Your last recording session may have used virtual mics and outboard. The guitar amps, as well as mic positioning, may have been similarly virtual. Alternatively, you may have been placing real mics around a live band before settling down in the control room. Something a bit more ‘real’.
Very real and very fundamental, Duncan Miller’s most recent sessions returned him to a time when there were no microphones…
Called the Infinite Cave because of its size, Son Doong is among the world’s biggest caves. Recently, photo journalist Martin Edström led a team that photographed it and recorded the sounds occurring inside it.
‘Sound wide, there was always something to be heard – wind, water dripping, a river running, distant birds and sometimes also the thundering silence, if you know what I mean.’
Claiming to be the first orchestra to ‘go fully digital’, the Lille National Orchestra (ONL) is using a digital signal chain from sound pick-up to recording.
The orchestra’s own mobile studio comprises a total of 33 digital Neumann microphones, 24 digital Sennheiser microphones (all on active stands and booms), and six DMI-8 interfaces. Also included in the studio are a six-channel Sennheiser wireless system and a full Neumann monitoring set-up.
Opened in 1999 to host the Rugby World Cup, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium has since seen a range of sports events, as well as concerts from the likes of the Manic Street Preachers, U2 and The Rolling Stones staged under its retractable roof.
Visitors to rugby’s Six Nations were largely unaware that announcements and entertainment during the matches were delivered via a PreSonus StudioLive 24.4.2AI mixing desk, supplied by PAI Group and operated by AB Acoustics.
‘When we started in 1973, there were no loudspeakers, there were no mixers, there were no radio mics, there were no miniature mics that were made specifically for theatre use,’ recalls Autograph Sound Recording’s Andrew Bruce.
The breakthrough for loudspeakers came in 1980 with the release of Meyer Sound’s UPA – that and and The Godfather of Theatre Sound stepping in to champion its potential…
With an increasingly technology-savvy congregation, Melbourne’s Temple Beth Israel is the first synagogue in Australia to stream Shabbat services online. But that same awareness meant that the failing sound system needed to be replaced.
Poor directional control and speech intelligibility, and the inflexibility of the infrastructure limited the development of new services and events. The time was right to improve the usability of the Synagogue’s sanctuary spaces.
The sound systems required for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the recent National Games 2015, held at the Greenfield Stadium in Kerala during February, reflected both the scale and importance of the event.
In keeping with the event’s stature, responsibility for the live sound and feeds for broadcast coverage of the event fell to leading sound reinforcement and turnkey audio systems specialist, Sound.Com.
AirVolution is the largest private sector investment in Canberra’s history – a massive $480m redevelopment of the city’s airport that has won it the accolade of Australia’s Airport of the Year.
Part of the project is an innovative A/V installation from Rutledge AV that uses the best of Tannoy’s digital beam steering technology that covers the airports 55,000-sq-m, providing announcement and emergency services.
Recreating the vibe of classic recording studios of the 1970s posed both acoustic and monitoring challenges for Question de Son studio owners Jordan Kouby and Frederic Vectol.
‘Many recording studios are trying to face the record industry crisis by simplifying their installations – gear, maintenance, less investment, essentially in-the-box mixing. At Question de Son, we resolutely try to go the other way.’
For his latest project, pioneering sound recordist and sonic sculptor Chris Watson turned his attention to the seldom-heard phenomenon of ravens gathering to roost, creating a unique audio experience deep in Northumberland’s Kielder Forest.
Led by a guide sharing ancient raven lore, the audience entered the deepest part of the wood where, with darkness falling, the air suddenly filled with the sound of two thousand birds arriving in the canopy overhead...
More than the cocktail bar, more than the architecture, more even than the vintage instruments on display or the immense Neve mixing desk that dominates the room, there is a buzz here. Even among the prestige recording studio parties of past years, this feels special.
The church setting is somehow significant... something precious has been saved and everyone present knows it.
