The dynamic interactive and 3D features of Dataton WATCHOUT™ multi-image display and presentation software will continue to be used by German electro pop pioneers, Kraftwerk, in their hotly anticipated tours and concerts’ programme throughout 2013.

Kraftwerk will perform THE CATALOGUE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 at the Sydney Opera House starting on 24 May. The band will perform one studio album in full at each concert, combining it with stunning visual backdrops, including interactive 3D projections, sound and animation.

Dataton WATCHOUT is distributed in Australia and New Zealand by WATCHOUT Premium Partner Interactive Controls Pty Ltd.

Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director at Dataton says: “For each of the eight shows, WATCHOUT manages projected 3D content on a large stage backdrop creating a powerful abstract presence in front of audiences wearing polarized 3D glasses. To create the lighting effects on the four illuminated controller desks, a Pixel-gate LED video controller uses an additional DVI output from the main screen with the WATCHOUT “Tier� feature. The main timeline in WATCHOUT is chasing timecode from Kraftwerk synthesizers (MTC converted into SMPTE). The Kraftwerk synthesizers are also used for live visual interaction controlled via MIDI commands.�

ENDS

Images: © Kraftwerk

www.dataton.com
www.interactivecontrols.com.au

Show Sage and Dataton will exhibit on Booth 3915 at InfoComm 13 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL, from 12-14 June 2013.

WATCHOUT powers ‘history in the making’ at Liberal Party Convention in Toronto

In a powerful demonstration of its ability to integrate live data into a multimedia production with both local-venue and broadcast connectivity, Dataton WATCHOUT™ multi-image display and presentation software has been deployed as a key presentation tool at the Canadian Liberal Party’s Ontario Leadership Convention in Toronto.

The WATCHOUT licences were supplied to Mediaco by Show Sage, Dataton’s Premium Partner for North America. Jim Testa, President, Show Sage, comments: “Whether it’s equipment rental, lighting and staging, technical production or fully fledged system design, Mediaco is a highly innovative and trusted partner, and it was a pleasure to support them in the creation of the Liberal Party Convention multimedia show.�

The Convention, which resulted in the nomination of Kathleen Wynne as the first openly gay female Premier in Canadian provincial history, was held in Toronto’s historic former Maple Leaf Gardens building and took place over two days in January this year.

Local event production company Mediaco was responsible for the technical system design and co-ordination of the event, including all on-site AV provision and appropriate OB feeds to Canada’s broadcast community. Mediaco has just rebranded aligning themselves to providing the fastest service and support possible.

Matt Farrell, Mediaco’s Production Manager for the Convention, takes up the story: “The Liberal Party is the sitting party in Ontario so this was no ordinary Leadership Convention – it was a congress to elect a new leader for the entire province of Ontario. As such there was an enormous amount of media attention, in addition to all the hectic negotiations you would expect from a Convention where six candidates have to be reduced down to one winner in a matter of 48 hours.�

Mediaco’s work on the project began a week ahead of the Convention’s opening, with lighting and audio systems being hung over truss in a series of eight-hour shifts. “We came into the building the day before and had to be loaded-in by 4pm for the start of rehearsals,� Farrell continues.

“We had three separate rear-projection displays, using WATCHOUT to create a single HD backdrop that could also be divided into three, depending on the requirements of the event and the timing of the votes inside the venue.

“The screens showed a mixture of pre-made images created by our in-house content team, live camera feeds of the candidates making their pitches to the Convention delegates and other key party members delivering speeches and, last but not least, the big numbers for each candidate as the votes were tallied up.�

As well as the edge-blending and scheduling capabilities of WATCHOUT, Mediaco also used the software platform’s geometry correction functionality for projection onto the center screen because of installation issues caused by the building design.

WATCHOUT’s timeline-based show management tools also allowed direct integration with pre-programmed sound effects and cues that were fed into the on-site audio desk.

The complete audio and video feed was then made available to a broadcast connection that was used live by local stations and in highlights packages by national networks.

