More than 20 musicians recently played together from three different locations — Metropolis Studios, the O2 Blueroom at The O2 and Brighton Dome — for the 5G Festival Showcase, the culmination of a two-year R&D project utilizing 5G technology for live music applications with DiGiCo consoles and d&b audiotechnik Soundscape systems playing a key role in audio production.
integrated into the surface, were deployed at the front of house mix positions at Brighton Dome and The Blueroom at The O2, to deliver immersive audio via d&b Soundscape systems to the venues, with a further Quantum 338 in the 3D studio at Metropolis providing the broadcast mix for all three venues.
Over the last two years, organizations that include Audiotonix, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, LiveFrom, Mativision, Metropolis Studios, Sonosphere, Virgin Media O2, and Warner Music Group have worked collectively with Digital Catapult to explore the potential of 5G and map out a blueprint for how technology could play a key role in the future of the live music sector as part of the wider DCMS (UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme.
Headliners included double-platinum album selling singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner and Brighton-based Alt Folk band Memorial, both playing in Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall to an in-person audience. Rising stars, BRIT Award nominee and voice of the 2021 John Lewis Christmas Ad, Lola Young, and Natalie Lindi, part of the MOBO Unsung Class of 2021, performed live in the O2 Blue Room at The O2. They were joined by backing vocals, drums and keyboard from Brighton Dome, and guitar and percussion live from Metropolis Studios in West London. London-based rock duo Pearl Harts did a stand-alone performance at Metropolis Studios, which was live streamed to the other venues as part of the hybrid festival experience.
DiGiCo Quantum 338 consoles with the new dedicated Soundscape user interface integrated into the surface, were deployed at the front of house mix positions at Brighton Dome and The Blueroom at The O2, to deliver immersive audio via d&b Soundscape systems to the venues, with a further Quantum 338 in the 3D studio at Metropolis providing the broadcast mix for all three venues.
“Utilizing object-based mixing with a d&b Soundscape system was important to make the 5G Festival Showcase a feast for the senses,” says Jack Page, d&b education application support. “The possibility to create accurate positioning of the various musical sources to create a singular, realistic sound image with remote artists, really impressed people.”
The Soundscape UI can be expanded for bi-directional communication between the console and DS100 via the d&b software bridge (Remote Protocol Bridge) while also supporting setup with two DS100s. By controlling two DS100s in sync within a redundancy setup or up to 128 sound objects on two different DS100 from one console.
“From a live mix engineer’s perspective, the DiGiCo integration means that Soundscape object controls are at their fingertips,” concludes DiGiCo managing director Austin Freshwater. “Now, they can keep their eye on the stage and their head in the mix. It’s another tool in the box for any engineer that’s using DiGiCo SD and Quantum consoles that wants to integrate seamlessly with a DS100 and Soundscape.”
