CHESSINGTON, ENGLAND – In a 20-plus-year career as an independent audio engineer and system designer, Ken Gordon has straddled the worlds of rock ‘n’ roll sessions/tours and corporate one-offs on gigs ranging from Mick Fleetwood and Jane's Addiction, to product rollouts for aerospace innovator Boeing Corporation and corporate meetings for broadcast leader Comcast. As an enthusiastic digital devotee, he says he is noticing a trend towards the embracing of digital technology in the corporate world. The DiGiCo D1’s versatility, flexibility and transparent sonic quality made for a manageable solution in handling the continually changing myriad audio/video requirements of these complex rollouts.
"For corporate events such as these, I need a console that will give me the flexibility for all the inevitable changes that will happen,” says Gordon. “I cannot nor will not skimp when it comes to sonic quality and the D1 is completely transparent in the audio signal chain. I have been using DiGiCo consoles for about 2 years and request them on every show when I am in the position to do so—it is honestly one of the very few pieces of gear that is actually fun to use and that I look forward to using. There are so many cool things that I can do in an instant that would usually take another engineer a much longer time on other consoles. When pairing up the DiGiCo with a Meyer Mica Line Array, I have all the tools that I need to keep the pickiest CEO happy. I think there are more corporate CEOs out there who fancy themselves audiophiles/engineers and they all have an opinion. The corporate executives have nice stereos at home and some of then play in bands so they all feel that they should give me a little (helpful) advice on how to mix. The DiGiCo D1 gives me that little edge with them. They all come back to FOH and say, ‘Now that is a cool looking console!’ Producers, stage managers and/or video directors are always blown away at how quickly and seamlessly the job gets done.”
For the Comcast 2008 Management meeting in February — a high-end and complex event with an influential speaker line-up that included Oprah Winfrey, Dennis Miller, Steve Jobs and Bill Clinton — Gordon used a 56-input DiGiCo D1, putting it through its paces to manage input/output routing assignments running the gamut from audio to video.
“On this event like many other corporate shows the entire recording is done back in video; there is not much audio multi-tracking going on. Things were routed everywhere — from the overall event audio to video record feeds with compression and leveling. From FOH, there is the norm, i.e., instant replay, my computers, VOG mic, plus we accommodated approximately 12 RF. mics, four lectern mics, audience response mics (for video recording) and a handful of video playback and computer playback source feeds."
Citing some of his favorite features of the console, Gordon is quick to point out snapshot automation, channel swapping/assign features, as well as the usability of the touch screens. “When using snapshots, it’s very easy to bounce between settings for playback from video,” he explains. “Many times I won’t know until the last minute if the tracks would be stereo or split track—or if we’d be adding video decks or more mics — and that could really have the potential to screw up if the change couldn't be made with the push of a button. The D1 makes those changes painless even if that means moving channels, which is quick and easy to navigate on the D1. Also, the overview screen is a huge help, and as simple of a thing as that it is, most other consoles don't have that, and which makes working the touch screens a breeze. Although there are more consoles out there now with touch screens, I think DiGiCo was the first to see the usefulness of having them. When you sit at a DiGiCo console you feel like you are touching something real, something that has been thought out. You reach for a knob or look for something in the signal path – it is where it should be. It just makes sense.”
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