Music & Lyrics
Why music & sound make the world go round
An OTMFN event
11 Nov 2013 at Solid State Logic, Begbroke, Oxfordshire
Video by Paul Wightman, filmmaker and owner of Indigo Dingo Ltd – film production and moving image communications agency.
Kindly hosted by Solid State Logic in its purpose-built audio facility
in Begbroke, this event gave life to the role of sound and music in today’s world. On a tour of the SSL campus, we enjoyed practical demonstrations of how rich and complex productions are created to make world class albums, films, TV shows and live concerts.
The event explored the demands of the creative process, showed state-of-the-art technology and helped attendees understand the true value of great audio and why live, broadcast and studio producers go such great lengths to get it absolutely right.
Our speaker, Antony David, is CEO of Solid State Logic (SSL). Starting at Richard Branson’s Manor Studios in the early 70’s, he spent ten years as a music recording engineer working with among others: Mike Oldfield, Captain Beefheart, Gong, Cliff Richard, Hans Zimmer and George Martin. He built and co-owned Sound Conception Recording Studios and worked as a freelancer in a number of leading London recording studios.
In 1983 he first joined SSL and played a key role in building the company which rapidly became the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of mixing consoles. In 1994, following the acquisition of SSL by Carlton Television, Antony moved to Sony Broadcast & Professional Europe to head up its pro audio business, later becoming Divisional Director for Sony’s European Broadcast Business. In 2005 he returned to SSL when Peter Gabriel purchased the company, which they have been transforming and growing since then.
Visitors to SSL’s magical premises in Begbroke had an insight into what a modern UK high tech media technology company looks like. The t
alk (which you can relive in the video in this article) and demonstrations lifted the lid on audio production in Music Recording, Live Sound, Broadcast and Film & TV post-production explaining what drives these businesses, how they fit with distribution models and how the technology has both driven change and responded to it. Experts in each of the fields shared their insights and demonstrated the state-of-the-art technology that SSL exports worldwide.
Acknowledgement:
Oxford Technology Media & Finance Network would like to thank Grant Thornton LLP for their kind support.
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