1238A SAM™ Studio Monitor

In the wake of the unmitigated success that is G Livelab Helsinki, the Finnish Musicians’ Union has opened a brand new – and bigger – venue in the vibrant city of Tampere, some 200km north of the Finnish capital. The same team was deployed to realise the Tampere project which is built according to the same ‘music first’ philosophy as Helsinki. The result is an extraordinary live music experience based on quality programming, modern design, and state-of-the-art Genelec audio systems including the ground-breaking new 4430 Smart IP loudspeaker.

Housed in a striking red brick building which was formerly the boiler house of the Frenckell paper mill in the heart of the city, the venue hosts up to 250 people and offers a hugely varied programme including jazz, folk, world music, pop/rock, chamber music, electronic music and more. Akukon Oy designed the acoustics, electroacoustics, lighting, sound, video, communication systems and basic IT structure as well as the rigging systems, as they did for Helsinki, and leading Nordic AV integrator, Bright – another key member of the Helsinki team – brought Akukon’s vision to life.

“Genelec was already a tried and tested solution with the first G Livelab project in Helsinki which has had great reviews,” explains Bright’s Head of Installation, Santtu Sipilä. “People really liked what we achieved in Helsinki, so it was an obvious decision to equip the Tampere club with Genelecs as well.”

The biggest difference between the two venues is the space – Tampere is much bigger with significantly higher ceilings. Although this posed certain challenges in terms of acoustic treatment, it also allowed greater freedom for the audio design.

The second notable difference is the use of Genelec’s 4430 Smart IP loudspeakers which weren’t available at the time of the Helsinki installation.

“We definitely wanted the new 4430s for easier cabling and added control; it’s opened up a world of possibilities for us,” admits Sipilä. “We have a fully networked system running on Dante – this includes the big loudspeakers used for the main PA – and any of the 4430s can take any signal from anywhere. This means that we can use the same loudspeakers for virtual acoustics, surround sound, background music, delays… the possibilities are endless, and it’s enabled us to considerably reduce the total amount of loudspeakers required in order to achieve what we wanted. We are able to make art with loudspeakers and we are not limited in any way in terms of how we can use the system.”

Tapio Ilomäki, the project manager for Akukon, agrees: “Our primary objective was the same as for Helsinki: to deliver a high-quality system with high musicality that serves the performer best. However, the versatility of systems and spaces was a key element of the design; modern venues need to be multi-purpose and they have to be able to facilitate these changes as quickly and easily as possible, for optimum functionality and quick return on investment. The use of the 4430s plays an important role at this level as well as offering extremely musical sound with very low distortion.”

The ability to have everything delivered over just a single cable is every installer’s dream.

Sipilä is also extremely impressed with the PoE (Power over Ethernet) capabilities of the 4430s. “We were really surprised by the SPLs and sound quality from this size of loudspeaker over PoE. We honestly didn’t think it was possible, so yes, we’re very impressed. The ability to have everything delivered over just a single cable is every installer’s dream, so I think that Genelec’s Smart IP range will be figuring in a great many of our future designs!”

In addition to the 4430s, the main PA system comprises a pair of 1236 SAM studio monitors, the flagship of the Genelec range, seventeen S360s for surround and delay, a pair of 1238s as the first delay line, and finally a flown sub array of nine 7380 subwoofers. “We didn’t have either the height or the space to include subs in Helsinki, so this is a welcome addition in Tampere which gives us some extra headroom in the system and helps add body and fullness to the sound,” continues Sipilä.

When you come here to listen to live music, it will most likely sound even better than it did on the record.

Renowned Finnish singer/songwriter, Markus Nordenstreng of Tuomo & Markus and the Latebirds considers G Livelab as his favourite venue for intimate performances. “Some of the best music I have ever heard has been live, but sound quality is often let down by the venue, either through bad acoustic treatment or a sub-par sound system – or both. What you have here at G Livelab is just the opposite end of the scale – for me it’s the ultimate live sound experience. When you come here to listen to live music, it will most likely sound even better than it did on the record – you can hear things you never heard before. It would be a great service to mankind if there was a G Livelab in every city around the world!”

The final word goes to Annamaija Saarela, CEO of G Livelab Tampere: “G Livelab isn’t just about the technology or the programming – it’s about the whole experience of enjoying live music, and I’m proud to say that in bringing together the best of everything and everyone involved, we have achieved a result that is even greater than the sum of the parts. We’ve had nothing but positive feedback since we opened, both from the public and musicians alike.”

