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The Fairlight Phoenix Flies Again With GAS It's hard to know whether Fairlight is charmed or jinxed. This year it's been saved from bankruptcy for a third time, resurrected by John Lanken who decided to return to the company and bring new investors and directors with him. One of those is long-standing friend and Fairlight fan Rodney Lowe of Good Audio Sense. Rodney says he just laughed when John first rang. "He said I've got an idea and I reckon we should buy it. I just kind of laughed at him and the next thing I knew I was on a plane and in Sydney and seriously talking about it," Rodney says. The dilemma for GAS was they'd decided several months earlier that they wanted to upgrade to the new Fairlight DREAMs and now the company was going bust. ...getting back to basics... "We sat down and decided that we loved the thing and it was a lot to do with previous management why it went belly up. As an audio recording system, it actually did quite well, but the previous company had invested in a lot of different things other than just the digital editing system and they had offices all around the world," Rodney says. "We believed that if we pulled it all back and just had a little team of people building these things and had distribution worldwide, rather than actually having offices, then we could do something with it. "And we also all believe that there's a place in the market for another digital editing system so that Digi-Design or ProTools isn't the only thing left." John and Rodney decided to pull together all the necessary people: those who owned the IP, investors who'd lost money, others who would be willing to give Fairlight another go. John particularly wanted Rodney because he's from the audio production industry. ...DREAM launch for new owners... "The reason John rang me is that they needed somebody who uses the thing on the Board and somebody who uses the thing to talk to the R&D guys who develop it. "We could have scraped it together financially a lot easier if he had gone to somebody who's used to financing that kind of thing. It was much more of a battle for us to pull it together. But he figured if he got me involved I'd only do it if I really believed in it." The bonus though was that Fairlight ESP had already spent millions developing the DREAM, so the new Fairlight launched with a brand new product. "I think we got onto it quickly enough and John has been around the world twice since we got running again, to talk to distributors and customers. He's well known and people know he believes in it. The fact that he's the one involved and rebuilding it has kind of helped it keep going at a reasonable pace and there are still orders coming in. So I think if anything, we probably came out of it more unscathed than we thought we would," Rodney says. ...making machines for people... GAS Melbourne was one of the first in Australia to install the new DREAMS. Rodney points out that GAS bought the consoles they weren't a gift. He says his role is to help with R&D; it's not a day to day hands-on position. 
"The scary thing for me is that even though we use the gear every day, as far as manufacturing and that side of it, it's all new to me. It's a good learning experience but it can be a bit daunting being involved in something you don't totally understand. "From my point of view it's not just what the machine can do, it's how it works, even ergonomically. What's it like to sit behind and operate all day. That's one thing I'm as interested in as much as anything, making a machine that people can sit behind and walk away and not be wrecked. The problem with mixing consoles is the reaching over and what it does to your neck and arm and shoulders when you're doing that for 12 hours a day. It's not good. "It's fantastic to be able to sit here and think, well maybe we could do this..or that'd be great and present it to them and talk it through with them. Not only that, getting a bit of feedback about why they can or can't do it as well." ...hope GAS competitors understand... One new project already on the drawing board is an integrated audio-video system. "We also acquired AV Media which is the video side, for running pictures against audio. Now we've got a lot of room now to develop a piece of gear that has integrated audio and video so I think that's exciting." When that happens, GAS Melbourne is likely to be the first to use it because it's become Fairlight's main beta-testing site. "If there's something new they want to try out we use it in the studio for a bit. It has its benefits because we get to use the new stuff..but the other thing is we're up against new software and learning it..so that keeps us on our toes. It's not like you can relax and just get into the groove. "From my own point of view it's interesting that there'll be competitors in Australia who use this gear. I hope they understand the reasons I'm there and the main benefit out of me being involved is for the people who use the thing. Hopefully they'll see the benefits and the changes and the new bits that have probably bugged them for a long time that we're able to push through a bit now." ABA Gives Bank Licence to Broadcast The ABA has set a collision course with Commercial Radio Australia over a decision to grant a broadcast licence to a bank. On the same day as the ABA released its policy on Digital Radio Trials in Australia, it also announced that Broadcast Australia had been given a licence to hold digital radio trials in Melbourne. Broadcast Australia is not a radio broadcaster. It owns and leases transmission towers. Its main