Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Lawo Is In The Mix At The Aspen Music Festival And School

15/09/2017

Lawo Is In The Mix At The Aspen Music Festival And School posted: 14/09/2017

The Aspen Music Festival and School, for decades the presenters of one of the world's most renowned orchestral music festivals, celebrates its 68th year in 2017. The just-completed Aspen Music Festival and School (known as AMFS ) encompasses eight weeks every summer, with multiple venues and more than 400 concert events to delight classical music enthusiasts, many of which are broadcast to audiences worldwide. At uch a major music festival, sound quality is paramount, which is why Lawo has chosen to help sponsor the event in years past. Lawo's commitment to the arts fits perfectly with the caliber of creativity that is nurtured by Aspen, says Lawo North America sales representative Michael Mueller. That's why we wanted to make a contribution to this prestigious music festival.

Music Is Their Mission

The mission of AMFS is to train and educate students for a professional career in Classical music; the annual Festival is an outgrowth of that mission. Each Festival season, the AMFS presents as many as 400 performances at locations both on campus and off-site, as well as at various symposiums and master classes.

But the centerpiece of the Festival is the 2,050-seat Benedict Music Tent, which is described as combining the acoustics of a concert hall with the ambience of an open-air tent. This is also where AMFS' Lawo mc256 mixing console plays an indispensable role, delivering a broadcast-quality stereo mix and simultaneous 5.1 surround mix of each performance. These mixes are digitally recorded and archived by the school's Edgar Stanton Audio Recording Center (ESARC) for later use by broadcasting partners such as American Public Media, SiriusXM, Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio's KAJX-FM, and the European Broadcast Union.

The AMFS also uses the Festival as a learning opportunity for audio engineers. We are responsible for 200 to 250 events during the Festival, says Scott Wynne, Chief Audio Engineer of ESARC. Some years we have returning engineers, but sometimes we have an entirely new staff. For some of them, it's their very first time using equipment from companies such as Lawo or Neumann.

All this activity in just eight short weeks means the audio engineering staff has very little downtime. We have 13 audio engineers, says Wynne, including Director of Audio Production Lisa Nigris, Head Media Engineer Dan Gonko, four Senior Audio Engineers, three Recording Engineers, and three Assistant Engineers. Every concert requires a minimum of two engineers for recording and a third for live sound mixing, but for a major production - say, a concert by Ren e Fleming - all hands are on deck!

mc256 - The Console Of Choice

Thanks to contributions from a generous benefactor, AMFS recently entered a lease-to-own agreement with Lawo for a 32-fader mc256 MkII mixing console with a Lawo DALLIS frame configured with 32 channels of mic preamplification and 16 channels of audio I/O.

A couple of years ago our old board died mid-season. You can imagine the stress that caused, recalls Lisa Nigris, Aspen's Director of Audio Production. With our unique mix of 5.1 and stereo recording needs, finding another console that could handle our requirements was really challenging. We had spoken with the Lawo folks, and a few other manufacturers, the previous year at AES so when the convention came around again, discussions became serious and Lawo, the focus. Lawo was willing to step in as a sponsor allowing us to test drive the gear for the entire 2016 season. What a godsend!

As Wynne explains, AMFS' recording needs are unique due to their mix of live sound, audio archiving, and broadcast activities. We don't do a Surround mix and then downmix it to stereo, he says. We construct discrete mixes on separate console layers, so any moves on one layer must be linked to the other. Many consoles are not capable of this kind of work, but the Lawo is.

We went to the AES show in New York and talked to many companies, but once we saw the Lawo console in action at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, we realized that this was the desk for us. Lawo didn't have to tell us sure, we can make our console do what you need' - the capabilities we needed were already built in.

During our interview process, being able to tout the use of the Lawo console was very enticing to prospective engineers. adds Nigris. Who wouldn't want to learn to use the same board used by The Tonight Show and the Olympics?

The Lawo mc256 has a number of features that really make work in the Tent much easier, says Head Media Engineer Dan Gonko, who oversees quality control of recordings, live radio broadcasts and internet streams.

Gonko says that one of the mc2's best features is its flexibility. There's a lot of depth to the console, but it's laid out in a very understandable way. A lot of boards simply don't have that combination of ease of use and ease of customization. For a dozen mixing engineers to have a one-hour training session and then be able to fully customize each individual board layout in just 30 minutes speaks volumes about Lawo's ease of use.

Also, the ability to actually customize the layout of the desk on a per-engineer basis is huge. The console has six banks of fader configurations available, each with two different layouts, so 12 custom setups are possible, meaning each engineer can customize the board to their individual workflow on a per-concert basis.

The quality of the mc2's processing is wonderful. Compressing, limiting and EQ are all very neutral - something you really need for classical work; you don't want the processing to color the sound. Being able to impart some compression or EQ on mics and have it sound transparent - lit
LINK: http://www.live-production.tv/news/shows/lawo-mix-aspen-music-festival...
See more stories from liveproduction

Most recent headlines

13/03/2025

FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...

13/03/2025

SDVI Integrates Rally With Spectra Vail

SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...