Throughout the two-day Convention, Mediaco staff had to adapt the content of their main display to accommodate the shifting political landscape of the event – as Chris Cameron, Technical Director at Mediaco, relates:

“There were a lot of last-minute changes to the presentation which we were able to accommodate into the WATCHOUT timeline because the software is just so easy to use. Once on-site we used the platform’s ability to take data from a live input capture card. This allowed us to broadcast up-to-date voter statistics throughout the frenzy of delegates transferring their vote from one candidate to another as each round of voting was completed.�

Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director, Dataton, concludes: “People tend to associate WATCHOUT with artistic content, and rightly so. But in this particular application we see the power of our platform to act as a communications tool as political history is being made – to the benefit not just of the local audience but to the millions watching broadcast channels at home.�

ENDS
About Show Sage
Show Sage LLC is Dataton’s Premium Partner and distributor in North America. For over a decade, Show Sage has provided sales, training and support to WATCHOUT users across the U.S. and Canada. Show Sage also sells, rents and supports a broad line of specially configured, WATCHOUT-tuned computer systems.

About Dataton
Established in 1973, renowned Swedish show control developer and manufacturer, Dataton this year celebrates its 40th year in business. The company serves its core markets in multi-media entertainment, visitor attractions, digital signage scenography, event production and corporate A/V. The company’s flagship products include the WATCHPAXâ„¢ media server, award-winning Dataton WATCHOUTâ„¢ multi-display production and presentation system as well as the intuitive Dataton PICKUPâ„¢ audio guide. The entire range is supported by Dataton’s established global distribution and reseller network.

For further information about this and other leading products please visit www.dataton.com or contact:

Manufacturer Enquiries
Fredrik Svahnberg
Dataton AB
Telephone: +46 70 3228557
Fax: +46 13 138445
Email: fredrik@dataton.se

Publicist
Katinka Allender
Telephone: +44 (0) 1491 571402
Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 711 246
Email: katinka@k-communications.com

With songs by rocker girl Cyndi Lauper and story by celebrated actor/playwright, Harvey Fierstein, Kinky Boots has Broadway on its proverbial feet. Based on the 2005 British flick about a struggling shoe factory that reinvigorates business by making fetish footwear for drag queens, the show opened to rave reviews—and a TONY award nom on the horizon. In keeping with many award-winning shows on the ‘Great White Way,’ sound designer John Shivers opted for a DiGiCo SD7T to handle the production, after becoming familiar with the system on his previous productions for Bonnie & Clyde, Sister Act and The Lion King overseas. The SD7′s powerful system and diminutive size made it a perfect fit for the new show.

“A few years ago, I saw a brief demo at Masque Sound when the SD7 first became available,” he recollected. “Seeing the feature set and the redundant engine and power supply all onboard got me interested. When designing The Lion King for Singapore in 2010, part of my negotiation involved suggesting that we swap out the Cadacs with SD7s in New York and London for both creative and financial reasons. Before I knew it, I’d gotten an email telling me to move forward. Within 6 weeks of that conversation we were implementing the SD7s on the New York show and a month after that we were doing the same in London. I’ve been using SD7s pretty much on every show since.”

Shivers says the console offers a lot of flexibility, especially with the new “T” software, which he says brings features and functionality specific to our needs on theatrical productions as well as a solid sounding foundation in a very compact package.

“The SD7T software has added these very beneficial features thanks to [award-winning sound designer] Andrew Bruce’s involvement in the development. Having onboard compression, gating and delay—along with the programmability and recallability of those parameters on every channel—opens up possibilities that you just can’t have with an analog console. It’s definitely been an upgrade for us from that standpoint. A positive byproduct has definitely been the size of the console, which allows you to get into smaller spaces and require less seats and has served as a large financial windfall for producers. For me, from a purely creative and design standpoint, it’s about the capabilities of the console. I’m not one to follow the crowd necessarily, but the SD7 has become a standard of our industry and the reason everybody’s using them seems clear. It has proven itself to be a very capable and reliable console.”