Pressure Cooker Studios, a respected music and sound design house specialising in music production for film, television and advertisements, has recently moved into their new purpose-built studio facility in the centre of Cape Town, designed by world-renowned studio designer Martin Pilchner of Pilchner Schoustal International Inc. Genelec is at the heart of this new facility, with its local distributor, TruFi, supplying monitors for all of its recording studio spaces.

From humble beginnings in the basement of a house 10 years ago to a 355 square metre studio space, the new facility is exactly how the Pressure Cooker team had envisioned it from the outset, and features two main control rooms which sandwich a main studio proper, a 7.1 post theatre with adjacent ADR booth, five writing rooms, an independent isolation booth, reception, lounge and common spaces. James Matthes, Co-Founder and CEO of Pressure Cooker Studios notes: “We wanted to make our space as comfortable, but also as technologically advanced as possible – we spend so much time here, so it definitely had to feel lived in, making it a homely but premium space.”

Helping the Pressure Cooker team achieve this feat was Genelec’s GLM software. “The GLM system is fantastic in that it assists with all the relevant calibration of any one of the monitors within the array in terms of EQ and phase alignment,” notes Neil Leachman, Final Mix Engineer at Pressure Cooker. “After the system is aligned and EQ'd I spent a small amount of time just setting up levels for the individual outputs to align properly to the recommended levels for cinema monitoring for surround and R128 compliance. But the GLM system is invaluable in the setup.”

Pressure Cooker has been using Genelec stereo and surround sound monitoring systems since the company was founded, and this trend continues in the new facility. “Every room in the facility has Genelec!,” smiles Matthes “From buying my first pair over nine years ago, I have never looked back – each monitor is fantastic. The sound produced is so clean, natural and unadulterated – nothing colours it, and I just love that.”

Each room in the new facility has utilised Genelec monitors in one way or another; Matthes has a pair of 8040 nearfields in his writing room, there are three 1238A three-ways fulfilling the LCR role behind the screen in the 7.1 theatre, with two 7380A 15-inch subwoofers and 8040s as surrounds - while the smaller rooms all have 8030 nearfields. “We chose a uniform approach with Genelec because we wanted to be able to move from room to room and feel comfortable from the moment we hit play.” Matthes continues.

“For example, if I go from a writing session to the composition suite, or start doing a mix with a client in the theatre – my ears aren’t going to trick me. I find with Genelec, you don’t need any other reference monitor at any point, since they just naturally translate very well.”

The first true test for Pressure Cooker’s new facility was the film ‘This is not a burial, it is a resurrection’ that was premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. “This was the first film we mixed using our Genelec system and particularly for the international market, it converted amazingly,” says Matthes. “The film’s producer told us how clear and brilliant the sound was, which makes me very confident in the set-up we have, and confirms that our decision to choose Genelec for the whole facility was the right one.”

The Shanghai Vocational School of Contemporary Music has a noble aim: to cultivate professional talents in modern music production and performance. With the support of the Shanghai Municipal Government, it has set about this undertaking by creating a studio complex that will establish a high-level music training base to cultivate market-oriented students. Ensuring that the students are using the best possible equipment, Genelec Smart Active Monitors have been installed throughout the new facility.

During the early stages of development, Shanghai SunYart Digital Technology Director Alex Wei created a basic layout for the facility and continued to refine the plans alongside Technical Director, Zhang Minggang. Technical Execution was provided by He Weier, alongside world-renowned acoustician, Sam Toyoshima. One of the key factors for the team was creating a facility that would combine acoustics and aesthetics to the best effect. “Mr Toyoshima is an acoustic designer full of design aesthetics,” says Wei. “I wanted this project to meet the acoustic requirements and to have visual impact, to have that ‘wow’ factor, so our ideas fitted well.”

Genelec monitors have gained a good reputation in the industry, and were an inevitable choice for this project.

The design choices fitted well with the more technical decision to select Genelec Smart Active Monitors precisely calibrated with Genelec’s GLM Loudspeaker Manager software throughout the complex, with the monitors’ minimalist design and classic colour scheme complementing Mr Toyoshima’s modern, condensed aesthetic style. “Genelec monitors have gained a good reputation in the industry, and were an inevitable choice for this project,” explains Wei.

Beyond the style of the studio complex, a great deal of technical thought has gone into its creation. Take for example the large 300m2 recording studio with its variable reverberation time. The space features more than 70 rotary columns with different heights and diameters, and different sizes of sound absorption holes - which are used to achieve a reverberation time ranging from 0.8 to 1.2s.

The control room for this space features a pair of 1236 main monitors embedded in the floor-to-ceiling window. The team had a vision of making the monitors look as if they were floating in the glass, but faced challenges with the weight of the monitors and the assembly. Wei worked with Toyoshima’s design, calculated the angle, centre of gravity and friction at the bottom accurately, and compared various construction materials and methods. With this worked out, the two 1236 monitors were installed, remaining consistent with the 6 degree inclination angle of the glass.

