
2024 was Afrikaans is Groot's biggest year yet, boasting nine shows over two weekends, with over 70,000 people enjoying the spectacular cultural experience. There are approximately seven million Afrikaans speaking people and the community tight knit, so the run of concerts is an event not-to-miss. Kyle Freemantle is Head of Audio for the production and has overseen the extraordinary growth over the last decade. He offers his insight into why DiGiCo continues to be Afrikaans is Groot's console of choice.
DiGiCo consoles are at the top of my list because of their flexibility regarding Optocore networks and their ease programming, Fremantle explains. We are running an additional Dante network for all the radio-microphones and playback lines. In total, we have just shy of 128 inputs across both the Optocore and Dante networks. All these inputs are fed via copy-audio and Dante to a pair of MADI/DANTE bridges, which feed two MADI recorders for our main recording. There is a backup recording, which is fed by the MADI outputs on the RMIO units to a DiGiGrid MGB to accommodate all 128 channels.
Utilising a family of DiGiCo products has reduced set-up times in the venue, with Freemantle appreciating the ease of using Fourier and DiGiGrid MBG for all their external processing. KLANG is in use for in-ear-monitoring, enabling a clear and consistent environment for the many performers featured during the concerts.
Fourier runs all the effects and multiband compressors on the masters, he says. Once you've loaded plugins for the first time, it's easy and straightforward. It's been great being able to use the Valhalla reverbs. The fact that its Dante I/O ties into our existing large Dante network makes load-in time much faster and the backbone is much more robust than on other brands. The need for third-party gear has also drastically reduced.
The shows combine musical performances from a whole host of Afrikaans musicians, but they also reflect the cultural richness of the Afrikaans community, combining spoken word performances in a Variety-style. This style of performance can mean a busy time for monitor engineers, but as Gert Watson found out, having KLANG and DiGiCo on your team can make all the difference.
With a Variety show like this one, where all the artists join each other on stage to perform a single number, I have countless button presses on the console for each song, he says. I was really surprised by how seamless the DiGiCo - KLANG integration is. Using KLANG on the artists aux sends did not affect my workflow or speed at all; it was so smooth that I almost never had to take my hands off the surface to fiddle with a laptop because everything was right there on the console. This resulted in a truly amazing audio experience not only for the artist, but also for me because I could focus solely on the audio, plus having such a fun surface to work on is a real treat!
Paulo Azevedo is a producer and Executive label manager for Coleske Artists PTY, promoters and producers of the concerts. His unique understanding of his label's artists makes him well placed to mix front of house. The show is so complex that there are two FOH engineers, with Azevedo mixing the vocals and Murray Lubbe looking after the band, tracks and additional instruments.
Afrikaans music is vocal forward, so we need to have the acoustic space to ensure the vocals can be managed effectively, Azevedo explains. There are some really quick cues in the group numbers, with people entering and exiting in quick succession. This is a unique performance, with a full range of emotions for the audience, from excitement and comedy to nostalgia and legacy.
Mixing for live performance is a very different experience to the studio environment that Azevedo is used to but, as he recalls, the opportunity to use a DiGiCo desk has been a real game-changer.
Being a sound engineer, it is not often that you hear something as marked as the change to DiGiCo, he says. Normally a difference in console would be very subtle, an incremental improvement that pushes you over the line. But the change to DiGiCo was quite a significant jump because you can clearly hear the headroom and the transparency overall. The desk brought so much more clarity. There is a real comfort in knowing you've got this very stable, incredibly good sounding console. It was a learning curve for us for over the last two years, but now, I don't think we could move to any other platform, it has been fantastic.
The show is staged in a variety format, with a full house-band that is adapted for each performance, with drums, bass guitars and keyboards being added or removed as needed. There are backing vocalists and 16 lead vocalists, who may also be playing acoustic guitar, all using radio-microphones and in ear monitors.
Because the show is so big, the audio team have three full days to rehearse, expands Azevedo. We keep most channels in isolate throughout rehearsals and sound-check, then once the performance has settled, we start recording Snapshots. The rehearsal days are full on before we even hit the first show, but it gives us the time to programme everything nicely!
Azevedo's Quantum 326 Pulse is programmed to change Snapshots via timecode, so when there are big group numbers, that could have up to 30 triggers during a song, it is all taken care of automatically by the console. This is a feature that has enabled Azevedo to concentrate on what he does best, capturing the essence of a studio-recorded performance and elevating it for a live audience.
These are top-class musicians and Murray and I manage about 80-90% of the artists on stage, so we know their preferences well, he says. Using a desk like the DiGiCo Quantum 326 is great fun, it allows us to encapsulate the studio production in a live setting and we don&
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
09/07/2025
By Bailey Pennick
There's something arresting about the way Jomo Fray captures the world. The cinematographer, now best known for his unparalleled work on ...
09/07/2025
Key Highlights
Centralized management interface for full control, monitoring, and diagnostics
Scalable, multi-site OTT decryption and distribution
Secure int...
09/07/2025
Explore Love Without Limits in a bold, funny and unapologetic SBS Audio podcast ...
09/07/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., July 9, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has appointed Rob Mitrevski as President, Golden Dome Strategy and Integration, a new role cre...
09/07/2025
Collaboration will result in improved data quality and understanding of genre-le...
09/07/2025
The National Association of Broadcasters is hitting back at critics who oppose its proposal to phase out the current ATSC 1.0 DTV over-the-air standard and tran...
