BBC Studioworks has increased its audio capabilities with the installation of a Calrec Type R for its Grams desk at Elstree Studios, reinforcing a wider strategy to standardise on a flexible, high-performance audio infrastructure across its facilities.
This latest installation is in the George Lucas Stage 2 control room at Elstree, following Type R already being deployed across multiple Studioworks sites, including Television Centre in London and Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
‘My role is to play in any pre-recorded music, sound effects or voiceovers anytime they’re needed during the show,’ says Nancy Wright, Grams Operator and Technical Specialist at BBC Studioworks. ‘Any sound or music that’s not associated with pictures comes from me and my sound desk.
‘We’ve got Type R’s consistently across all our studios, which I think tells its own story. It’s been a big step forward from the desk that we had previously – the Type R gives us an awful lot more power and flexibility, as well as much more I/O available than we had before.’
This increased flexibility is particularly valuable on complex productions such as Strictly Come Dancing, where workflows change between rehearsal and live shows. ‘The snapshot capabilities have really helped my workflow with Strictly,’ Wright says. ‘I’ve got a set-up perfectly suited for the way I work on a Friday during rehearsals, and one for how we work on a Saturday during the live show.’
The console has also enabled more advanced monitoring workflows. With guest music acts increasingly delivering multi-stem audio, the expanded channel count and Dante integration have been transformative.
‘Now I’ve got so many virtual channels available and extra inputs, I can monitor everything I want,’ Wright says. ‘I also really like having the AB layer switch. That’s great for me for redundancy on a live show – if my PC failed and I want to switch to the other one, I just hit one button and everything’s exactly as it was, in the same place.’
The Elstree installation is part of a the control room refurbishment program led by Andy Tapley, who worked with the Studioworks sound team to design a space that supports a wide range of productions. The project involved two system integrators: IPE, led by Gareth Meehan and James McLoughlin, and Custom Consoles, headed by Graham Buchanan, who delivered the vision systems and studio furniture. The Calrec Type R was supplied by UK distributor, Synthax Audio UK.
The redesign has significantly improved the working environment, particularly for the Grams position. ‘The Grams desk used to be so tucked away... it was very cramped,’ Wright says. ‘Now I’ve got a great space where the production team or crew can come and talk to me easily, or listen to what I’m doing. So it’s made a massive difference.’
Beyond individual productions, standardising on Type R across all Studioworks facilities has delivered clear operational benefits for visiting engineers and freelancers. ‘Everybody who walks in is familiar with Calrec,’ Wright adds. ‘It’s always great that when they come in, they see something they’re familiar with. People aren’t going to be constantly asking, ‘how does this work’? It’s also easy to add any features they want us to adapt or include.
‘The support from Synthax has also been invaluable and Simon [Roome, Broadcast Sales Manager at Synthax Audio UK] has been brilliant. Any problem-solving we’ve needed help with, or carrying out upgrades... we’re really happy with the product, and the support we’ve had.’
Ultimately, the choice of Type R was driven by a combination of performance, flexibility and reliability. ‘Back when the Type R was first announced, we knew this was the one for us,’ Wright says. ‘The combination of the features it offers, the design, the support both from Calrec and from Synthax. ‘That was a major part of the decision. All our studios really sweat their technology; we need it to work day in, day out. We’re confident that we’ve got that with Calrec.’
‘The Elstree installation highlights BBC Studioworks’ commitment to evolving its studios with scalable, resilient and operator-friendly infrastructure,’ Roome says. ‘The Type R is ideal for high-pressure live entertainment such as Strictly Come Dancing, and it’s great to see it helping streamline workflows while giving visiting engineers an instantly familiar surface to work on.’
More: www.synthax.co.uk/calrec