COLUMNS
By Brad Price
Is Pro Audio Coming Home ?
The pandemic of 2020 has changed
many assumptions beyond recognition . With social gathering strictly limited , the effect on live collaboration of any sort has been profound . The reaction has been a combination of understandable frustration and rapid innovation , as people work to remain creative and operational under new conditions . Nowhere is that truer than in music production .
As with many businesses , the restrictions have meant doing more at home and more with remote tools . In the case of professional audio , this has meant a boom in home studios and recording , accelerating a trend that was underway long before current conditions . It has also seen the owners of professional recording studios expanding their offerings in ways that allow musicians to safely create projects while benefiting from the knowledge and experience that only a great studio and a great engineer can provide .
For performers , the frustration has been acute as virtually all live venues have been closed . Similar to the rise of home recording , musicians have responded by working hard to deliver their work online using a combination of home recording tools , external services , and internet expertise . Maintaining safe distances has led to many creative solutions from players who need to hear one another in real time with minimal latency in order to do what they do .
For integrators , these changes have meant an opportunity to help engineers and creatives do all this work together . Older ways of system building are centered around short distances and leave internet streaming as an afterthought . The useful systems of today are digital natives that can span large distances and channel counts , and that integrate directly into computers for processing , editing , and real-time distribution . The useful systems of today are built around AV networking .
For the musician For non-soloist musicians , the isolation has been difficult as it makes even casual rehearsals nearly impossible . But with a small amount of home studio gear and physical space , some musicians have managed to make music with friends again .
For collaborating musicians , time is key . If one is playing while listening to others over headphones , the latency between hitting a note and hearing it is critical and must be kept quite low – less than 10 milliseconds in most cases . The recording / playback system must be capable of maintaining this low latency along with great fidelity over substantial distances .
Audio networking greatly helps here , by allowing distances of up to 300 ft . to be covered with inexpensive , lightweight Ethernet cabling that carries hundreds of channels of low-latency audio . This means people can move into different spaces and simply move the microphones and headphone amps they need with them – just plug into a network switch and they are ready to play .
For the engineer The work that good engineers do is not lost on musicians . Audio engineers can help any artist to sound better with judicious use of microphone placement , microphone choice , equalization , and compression , to name a few .
The move towards home audio networks allows audio engineers to deliver their craft to wherever the musicians are , and to bring their own gear if they choose . Once a home studio is outfitted with audio networking , it becomes trivially easy for engineers to incorporate their own mixers , microphones , preamps and processors . No need to run special cables or snakes because a single Ethernet connection gets it done .
For the integrator Any integrator who is installing a home or studio system today should be fully aware of the benefits of networking . In addition to providing a seamless , noise-free experience for end-users , networks are far easier to install . No more proprietary cables . No more snakes . No more tape labels covering everything just so you don ’ t lose it . Ethernet systems are fast and easy to deploy and can serve customer needs for long periods of time .
An example : The Farm Studios in B . C . A great example of a modern recording studio adapting to current needs can be found on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia at Garth
Richardson ’ s The Farm Studios . Richardson has worked with some of the truly big names in modern music and has adapted his studio for modern times .
The seven-acre property features several cabins and a main house where the control room is located . Rooms in the main house are connected throughout with a Dante audio network , and Richardson is now extending the network out to another large cabin adjacent to the main house and other locations .
Audinate ’ s Dante is the de facto standard for digital audio networking , and distributes hundreds of uncompressed , multi-channel digital audio channels via standard Ethernet networks , with near-zero latency and perfect synchronization . Dante allows audio , control , and all other data to coexist effectively on the same network .
“ I want to make it so that anyone can record from anywhere . If a vocalist wants to sing alone from the band house , I can just plug a mic preamp into that network jack , and we ’ re good to go . If they want to sing outdoors in the woods , we can do that too . The network makes it very easy to set up whatever we might need ,” says Richardson .
This is just one example of how audio networking can help ease the pain of musical separation , allowing musicians and engineers collaborate at least a little bit like they used to .
Audinate , the maker of Dante , provides an extensive and free online learning service to help engineers , musicians , and integrators understand how networking works and how they can use it for their own projects .
Brad Price is the Senior Product Marketing Manager at Audinate . To learn more about audio networking and receive free Dante training , go to www . audinate . com
60 CANADIAN MUSICIAN