The quality of a gig, any gig, be it a DJ or live performer, is always primarily dependent on acoustics. Either of the venue or the sound system in place. Of course, there are factors like the energy of the crowd and the vibe in the air, but if you really look at it, those are indirectly a result of the kind of sound that’s being put out.
A venue, say a club or a festival, can have the best console, state of the art mixers, and a huge sound booth, but all of that gets rendered redundant if the sound system in place is sub par. The rest virtually become just heaps of metal and plastic. A good set up for example should be immensely loud but not compromise on clarity; nobody’s comfortable with speakers that jar are add distortion to the sound the moment the volume is raised beyond a point. It should be equal parts enveloping and equal parts commodious. The nitty gritties of such aspects can be argued by sound technicians, but all of this has a physical impact. It can be felt by the common festival attendee who’s keen ear is scouting for the subtle driving bassline, or hidden melody.
Even though there are tons of elements at play to affect the quality of sound put out by speakers, like the acoustics, size and shape of the room, the material lining its walls, the architecture and fittings, if the equipment in use puts out low quality or botched sound, it’s pretty much messed up to begin with. However, there are a few audio companies that always deliver on sound output. One such company has been doing so for the past 16 years. They’ve almost become synonymous with great quality sound, even to the average-joe without any professional training, who just loves to listen to set. Most promoters and festivals even give it billing fit for a headliner. That company is what people in the business refer to as “Funktion-One”
What sets it completely apart, is the company’s ingenious technology. They use paper cones instead of metallic compression drivers, no EQ out of the box, and a holistic approach to system design. As the rest of the industry moved to line arrays—the columns of speakers that flank nearly every festival stage—they burrowed deeper into their own approach. They studied their drivers and thought about how they might optimize dispersion. The axeheads and dramatic horns we now associate with Funktion-One cabinets began to take shape.
If you look at anything in life that’s got a natural job, like everything from the wing of a bird in the air to the shape a fin has to be or a sail—the function they have to perform develops an aesthetic that seems to look good. There’s a naturalness about it.
Some of Funktion One’s Electronic components, get manufactured to their specification. But the level of perfection doesn’t stop there. They get involved with the architecture and acoustic treatment of a room as well. For some of their high profile installations, Funktion-One’s own technicians looks at blueprints for a club or venue and make recommendations for what they’d need to install and how they think their room should be acoustically treated.
All of this effort and care put into the quality of sound delivered to patrons, is truly what sets them apart from any other audio equipment companies. This is also precisely the reason why this would be the perfect choice for an event like Reset, that takes showcasing local artists so seriously.
Could you imagine the kind of sound you’d be made privy to when these are being used at a venue? It would blow you out of the park! That’s precisely what Reset intends to do!
Buy your tickets for Reset in Pune this Saturday, October 3rd here.
Info courtesy: Resident Advisor
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