“The SD7 with the ‘T’ software option has indeed proven to be a very good investment for Masque Sound,” says Masque’s Scott Kalata. “It has near-universal client acceptance, unlimited flexibility and its small footprint make it the ideal choice for today’s theatrical sound designer.”

The show’s Associate Sound Designer & Production Sound Engineer David Patridge has mixed on virtually every make and model DiGiCo has offered since the D5 in his two decades on Broadway. He, too, raves about the increased functionality that the Theatre Software offers.

“This is the number one reason for using SD7 in my opinion,” he offers. “We really appreciate all of the work that DiGiCo has undertaken, in tandem with Andrew Bruce, in developing a purpose-built version of the SD7 software for the theatrical market. DiGiCo has been very responsive in listening to end-users and new features are added and perfected constantly along with the elimination of oddities and bugs.

“I could fill pages on all of the features and how we use them. Specifically, the Auto Update is a great feature on its own but when it is employed as part of the theatre software it is really powerful and allows the desk to remain automated to a much larger degree than other types of desks. Typically, when using a recallable desk, you would need to dumb-down many of the features in order to avoid constantly recalling entirely new settings each time a scene is recalled. With the theatre software, you can expect the desk to operate in a ‘manual’ way but with full and selectable recall ability from moment to moment. On other productions such as The Lion King, we have enjoyed using the Gain Tracking ability of the desk in a creative new way. There is no other desk that I know of where you can assign headamps to a redundant set of control channels dedicated to band monitoring and then have the digital trim of those redundant channels track changes to the headamp. DiGiCo has really stepped up by providing a console that provides us with the greatest creative freedom when doing theatrical sound designs.”

“We use the onboard processing extensively for band reverbs and dynamics, which really cuts down on the real estate at the FOH position. The only outboard gear we’re using is a couple of Avalon Tube Compressors for our lead vocalists to fatten up their vocals. We also have a TC6000 System and Eventide H3000 for Vocal Effects/Reverbs etc. We are not using Waves yet, but I am interested in doing this in the future.”

The show’s system inputs total 116 analog and 6 AES, in addition to 60 analog outputs and 14 AES outputs. The production uses a pair of DiGiCo SD Racks along with the local I/O and MADI for the QLab playback system. They took advantage of the onboard MADI Split on the SD Rack in order to provide audio to a Yamaha PM5D monitor console. “The new racks offer a host of features positioning them well for use where audio is being split to a number of places like OB trucks etc., without needing to tap into the topology of the SD7 audio engines.”

By its very nature, Patridge explains, the SD7T solves many of the issues that crop up when dealing with a theatrical piece. “The cuelist structure, MIDI implementation, onboard input and output dynamics, the desk footprint and the Auto Update features not to mention the desk’s excellent sonic characteristics make choosing an SD7T a no-brainer. And in terms of flexibility and ease of use, I would say that DiGiCo is at the top of the ladder. There is no other digital desk that offers the same degree of theatrical features. The desk is also designed in such a way that it is very simple and intuitive to explain it to a new operator. Sonically I would say that that DiGiCo is on par with the top of the marketplace. Often the weakest link in any sound design is things like the content, mic positions or the room architecture. I don’t get the sense that any of the available top-of-the-line digital consoles add much of a sonic signature, although certainly you get what you pay for. We have been very pleased with the results that we get from DiGiCo desks.”

Out on the road serving as an opening act for the Luke Bryan Tour, Thompson Square is using PixelFLEX’s unique, flexible and lightweight LED Curtains to enhance and simplify their live musical performances. The husband and wife duo was searching for an efficient way to add video components to their show and PixelFLEX was able to bring the band’s vision to life with its industry-leading video curtain walls.

As the middle act on the Tour, Thompson Square has a relatively quick window to set up and take down their entire set – 13 minutes to be exact. Still, the tour and production manager, Christian Easterling, was determined to figure out how the band could deliver the type of show desired in the amount of time allotted. Easterling soon came across PixelFLEX LED Curtains, which allowed for high-quality visuals without the worry of time constraints.

