GRAHAM COLLINS , MANAGER OF LONG & MCQUADE PRO
MATT VAN HEMMEN OF THE PA SHOP
Van Hemmen also mentions the Rode- Caster Pro as being “ a first of its kind ” that catered to a growing niche market . “ I remember thinking that every time someone came in asking for a podcasting setup that had pads where you could trigger things , you always had to put together some MacGyver-like solution for them . There was never really a dedicated product base for it yet , and then — timing is everything — this year everything started coming out . The TC Helicon GoXLR [ mixer ] is another great example for streamers .”
Another of the product categories to get a big boost from the surge in home-performance needs is acoustical products . And , for the good salesperson who wants to further maximize their sales in things like microphones and simple audio interfaces , room acoustics provides a good opportunity .
“ One thing a lot of people are not noticing but I notice a lot is the acoustics of their space . So , acoustic panels are something that ’ s super important and a lot of [ customers ] don ’ t know it ,” says Kano at Moog Audio . “ Even though they ’ re buying a better microphone or headphones or whatever it is , when they ’ re doing a performance you can hear that natural reverb that is sometimes not great for your recording or performance . So , I think acoustic paneling is something that more people should consider to be the second step after they ’ re buying the microphone or headphones .”
And for those who are more focused on speech than musical performance , simple reflection filters or portable vocal booth products are an obvious need at the moment . This is true for people like podcasters and singers , but especially for professional voice actors .
“ One of the things I ’ ve seen a real increase in are things that have to do with sound treatment for the microphone . Specially , something like the Aston Halo or the sE Reflexion Filter that form a sort of semicircle or hemisphere around the microphone to kill most of the room sound ,” says Collins at Long & McQuade Pro . “ I just can ’ t believe how many of those things that we ’ ve sold ! It ’ s unprecedented . I don ’ t know if that is a general trend because , at least right now , there ’ s been this shift in the industry to recording at least partially remotely . Studios are saying , like , ‘ Okay , for us to make this work , you ’ re going to have to deaden some of the room sound ’ and it ’ s obviously way cheaper than trying to get your whole room acoustically treated . So , that ’ s definitely one thing where I ’ ve just never seen so many of those things sell .”
One of the best by-products of the workfrom-home explosion for our interviewees is that they ’ ve each seen a previously-uncommon customer base grow exponentially for them , from broadcasters , companies and corporate professionals , to the government , teachers , and fitness instructors .
“ For more corporate companies , we ’ re doing non-stop Zoom integration with the products from Biamp ,” says Kano about Moog Audio , adding that corporate customers have also been buying a lot of microphones ( USB mics , but also high-end microphones and mic guards , too ), sound cards , and compact and user-friendly video switchers . “ So , we ’ re doing a lot of installations for video conferencing sound systems . So , speakers with a DSP processor that you can use for Zoom or Google Meets or whatever video conferencing they ’ re using . We ’ re doing a lot of those and that is a really big market that exploded with the current situation .”
As well , on the government front , one of the most interesting purchases mentioned to CMT came from Collins . He says Long & McQuade Pro has sold around 300 USB microphones to the Ontario attorney general ’ s office . “ That ’ s something you might not necessarily think of ,” he says . “ My understanding is that they ’ re for court reporters so that they could continue to work from home for trials .”
Another market that Collins would sometimes serve before , but which has grown significantly during the shutdowns is animation studios with voice actors working from home . This obviously relates to the sales surge of the portable vocal booth products he mentioned earlier . “ We ’ ve dealt with a number of actual animation studios who had , I guess , reasonably full-time or strong contract people who they were prepared to buy gear for so that they could do it from home . Those people were all using Source-Connect , which is a way to interface remotely with performers into a studio recording . So , it ’ s a piece of software that usually the studio will buy and it ’ s fairly expensive , but then there is a free client-side software ,” he explains . “ But basically , it ’ s all audio-over-IP and the idea is that , ‘ Okay , we can ’ t have you in [ the studio ] right now , but we can send a bunch of gear that is studio-quality and you can just do it from home .”
Likewise , in the terms of customers one doesn ’ t normally expect , Van Hemmen says he has been really surprised at the number of teachers , especially for subjects like music or physical education , who have been shopping at The PA Shop . It ’ s a market he says he rarely served previously .
“ They had to start figuring out wireless systems for if they ’ re teaching something like physical education , where they can ’ t sit in front of the computer and need to step back a little bit . They ’ re people who probably never thought they ’ d have to learn how to do this kind of stuff . But we kind of got lucky , too , where a lot of products came out this year that were conveniently timed ,” Van Hemmen says . “ The biggest one for us has been the Rode Wireless Go . Basically , it ’ s smaller even than a normal belt pack would be and it ’ s one receiver and one transmitter with a microphone built-in . So , you just clip it onto your shirt and you ’ re good to go . It ’ s not nearly as complicated as having to wire up a receiver to an interface then to a computer . It cuts out a
22 CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE