PRO SOUND AWARDS Celebrating audio excellence
Acoustician Andy Munro and campaigning industry body BEIRG will collect two of the trophies at Intent Media’s pro-audio celebration night, to be held at the Ministry of Sound on 19 September
BEIRG has long campaigned to ensure that events and installations using wireless microphones have sufficient radio frequency spectrum for their needs
Andy Munro began in the industry in 1972
THE INAUGURAL Pro Sound Awards take place on Thursday 19 September at the Ministry of Sound. The winners of the awards that are decided by our panel of industry judges – including the three Installation categories detailed in this magazine last month – will be announced on the night. However, we can reveal the identities of the recipients of two of the major Pro Sound Awards decided by the Awards team – the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grand Prix.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Acoustician Andy Munro will be named as the recipient of the first Pro Sound Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. The unanimous choice of Munro was made by the Awards team – the editors of Intent Media titles Audio Pro International, MI Pro, Audio Media, Installation, TVBEurope, Music Weekand PSNEurope. “I am extremely flattered to
be given this accolade,” Munro commented on hearing the news. “The world of acoustics has often been regarded with a mixture of suspicion and reverence, a status quo I have always tried to debunk so I accept gratefully this award as recognition of a job well done by everyone at Munro Acoustics.” Andy Munro studied mechanical engineering before joining the Shure Corporation
12 September 2013
of America in 1972 as a technical writer. His interest in microphone and loudspeaker design led to involvement with the design of speaker systems for large auditoria for sound reinforcement purposes. Munro worked with many of Shure’s clients and sponsored artists, including The Rolling Stones and rental giant Showco during its Led Zeppelin tours in 1975.
In 1980, he started his own design practice, specialising in studio design and acoustic analysis, using techniques such as time-delay spectrometry that, at the time, were not generally known in the UK. In 1990 he co-founded Dynaudio Acoustics with the eponymous Danish manufacturer to design professional monitor systems for recording and film mixing facilities. Munro Acoustics has become one the most respected design companies in the audio business and that is the result of a “complete commitment to high-fidelity sound”, he says. A small team of acoustic and architectural experts has expanded the range of projects to every corner of the professional sound business. In the past 10 years, Munro has established a thriving consultancy in India and a studio construction business with architect Clive Glover. Chris Walls has assumed
overall responsibility for acoustic design so that Munro can work on new products and software. Munro Acoustics has
recently worked with Dolby, Disney and the Pinewood- Shepperton Group to develop the new Atmos standard for film mixing theatres. He is currently designing studios for the new BBC headquarters in central London, including a TV studio along the public glass façade of the Peel Wing of New Broadcasting House. “I consider any recognition by one’s peers to be encouraging and meaningful and, as our very existence depends on a combination of reputation and value engineering, this award is especially welcome,” said Munro.
GRAND PRIX The first Pro Sound Awards Grand Prix will be presented to campaigning industry body BEIRG – the British Entertainment Industry Radio Group. “BEIRG is absolutely delighted to pick up this award. To receive industry recognition for our collective efforts over the last nine years is very satisfying,” says the group’s Alan March. Since 2004, BEIRG has campaigned to ensure everyone involved in PMSE (programme making and special events) in the UK has continued access to sufficient quantities of interference-free
spectrum. With continued financial input from companies, industry organisations and individuals, BEIRG has engaged with government, MPs, Ofcom, the European Commission and other stakeholders to ensure that the PMSE sector has a voice in the face of damaging spectrum management policies. To date, BEIRG has accomplished several key achievements. BEIRG’s early campaigning led to a significant shift in Ofcom’s approach to managing the ‘Digital Dividend’, effectively saving the PMSE sector from market failure through careful licensing and protected access, agreed in December 2007. Faced with the possibility of no guaranteed quality spectrum allocation after Ofcom cleared Channel 69 to sell alongside 800MHz for mobile broadband, BEIRG’s second major success was to secure a like-for-like replacement for Channel 69. Channel 38 was announced as a UK-wide exclusive channel for PMSE users in June 2009. Following this BEIRG launched a high-profile campaign, Save Our Sound UK, to pressurise the government into delivering compensation for PMSE equipment lost through the move to Channel 38. This culminated in BEIRG securing a commitment from the UK government to
compensate users with 55% of the purchase price of their Channel 69 equipment. BEIRG is continuing to campaign resolutely to prevent the sell-off of 700MHz, or any other bands, for additional mobile broadband services at the expense of PMSE, as well as to secure a long-term home for the PMSE sector. It is also working hard to protect PMSE from the planned introduction of White Space Devices, which are likely to deprive or disrupt areas of interleaved spectrum currently used by PMSE. “It’s been a long road, and the journey is far from over,” says March. “We would like to thank all of those companies, organisations and individuals who have supported us in the past and those that continue to support us today. Hopefully, this award will awaken more people to the issues that we still face and will result in even more support. The larger the membership, the stronger the message.” Andy Munro and BEIRG will
receive their trophies at the Pro Sound Awards, to be held at the Ministry of Sound in London on 19 September. Headline sponsors for the event are DiGiCo and Sennheiser. Tickets are available now
for just £45 – contact
sarah.harris@intentmedia.co.uk or visit the website.
www.prosoundawards.com/tickets
www.installation-international.com
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 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68