Sound By Design was a double winner in the Installed Audio category of Intent Media’s Pro Sound Awards 2014, which took place at the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London on Thursday night.
The installation of EM Acoustics’ HALO Compact system at the Royal Albert Hall led to the company winning the Team of the Year award, and also, shared with EM Acoustics, the Best Permanent Installation Project award. Pictured with the Team of the Year trophy are (L-R) Sound by Design’s Phill ‘Chappie’ Chapman, Elaine Duffy and Griff Hewis.
Sound By Design won the tender process to completely renew the sound system the iconic venue in September 2013. The HALO Compact line array system from young British manufacturer EM Acoustics beat off competition from much older and more established brands. Sound By Design’s founder and MD Andy Callin, said the principal reason for choosing HALO Compact over anything else was “its outstanding accuracy and coherency and an ability to maintain control of the dispersion over a distance of 50+ metres.”
The award for Best Temporary Installation Project went to Source Distribution and Genelec for a temporary installation at the Cock ‘n’ Bull Gallery in London in February and March 2014. The exhibition, entitled Tripping The Light Fantastic, was put on to showcase artist Rupert Newman’s geometric, kinetic and colourful projection artworks, complemented by soundscapes from Sarah Warne. “Sound playback that I can trust is crucial to me,” said Warne. “I have worked with a pair of Genelecs for the past four years in a small project studio, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the quality and transparency of the monitors.”
The award for Best Marketing Initiative was won by Shure for Call for Legends – an unsigned bands competition held between September and December 2013. The winning band, Fingertrap, not only won Shure gear to a total value of £3000, but also got to record for a weekend at London’s Kore studios with respected producer Chris Kimsey, with the results mastered by Matt Colton (who has worked with James Blake and Coldplay), and also landed themselves a gig at this summer’s Montreux Jazz Festival.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to John Pellowe. Currently project director for Meyer Sound’s Constellation room acoustic-altering technology, he spent many years as a recording engineer for Decca, including many years working with the late Luciano Pavarotti. Introducing the award, PSNEurope editor Dave Robinson read a citation from the great operatic tenor: “John has over the years developed a very clever way to ‘carry’ the voice so that it does not sound amplified. He is a very good technician and I am very happy with the result and the way my voice sounds.”
The Pro Sound Awards also recognised achievement in live, broadcast and studio sound.
