New music-making concept delivers sound in the palm of your hand
ANAHEIM, Calif.–Yamaha Corporation of America is set to reveal their award-winning new music-making technology, Tenori-on, for the first time in the United States with launch events for the public and press in NEW YORK on April 16 and SAN FRANCISCO on April 18, 2008.
Recently earning PC World Magazine‘s 25 Most Innovative Products Award at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Tenori-on literally means “sound in the palm of your hand” and is a twenty-first century digital musical instrument that is part art-piece, part must-have music gadget for the iPhone generation. The brainchild of Japanese Media Artist Toshio Iwai, Tenori-on emanates from his experiments with light shows and musical boxes, resulting in a hand-held, burnished magnesium-encased matrix of 256 LED buttons that glow as you access different sounds and textures (‘Layers‘) over an infinitely repeating sequence of notes.
Sound images are literally drawn with Tenori-on using a host of internal sounds as well as samples loaded from external sources. With an interface where sight and touch are every bit as integral as sound, the Tenori-on music making possibilities are as endless as they are addictive.
Iwai has teamed with Yamaha, the world‘s largest and longest-established musical instrument company, forming an unusual partnership of old and new, art and music, light and sound, to bring Tenori-on to market. This first generation Tenori-on product will be selectively marketed as an introduction to this cutting edge technology as more products are planned over time. This will be welcome news to the nearly one million curious consumers that have viewed Yamaha‘s demo of the product on YouTube.
“The beauty of Tenori-on is that it offers a fresh approach to music creation no matter what your musical background and experience are,” said Athan Billias of Yamaha. “It’s exciting that Yamaha , a company known mostly for making traditional musical instruments is investing in cutting-edge technologies that will expand the market for music making.”
Launch events for the media and the public will take place in New York (Southpaw in Brooklyn on April 16th) and San Francisco (1015 Folsom on April 18th). The events will not only feature Toshio Iwai himself, explaining this new musical paradigm, but also a host of edgy new electronic artists such as Sutekh, Safety Scissors, Pole, and I Am Robot And Proud, who have already incorporated Tenori-on into their stage shows. The events are free to enter and will feature Demo Stations for an interactive experience.
Public registration for a launch event is free at www.tenori-on-tour.com. Press area passes can be obtained through RSVP to Brian McConnon at mtech marketing communications: brian@mtechmarketing.com or 610-480-8360.
LAS VEGAS, NV–Solid State Logic, the world‘s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals, will feature its expanded portfolio of the popular C100 HD Digital Broadcast Consoles at NAB 2008, April 14-17, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (booth #N4031). The C100 HD, C100 HD-S and the new C100 HD-L Consoles, along with a broad range of routing and I/O options via the CS-B Stage Box and/or MORSE, are designed to fit installations from local stations and mobile trucks to national broadcasting facilities. more…
TORONTO, CANADA–LiveWire Remote Recorders recently installed a 48-channel, Solid State Logic C200 HD Mobile Console and two SSL C-SB Stageboxes into their state-of-the-art, 32‘ mobile truck. LiveWire‘s new C248 is being used to record and supply live stereo and 5.1 mixes for broadcast productions throughout North America. more…
French Broadcaster Invests In SoundField Hardware For Surround-Sound Sport
Wakefield, UK, April 2008: SoundField is delighted to announce that French state television channel France 3 has begun using SoundField systems, comprising SPS422B microphones and SP451 processors, to provide surround-sound audio for high-definition sports broadcasting. At present, all of France’s state broadcast transmissions are in standard definition, but the SoundField systems are now installed in several of France 3’s OB vehicles, ready for the HD sports coverage that France 3 will be offering in the near future.
The decision to move to HD sports coverage at France 3 has been in the pipeline for some time; technical trials were carried out with various multi-microphone surround systems in early 2006, at a Rugby European Cup match. Multi-channel audio recordings were made to France 3’s Pyramix digital recording workstations using the competing microphone systems, including Soundfield’s, and these audio tests were then taken to France 3’s post-production centre in Rennes, together with the various audio streams that made up the original standard-definition broadcast (ambient sound, commentator’s comments, and so on). After extensive testing to see how easy it was to mix the broadcast using the audio from the different surround microphone systems, SoundField’s microphones won the day.
