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So I split Amici and Der Rosenkavalier into ProTools
and then split Amici off into Pyramix, and put
Der Rosenkavalier off into the Genex. So I had
three recording sources, two different shows of
different lengths, all going to the same place
and recording away quite happily. Combining the
recording sources gives us 152 tracks in total.
BW: You could
ostensibly flick between however many live shows
were going on at the time. Is that right?
TDC: Exactly.
It actually happens prior to reaching the board.
The Euphonix board is essentially a control surface,
so this patching all occurs within the core of
the system, before it even gets to any of the
Euphonix or ProTools DSPs for processing.
BW: The time
savings must be enormous.
TDC: That’s
definitely becoming evident. [Producer] Daniel
Denholm was in here a few weeks ago recording
the ACO [Australian Chamber Orchestra]. He arrived
at 9am and within an hour had set up a whole bunch
of mics. ProTools was already running, so all
we had to do was angle mics. His previous experience
was wheeling in a ProTools rig of his own. He
was expecting to be ready to record after lunch.
With the current system we were up and running
by 10.30am. Getting the ‘meat and potatoes’ stuff
sorted out quickly so you can focus on the actual
gig is one real advantage that’s emerged from
this.
Studio for Hire
BW: Is it
true that anyone can book the studio?
TDC: It’s
set up as a commercial studio but the idea was
never to compete with the recording industry in
Australia. To me the studio provides something
that Sydney doesn’t currently have, and that’s
a large, ready-to-go live performance and recording
venue.
I’d say the studio would be fulfilling its brief
when we start getting shows here that we wouldn’t
previously have had. We’re hoping performers will
have the motivation to record their performances
and perhaps a live DVD while they’re here.
BW: So for
example, the Kiss DVD that was produced in Australia
not so long ago might have been something that
needn’t have left the building?
TDC: That’s
our aim. Another example is The Australian Opera
Company. It’s a regular visitor to the Opera House
and we recently did a CD and broadcast for them,
subcontracted through ABC Classic FM. The Opera
Company traditionally gets ABC Classic to do it,
but the ABC ended up subcontracting us to do the
recording.
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Optical
Plumbing Throughout
The entire Opera House is hooked up by an optical
fibre network. Between every venue and myriad other
points in and around the building such as the forecourt
areas. This network has become the backbone of communication
between the separate venues and the main studio.
This system is controlled via a Central Control
Room (CCR) deep within the bowels of the building.
Here, the optical routers handle patching duties
between venues. The CCR also provides the building’s
‘house clock’. Each of the main venues can run to
their own personal clock generator with sample rates
being converted on-the-fly should they need to rejoin
the network.
“ I had three recording sources, two different
shows of different lengths, all going to the same
place and recording away quite happily ”
When it comes to feeding signals from stage to
the network (and consequently to the studio),
two mobile 56-channel remote input racks transmit
data back to the ProTools and Pyramix recorders.
These racks contain the Euphonix preamps (remote
controllable from any of the System 5 or Max Air
consoles) and analogue-to-MADI conversion before
being spirited to the studio via the optical network.
In the past, things weren’t quite as simple, as
Tony explains:
TDC: We did
an opera recording last year for the ABC in the
Opera Theatre, where we had to get about 30 mic
lines down to the studio. There was a particularly
loud percussive hit in the first take and we discovered
a mysterious lack of digital level. We were getting
clicking on the digital line even when we had
3dB of headroom - the meters would run up and
then stop at about -3dB... and that’s where I
was hearing the distortion.
I slept on the problem, and then it suddenly dawned
on me: it was the capacitance of the line. A thousand
feet of cable (coming all the way down from the
Opera Theatre down to the vocal preamps in the
studio) was actually creating a massive load.
The tiny amount of power that the microphones
put out (+48V phantom) was running from the studio
all the way out. All of that combined with vast
lengths of cabling meant that we just didn’t have
the same headroom.
We’re now placing the preamps as close as we can
to the microphones and not back at the console,
and the difference it makes is just enormous.
Suddenly our imaging is back and our headroom
restored. That was a major epiphany for us. With
the mobile remote preamps we can keep the microphones
as close as possible to their preamps, digitise
and bring that signal into the network and consequently
anywhere in the building.
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