Well, I can safely say that I didn’t get in a time machine and head 10 years into the future, unless I did and had my memory erased . . . But, I was really pleased with the way the Audiothinktank session at PLASA turned out. I’d like to extend a massive thanks to everyone who braved the LED screens and gadgetry to attend on Monday 10 September. I can’t believe we ran out of time. To be honest, I was a little worried I’d have too much time, so prepared loads of slides so we’d have plenty to talk about. As it goes, we had lots to talk about anyway, so only managed to get through half of the slides.

The panel was fantastic, and I think added a really valuable element to the whole thing. We had Chris McCarron of Silentgig, Tony Andrews of Funktion-One, Chuck Knowledge of Chucknology and Luke Ramsey of Julie’s Bicycle.

Our first discussion on the road to betterisation was on sustainability. Seeing the biggest summer ice cap melt this year since we first started watching, and according to bushy-eyebrowed scientists, it’s quite feasible we’ll see a complete melt in a few years. So our energy usage is something that we should keep looking at.

I suppose, as an industry on the whole, we are pretty bad at looking after the environment, but how can our little audio section help? With the introduction of digital consoles, power consumption at front-of- house and on stage has been reduced, but now we see so many more consoles everywhere. On another power consuming note, we explored the possibility of putting efficiency ratings on audio equipment, including PA systems. Think about it: if you have a super-efficient PA, you require fewer boxes, therefore less truck space and fewer amplifiers.

What about the power consumption from not having your filters in your system set properly? As your DJ turns up the bottom-end pot on his Pioneer in a futile attempt to recreate 13Hz, is this using more power than needed? Your speakers will fall apart at the thought of it and your amps will cower at the amplitude placed before them. Just thinking a little more about your filtering could help conserve power. Also in the high-end: if the PA can’t reproduce it, why have it there? How much harder do the amps have to work, only to be given the shove at the speaker box? I don’t have any facts or figures for you, but it did make me think.

Something I hadn’t thought of before this session was the impact of actually getting to the shows. This obviously isn’t solely an audio problem, but a point well raised. It’s not just the punters but also the way we travel as artists and crew. Every band will have its own means of transport, and as you work your way up the bill, splitter buses become tour buses, then tour buses and trucks, then when you reach the headliners, you could easily be looking at multiple busses and trucks – all in the name of entertainment.

Now, I do understand the practical necessity of having all this in place – you are able to get your gear in and out as you need to – but it’s something to think about. One of the audience members from Copenhagen told us that they run a Facebook group offering rides to and from festivals for those that have extra space in their vehicles.

We then moved on to creativity, which, as some of you know, is quite close to my heart. The question posed was along the lines of: ‘Have digital consoles taken away our creativity’? Being from the old skool, I like my analogue desks, and have my artistic palette laid out in front of me. The younger generation get their heads around the digital much faster then us oldies . . . So is this a problem? Maybe not. Maybe it’s our attitude that needs to develop. One opinion expressed was that teaching on analogue console gives you a much better understanding of signal flow . . .

The sound of digital audio is very different, so the needs of mix engineers are changing, from DSP requirements to A/D and D/A conversation. Maybe this is a far more clinical world than we are use to, but the tools available are getting better and better. The outlook for the future of sound systems, I think, could be really exciting, but we are walking a difficult path that can lead to fixing problems with more processing – which is probably not the way to go.

I put an idea tree in the middle of PLASA. The point was to get questions and comments on all things audio. Obviously, a stand- alone object in the middle of a floor with pens and post-it notes attached to it, it was open for abuse. Yes, I’m sure Liam loves lighting, and thank you Dean and Christian for your lovely smiley faces, but we did have some interesting questions: What do wordclocks do for sound quality? I’ve become a firm believer in wordclocks. I tried one out last year and it was as if a sheet had been lifted off the PA. The choir went from being a choir to lots of voices singing in unison. The brushes hitting the snare turned to individual pieces of brush. So I think they do a lot – but I’m not sure the cost can be justified.

All in all, I had a great time this year. Thanks for your conversations and your input. I’m looking forward to doing this again.