Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1122868
60 S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y recording with the 688 with 12 inputs, the product was starting to be used in more live events and conference-style productions where it starts to become difficult to manage all these open mic sources. There were conversations behind the scenes, especially with Matt Anderson, our CEO. He originally came from Shure and was very heavily involved in the whole automixer of the Shure product line. "Hold on a second, Matt knows how to do automixing." This is something that many of our users have asked for help with in handling all these open mic sources. It seemed like a logical step to see if we could accommodate that into our products. The first automix algorithm we came out with was actually Mix Assist." It was in the 788T, right? Yes, and it seemed like a natural progression from the 788 to throw it into the 688, which had even more channels. So we brought that out and everyone was very excited. Dugan is the name in automixing. There's no doubt about how great his algorithm is, how widely accepted it has been in the industry for many years, and that's what people wanted. We took a look at that to see if we could handle the algorithm in our product and we could. We just felt we should give the user a choice. It was fascinating to talk to Dan about the history when he first came up with the idea back in the seventies. He says he stumbled upon the exact attenuation gain sharing algorithm one day and it just worked! We've known Dan for a long time. He's a really wonderful guy. He's used our products for a while. The fact that we have this good relationship made it easier for us to work with him. Having that face-to-face/ sitting across a desk, really fine-tuning the way we should present it in our UI. To have him sit in really helped us to make sure our algorithm did exactly what he wanted. What was it that prompted you guys to implement it for the 633? It was pretty much entirely driven by user request. Almost daily, we'd have multiple people say, "We want Dugan for the 633!" And, as you know, the 633 is very much based on the same architecture as the 688. So, it's actually a relatively straightforward process to port that code. Obviously, it had to be modified for different channels and the UI had to change accordingly. We thought, "Well, okay, we'll provide this as a free update to our users." I remember when they introduced Dugan for the 688, Danny Maurer, who is a 633 user, was one of those people that said, "What? I really need this for the 633" because he sometimes does jobs where he's over the shoulder, booming, and mixing simultaneously. It's the perfect tool for him doing that kind of work. Exactly. For a one-man band having to handle these multi-talent interviews or docos. Even six channels, at that point, becomes a lot to handle. How do you feel about developing hardware and software for such a niche market? Well, we love it. It's like a family. When you first start making products for a very niche market, there are a lot of challenges to make it work from an economics perspective because when you have such a small customer base, every decision you make in product design becomes magnified. We're not an Apple-like company where we have huge amounts of engineering resources. There are challenges. But the rewards, because we have such a close connection with this niche market, we know the majority of people by name and that's really nice. So, it does feel like family. Talking to you now, it just feels like we're all part of the same team, really. But having said that, we are branching out, which we have to do to remain healthy as a company. This is one of the reasons why we're also in the MixPre Series market. We've brought our technology to a wider audience of people who care about audio and we are wanting to address all content creators. When I interviewed Dan, I asked him what he liked to do for fun. His answer made me laugh because I can relate. I think it's great that people are so into what they do. He said: "During my free time, I like to go record nature sounds." I thought: "Wait a minute, that's part of your professional world." What do you like to do in your free time? Music is my thing. Music has always been a very big part of my life. My instrument is the piano and keyboards and synthesis. I like composing and performing live. I play a lot of classical piano and jazz piano. I like to record my piano and try and get as close to Madison Square Garden as I can now. Unfortunately, I need a much bigger cathedral ceiling in my living room. I like the camaraderie with other musicians and love writing music. I'm also a family man. I've got kids, and that's a big pleasure to me. Although less and less now because my eldest boy is at university and my youngest boy is going to be at university next year, as well. Guess I'll have more time to do the music! Well, you'll have some empty nest syndrome happening maybe. Well, actually, we are just about to move to a smaller house. Which is all being designed around my piano. From left: Kishore Patel, Managing Director of Audio Limited (a Sound Devices company); Ed Capp, Vice President of Sales, Sound Devices; Dan Dugan, CEO of Dan Dugan Sound Design; John Tatooles, Co-founder of Sound Devices, at the 55th CAS Awards.