Prompted by Apple Music’s launch of Spatial Audio, Irish mixer, engineer and producer Steve Fitzmaurice has expanded his stereo monitor set-up with additional loudspeakers from Finnish manufacturer Amphion to allow him to mix in Dolby Atmos.

Born in Dublin, Fitzmaurice had relocated to London after finishing school seeking work in the city’s best-known recording facilities. His early career began on the nightshift answering the phones at producer Trevor Horn’s Sarm West Studios, but he was soon assisting on sessions with Horn and long-time Sarm West producer, engineer and mixer Julian Mendelsohn. After five years at Sarm, Fitzmaurice moved to New York and got a job at the Hit Factory, then went freelance after a year.

Read more ...

Aiming to ‘help young people realise their musical potential without financial constraints’, World Heart Beat Music Academy recently established a second location in Southwest London that includes a recording studio with a Solid State Logic Origin 32-channel analogue mixing console.

The new commercial production facility was designed by Munro Acoustics, and will help generate funds for the charitable organisation, which was founded by Artistic Director Sahana Gero, an accomplished musician and music teacher, in 2009.

Read more ...

When Lizard Boy, Justin Huertas’ critically acclaimed indie-rock musical took up residence Off-Broadway at Theatre Row, Sound Designer Kevin Heard called on Masque Sound to provide a custom audio equipment package.

Produced by the Prospect Theater Company, Lizard Boy tells the story of Trevor, a young man with green scaly skin. He feels like a monster, and rarely braves the city outside his apartment. But when a powerful voice calls to him in a dream, he impulsively finds a date and begins an adventure beyond his wildest apocalyptic nightmares.

Read more ...

When Waldo’s Circus of Magic & Terror arrived at The Dome in Brighton recently, it was the final of 29 performances that had begun at the Bristol Old Vic in March before continuing through The Lowry Salford Quays, the Theatre Royal Plymouth, MAST Mayflower Studios in Southampton and Lighthouse Poole in May.

Presented by circus company Extraordinary Bodies and co-produced with Bristol Old Vic and Theatre Royal Plymouth, it is a spectacular theatrical production set in a travelling circus touring Germany in the unrest of 1933, and is innovative in its inclusiveness and diversity, with regard to both cast and audience. 

Read more ...

Located in the heart of Essex, Chelmsford Theatre is a perfect example of a busy regional performance venue. It hosts a dazzling variety of entertainment including drama, comedy, live pop and classical music, pantomime, family favourites and community productions within the main house and studio spaces.

In common with many UK venues, the diversity of shows presents ongoing challenges to the technical team and, of course, to the equipment infrastructures vital to meeting the expectations of contemporary audiences. That expectation is now particularly acute in terms of audio quality, and prompting the theatre to undertake a complete refit of its installed sound systems.

Read more ...