A museum doesn’t always spring to mind when thinking of applications for a Yamaha digital mixing console but Bradford’s award winning National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (NMPFT) is using a DM1000 for a variety of key tasks in support of the Museum’s many and varied activities.
“We use the DM1000 for production and post production work for our programme of temporary exhibitions, for exhibits in our permanent galleries and in support of the Museum’s education department,” said John Trenouth, the Museum’s Senior Curator of Television.
“We used an O3D for many years but it finally needed replacing and Pro Audio Systems in Bradford, with whom we have a long standing and close working relationship, suggested we replace it with a DM1000,” continued Trenouth. “The desk seemed to fit the bill perfectly and being much the same size as the O3D there was no need for extensive modifications to our edit suite which kept costs to a minimum, always a prime consideration in the museum world. More importantly, my own experience of Yamaha desks (Trenouth personally owns 4 O2R’s) has always been good. They have longevity and are totally reliable. I didn’t need to think twice about purchasing the DM1000.”
Part of the Museum’s attraction for visitors are the numerous interactive exhibits, many of them relying heavily on sound for effect or interpretative explanations and this can be challenging for the Museum’s technical team particularly when working with older recordings. “We use Apple’s Final Cut Studio® in conjunction with the desk and undertake a lot of multi format work. It’s proved particularly good at audio sweetening when we have to work with early TV recordings which frequently have poor quality sound,” added Trenouth, “and it also makes an excellent job of audio compression.”
The desk has clearly fulfilled all of Trenouth’s expectations and he is confident that it will continue to give excellent service for many years to come. So much so, that NMPFT have recently acquired a second DM1000 to use as a working exhibit in their new Television Gallery due to open in Summer 2006. Watch this space in 3 months time for news of this!
The Museum, part of the National Museum of Science and Industry, first opened its doors in 1983 and soon became one of the most popular national museums outside London, consistently attracting around 750,000 visitors per year rising to 1 million in 2000. For many years it boasted the only IMAX cinema in the United Kingdom.
In 1996 it embarked on a 3-year expansion project, Imaging Frontiers, funded by the Arts and Heritage Lotteries, the European Community and the private sector.
As well as special, temporary and permanent exhibitions, the Museum has a dynamic education department, an extensive programme of special events such as film festivals and the only publicly accessible Cinerama cinema in the world.
