Pinewood Studios Group Chooses Calrec Artemis Beam Console

Calrec, a supplier of audio consoles for on-air and live production, announced that international production powerhouse Pinewood Studios Group has installed an Artemis Beam console in its new 5.1-capable sound-control gallery to mix audio for live and recorded television shows, the first of which was a children’s show for BBC. The sound-control gallery is part of a new television studio facility in Buckinghamshire, England, which includes all new control galleries and equipment. Pinewood produces high-profile TV shows such as “Got To Dance” and “Would I Lie To You” plus world-famous films including the recently released James Bond film, Skyfall.

“Our technical team evaluated several consoles in the process of selecting a sound desk for our new TV studios, and preferred the Calrec Artemis,” said Pinewood Broadcast Director Paul Darbyshire. “We were looking for a desk that would provide more channels both in and out, along with greater flexibility and ease of programming. With the Artemis we feel we have achieved that and more. It’s easy to understand why Calrec is so highly regarded in the broadcast industry.”

Pinewood’s 64-fader Artemis Beam console gives sound engineers more available channels and the ability to link those channels to the studio floors via fiber. The console also boasts Calrec’s Bluefin2 high-density signal-processing technology, which gives Pinewood a more robust console in a smaller footprint while consuming less power.

Darbyshire said the Artemis Beam is more intuitive to use and requires less time to create and recall show memories, which streamlines the production process. The team also appreciates the full redundancy offered by Calrec consoles that has earned them a reputation of being very reliable. This is especially relevant when producing live light entertainment and music shows.

“Not only do many sound supervisors working on shows at Pinewood prefer Calrec consoles, but our production clients also see benefits,” Darbyshire said.