Montreal's Piccolo Mobile Remote Upgrades to Solid State Logic System T Networked Broadcast Audio Platform posted: 02/04/2021
Denis Savage, SSL user for 20 years, says System T is very clean and huge sounding
Studios Piccolo, the largest recording facility in the province of Quebec, upgraded one of its Piccolo Mobile remote production trucks in January with the installation of a Solid State Logic System T networked broadcast audio platform. The truck's new System T comprises a 48-fader S500m compact and lightweight mobile modular control surface, twin redundant Tempest T80 engines, supporting up to 800 signal paths, and a 16-fader Remote Tile.
There were a number of reasons why Piccolo chose System T, says company co-founder Denis Savage. Not least of those is that the studio is a longtime SSL user and was the first Duality-equipped commercial facility in North America. Further, Savage, who has been C line Dion's tour manager and FOH engineer for several decades, installed an Axiom MT+ digital music production console at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas when the singer began her years-long residency there in 2003. Savage switched to SSL's Live series desks for Dion's shows in 2014.
The perfect fit for Piccolo Mobile's discerning clientele
But for Piccolo Mobile's clientele, says Savage, the company needed a more specialized console. And the SSL System T is specifically designed for today's fast-paced and complex broadcast environment, he says. The number of inputs - up to 800, with EQ - and how we can quickly build mix-minuses, make it a great console for us. Plus, it's very quick to set up. If you have a basic layout on your console, you arrive in the morning, just add inputs and it puts everything in the right order. In no time you're ready to rock.
Piccolo Mobile's team integrated the new System T into the larger of the company's two trucks, PM2, between Christmas 2020 and the new year. We also upgraded Pro Tools in there to record 192 tracks, says Savage. We have four Pro Tools systems in each truck, two to record and two to mix, so they are redundant.
SSL System T: A spectacular debut on the big stage
The truck's first gig with the System T was a project with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. It was then positioned at MELS studios in Saint-Hubert, a Montreal suburb, for the months-long production of Star Acad mie, one of the francophone province's top-rated TV shows. The reality TV show, to find young singing talent in French-speaking Canada, launched in 2003 and aired for five seasons until 2012. It was consistently the highest-viewed program of the week. The latest season of the singing competition, which premiered in mid-February, airs live on Sunday nights on a two-hour-plus show, following two days of rehearsal then a final run-through.
It's a massive show with a bunch of singers and a bunch of guests, says Piccolo engineer Charles- mile Beaudin, who works in the truck with show mixer Simon B langer. The show generates about 140 inputs, including more than 20 vocal microphones, and typically features over 30 songs per episode. The lines from the stage, which is in-the-round in the absence of a studio audience during the Covid-19 pandemic, split to three FOH and monitor consoles in the house and are transported over MADI to the System T in the truck outside.
B langer uses Layer Manager in System T's software to reposition the faders that he needs for different segments of the show at his fingertips. For instance, during one part of the show, contestants each sing one line of a song in turn. Having the Layer Manager is a great factor to help us go fast when it's medleys. I put all the vocals in a row, and I can just travel down the faders, says B langer, who is able to quickly raise and lower each singer's level in quick succession.
During the mash-up part of the show, one singer will take the lead before switching to background vocal while another singer takes over. That's where the System T also comes in handy, switching the stems, reverbs and panning. It's really fast, says B langer.
System T's processing and effects rack is regularly put through its paces as the young contestants find their voices, says Beaudin. They're being coached each day and trying different things. The timbre of their voices changes dramatically from song to song and day to day. So we use a lot of dynamic EQ and different reverbs and effects.
Audiophile-grade sound quality and unmatched flexibility
Having put in many hours on the SSL Duality at Studios Piccolo, Beaudin is well placed to compare its sound and performance to the System T. From week to week you start to get a sense of what it sounds like, what it does, how it feels, he says. System T is very clean and huge sounding. It doesn't change the sound drastically; it just sounds good. Over time you realize that the headroom is great, and it sounds wide and deep.
Beaudin adds, Of course, we use the SSL Bus Compressor, which is the same as the Duality. Sometimes I think, am I really compressing that much? Because it's not hurting the mix!
Up to three surfaces can control any System T at the same time, but thus far the truck's Fader Tile has stayed in its box, says Beaudin. We were planning that maybe I would mix some things in the background. But we haven't had to use it yet because Simon is doing a wonderful job and he doesn't need me to help him. But in the future, he says, There will be a lot of shows where, let's say, I'm mixing the music on the console and there will be a guy behind me mixing the traffic stuff - same engine, different surfaces.
The Star Acad mie 2021 production is complex, what with so many live microphones and the pace of the production leading up to each l
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
14-hour package also includes A Remarkable Place to Die season 2 as well as libr...
Montreal's Piccolo Mobile Remote Upgrades to Solid State Logic System T Networked Broadcast Audio Platform posted: 02/04/2021 