“We tour with four crew people,” said Easterling. “Everything is done in such a quick manner; there is no way we could have performed the show with any other screen out there. It’s just amazing to see how the entire set moves away in a matter of minutes and is completely gone.”

For the Luke Bryan Tour, Thompson Square is using 16 20mm curtains flown off trusses for use as a backdrop to further enhance the audience’s live experience. The screens are used to deliver static images, color changes and video footage to add some depth and dimension to the live shows, according to Easterling.

Easy to operate and set up – videos and images can be sent to the screen using any computer with a DVI-D connection – PixelFLEX LED Curtains are available from low resolution to high resolution, allowing users to demonstrate simple effects or elaborate videos. Flexible in all directions, PixelFLEX LED Curtains are able to bend and shape around structures for a more creative display.

“The benefits (of the PixelFLEX LED Curtains) are that you can manipulate it and move it around to different areas if you need to,” said Easterling. “Sometimes, we have been in venues where our trim height is not that great, so we can take the screen and move it to a different location, put in front of risers and it’s very flexible. It has a tremendous impact on the show and that is just such a cool thing.”

Easterling has been on tour with Thompson Square for almost two years and this is the first tour in which they have used the PixelFLEX solution. The additional support, thus far, has been well received.

“I hear on a regular basis that the walls truly enhance the performance; the feeling is that it looks like a headliner’s set,” Easterling remarked. “It’s been easy in, easy up, which is extremely important out on tour. Just as important, the product delivers exceptional results at an affordable cost.”

For more information on PixelFLEX and its growing line of lightweight LED video screens, visit www.LEDCurtain.com. Follow PixelFLEX at www.Facebook.com/PixelFLEXUSA and @LEDCurtain.
###

An Italian touring production of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – The Musical has arrived at the Politeama Rossetti theatre in Trieste, where audiences are enjoying great sound thanks to the extensive use of DPA Microphone’s 4066 Omnidirectional Headset Microphones and 4060 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones.

DPA’s Italian distributor M. Casale Bauer has supplied the production with a total of 34 DPA Headset Microphones, which are being used for every member of the cast (plus a few spares). The show’s sound engineer Cristiano Grassini says the microphones are performing flawlessly every night and are proving very popular with cast members because they are so light and comfortable.

“The original Australian production of the musical specified DPA Headset Microphones and, having previously experienced the quality of these microphones on other productions, I was more than happy to use them for the Italian tour,� Grassini says. “Their quality is absolutely phenomenal. They sound great, they are very resistant to high sound pressure levels and obviously, because they are so small and discrete on the actor’s faces, they are good for the audience because they don’t detract from the performance.�

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – The Musical tells the story of two drag queens and a transsexual woman who travel through Australia on a tour bus called Priscilla. Along the way they encounter many different people and have a variety of hilarious adventures. The musical first opened in 2006 in Sydney, Australia, before travelling to New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and New York’s Broadway. Since beginning its run in Italy last December it has been to Milan and Rome and has notched up more than 250 performances.

“It is an amazing musical – full of colour and drama, and very funny,� Grassini adds. “However, it does involve a lot of costume changes and this is another reason why the DPA Headset Microphones are so useful. More than 500 costumes are used in this production and having a microphone that is comfortable for the actors to wear and very quick to remove does make it much easier to deal with the quick costume changes.�

Grassini has been a fan of DPA Headset Microphones for many years and has used them in numerous theatre productions in the past. “They always sound good and are just so easy to use,� he says. “In many situations they are simply ideal and, for me, the only microphone choice.�

-ends-

Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

May 16, 2013. Getting ready for InfoComm? Don’t forget to check our new, best-in class HDMIâ„¢ Matrix Switcher for all your AV integration needs.

