The A&R (Artisan & Relationships) Program

From the dawn of entertainment, numerous technologies have been employed to assist performance and enhance the audience experience. Be it the architecture of an ancient colosseum, the stage mechanics of a post middle ages theatre or a contemporary digital mixing console, the ability to deliver optimum performance and audience satisfaction would never be realised without the ingenuity to create technology nor the skill to operate it.

The evolution of electricity and development of new technologies in the 19th century, including the ability to transmit signals and capture images gave birth to the motion picture, recorded music and broadcasting, all of which was refined in the 20th century. Outside of the written word these mediums are at the core of most entertainment today, and Australian ingenuity was there at the outset, participating and excelling in the evolution of most enabling technology. Australians created leading-edge systems, devices and components, and developed numerous engineering techniques and parameters that underpin the industry worldwide. Today, Australia with a population under 25 million (circa August 2017), achieves way above the average in terms of entertainment technology creation, and so do our artisans who help create every conceivable form of entertainment program and in all corners of the world. The Artisan and Relationships program is dedicated to them and an initiative that sets out to profile and promote Australian audio production industry achievers, who have chosen as their Critical Listening ‘tool of trade’. The program features a skilled group of professionals engaged in producing and engineering audio program across a diverse range of production disciplines and represents a blend of experienced industry veterans along with the emerging next generation. In their own words and in no particular priority order, we present our artisan colleagues.