09/07/2025
Zeam Media's hyperlocal streaming platform Zeam has announced a new distribution deal with LG that will bring the streaming service to LG smart TVs and devi...
09/07/2025
MetaBroadcast, the UK's leading metadata management specialist, announced today that it was awarded a three-year contract from TAM Ireland (Television Audie...
09/07/2025
More than 700 professional devices and applications already integrated through open software
Bitfocus, the specialist in media control and monitoring, is show...
09/07/2025
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver a...
09/07/2025
The broadcast industry stands at a pivotal moment. As viewing habits evolve and production demands intensify, LiveU is helping customers navigate these challeng...
09/07/2025
WASHINGTON The NAB Leadership Foundation (NABLF) has announced the graduation of the 2025 Broadcast Leadership Training (BLT) class. The classs successful compl...
09/07/2025
Faced with rising costs, the proliferation digital services and the difficulty of managing many different subscriptions, two-thirds (66%) of consumers say they ...
09/07/2025
Daniel S. McCoy, a Production Sound Mixer and Sound Consultant for cinema, commercial and live events, has utilized DPA Microphones for over 25 years. In the ea...
09/07/2025
- A Celebration of Optical Excellence Uniting the Lens World's Leading Optical Minds -
CVP, one of Europe's leading resellers and providers of profe...
09/07/2025
Telos Alliance Welcomes AVC Systems AG as New Sales Partner in Switzerland
Search
Cleveland, Ohio (July 8, 2025) - Telos Alliance announces the appointment...
09/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment, ViewLift Unveil Broadcast/Streaming Joint Ven...
09/07/2025
SVG Europe Audio State of Wireless Mics Forum: If we lose the spectrum, it...
09/07/2025
Tech Focus: Athlete Audio - Venues Provide Sound Just for the Players From locker room to field of play, personalized systems help rev up the athletes By Dan D...
09/07/2025
Wednesday 9 July 2025
Sky Broadband now has the UK's fastest broadband spee...
09/07/2025
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced Jeff Williams will transition his role as chief operating officer later this month to Sabih Khan, Apple's senior...
08/07/2025
In an era where digital threats to journalists are becoming increasingly aggressive and widespread, MediaSafe Africa launches as a vital online resource to help...
08/07/2025
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a fro...
08/07/2025
This summer, as the energy builds for one of the biggest moments in women's ...
08/07/2025
SBS strengthens commitment to inclusion with new commissioning guidelines
8 July, 2025
Media releases
SBS has launched new Commissioning Inclusion Guidelin...
08/07/2025
Secrets, Spies and Sabotage: 40 years on, SBS podcast investigates historic bomb...
08/07/2025
ATLANTA and CINCINNATI Gray Media and The E.W. Scripps Co. have agreed to swap television stations across five midsized and small markets, resulting in the crea...
08/07/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has announced new software updates to its Arcadia Central Station that enable connectivity across Clear-Com products as well as third-...
08/07/2025
PRINCETON, N.J. Triveni Digital has launched its NextGen TV Innovation Partnership Program, an initiative to support public broadcasters in their transition to ...
08/07/2025
WASHINGTON In response to a request by LPTV broadcaster HC2 that the Federal Communications Commission allow its stations to become datacasters using 5G broadca...
08/07/2025
As TV broadcasters shift from wary tire-kicking to increasingly enthusiastic adoption of AI technology, new ways of doing things are taking hold at lightning sp...
08/07/2025
Content personalization has been a hot topic ever since the emergence of niche cable networks and the VCR in the 1980s allowed consumers to access content geare...
08/07/2025
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, announces that major French media group RMC BFM has selected Broadpeak's server-side ad insertio...
08/07/2025
MBS, a leading service integrator and managed gateway operator, has announced an agreement with SES to acquire a part of its media services in Germany and the U...
08/07/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is applauding the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill and provision...
08/07/2025
SYDNEY RTS has announced that Channel 7 Sydney has deployed a new comms system from the intercom vendor as part of a larger ST-2110 upgrade....
08/07/2025
ATLANTA & CINCINNATI Gray Media, Inc. and The E.W. Scripps Company have entered into agreements to swap television stations across five mid-sized and small mark...
08/07/2025
UKTV today announces that Richard Watsham, Chief Creative Officer at UKTV and Global Director of Acquisitions for BBC Studios/UKTV, has decided to step down fro...
08/07/2025
Groundbreaking Gamecocks: Inside University of South Carolina's Four-Control...
08/07/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment's Samantha Brady on the Power of the RSN...
08/07/2025
Live From 2025 FIFA Club World Cup: FIFA, HBS Focus on Tournament Wrap, With an ...
08/07/2025
SVG Rewind: NESN Goes Behind the Scenes of 1975 Red Sox Retro Broadcast NESN is following up the retrocast with a week-long celebration of the Green Monster By...
08/07/2025
Back to All News
The Monster of Florence: The Four-Episode TV Series Directed b...
08/07/2025
Back to All News
Shooting of 53 Sundays, Cesc Gays New Project, Is Finished
Entertainment
08 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the f...
08/07/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - July 8, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced a reco...
08/07/2025
Arvato Systems Optimizes Customer Communication with AOK Niedersachsen
New project in the statutory health insurance sector
Arvato Systems and AOK Niedersach...
08/07/2025
On August 7, Apple Arcade is adding four exclusive games to its diverse catalogue of more than 200 fun games for players to enjoy, all free from ads and in-app ...