The KanexPro HDMI 32×32 (also available in 4×4, 8×8 & 16×16) matrix is an ultra-high performance, digital matrix switcher engineered to route HDMI signals from 32 inputs to 32 outputs. The unit provides full HDCP internal management for today’s integration in commercial A/V market, ensuring HDCP key authentication, and administering the handshake internally. It maintains resolutions up to 1920 x 1200, 1080p or 2K, supporting full cross point switching. The matrix supports smart EDID management for rapid integration of sources and displays.

Fully controllable through RS-232 commands, IR remote and front-panel buttons, this switcher includes 10-global presets for I/O configurations which allows saving and recalling via the front-panel, IR or through serial control at any time.

Today’s Applications

The KanexPro HDMI 32×32 matrix switcher is ideal for countless commercial applications such as military, medical and government environments where swift, reliable switching and distribution of high-resolution DVI/HDMI signals is critical to meet pixel-by-pixel needs.
To get a quote or for more information please call us at 888-644-4149 or visit KanexPro.com

About KanexProâ„¢

Leveraging our core strength in professional A/V products, KanexPro carries a complete selection of A/V connectivity needs. When planning digital installations you will find that we carry a broad line of A/V connectivity products enabling you to broadcast, extend, split, or multiply HD signal transmissions; simply and cost-effectively. KanexPro is a registered trademark. All other trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Ash Milton and Dan Goudie have been close friends since their school days and followed similar paths as professional musicians ultimately finding their way into the studio. Today that work together continues as one of the UK’s premier production and songwriting teams, Laconic. The duo works with well-known UK pop bands creating albums, EPs and songs, using HARMAN’s Lexicon 480L and PCM Native Reverb Bundle.

“We’ve been using Lexicon for around 10 years and in every studio we’ve worked in there have always been Lexicon products,â€� said Ash. “Lexicon effects always seem to give us real depth but tend not to muddy a mix in the way others might. Having the option of both hardware and software that we can rely on and is also easy to use means we can focus on the music.â€�

Laconic’s recent work includes the Barbados/UK band Cover Drive, whose first album saw great success in 2012, producing three top-10 singles in the UK (including a No.1). Laconic is also working with X-Factor’s District 3 on its debut EP as well as bands from ITV’s The Big Reunion. The guys have previously worked with Lawson, Katy B and The Saturdays and collaborated with companies such as Sony and Amnesty International on ad campaigns and computer game music.

Although the PCM Native Reverb Bundle offers seven exclusive Lexicon reverbs and effects and hundreds of studio presets, Dan is drawn to the Vintage and Chamber plates. “The sound is so smooth. It’s great that Lexicon reverb hardware units and the software bundle cover all bases but don’t skimp on quality. It’s all of the highest standard,� said Dan. “We love the vintage plate, especially on vocals. We’re also big fans of the chamber plate, which we prefer on guitars and synths as it gives us a more unique character.�

“Laconic’s diverse production portfolio is a testament to just how versatile the Lexicon hardware and software can be in studio applications. We appreciate hearing about long-term users such as Laconic having successfully transitioned from our hardware to software platforms because they believe in the sonic integrity of our reverb plug-ins,� stated Noel Larson, Market Manager, Portable PA, Tour and Recording for HARMAN Signal Processing.

The Lexicon PCM Native Reverb Plug-In Bundle is designed to work with popular DAWs like Pro Tools and Logic, as well as with any other VST®, Audio Unit™ or RTAS®-compatible platform. Compatible with Windows® Vista, XP and 7 and Macintosh® computers, it offers seven unique Lexicon’s plug-ins including Vintage Plate, Plate, Hall, Room, Random Hall, Concert Hall and Chamber, along with hundreds of presets including classics from Lexicon’s extensive library of sounds.

For more information on Laconic please visit: www.laconicmusic.co.uk.

HARMAN (www.HARMAN.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of audio, lighting and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognized world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson®, and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with Harman audio and infotainment systems. Harman has a workforce of about 14,300 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $4.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012.

As every football fan knows, the roar of the crowd at a major game is just as important as the action on the pitch when it comes to truly experiencing the excitement of the event. With this in mind, Outside Broadcast specialist United chose DPA Microphones’ 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone to capture the ambience of the Amsterdam Arena when SL Benfica played Chelsea in the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final.