13/03/2025

FCC Approves Gray's Acquisition of KXLT

ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...

13/03/2025

NAB Show 2025 Exhibitor Insight: Blackmagic Design

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...

13/03/2025

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions. ...

13/03/2025

Relive the Magic as GeForce NOW Brings More Blizzard Gaming to the Cloud

Bundle up - GeForce NOW is bringing a flurry of Blizzard titles to its ever-expanding library. Prepare to weather epic gameplay in the cloud, tackling the genr...

13/03/2025

Gaming Goodness: NVIDIA Reveals Latest Neural Rendering and AI Advancements Supercharging Game Development at GDC 2025

AI is leveling up the world's most beloved games, as the latest advancements...

13/03/2025

Drop It Like It's Mod: Breathing New Life Into Classic Games With AI in NVIDIA RTX Remix

PC game modding is massive, with over 5 billion mods downloaded annually. Mods p...

12/03/2025

Como o Impacto Cultural e Financeiro da Indstria Musical Define Seu Sucesso em 2025

O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...

12/03/2025

Cmo el impacto cultural y financiero de la industria musical define su xito en 2025

Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...

12/03/2025

Nourish Mind, Body, and Soul This Ramadan With Spotify

Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...

12/03/2025

How the Music Industry's Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025

Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...

12/03/2025

FAST now transcends back catalog content

More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...

12/03/2025

Viamedia Adopts ShowSeeker Pilot To Streamline Ad Workflows

GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...

12/03/2025

Mediagenix Appoints Wael Yasin as Sales Director Central Europe

BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....

12/03/2025

Omdia: Global Online Consumer Expenditure to Hit $6.6 Trillion by 2029

LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...

12/03/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions Upgrades to Interra Systems BATON Version 9

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....

12/03/2025

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments High-capacity switch enhances existi...

12/03/2025

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...

12/03/2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally Sweden 2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...

12/03/2025

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits. By Madd...

12/03/2025

Offering a broad umbrella for IP standards

TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...

12/03/2025

Warner Bros Belgium takes a new approach to its post production workflows

The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks By Matthew Corrig...

12/03/2025

Another VFX company suspends operations

Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months By Jenny ...

12/03/2025

Bitcentral to Showcase AI-Powered Innovations for Smarter...

Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...

12/03/2025

Jeff Lilly Named WGN-TV Director Of Technology

CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....

12/03/2025

Survey: Consumers Want More Shoppable TV Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...

12/03/2025

IP Showcase To Focus On IP, Broadcast Tech Convergence at 2025 NAB Show

BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...

12/03/2025

Comcast Boosts Internet Speeds for More Than 20 Million Customers

PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....

12/03/2025

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14 Brie Clayton March 11, 2025 0 Comments Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade During Marc...

12/03/2025

Ross Video Strengthens Cloud Leadership with Appointment of Aaron Tunnell

Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...

12/03/2025

VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025

12 Mar 2025 VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...

12/03/2025

Getting Set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's Ongoing Software-Based Production Evolution

Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...

12/03/2025

Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful

Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...

12/03/2025

Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptual Displays

Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...

12/03/2025

Sky Sports Unveils Exciting Plans for 2025 Formula 1 Coverage

With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...

12/03/2025

Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz transmission solutions

Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...

12/03/2025

Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby Double-Header

Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...

12/03/2025

FOR-A America Introduces Top of the Line HANABI Series Switcher at NAB 2025 Exhibition

New HVS-Q12 Represents a Quantum Leap in Switcher Design...

12/03/2025

Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity Solutions for the Brazilian Market

Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity So...

12/03/2025

Congratulations to all our clients who have achieved TAG certification through our independent validation

ABC conducts independent audits across the TAG programs. In the March 2025 TAG s...

12/03/2025

Moonlight: Thales Alenia Space to develop the space segment of the navigation system orbiting around the Moon

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Moonlight: ESA program to create a satellite con...

12/03/2025

Thales among the world's top 100 most innovative companies for the 12th year, according to Clarivate

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn In 2025, Thales ranks among the top 0.01% of the...

12/03/2025

CCPC sponsored TV series The Complaints Bureau returns to RT One

Consumer show back following hugely successful first series 10 March 2025 Following a hugely successful first series, The Complaints Bureau returns to RT ...

11/03/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Amel Guellaty, the Writer-Director of Where the Wind Comes From

By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...

11/03/2025

Salsa's Rhythmic Revival: A New Generation Discovers the Genre's Timeless Appeal

Salsa is making a comeback, captivating new listeners with its infectious energy...

11/03/2025

Canada's Own Rupi Kaur Curates the Latest Edition of Local Spot, Revealing the Songs and Artists That Shaped Her

For many people, music can serve as a reflection of their roots and upbringing. ...

11/03/2025

ST Engineering iDirect's Public Safety Solution Wins MSUA Satellite Mobile Innovation Award 2025

The solution delivers reliable, scalable and secure connectivity for critical pu...

11/03/2025

Weigel Broadcasting Taps Harmonic for Cloud-Based Playout-to-Delivery

SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonics VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, inclu...