but because it
allows the FOH engineer to get on with mixing the
show – after remembering to press ‘record’ – the two
jobs remain largely independent of each other.
Dave Swallow speaking at last year’s Pro Sound Awards Classical sound recordist Ken Blair’s main rig is computer-based through SADiE, although
laptops still give him “the jitters, because you know what computers are like”
X-LINE ADVANCEThe result of rigorous R&D, the introduction of the new
X-Line Advance family sees Electro-Voice push the
parameters of line-array performance to the next level.
X-Line Advance utilizes state-of-the-art EV-
engineered components and incorporates a
range of innovative new features, all of which
work together to surpass the capabilities of
other line arrays, and all in a signifi cantly
more compact, fl exible, and quicker-
to-set-up package.
Forward-thinking line-array design starts here.
KEY FEATURES:
An unprecedented performance-to-size ratio for installed and concert sound applications.
Advanced audio quality and control via a host of new and exclusive EV- engineered technologies, including next-generation Hydra wave-shaping
devices, high-output transducers, and proprietary FIR-Drive optimization.
New-look EV industrial design and new Integrated Rigging System combine streamlined appearance with simplifi ed setup.
The fi rst wave of X-Line Advance products includes two full-range elements(X1-212/90 & X2-212/90) and the X12-128 — the most powerful subwooferEV has ever developed.
Designed, engineered, and tested for ultimate reliability by Electro-Voice in the USA.
Learn more at: www.electrovoice.com/X-LineAdvance
ZZ still on topT
here’s never any surprise as to who is
going to supply the PA for ‘Bluetone –
The Festival on the Danube’. Formerly
‘Jazz on the Danube’, the festival site is
a stone’s throw from the EV/Dynacord
factory (part of Bosch Communications Systems) in
the Bavarian town of Straubing.
While the Swiss have resisted any calls to remove
the somewhat misleading ‘jazz’ descriptive from their
annual music festival in Montreux, the Germans have
proved to be more progressive by dropping the word,
as Bluetone has hosted Seal, Carlos Santana, Chaka
Khan and Mousse T among other ‘pop’ acts since 2002.
The 2015 edition was arguably the biggest edition
so far, in fact, for both the audience and the Electro-
Voice team. Ahead of five days of Helles-swigging
in the sunshine, EV deployed its brand new X-Line
Advance high performance compact line array,
launched at PL+S earlier this year. Flying either side
of the stage were 12 pieces of X-Line Advance EV
X2-212/90, with 26 X12-128 subs out front. Power and
DSP came from six System Racks (comprising TG7
amps, RCM-28 processors and a distribution panel),
with three N8000 NetMax digital controllers binding it
altogether.
Further X2-212/90s provided delay for fans in the
rear. Fills and monitors also came from the Electro-
Voice and Dynacord catalogue, while freelance sound
engineer Rüdiger Nürnberg, like last year, put the
system together. The show’s opening night saw Lionel Richie
topping the bill; star-in-the-ascendant Gregory
Porter and Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club kept
the international presence high the next day. But it
was down to the legendary ZZ Top to headline the
final day, with a scorching 90 minutes of fuzzed-up
blues-rock from the fuzzy-faced Texans. Billy Gibbons,
Dusty Hill and Frank Beard (yes, the one without facial
furniture) may have a combined age of over 195
years – the band formed in 1969 – but they can still
put on a blistering, full-throttle live show. The X-Line
Advance gave Give Me All Your Lovin’ all the bandwidth
the audience needed; Legs was outstanding; Sharp
Dressed Man was immaculate.
The show was ballsy and badass and proved that
the ‘Top’ are still up there.
Sharp dressed men: Dusty Hill (left) and Billy Gibbons Photo: Bosch Communications Systems
Twelve boxes of X2-212/90
The audience are ready to rock with the Top!
412015View from the audience
42
Between soundchecks at Wembley, Rudimental’s Kesi Dryden and Piers Agget tell PSNLive about life on the road
What roles do you play in the band?
KD: We’re both producer–songwriters. But when it
comes to playing live, Piers plays the Nord
and organs, and I play percussion and some
keyboard parts.
