www.psneurope.com
November 2013 l 41
livereport
Lawo detects Optocore inputs like it was another DALLIS, so you can control the gain levels,” explains de Caro. A 16-fader Lawo extender [on a Cat5 cable running up to 200m] can be connected directly to the DALLIS or Optocore units – so a sound mix can be created directly from the stage. What are the shortcomings in the system, and the console in particular, then? De Caro highlights some of the processes expected in the live environment, such as the use of multiple VCA controls and snapshots (“you only have one VCA controlling a group of faders on a broadcast desk, you need more than that on a live desk”); switching the console into an offline mode, for previewing or adjustments; the different means of naming the mix busses. “But they agree to do without for now because there is so much power and processing within the Lawo. The management of a network offered by Lawo is the best in the world: the matrix can handle 8,192 x 8,192 paths and multiple consoles.” Gilg, in particular, has found the 16-
fader extender unit a boon. “With banks of inputs and to be able to flip between them, I can mix two stages on [just] 16 faders. With someone working on another Lawo desk, we can really work as a team. Sometimes we are mixing 12 or 15 mixes per day…”
“The possibility to change all the faders as soon as we what; to have in just one desk to have what we want, where we want… it is a really, really open system,” he continues. “If you have a clear idea of what you want to do, you can do it.” ”Imagine that all the mic inputs, and all the controls on the console, are just data on the server on the network,” adds de Caro. “This is how Lawo thinks: the sound is for sharing, but with the correct management, so you able to change the gain on the preamps and so on. “The objective is to keep everything
that is good with Lawo, plus the important elements from the [Innovason] Eclipse, to make a product that will provide the right price for the right market.” De Caro emphasises that you won’t see Lawo targeting that already- crowded compact mixer market, though.
Lawo has other ideas: the opposite of the current economic choice, in fact. The Innovason Eclipse desk is now a mature product and will continue to be supported but not be repackaged in other sizes: let Behringer, Yamaha, Soundcraft and the others fight it out in the small footprint stakes. “We want to stay in big theatres or Broadway shows,” he says, “providing huge network capability and powerful processing. “When everyone goes to manufacture in China, we will manufacture in Germany – because Lawo want to [push the profile of] Innovason up and up.” Will the Innovason brand survive, or will it be absorbed into a ‘Innovason by Lawo’ realignment? It’s too early to say. Whatever the outcome, Lawo acquired Innovason five years ago because they wanted that touring technology and because they were, well, too “broadcasty”. When the next stage of that evolution will begin, the heritage and learning that has made Innovason successful – the MARS 64-track recorder, for instance which may soon by 128-track capable, via Ravenna – will become part of the new Lawo DNA. “And,” says de Caro proudly, “whatever happens to the brand, the spirit of Innovason is here, within me.”
www.lawo.de
Olivier Gascoin mixed on the Lawo mc256
Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails made a rare and electrifying appearance at the festival
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56