St Louis-based Production Consultants has become the latest high-profile studio to invest in Fairlight’s powerful Xynergi Media Production Centre.
The studio was set up in 1986 and is owned and run by award-winning audio expert Bill Schulenburg, whose long and impressive CV covers four decades in the industry and includes working with artists like Stevie Nicks and Manfred Mann; designing and editing sound and pictures for a huge variety of hundreds of TV, radio, videogame, film, theatre and audiobook projects; teaching Audio Aesthetics as an adjunct professor at Webster University; working as a popular voiceover artist; and last, but not least, currently serving as Chairman of the St. Louis Section of the Audio Engineering Society.
The new 64-channel Xynergi augments a Fairlight Prodigy system that Production Consultants has run since 2001.
“The file-handling and management features of the Xynergi are major steps forward in taking on a wide variety of work in media of all kinds.” says Schulenburg. “Xynergi’s hassle-free drag-and-drop ingest of material generated by all the different types of recording, camera, editing, and processing systems quickly brings audio and video together in a straightforward, unified workflow. Xynergi also streamlines the task of delivering the final product, both audio and video, in the client’s preferred format with unparalleled compatibility and interchangeability.”
The Xynergi Media Production Centre organises and delivers all the media processing tools needed for high-end audio for video production in all widely used surround formats. The system is based around a completely new concept in tactile control harnessing the awesome ‘green’ processing power of Fairlight’s CC-1 digital media engine and Fairlight’s integrated PyxisTrack video. The system features the groundbreaking Xynergi controller, a revolutionary desktop user interface used to access all features and functions of the Fairlight CC-1 as well as commonly used Windows applications.
Schulenburg is an admirer of the Fairlight editing model, which he says has proven itself efficient, robust and reliable, with a real tactile relationship to creative flow and sound quality. “We’ve always been easily able to artistically relate to the Fairlight system as more than just simply a computer that processes audio signals,” he adds.
The Production Consultants installation is an impressive one. Three XE6 fader sidecars have been placed alongside the Xynergi MPC in a custom console designed by Missouri-based Argosy Consoles.
“Having honed our craft in the 60s and 70s, we appreciate the ability to “perform” an audio mix in realtime,” says Schulenburg. “Getting our hands on the sound and artistically interacting with it is an important part of our ability to deliver a creative, value-added service to our clients, while maintaining a high degree of personal satisfaction and fulfillment. The XE6 sidecars’ cost-effectiveness will allow us to have more channels of tactile control than our current system, and the bright, clear OLED displays provide instant, continuous, and comprehensive feedback about each channels’ status, enhancing the production process.”
Production Consultants’ clients work with all kinds of media projects, but Schulenburg argues that precision editing, creative mixing and powerful sound design for radio, television, and internet delivery has been the heart of his business for years. Additionally, he expects that the video capabilities of the Xynergi system will allow them to return to the video production market offering “unmatched” file conversion, editing and sound design services to go along with their deep experience in visual communications. He also points out that its comprehensive encoding features make the Xynergi an excellent tool for generating internet content
Finally, Schulenburg thinks that the Xynergi will also help Production Consultants move more firmly into the mixing and mastering space, referring to it as “the icing on the cake.”
“Our music production experience, along with the multiple fader sidecars and project compatibility exhibited by the Xynergi system will comprise an attractive and comprehensive mixing and mastering solution for music producers who do their basic work in less powerful DAWs and are looking for that final professional polish for their projects,” he concludes.
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About Fairlight:
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia Fairlight designs and manufactures media production systems powered by the company’s groundbreaking CC-1 FPGA digital processing engine. The Fairlight product range includes Constellation, Xynergi and the new Pyxis MT, all of which feature in the world’s leading broadcasters, commercial post facilities, music studios and film production studios. Fairlight has a rich tradition of innovation and development and is at the forefront of green computing technology.
