PROJECT
FILE
While Canada ’ s House of Commons in Ottawa undergoes a revitalization , an interim House of Commons was built in the West Block ’ s courtyard on Parliament Hill . In need of a custom microphone solution for the project , Martin Van Dijk , senior consultant and partner at Engineering Harmonics , turned to DPA and its Canadian distributor , GerrAudio .
Van Dijk says GerrAudio ’ s strong representation and their ability to put him in touch with DPA directly was integral to developing the custom microphone solution . “ When you ’ re working with that level of client , there are no compromises . There were really specific requirements for how the microphones worked , how they picked up the sources and , obviously , for their sound quality .”
After creating a rough prototype himself using existing DPA microphones , Van Dijk and GerrAudio ’ s Geoff Maurice flew to DPA ’ s headquarters in Denmark to establish final proof-of-concept . There , DPA Design Manager René Mørch and his team continued testing . “ DPA has a recording studio in their facilities and they built their own mock-up of the
DPA prototype for the interim House of Commons podiums and had some competitor ’ s microphones there so we could do some comparisons in situ and really listen critically to the results ,” Van Dijk notes . Ultimately , DPA delivered over 400 custom elements for installation in the Commons by Ottawa-based engineering firm Applied Electronics .
Shenzhen Leiting Digital Entertainment is one of China ’ s leading video game publishers , with over 45 million people across the country playing its mobile and PC releases . To assist in creating all-around immersive experiences for its users , the company recently commissioned a 5.1.4 game audio studio based around Genelec Smart Active Monitors . The studio has a pair of Genelec 1234As as its main stereo monitoring system , with a 5.1.4 immersive system comprising 11 8330A nearfield two-way monitors in all positions , complemented by a 7370A subwoofer .
“ What we want is not just a recording studio , nor a standard mixing studio or a reviewing studio . To be precise , what we want is a ‘ game sound lab ’ to assist us in the conceptual design of games ,” says composer and game sound designer Knuckles ( Jianyu ) Zhang , who led the studio project . “ I needed a genuinely truthful monitoring system to do my work . Genelec ’ s sound is very reliable . You can trust what you ’ re hearing and you can be certain about what you create using them . When I use the 1234s to listen to material , I can immediately evaluate the quality of mixing .”
Canadian band BADBADNOTGOOD have released five criticallyacclaimed albums , including a collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan ’ s Ghostface Killah . Their combination of jazz-based musicianship with hip-hop sensibilities has made them an in-demand backing band for many rap and R & B stars , including Tyler , The Creator ; Daniel Caesar ; Mick Jenkins ; and Kendrick Lamar . For their latest project , a new selfproduced album expected in early-2021 , the group used an array of gear and plug-ins from Universal Audio .
The UA Apollo interface “ is a pivotal piece of equipment for our process , we use it for all sessions ,” the band says , adding : “ We use UAD plug-ins for multiple instruments that we don ’ t play to flesh out our sound and make it feel more full .” Among the other go-to UA plug-in models used on the upcoming album , the band lists the Helios Type 69 , Teletronix LA-2 and LA-2A , Precision Delay Modulation , ADA Flanger , Empirical Labs Distressor , Pultec EQP-1A , Ampex ATR-102 , Oxford Limiter , and Neve 1073 .
70 PROFESSIONAL SOUND