The first SPS422B/SP451 systems were installed in the OB vehicles owned by France 3’s regional headquarters in Marseille and Lille, in April 2007, just in time to provide 5.1 audio for HD transmissions of Roland Garros French Open Tennis, which were supplied to international broadcasters such as Orange and the Russian state broadcaster. A third SoundField SPS422/SP451 system has since been installed in the high-definition OB truck owned by France 3’s regional headquarters in Rennes.
hi-res image available at this link: http://pr.zoocomms.com/Default.aspx?tabid=27&g=posts&t=1702
Sky Sports Purchase Six SoundField DSF-3s Following Successful Field Test
Wakefield, UK, April 2008: SoundField’s DSF-3, the final link in a fully digital surround-capable SoundField microphone system, has successfully passed its first technical trials, providing digital 5.1 surround sound from a single DSF-2 microphone at the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s home ground. The match, which was being transmitted in high definition by Sky Sports, marked the practical debut of SoundField’s new DSF-3 system. Shortly after the match, Keith Lane, Operational Manager at Sky Sports, signed a sales order for six of the new units.
The DSF-2, SoundField’s first fully digital microphone, was launched in 2006. Like all SoundField microphones, its multi-capsule head provides a multi-channel output signal in a proprietary format which may be simultaneously decoded with SoundField hardware or software into a variety of audio formats, including mono, stereo and 5.1 surround sound. However, before the advent of the DSF-3 processor, announced at last Autumn’s AES show, the only way to obtain 5.1 surround from the DSF-2 for high-definition broadcast was to process its output using the SP451 decoder from SoundField‘s analogue range. Broadcasters like Sky Sports, who have now standardised on the DSF-2, were therefore obliged to convert the digital output from the DSF-2 into an analogue signal for decoding to 5.1 by the SP451, and then reconvert back to digital for final transmission. The digital DSF-3 obviates the need for this extra stage of digital-to-analogue and analogue-to-digital conversion, and ensures that the three-dimensional soundfield picked up by the DSF-2 microphone follows a completely digital signal path from the point of capture to the final HD broadcast.
Keith Lane comments: “We’ve been looking forward to the debut of the DSF-3 for some time, and it was a pleasure to welcome Ken Giles and Pieter Schillebeeckx of SoundField to Stamford Bridge to put the first unit to the test. We have had a DSF-2 permanently installed at Chelsea’s ground for some time, and have been using it in conjunction with an SP451 processor in our OB vehicle. For the Chelsea-Liverpool game, we split the signal from the DSF-2, running it through the new DSF-3 and also via our usual SP451 unit. The idea was to use the DSF-3 feed for the HD broadcast of the match if everything went according to plan, but we had the option of using the feed through the SP451 if anything went wrong. The beauty of this setup was that it permitted us to compare the 5.1 feed coming out of the SP451 with the one coming from SoundField’s new DSF-3 — a perfect A/B test situation.
“As expected, the signal passing via the DSF-3 had a much lower noise floor, as it omitted the extra D-A and A-D conversion stage. We rigged everything up the previous day, and by the time of the match itself we were confident that the DSF-3 was working well enough to be used for the live transmission. Our intention is now to gradually purchase DSF-3 units for all of the OB vehicles we use with the DSF-2 — we have already ordered the first six units — and we will retain the SP451 processors in these vehicles as a redundancy measure. The DSF-3 offers even greater control over the output of the DSF-2, including the ability to digitally store mic setups for different venues, and we’re confident it will be a valuable addition to Sky’s systems.”
“We’re delighted that the DSF-3’s technical trial at Chelsea went so well,” comments SoundField’s Managing Director Ken Giles. “Not only can we now offer our existing valued DSF-2 customers an improved, all-digital system for 5.1 audio capture, the DSF-3 also makes our digital microphone system more attractive to new customers.”
