DiGiCo Takes Up Residence At Barbican Centre
01/01/2015
Our relationship with DiGiCo goes back to before we purchased the SD7 and SD9 we now have, as we have hired an SD7 for past events, recalls Mark Bloxsidge, one of the three Technical Managers at the Barbican, who is responsible for technical provision for concerts and other events hosted through the Barbican Music Department.
Previously, our house console was analogue. It has a beautiful sound and, in fact, we still have it to accommodate those engineers that will only use analogue desks. However, we started to see a change in attitude with the improvement in digital consoles and, with finance available from the City of London who own and operate the Barbican, we were in a position to buy a new Front of House console. And we knew we wanted to go digital!
The whole technical team went through a comprehensive process to decide on the best console for their needs, looking at all the major manufacturers and auditioning a number of products.
Whichever system we went for had to be easy and straightforward enough for our non-sound technicians to set-up and operate, and yet flexible, configurable, and robust enough for our more demanding events, says Tom Shipman, Technical Supervisor specialising in Sound.
We thought that the DiGiCo range was the best sounding and also the most suitable for the way we operate, as it provides flexibility and open-ended networking that suits our needs, adds Mark. One of the criteria was that from time to time we have very large set ups in the hall, with well over 100 channels. For a 2,000-seat concert hall, that's quite good going. Some of the other digital console manufacturers were limited to 96 inputs, and were ruled out for that reason alone.
By the time we had finished the process, it was clear to us that DiGiCo was the best sounding console we had heard. We liked the flexibility of the racks and the way it all hooks together. Having used an SD7 on a couple of occasions, we knew we liked it a lot, but we decided to put it up against the SD5 and do a shoot out between the two. We liked the SD5 very much, particularly for its quiet power supplies and some other aspects, but in the end we decided to go for the SD7, complete with the Waves option, as it gave us the most processing power and flexibility and was a more familiar desk for our clients and visiting FOH engineers.
With a change to the main FOH console confirmed, the decision was then made to change the smaller console in the control booth to DiGiCo as well.
The requirement for the smaller console in the sound control booth was that it should fit seamlessly into any system that was up for consideration, without loss of audio quality or connectivity, continues Tom. For this reason, we decided upon the smaller footprint but incredibly powerful SD9, but with the addition of the optics option and the included D-Rack. This allows us to substitute it for the SD7 at FOH, or leave it in the booth and add it into the optical loop to deal with sub-mixes.
It also gave us more opportunities to train our own crew on the DiGiCo operating system and get them familiar with the way the consoles work, says Mark.
Tom set up a training scenario with the SD9 and the invaluable online training videos, and brought the team in for one-on-one training sessions.
Everyone remarked what a great tool the videos are, and how helpful they are, while I was able to answer any questions that arose, says Tom.
The Barbican s choice of DiGiCo mixing systems, supplied by Autograph Sales & Installations, was integral to a major digital communications and cabling infrastructure upgrade installed at the venue by the same company. This was a very complex audio engineering and design project which was completed without disruption to any part of the Barbican s programme of events, and for which a full report can be found HERE (link to story on AS&I website).
The Barbican's final specification was an SD7, an SD9, an SD-Rack and SD Mini-Rack, both individually flightcased, and an SD Mini-Rack which is permanently installed, providing feeds to the audio system processors in addition to the extensive single and multi-mode fibre, Cat6, and HD-SDI install.
The decision paid dividends on the first day of the EFG London Jazz Festival.
We took the smaller console out of the booth to use as the FOH desk for the Freestage in the Barbican Foyer, where there was a free concert performance every evening of the Festival, prior to the main show in the concert hall, says Mark. This also meant that both venues were being run by DiGiCo for Jazz Voice, the opening concert of the festival, where our own Tom Shipman manned the SD7 -and very good it sounded too!
Jazz Voice, a jazz big band', was fronted by Guy Barker with a line up of guest singers from across the genre, including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Emma Smith and Georgie Fame. The concert was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and streamed live on BBC Arts Online, and is available on BBC iPlayer.
As well as the Barbican's own SD7 at FOH, a second SD7 operated by Emma Wood was hired from Richard Nowell Sound Services for the monitor position, with the two desks digitally linked via an Optocore fibre network, and both the SD-Rack and SD-Mini Rack on stage.
