Using the latest purpose-designed wireless monitoring systems, Vanguardia's teams have been monitoring sound levels at multiple points of events accurately and cost-effectively, from the iconic Nelson Mandela show in Hyde Park for Live Nation to the UK's newest concert venue, Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands, Surrey, for Marshall Arts.
Vanguardia, whose teams, headed by John Staunton and Jim Griffiths, act as the liaison between promoters and local authorities over the control of environmental noise. "Both Jim Griffiths and myself founded Vanguardia to bring to promoters and venues a 'can do' attitude - we look at a situation and we'll leave no stone unturned to try and secure a licence for a venue," says Staunton. "If it really can't work we're very straight with the promoter or venue because there's no use in us trying to just get a concert through the system, but then having a bad name with the council afterwards. This year, we've had a lot of new venues that we've had to work quite hard at, and they've turned out to be very successful."
The company deploys its own in-house-designed software and hardware package, AudioView, providing a wireless multi-point remote noise level monitoring system. "It's designed specifically for this industry using a combination of fairly standard hardware plus our own software," says Staunton, who was most recently to be found liaising between Marshall Arts and the local authority responsible for Mercedes Benz World, for two Elton John nights and a McFly / Sugababes show in mid July.
"Being based on standard components and Vanguardia's own software, the monitoring package is inexpensive enough to be deployable at multiple locations without cost becoming prohibitive," adds Staunton, "which means that for festivals we can deploy it across all the stages or wherever you need to monitor external levels, for example in residential areas." Being wireless based, cabling hassles are also a thing of the past."
(Jim Evans)