Huub Lelieveld, Senior Sound Supervisor for United Outside Broadcast and Studios, says: “UEFA was adamant that the broadcast quality had to be top class as this was a huge 35 camera production that was going out to broadcasters all over the world. We wanted to make sure the audio quality would be as high as possible and that we captured the ambience of the stadium in phase coherent surround so that it sounded huge in surround, but also still sounded great in stereo and even mono.�

Widely regarded as a surround ambience adder, DPA’s 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone was perfect for the task because its compact size and ease of use comes at no sacrifice to stunning sound quality. Ideal for bringing truly engaging surround ambience to sport events, documentaries and other ambience applications, especially for HDTV production, these microphones require no external signal processing and are versatile enough to be mounted on a camera or microphone stand, suspended, or simply handheld via a hand grip.

Lelieveld, in conjunction with his colleague Mischa Kortleve, tested the DPA 5100 microphone during one of the UEFA preliminary rounds in the Amsterdam Arena to ensure they were the right choice for the important Cup Final event on May 15th. The microphone was supplied by DPA’s Dutch distributor Amptec.

“We recorded all our microphones to multitrack and decided, after extensive listening tests, that the 5100 was perfect for the Cup Final,� he says. “The DPA 5100 was rigged in the catwalk of the stadium where it was able to capture the whole arena in surround. We complemented this system with four DPA 4006A Omni Microphones, which were hung from the catwalk in each of the four corners of the stadium, and we also used two DPA 4017B Shotgun Microphones positioned on our two Steadicams as these were smaller and lighter than the microphones we usually use.�

Based in Hilversum, Holland, United is part of the huge Euro Media Group that has production and post-production facilities in Belgium, France, England, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. United operates nine state of the art Outside Broadcast vehicles and mobile control rooms and provides broadcast facilities to capture major sporting events and live music concerts all over Europe.

“We were really delighted with the performance of all of our DPA microphones, but in particular the 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone, which sounded fantastic,� Lelieveld says. “It was incredibly easy to rig and protect from bad weather and was significantly less expensive than other microphone systems. Thanks to the DPA 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone, we achieved a rich, smooth and fully enveloping sound that was great in its coherence, channel separation and localization accuracy.�

For the UEFA Europa League Final, United provided the live broadcast feed to Infostrada Sports, which distributed it around the world. And for anyone who didn’t see the game, the final score was 2-1 to Chelsea.

-ends-

Editors’ information:
DPA Microphones is the leading Danish Professional Audio manufacturer of high quality condenser microphones and microphone solutions for professional applications in studio, broadcast, theatre, video/film and sound reinforcement environments. All DPA microphones and components are manufactured at the company’s purpose-built factory in Denmark.
For more information on DPA Microphones, please visit www.dpamicrophones.com

Studio and design consultancy White Mark Ltd has completed a major project for Extreme Music to design and install an entire audio complex at the company’s new headquarters in London. The complex includes a large mastering studio, a mixing studio that can also be used for tracklaying and three self-contained audio editing suites.

Extreme Music, the production music arm of Sony ATV, was obliged to move premises to accommodate its rapid business growth.

The company’s Senior Vice President, Dan Pounder, says: “We have been growing at a rapid rate and needed more space to accommodate staff and to provide more audio facilities. Fortunately we were able to take over offices vacated by another Sony company and the move gave us the opportunity to re-design the space so that it exactly suited our workflow. The open plan design is now split between work stations for marketing and administrative staff and the audio suites. Thanks to the exceptionally high standards employed by both White Mark and BNP Paribas, which handled the design of the non-technical space, we now have a working environment that exceeds our expectations and has the wow factor we were looking for.�

The audio complex flows along one side of the building and consists of a large mastering room with natural daylight that is equipped with a Pro Tools system, PMC monitors and a range of audiophile processing equipment from Analaogue Tube, Avalon, Manley, Weiss and T.C. Electronics. There is also a secondary multipurpose room equipped with Universal Audio, Sonnox and T.C. Electronics processing with PMC monitors capable of mixing, tracklaying and mastering duties. The two rooms can work in tandem for larger tracklaying projects, with the mastering room doubling up as a live space. The complex also houses three self-contained edit suites of varying sizes, all of which are linked to a common DDP audio server in a separate machine room so that work can easily be transferred between any of the five audio rooms.