At FOH Tom used the multi-channel' feature and folded the drums away to make as
LINK: | http://www.digico.biz/docs/latest_news/EukEZVVlZVxvESYwld.shtml... |
See more stories from digico |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
25/04/2024
Inside the Archives: Highlighting the Importance of Preservation for the Festival's 40th Edition
Sundance Institute Founder Robert Redford during a press conference at the 1996 ...
25/04/2024
SNS Dealer Of The Year Awards: See The Full List Of Winners
alt= class=wp-image-12361 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-booth-2024-960x540-1.jpg/> Set against a vibrant backdrop of innovation and collaboratio...
25/04/2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024
alt= class=wp-image-12356 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NAB-mod-win-960x540-1.jpg/>NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product...
25/04/2024
Peacock Subs Jump 55% YoY to 34M in Q1 2024
PHILADELPHIA Comcast beat earnings estimates in its Q1 2024 financial report, as streaming losses continued to decline and Peacock's paid subscribers spiked...
25/04/2024
Seattle Kraken Inks Deals with Tegna and Prime Video
SEATTLE The Seattle Kraken have inked new multi-year agreements with Tegna and Prime Video that will expand access to their games over broadcast stations and st...
25/04/2024
Opinion: charting a cloud driven future
M2A Medias Matt Hughes asks, is it time for news broadcasting to shift to the cloud? By Contributor Published: April 25, 2024 M2A Media's Matt Hughes ...
25/04/2024
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR+ Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glory
Cintel Scanner G3 HDR Restores Egypt's Cinema Treasures to Their Former Glo...
25/04/2024
Sinclair Names Kevin Coskren Chief Meteorologist at KTUL Tulsa
Sinclair Broadcast Group said it named Kevin Coskren chief meteorologist at KTUL, its ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma....
25/04/2024
Attend The Business of TV News Event in D.C. on May 2
The Business of TV News, a new one-day event featuring Martha Raddatz, Shannon Bream, Glenn Kirschner and other major figures in television news, happens at Hot...
25/04/2024
Problematic FCC Conditions On Station Sale Could Create Detroit Drama
Conditions put on the proposed sale of WADL Detroit, to Mission Broadcasting have created a potential drama in the Motor City....
25/04/2024
TelevisaUnivision 1Q Loss Widens But DTC Business Expected To Turn Profit in Second Half
TelevisaUnivision reported a $52 million loss in the first quarter, up from $3 m...
25/04/2024
Comcast Earnings Flat As Video, Broadband Sub Losses Continue
Comcast reported flat first-quarter earnings as it reduced the red ink at Peacock but continued to lose video and broadband customers....
25/04/2024
Vevo Brings Music Videos To Telly's Dual Screen TVs
Music-video network Vevo said it launched its app on Telly, the company offering consumers free dual-screen TVs in return for data about what they're watchi...
25/04/2024
Future Today Redesigns Streaming App Interfaces
Future Today said it has introduced a redesigned user interface for about half of its 300 streaming apps, including Fawesome, HappyKids and iFood.TV....
25/04/2024
Czech mates
The writer and director of a hit Czech series tell Robert Shepherd about their approach to portraying real-life Pakistani kidnappings on the small screen, while...
25/04/2024
Molinaire Creative Group opens new Liverpool facility
Notorious DIT will work with the Liverpool Film Office to increase opportunities for regional talent By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 25, 2024 Notorio...
25/04/2024
Deutsche Telekom Powers New MagentaTV Service With Broadp...
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
25/04/2024
Lightware Enhances Microsoft Teams Rooms with Powerful BY...
Lightware Visual Engineering, a leading manufacturer of connectivity solutions for the professional integrated systems market and a pioneer in signal management...
25/04/2024
Net Insight secures collaboration with DMC Production to...
Net Insight has entered into a collaboration with DMC Production that positions Net Insight at the forefront of sports broadcasting in the Nordics. Net Insight ...
25/04/2024
GlobalM and scoopa announce strategic partnership to faci...
GlobalM has announced a strategic partnership with scoopa, the specialists in broadcast-quality content distribution, offering a complementary service for live ...
25/04/2024
DDish TV LLC Chooses PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box for Bro...
PlayBox Neo announces the completion of a new multichannel playout system for the DDish direct-to-home satellite television network in Mongolia. Based in the na...
25/04/2024
Legendary Producer Garth Richardson Chooses PMC Monitors...
