CONSOLE TECHNOLOGY
Reliability and a solid support network make the Yamaha PM5D a ‘classic’ console for FOH engineer Ray Furze
maintain”. He acknowledges many have a “sweet” sound but that in deadline driven work, like his, things can be done quicker on a fast modern console, with the speed allowing more time to try things out. In broadcasting, layout and ease of use have been important basic requirements on consoles; those that fulfilled the criteria well went on to be regarded as classics. At one time BBC desks were designed and built in-house, although later they were produced on a commercial basis by outside manufacturers. A key point here was the fader running the opposite way to how everyone else had them. The thinking was that the operator pulling back the fader to increase the level and pushing it away to decrease the volume was a more intuitive way of working. Among the analogue stalwarts in TV
broadcast were Neve and Calrec, while in radio Alice, Sonifex, MBI, and Audix Broadcast were widely used. Today there has been a definite shift to digital. BBC Radio OB manager Richard Earle comments that all the major functions on a desk have to be easily and quickly located in a live situation. Because of this, he says, the SSL C200 is used for music mixing while the Studer Vista 8 is used for live sports and other fast-moving shows. Earle says a standout of the Vista 8 is its touchscreen access to EQ, aux sends, and dynamics, with the ability to bring ‘buried’ channels back to the top layer on the centre Vistonics panel. Despite what would now be seen as its very
specific needs in terms of desk lay-out and audio features, live sound had to make do in its early days with modified studio desks before purpose-built systems began to appear. The first console designed for live sound was the WEM Audiomaster. Although it had only five channels it could be connected with others in series and gave the sound engineer more
12 November 2013
control over the output of the loudspeaker rig. In the early 1970s, amplifier manufacturer
Midas produced the PR (aka Black) Series of desks, which spawned the classic PRO 4 and PRO 5. Tim Boyle, managing director of Clair UK (formerly Concert Sound), agrees these are classics because of their sonic quality and ease
“Everyone I know now seems to have a favourite digital console and I firmly believe that the favourite one, and the one that sounds ‘the best’ is the board that the operator knows how to use.” Tim Summerhayes
of use, although not so much for their lay-out: “The earlier Midas desks had the sensitivity right next to the faders, which could cause problems. But channels could be removed with only three and a half screw turns. So if one went down it could be taken out and replaced later and everything was still set with the EQ.” Another factor in Midas’ favour was its build quality, which should be a consideration for any type of mixing desk. Boyle comments that because the frames were well built they didn’t flex too much while in the truck, which avoided trouble with the electrical joints. Also a plus point – and again this applies to classic studio and broadcast consoles – was the use of good quality faders, in this case Penny & Giles, which were expensive but more reliable and smoother than cheaper alternatives. Front of house engineer Ray Furze, who has toured with James, The Spice Girls, and will be
going out on the Boyzone 20th anniversary tour later this year, comments that whether analogue or digital, a classic console has to be “reliable and invisible, in that order”. Support on the road, when something could go wrong anywhere in the world, is a practical if not very glamorous reason why a desk might be regarded over others. “With a global act it is very important to be able to find a replacement or service very quickly in the most obscure parts of the world this is one of the main reasons I stuck with Yamaha, from the PM 3000/4000 to the PM5D, for so long,” Furze says.
On his second point, Furze also returns to
the motoring analogy: “I believe a major consideration has to be the ergonomics. This is why I say the desk should be an ‘invisible’ tool not unlike an F1 car. When the operator/driver is working at their best it should disappear and leave them to get on with thinking about and reacting to the job in hand. The classic desk of the future might not be the one with the most functions or even be the best sounding but the one that makes most engineers comfortable and able to get on with the mix.” On a purely aesthetic level old analogue consoles in particular look wonderful, with their rows of coloured knobs and faders. This adds to the nostalgia and reaffirms the classic status of any console. Certainly modern digital desks and emerging virtual mixers cannot match this but, as Andy Richards concludes, what they are able to do – record and re-call hundreds of 5.1 tracks almost in an instant – more than makes up for any lack of tactility or eye-pleasing design. So perhaps a virtual mixing system with motion control instead of faders could be a classic console in another 40 years. And why? Well, there might just be something about it...
The International Guide To Consoles 2013
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