Created in honour of the late designer, developer and commentator Tony Gottelier, this award aims to recognise the tireless product developers who have made a significant contribution to the equipment and tools that enable technology practitioners to continually push the boundaries of event production, presentation and installation. The award was presented by Rob Lingfield, Chairman of PLASA.
Alex Cooper's entry into pro audio came in 1979, when he realised that a life of rock and roll stardom did not await him. Having encountered Klark Teknik DN27 graphic equalisers while on the road with his band, and realising the company was based in his home town of Kidderminster, he approached them for a job. Little did he know it, but this move would lead to his becoming one of the audio industry's leading designers of signal processing equipment and mixing consoles.
Cooper built DN27s and many of KT's early products, while designing and building mixers and speakers for his own small PA company. By the early eighties he had risen to become head of the test department, and in 1985 was tasked with figuring out how to test the newly-acquired Midas consoles. The development of the XL3 console in 1990 saw Cooper put in charge of building and debugging the first prototype, which also contained a few of his circuit designs.
Following the departure of the company's chief engineers, Cooper was put in charge of R&D, and went on to design the XL4, an industry-standard live sound mixing console. He has also designed, or had a large input, the KT DN800 stereo crossover, Midas XL250, Heritage 3000, 2000, B2000 and Verona consoles, Klark Teknik Square ONE Dynamic processor, the Midas XL8 sound and control surface, and last year's PLASA Show debutant, the PRO6 Live Audio System - the company's second networked digital audio system.
In his role as director of console development, Alex has been, and remains, a fundamental part of the legendary 'Midas Sound'. This is the third year this sought-after accolade has been presented at the PLASA Show. The previous Gottelier Award recipients, Tony Andrews of Funktion One and John Stadius of DiGiCo, have also both returned to PLASA09 to present audio Masterclasses, as part of an extensive seminar programme.
(Lee Baldock)