Canadian music producer and engineer Garth Richardson also known as Gggarth due to his stutter - has embraced immersive audio by installing a PMC monitoring s...
25/04/2024
Televisa transforms its broadcast ecosystem with proven t...
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Televisa, the Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company, has chosen Synamedia as its pa...
25/04/2024
OTTera partners with ThinkAnalytics to enhance personaliz...
OTTera, a leading provider of end-to-end OTT and FAST channel solutions, proudly announces its strategic partnership with ThinkAnalytics, a global leader in adv...
25/04/2024
Perfect Weather Forecast for American Tobacco Events Tonight and Saturday
The American Tobacco Campus will be hopping with activity tonight and this weekend with two fun events! Durham Night Market At last! The Durham Night Market i...
25/04/2024
Qurate Launches The Big Dish on The Roku Channel
WEST CHESTER, Pa. Video commerce provider Qurate Retail Group has launched The Big Dish, a new culinary-themed FAST channel on The Roku Channel....
25/04/2024
HPA Opens Submissions for 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association has announced that submissions for the 2024 HPA Engineering Excellence Awards are now being accepted. This re...
25/04/2024
DV Earns MRC Accreditation for CTV Viewability
NEW YORK The digital media measurement and analytics firm DoubleVerify has announced that it has received Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for Video Vie...
25/04/2024
DAZN FAST Channels to Launch on Tubi
SAN FRANCISCO Fox Corp.'s ad-supported streaming service Tubi has announced a licensing agreement with the sports platform DAZN that will see DAZN Ringside ...
25/04/2024
IAB Makes Three Appointments to Its Leadership Team
NEW YORK In the runup to the 2024 IAB NewFronts, the IAB has announced three key appointments to its leadership team....
25/04/2024
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam for Android, and more
Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.4 with new Motion Design Mode, Unreal VCam f...
25/04/2024
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux
Content Creation, Production, Distribution Is In a State of Flux Andy Marken April 24, 2024 0 Comments My empathy is creeping towards what I would de...
25/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting Company to Air Carolina Panthers Games on Triangle's Strongest Broadcast Signal
The Carolina Panthers and Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC) announced they have...
25/04/2024
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist
Berklee Student Riko Sasaski Named 2024 Yamaha Young Performing Artist The accomplished saxophonist secured a spot among the elite winners of this year's ...
25/04/2024
Local News Close-Up: St. Louis Born and Bred
Stations everywhere take pride in having a main anchor who comes from the market they represent. That applies in St. Louis, too, but it also pertains to general...
25/04/2024
Edward Moody Joins WBTW Myrtle Beach Anchor Team
Edward Moody is joining the WBTW Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, anchor crew, and will anchor the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts alongside Trish Williford. He comes f...
25/04/2024
MTV Moving VMAs To New UBS Arena in New York
MTV said the 2024 Video Music Awards will return to New York and take place at the new UBS Arena....
25/04/2024
Offbeat Comedy The Outlaws' Returns to Prime Video Next Month
Season three of comedy The Outlaws premieres on Prime Video May 31. Stephen Merchant co-created the show, and stars. There are five episodes....
25/04/2024
Bidders Interested in Buying Bounce, Says Scripps CEO Adam Symson
The E.W. Scripps Co. is evaluating offers for Bounce, its multicast channel for African-American viewers, according to a report from CNBC....
25/04/2024
Paramount Plus Renews Dora'
Paramount Plus has ordered a second season for Dora, the animated preschool show based on Dora the Explorer. The show, featuring Dora on a rainforest adventure ...
25/04/2024
Tribeca Festival 2024 Announces Audio Storytelling and Games Lineup
April 25th, 2024 Press Materials Available Here TRIBECA FESTIVAL 2024 ANNOUNCES AUDIO STORYTELLING AND GAMES LINEUP Audio Storytelling Program Features 10th ...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand Mobile cells will help accommodate first responders, social media, sports betti...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Production of Post-First-Round Draft Show on NFL+
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Pro...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presentations
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presenta...
25/04/2024
Unlock the potential of automated node-based and no-code media workflows at MPTS 2024
Published On: April 25th, 2024 data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/upl...
25/04/2024
Explore the Future of VR 180 Storytelling with Dolce Mia and Mistika VR
Published On: April 25th, 2024 data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/uploads/Dolce-Mia-Header-image.png width=1040 height=533 class=lazyload wp-image-0 ...