For more information on using an all-digital DSF-2 and DSF-3 system to broadcast 5.1 surround sound in HD, contact SoundField on +44 (0)1924 201089, or see www.soundfield.com.
McNally Smith College of Music is supporting the rock-stars of tomorrow by sponsoring the second annual High School Rocks Battle of the Bands on Sunday, April 20th, 2008. As part of its involvement with the competition, McNally Smith is sending a crew of its leading instructors along with five of its students to record the entire concert through use of Digidesign ProTools, which will result in a compilation CD that will feature one song performed by each band. A group of McNally Smith College of Music students will also participate in the event and will be among those featured on the compilation CD as they take to the stage and perform under the mixing of Eddie Mapp, FOH engineer for the popular rock group Evanescence. more…
Los Angeles, CA (April 2, 2008) - Transom Capital Group announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Blue Microphones, a leading provider of high-end microphones for the professional audio and consumer markets. Since its inception in 1995, Blue has grown to become a top brand in the industry through its unmatched sonic quality and a unique design aesthetic. Skipper Wise and Martins Saulespurens, the founders of Blue, will retain an ownership interest in the Company and continue building the world‘s best microphones following the closing of the transaction.
Russ Roenick, Managing Director at Transom Capital, said that executives from Transom Capital and Blue have already been working together to develop a strategic plan for the Company and that Blue will be moving quickly to execute against key opportunities in the coming months.
“This transaction presents an excellent opportunity to work with the team at Blue to achieve the next stage of growth for the Company,” Mr. Roenick said. “Blue has the top brand in the space and relationships with major retailers and artists based on its history of design, innovation, and great products. The Company has several extremely compelling growth opportunities.”
“We chose Transom as our acquisition partner because they provide the operational expertise that will allow us to create value while continuing to focus on what we do best - making microphones with the best look and sound in the world,” said Skipper Wise, President and Co-founder of Blue. “From our first meeting they demonstrated that they really understand our business and were willing to roll-up their sleeves to help us grow the Company.
Ken Firtel, Managing Director at Transom Capital, said that the Blue transaction was an excellent example of Transom Capital‘s business model in practice.
“Blue is a Southern California, middle market company that can benefit from our ability to partner with management teams and improve operational efficiency through hands-on involvement with the company,” Mr. Firtel said. “Transom Capital will be getting operationally involved with Blue to add value at all levels of the organization and enable the company to achieve its potential.”
Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Transom Capital
Transom Capital Group is a Los Angeles private equity firm focusing on investments in the consumer, industrial, and media spaces. Transom‘s value creation model is differentiated from other firms based on its high level of operational involvement with its portfolio companies. For more information, please visit www.transomcap.com.
About Blue Microphones
Blue Microphones is a leading manufacturer of high-end microphones for the professional audio and consumer markets. Blue has an award-winning line of studio microphones and accessories and is recognized as one of the top brands in the industry. Recently, Blue has launched a new line of products targeted at the consumer mass market, including a USB-connected microphone called the Snowball and a smaller, portable version called the Snowflake. For more information, please visit www.bluemic.com.
CA Guitars, a premier builder of carbon fiber acoustic guitars, is going mobile with the introduction of its new Cargo model; a travel-sized extra-small-body acoustic guitar. Like all of the models in the CA catalogue, the Cargo will be outfitted with Elixir® Strings, pioneer of long-life strings. more…
LAS VEGAS, NV–Solid State Logic, the world‘s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for film, audio, video and broadcast professionals, is pleased to showcase the C200 HD Digital Production Console with an enhanced feature set, along with its entire C Series product portfolio at NAB 2008, April 14-17, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (booth #N4031). Of particular interest to broadcast clients is the remote I/O capabilities that are ideal for live broadcast applications. more…
LAS VEGAS, NV–Solid State Logic, the world‘s leading manufacturer of analog and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for film, audio, video and broadcast professionals, will showcase the Gravity Media Production Management System at NAB 2008, April 14-17, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (booth #N4031). This next generation of collaborative production editing and media management is ready for prime time offering superior speed while addressing multiple formats. more…
