Wowing at Wembley

Amazing Acoustics

Slipway Sounds

Red TX and CTV tango with Strictly

Strictly Come Dancing’s live Wembley Arena show in November relied on Red TX and CTV to provide BBC Studios and Post Production sound engineers Tony Revell, Andy Tapley and Richard Sillitoe with all the facilities they needed to capture and broadcast the audio in stereo and 5.1 surround sound.

Red TX, which has extensive experience of delivering live sound for broadcast, provided its RED II truck for this project, while CTV provided its main OB9 scanner.

Andy Tapley, who manned the Studer Vista 8 digital mixing system on board RED II, said: "It was a complex project that involved a lot of inputs to capture the sound from the audience, the presenters and judges, the dancers, the orchestra and the guest acts - Kylie Minogue and Girls Aloud. Usually Tony and I sit next to each other at the same console, but for this show we were in separate vehicles and had to coordinate our mixes using the technical infrastructure provides by Red TX and CTV."

The two trucks were linked using a combination of MADI and MIDI interfaces. This allowed Tapley, who was in charge of the audio from the orchestra and the dancers, to work in unison with Revell, who was handling the audio from the audience, presenters, judges and guest performers to create the main mix.

RED II also incorporated an additional production/overdub and video gallery room at the rear of the vehicle. For this project it was equipped with a Yamaha DM2000 console, which was also linked to the CTV truck and used by Richard Sillitoe to create the surround sound mix.

Ian and Ollie were present on the night to support the BBC sound team: "This is the second year running that we have worked on the live Strictly show from Wembley Arena and we consider it an honour to be involved in such a prestigious project. Live shows are always nerve wracking and, although we weren’t manning the controls this time, we saw it as our responsibility to ensure that technically everything ran smoothly so that Andy, Tony and Richard could relax and get on with the job."

Mixing with the Folk from Cambridge

Pinewood, UK: Broadcast audio specialists Red TX sent its Red II Outside Broadcast truck to Cambridge recently to capture an extensive programme of music during the three days of the Cambridge Folk Festival.

Top folk artists including The Proclaimers, Joan Armatrading, June Tabor & Oysterband, Clannad and Seth Lakeman descended on Cherry Hinton Park for the event, which was broadcast live on Sky Arts and was presented by Zoe Ball, Mark Radcliffe and folk singer Julie Fowlis.

Red TX was commissioned to handle the broadcast audio by production company Smooth Operations. As well as feeding a 5.1 mix of the audio from the main stages to Visions for the Sky Arts broadcast, Red TX also prepared a separate stereo mix for BBC Radio 2.

Viv Atkinson, Director of Smooth Operations, says: "I book Red TX because, apart from being consummate professionals with everything you need to do the job, they are technically superb and most importantly brilliantly helpful with an amazing attitude that makes any job with them a pleasure."

On board Red II with the Red TX team was Mike Silverston, who used a de-rig recording set-up to mix and record the acoustic performances in the presentation studio.

Ollie says: "Cambridge is a great festival to be part of and the entire team really pulled together to deliver up to six hours of live music mixes per day."

Titanic Sounds in Belfast

Broadcast sound specialist Red TX was recently commissioned to record the audio for MTV Presents Titanic Sounds, an open-air festival to mark the opening of the Titanic Belfast tourist attraction.

Set against the backdrop of the new building, this one-off major music gig featured performances by Olly Murs (with a full nine-piece band), Pixie Lott, Katy B, Rizzle Kicks and Sean Paul.

Red TX used its newly refurbished Red I truck for the 5.1 audio recording, with director Tim Summerhayes manning the controls.

Summerhayes says: "Apart from the weather, which was absolutely freezing, the recording was a huge success and we had a great time working with the MTV production team. The setting, on the slipway in front of the new Titanic Belfast tourist attraction, was perfect and the concert was very well received by the audience."

MTV Presents Titanic Sounds will be broadcast internationally on MTV on May 25th 2012 as part of MTV’s World Stage music series.