SSL takes remote mixing to Southwark Cathedral
SSL takes remote mixing to Southwark Cathedral
Solid State Logic (SSL) System T enabled Spiritland Productions to mix Max Richter’s Hamnet soundtrack performance live from Abbey Road Studios, six miles from Southwark Cathedral, before cutting the music directly to vinyl.
The project presented a logistical challenge, with limited parking and power at the cathedral preventing an outside broadcast (OB) truck from being positioned onsite. Spiritland instead deployed an SSL System T TCA Flypack, keeping audio processing at the venue while allowing engineer Rupert Coulson to control the mix remotely from an SSL S500 surface at Abbey Road.
Two redundant SSL T25 Tempest Engines handled processing at the cathedral, with a PC running TCA software providing system control. Control data travelled over the public internet, avoiding the need for dark fibre or leased lines.
“As far as Rupert was concerned, he was using the SSL surface in the truck as if we were parked outside,” noted Spiritland director Antony Shaw. “There was no obvious latency. There was probably between 30-40ms of delay between moving a fader and hearing a difference on the return feed, which for that kind of slow-moving, swelling music was neither here nor there.”
The system managed around 120 inputs at 96kHz, with approximately 40Mbps of bandwidth carrying control data and a small number of audio feeds. Because the audio processing remained onsite, bandwidth requirements stayed consistent regardless of the number of inputs being mixed.
Connectivity redundancy comprised the cathedral’s internet connection, two bonded Starlink terminals and two 4G boosters. The stereo master feed destined for vinyl cutting was prioritised over console control, as the engines could continue processing with their last settings if the control connection was interrupted.
The link also carried communications, camera video and control signals. A Dante-connected stagebox fed the stereo master into Abbey Road’s cutting chain, while multitrack machines at the studio could be controlled remotely for virtual soundchecks.
“Rupert walked away saying that it sounded as good as the album,” said Shaw. “He's a big SSL fan, as are we. The summing buses sound so good. We don't know why, but they stand worlds apart from other manufacturers. We love the ability to do high channel counts and being able to do the console configuration and the path split up as you want with very little restriction. And then of course there's this remote working aspect, which is slightly different from how everybody else is doing it and really works for live music.”
Spiritland said the workflow can be redeployed at other venues and, with larger SSL Tempest engines, scaled to support up to 800 paths over the same 40Mbps connection.
“It makes remote working less scary,” Shaw concluded. “You don't have to have dark fibre and massive leased lines. What we're able to do is maintain that illusion that we could be parked outside, with everything calm and lovely at the front of the truck, while dealing with whatever the location throws at us behind the scenes.”
