Nick Stillman Rode Head of communications
Tell us about how you ended up working in the audio space.
there to help you get started, but the best way to learn is to get your hands dirty. Buy some gear and record yourself, ask if you can record your friend’s band, podcast or whatever project they’re doing. Attach yourself to people in audio and learn from them. I’ve found that creatives are very generous with their knowledge, and everyone loves talking about gear, processes and techniques, so utilise this pool of knowledge as much as you can! Toughest professional challenge you’ve overcome? It’s hard to pinpoint just one. I work in such a fast-paced, ever-evolving industry and Rode is very much at the forefront of audio technology, so every day presents new challenges and learning
curves – but that’s what I love about the creative technology industry. It keeps me on my toes and is always exciting. What is your most essential piece of kit? When it comes to recording, my trusty black NT1 is the go-to mic. It suits my voice to a tee and its silky character always blows me away. Plus, it looks badass and sounds good on basically anything. When it comes to playing music, I love my Fender Jazzmaster. It’s the perfect guitar – warm but snappy and bright, feels incredible, and has the best vibrato system ever made. What audio technologies are you excited about for the future? Innovation is the driving force behind everything we
do at Rode. Every single new product features brand- new technologies that are designed to solve a particular problem creators face – and this excites me. One example is the Rodecaster Pro II. We’re very close to the people who use our products. We’re constantly listening to feedback and feature requests and then implementing them – such as a recent update that added advanced sub-mixing capabilities for livestreamers. This wasn’t present when we launched the product, but through listening and collaborating with our customers, we’re able to make our products the best they can be. We’ve got loads of products in the pipeline, with some awesome, groundbreaking technology packed in, so stay tuned.
I’ve been a musician since I was a teenager and have always been passionate about audio. In my early twenties, I started getting into the recording and production side of music, and Rode was one of the first brands I came across (an NT1-A and AI-1 were my first mic and interface). I was working as a music/arts journalist and I knew Rode had an amazing reputation (and they based in Sydney, where I live), so I jumped at the chance when a job popped up. What is one piece of advice you would give to anyone hoping to start out in audio? Practice and experiment. There is so much info out
Renaud Schoonbroodt
On-Hertz Co-founder and CTO
effectively make a difference. At the end of the day, the goal is to deliver the best content to their audiences! What is your most essential piece of kit? A good audio interface connected to a powerful computer! What audio technologies are you excited about for the future? As an audio lover, I know the difference professional sound quality can deliver for the perceived value of a show. Enabling creators to produce content with pristine audio while reducing reliance on heavy, dedicated equipment drives me every day. In addition, dissociation between the human-machine interface that can be deployed anywhere and processing that can run on modern computers or shared resources in a data centre is truly exciting. This approach also goes hand-in- hand with a reflection on UI and UX for various profiles, technical heroes or not. Eventually, we try to break the old silos and open new opportunities!
Tell us about how you ended up working in the audio space. My passions for audio, computing and media are viruses I caught when I was a teenager! I did lots of sound work and DJing, which led me to study electronics. Early in my career, I had the chance to work for a broadcast equipment integrator. I learnt about integration, installation and development. What is one piece of advice you would give to anyone hoping to start out in audio? No matter what position you aspire to in the long term, start by going into the field. Get your hands dirty and learn from the veterans. But keep an open mind, because yesterday’s solutions are unlikely to apply in the same way in the future. Everything you learn will serve you throughout your career, perhaps more than what you read in books.
Familiarise yourself as soon as possible with computers and network technologies. Not everyone has to become a programmer, but IT today is at the heart of all audio-visual professions. Toughest professional challenge you’ve overcome? The most complex challenge for me is the human factor and our ability to drive innovation in the organisations we work with! Everyone knows that the media industry is undergoing profound transformations, but people don’t naturally embrace change. Any adjustment to the business-as-usual approach requires persuasion. Yet we take up the challenge and try to convince engineers and technicians that migration to pure IT infrastructures and virtualisation will bring enormous benefits. Our effort aims to ensure they can focus on the parts where they
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