clients are SBS and the ABC for whom it provides both radio and TV transmitters. This is a legacy of Broadcast Australia's former life, when it was the National Transmission Agency: first an arm of the old Telecom, and then a branch of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. It was privatised a few years ago and bought by Broadcast Australia - a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the Macquarie Bank's investment vehicles. ...devalues current radio licences... Given that Australia's radio broadcasters decided earlier this year to underwrite the costs of their own digital radio trials, CRA chief Joan Warner is furious. "The ABA is pre-emptively trying to set Government policy by stealth. It is shortsighted and deliberately provocative and fails to take into account the billions of dollars of investment by existing broadcasters in free to air radio in Australia," Joan said. Furthermore she said the decision sets a dangerous policy precedent, because it devalues the licences already granted to radio broadcasters. One of the key differences from digital radio is that it will allow for national frequencies, so each station can be heard all over Australia with one call-sign. This has major ramifications for current licence holders. Naturally, it will also impact on the usefulness of Broadcast Australia's transmission towers. ...radio discriminated against compared with TV... The immediate industry problem though, is that radio is getting the short end of the wedge, compared with the way the Federal Government and ABA handled digital TV. "Radio broadcasters must have equity of treatment with television broadcasters in relation to digital broadcasting policy where a confrontational approach with the TV industry was not adopted. "This pre-emptive policy is effectively a policy of confrontation with, and disregard of, the commercial radio industry. We have requested that the Communications Minister and the Prime Minister intervene immediately to overturn this decision," Joan fumed. ...principals for digital radio development... So disgusted is CRA with the ABA's decision and its policy on digital radio trials, that CRA has presented Federal Communications Minister Daryl Williams with industry-developed principles for the development of digital radio broadcasting in Australia. The principles call for a full conversion model for incumbent broadcasters, spectrum to be reserved nationally for industry-driven digital trials and a 20-year simulcast period for the permanent conversion to digital radio, similar to policies adopted for digital TV. The industry's Sydney digital radio trials will be launched on December 17, with major commercial and public radio stations to begin simulcasting in digital format from that date. Media Mike Puts His Money Where His Mouth Is South Australian taxpayers are contributing a six-figure sum to provide high-speed Internet connections to Adelaide production and post-production studios. Actually, it's Media Mike (known outside SA as Premier Mike Rann) who is being generous to the tune of $500,000. Mr Rann says the Broadband Telecommunications Network is expected to lead to a 20 per cent increase in exports and new jobs for film and TV production companies. ...non-profit network... The Network has been designed by Cine.Net, a joint venture between Rising Sun Pictures and Internet cable provider Agile Communications. Each company using the Network will contribute its own connection costs and pay a monthly access fee, but the Network is designed to run on a break-even basis with any surplus being reinvested back into the project. Rising Sun Pictures Director Tony Clark says they've been using broadband for several years already to close the distance between the Adelaide studios and clients in the US, such as Red Planet and The Core. ...working without wires... "With this new network, we'll not only be able to take that to the next level, but help bring others in the local industry to service their clients in the same way," he said. The second stage of the venture, currently under construction, will provide wireless Internet access to businesses within a 5km radius of the Adelaide GPO. Which means if you're driving in the Adelaide CBD and you need to check an AudioNET® delivery just pull out your laptop or Internet-enabled mobile phone and you can log-in while you're still in the car. No need to plug in anywhere. (We recommend you pull over first, though.) Bossa Nova Beats Slower Bids Adelaide will have a new NOVA radio station before Christmas next year, after DMG won the auction for the last new commercial radio licence in the City of Churches. DMG bid $24 million for the licence that has to be paid in full before Christmas. "We are very pleased to have been successful. Given the historical bidding environment, $24 million is probably a fair price," said DMG boss Paul Thompson. The result means DMG will finally have an FM licence in its home town and its AM station, Five-Double-A will probably get a long-awaited and much needed equipment upgrade. In all, nine bidders were registered for the October 31st auction. ABA chief David Flint said he was very happy with the result. DMG will get their new Adelaide frequency 91.9 FM, as soon as the ABA gets its payment. It's a condition of the new licence that the station has to be to on the air within 12 months. Your Bits - Studio news
AudioNET® Thought For The Day "The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." - Mark Twain.
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Killer Bits: November 2003
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