Extreme Music’s Chief Mastering Engineer Nick Cooke says: “We chose White Mark for this project because we had worked with them in the past and knew they could deliver the results we wanted. As our new premises are located in a mixed tenancy building, we had to ensure that all of the studios and edit suites were really well isolated to avoid causing noise nuisance to our neighbours. White Mark was able to completely isolate all of the rooms and ensure that the completed facilities sounded great and were acoustically accurate.�

White Mark’s previous involvement with Extreme Music involved upgrading the mastering studio in its old premises to improve the sound of the room and create more space. That project, which was completed in just four weeks in order to minimise downtime, involved the use of White Mark’s Fast Studio construction method that allows producers, composers and studio owners to build high performance facilities in far less time and at far less cost than would normally be anticipated. This unique system uses properly constructed and individually specified acoustic modules that are assembled off-site, making them very quick and easy to install. Fast Studio panels are ideal for rooms using free-standing monitors and in which there is no need for full isolation.

White Mark’s managing director David Bell says: “Although Extreme Music’s new facility required a more traditional approach to studio building to achieve adequate isolation, we were able to incorporate the company’s existing Fast Studio panels into our design for the acoustic treatment of the edit rooms.�

Established in 1997, Extreme Music is renowned for the quality of its production music and is committed to delivering an unrivalled roster of talent. Among its stable of Award-winning producers and composers are Timbaland, Hans Zimmer, Quincy Jones, Snoop Lion, Vince Clarke, Xzibit and Steve Jablonsky.

“All of our mastering is handled in-house and because we are committed to excellence, we need audio facilities that reflect this philosophy,� Nick Cooke adds. “White Mark has achieved remarkable results with our studios and we are delighted with them. Being able to feed work between all five rooms has significantly improved our workflow and increased flexibility. The additional space has also made it possible for composers to come in and be truly involved in the mixing and mastering process.�

Dan Pounder adds that the move has not only given Extreme Music the extra space it needed, but also helped integrate the audio side of the business. “The layout works really well,� he says. “Everyone enjoys working here and the look and feel of the new premises also creates a very good impression for visitors because they can literally see our workflow in action.�

-ends-

About White Mark:

Established in 1997 by David Bell, John Dunnill, Derek Buckingham and Alan Cundell, White Mark Ltd specialises in production facilities for music recording and the film and television industries. Over the last fifteen years it has designed and supervised the construction of over 500 production suites worldwide. The company’s impressive client list encompasses some of the world’s most famous music recording facilities including Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in the UK, Germano Studios in New York, Hit Factory/Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, Strongroom in London and private studios for producers and musicians such as William Orbit and Damon Albarn. In the area of audio post production, White Mark has completed over 140 audio studios and many broadcast and video editing facilities for more than 60 companies in Soho alone. The list of clients includes Grand Central, Hackenbacker, Envy, De Lane Lea, Scramble, Lipsync, Molinare, DeLuxe, 750mph, NBC/Universal, Wave, Unit and Boom. Advertising agency clients include worldwide facilities for Hogarth International and AMV/BBDO on four continents.www.whitemark.com

Velocity Productions specifies ProVideoPlayer and ProPresenter as part of major remodel at ABS’ Manhattan headquarters

NEW YORK CITY — Atlanta-based Velocity Productions reports that it recently completed a full atrium remodel for the NYC headquarters of the American Bible Society (ABS) located just a few blocks north of Manhattan’s Columbus Circle at 61st and Broadway. According to Velocity President Brian Pirkle, Renewed Vision’s ProVideoPlayer and ProPresenter software were both integral to the project’s success. more