Describe your live set-up.
PA: My set-up is a Nord Stage 2 and a Virus TI hooked
up to a MIDI keyboard under my Nord. I play, organ,
piano, Rhodes and funky clav parts, as well as synth
parts on the Virus. I also sing backing vocals.
KD: I use Mainstage on a laptop controlled from a
MIDI keyboard and a Roland SPD-S, and every now
and then I jump on the drumkit, which can get pretty
complicated. The SPD-S has samples that we’ve
loaded in, Mainstage has sounds and synths that
we’ve built, some are from our productions that we’ve
copied over and put into Mainstage, but obviously
tweaked for the live show.
What do you do to make your live shows
special?
PA: Sometimes we’ll try and play and remake all the
parts that we made in the studio. But other times
we’ll choose something else, if there’s a synth line
that can be played by a guitar and it sounds good,
then we’ll change that line to a guitar. But if we feel
like it’s a key part of the song then we’ll sample
it from our production and play it as a sample in
Mainstage. We’re adamant that the live show doesn’t
sound exactly like the record. We want it to be an
experience that blows you away. The Virus deals with
a lot of the hard synth sounds, it’s got a really good
synth engine. And having Mainstage really helps,
because if we build a synth sound in Logic on the
ES-1 or ES-2 then we can load it straight into the
live show.
Sometimes they sound great in the studio but
when you load the same sound into Mainstage and
put it through a massive PA it doesn’t sound as good,
so we spend a lot of time editing it in the rehearsal
space. We’ll add compression and EQ in Mainstage
before it even touches the sound desk.
KD: That’s what a lot of our rehearsal time ends
up as: rather than putting in new songs in and
rehearsing them, we end up tweaking the sounds.
PA: Our sound man, Ricky, has been with us quite a
while. Some songs will take three or four months to
nail down sonically. We have to test it on diff erent
PA systems, and he’ll come with us and give us
feedback, let us know you know that sound isn’t
cutting through properly, and ask us to change it
on stage.
Are there any challenges associated with
mixing live instrumentation with pre-
recorded samples?
PA: We’ve got six or seven channels coming from
Ableton, with the click going to the drummer, and
we all follow the drummer. Then probably another
50-channels of live instrumentation. It can get quite
intense, and complex. For us it’s important to have
the bass heavy and having the drums and bass cut
through like a rave. For our style of music that’s
quite a challenge, because we’ve got trumpets,
saxophones, keyboards all blended in with really loud,
tough drum ’n’ bass.
What would you consider your biggest
success to date?
KD: Defi nitely putting on our own festival with
Disclosure, the Wild Life Festival, on 6 June. We had
70,000 people over the weekend. We headlined the
Saturday and Disclosure headlined the Sunday. We
curated the line-up as a dream festival, people we
wanted to see, people we’re fans of and people we
grew up listening to. We had Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and
our friend Jess Glynne. This was the fi rst time, and
it was a great success. Next year hopefully it’ll be
bigger and better.
What’s the biggest challenge that you see
coming up?
KD: Being on the road so much of the time, being
away from family and friends, and just getting tired.
When you’re doing fi ve diff erent countries in fi ve days
with minimal sleep and you’re stuck on the tour bus
with 15 people that you see every minute of your life
it can be a bit stressful. But it’s all fi ne when we get
on stage, and that’s the pay-off . We’re not moaning;
we love what we do, it’s the dream. But at the end of
a three-month tour, after seeing everyone constantly,
it does get hard.
What is the one issue that never seems to
go away?
PA: Random technical faults that you can’t foresee.
We’ll turn up to a festival in America and we’ll hire
gear in. Hopefully that hire company has made sure
everything is in tune, and that nothing is missing.
But a little thing can mess up the intro to the show.
There’s so many factors that make our show run, and
sometimes you can’t have a perfect show, but you
can’t get that all the time.
www.rudimental.co.uk
(L-R): Amir Amor, DJ Locksmith, Kesi Dryden and Piers Agget
2015 Views from the top