I think the high-quality equipment and creative atmosphere provided by the school can train a group of future-oriented sound engineers better and faster.

In addition, three 8351 coaxial nearfield monitors have been placed on retractable stands - which don’t impede the sound from the main monitors when lowered, but can then rise mechanically to provide a 5.1 system for surround mixing. These are accompanied by two 7380 subwoofers. “8351 monitors give a very modern sense of science fantasy,” Wei explains. “When they are combined together with the 7380 subwoofers, it’s as if you are piloting a spaceship in Star Wars!”

A further unique teaching space comes in the form of the ‘staircase classroom’, where students sit on steps rather than traditional seating. On one side of the classroom there is a large floor-to-ceiling window, looking into a studio. When the teacher is working, the students can enter the studio to watch or observe through the glass from the steps outside. Above the mixing console, a high-definition camera displays the teacher in action via a projection screen, while Genelec 1238 three-way monitors relay audio to the class.

The project also created four other recording spaces, including a mastering room on the ground floor fitted with stereo 1238 monitors and a 5.1 system comprising 8351s and a 7370 subwoofer. Additionally, a multifunctional 5.1 teaching studio features 8260 monitors with a 7370 subwoofer, and two small practice studios in the basement are each equipped with a pair of 8351 monitors.

Staff at the school describe the results as going “beyond our expectations” and Wei is clearly proud of the innovative complex that has been created. “What we’ve ended up with here is excellent sound quality, and very accurate sound image positioning,” he comments. “The teachers at the school, the professors at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and the visiting professors from other schools think that this is the best studio they’ve ever seen.”

For his part, Toyoshima agrees: “I think the high-quality equipment and creative atmosphere provided by the school can train a group of future-oriented sound engineers better and faster.”

s5studio moved into its current space in Manhattan’s west side last May, but the business, founded by Sonny Carson, goes back almost a decade, to its first iteration in Brooklyn. Zukye Ardella joined the enterprise later, helping the Brooklyn location flourish and helping oversee the move to the Manhattan space. Carson and Ardella serve as business partners, sharing chief engineer titles. The studio now occupies a large space in the Chelsea neighborhood, an area long known as a hub of legendary music recording studios over the decades. This new home of s5studio, once the private facility for the Scissor Sisters (and originally designed by Horacio Malvicino of the Malvicino Design Group), has just opened its own third studio, the Midnight Blue Room, which joins its Crimson Room and the Black Room. What they all have in common is active monitoring from Genelec: a pair of 8331A Smart Active Monitors™ are the near-field solutions for the Crimson Room — the facility’s largest studio — while two 1234A Smart Active Monitors are used for main monitoring there; the Black Room uses the 8320A Smart Active Monitors as near fields; and the newest studio, the Midnight Blue Room, designed primarily by Carson, has a pair of 8331As for close-in listening and a pair of 1238A Smart Active Monitors for mains.

The Crimson Room at s5studio in Manhattan, featuring Genelec 8331A Smart Active Monitors™ as near-fields and two Genelec 1234A Smart Active Monitors as the mains

Notice anything missing here? “We are doing everything at this point without subwoofers in any room, and it’s blowing people’s minds!” states Ardella, a native New Yorker well known and liked in the city’s music-production community and whose engineering and production credits include Ne-Yo, WizKid, A$AP Ferg and Flipp Dinero. “The Genelec speakers all have incredible low-frequency power. The lows are big, even for hip-hop. But what’s really amazing is that those lows are also so clear and clean. Engineers and artists come here and tell us that they can push the bottom but they can still hear lyrics very clearly, which is very important. With Genelec, we can get the full range of sound and hear everything on the track.” Ardella says the acquisition of subs for some of the studios is planned for, but she and her clients have been completely satisfied with the low-frequency response they’ve been getting from this array of Genelec monitors.

Zukye Ardella, s5studio chief engineer

Genelec came with other benefits, too. For instance, all of the speakers utilize Genelec’s proprietary GLM™ and AutoCal™ software, which automatically controls and calibrates the monitors for the room response, level and time of flight and allows for multiple calibration locations as group presets. “The calibration system is very easy to use and very precise in how it tunes the speakers perfectly to each control room,” Ardella explains. “It got us up and running that much faster, and everyone remarks on the accuracy of the sound. Their mixes sound the way they expect them to. It’s why we stand by Genelec. I’m a proud Genelec user.”

Sonny Carson, s5studio founder and chief engineer