PROFILE
David Vincent
By Shanine Cook
M
eyer Sound is one of the world’s
best-known manufacturers of
high-end professional loud-
speakers; as such, its products
see action on as wide an array
of audio applications as one could think of,
from tours with Metallica and The Grateful
Dead to installations in major theatres and
houses of worship to helping the Mythbusters
team share the wonders of science with their
viewers.
That means that David Vincent, the com-
pany’s senior technical support specialist, can
find himself in some pretty varied scenarios
from day-to-day and week-to-week.
Born in Drummondville, QC, and raised
about 35 km south in a small rural community
called Acton-Vale, Vincent grew up with a seri-
ous fondness for music. He was singing and
playing guitar in active bands from his teenage
years through to his mid-30s. Ultimately, it was
music that led him into the pro audio industry,
though that adventure started in the studio
side of the business.
In 1996, while attending college as a
cinema student, a friend approached Vincent
about opening a recording studio. “He already
had a partner, but I asked if I could join them,” he recalls. “I was also
working night shifts in a carpet factory, and so that allowed me to
buy some gear for the soon-to-be studio.”
The studio was active for about four years before closing its
doors; however, having learned quite a bit about audio, Vincent
went on to take a job at Kloda Productions, an AV rental house in
Mount Royal, where he could put his mixing chops to work in the
live environment. Five years later, he joined the team at Solotech,
and this time, decided to expand his professional palette.
“That’s when I realized that mixing wasn’t the only available
job option in the audio industry, and I started doing more PA tech
jobs," he shares. “Solotech was an incredible school. I stayed there
for 12 years before taking my position with Meyer.”
As Senior Technical Support Specialist, Vincent travels the world
and does system design and calibration for a host of applications,
from major music festivals to churches to sporting events.
Recalling some recent highlights, he mentions his work at Den-
mark’s famous Rosklide Festival, which just announced a unique
partnership with Meyer Sound, and assisting on the system design
for Metallica’s ongoing WorldWired Tour with live sound legend Bob
McCarthy – now the director of system operations at Meyer. “It was
the first time that the VLFC [very low frequency control elements]
were going to be used live and we could to play around to figure
out how to implement them with the rest of the system,” he says,
“which turned out to be pretty easy and a lot of fun. It's not every
day that you get to cross over loudspeakers at 28 Hz."
In fact, it’s those collaborations with his Meyer colleagues and
DAVID VINCENT (RIGHT) WITH MEYER SOUND'S ROGER SCHWENKE
users from around the world that most frequently remind him of
why he loves his job. “Having the chance to be surrounded by such
great human beings with great minds and incredible conversations
is a career highlight in itself,” he offers.
On top of his formal day-to-day responsibilities with Meyer, he
also does some freelance system design for events like Montreal’s
Piknic Electronik series and Igloofest.
“One of my main challenges with those two events every year is
to make sure the system is designed and optimized to offer the best
SPL-to-complaints ratio,” he says with a laugh. “Both events being
in urban areas, respecting the neighbours has to be a priority. Of
course, there is not much that we can do against a windy day, but
that’s another story…”
When Vincent isn’t travelling the world and doing what he loves,
he’s at home building things, though he admits that he rarely fin-
ishes anything he starts considering his packed schedule. Singing
and playing music remains one of his hobbies, and he plans to build
a hobby studio in his basement. “If everything goes as planned,” he
says, “it should be ready in 20 years.”
He also enjoys giving his kids a taste of the road life on family
trips and excursions. “Since I travel quite a bit for work, and mostly
on my own, it’s very nice to share some travel experiences with the
kids, to expose them to different countries and cultures.”
On the professional horizon, Vincent is looking forward to help-
ing an even wider array of clients and collaborators realize their
visions with Meyer Sound systems, especially knowing that means
working with more of the industry’s best and brightest minds.
Of course, other people are probably saying the same about him.
Shanine Cook is an Editorial Assistant with Professional Sound.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 21