Foundation's Course

Sound Foundation feature in the 'Pro Sound News' Magazine...

Mark Payne's Reading outfit knows that proper training is a gateway to sales

When building a house a solid foundation is always the first step to ensuring it is not going to topple over at the first sign of a breeze. Likewise, training can give a sound foundation in a new piece of technology or audio basics that can be applied throughout ones career.

Mark Payne, who looks after the technical direction and development of the company, works with the co-founder, Graham Preston, who takes care of all operational aspects. Payne, the musician and Preston the small studio owner, met over sixteen years ago and formed Sound Foundation in Payne's garage: 'In 1994 I had my own garage full of gear, my neighbour's garage full of gear and Graham's garage full of gear and we were trying to load 7.5 tonners off the pavement. Around then both Graham and I quit our jobs and moved into our first premises,' he recalls.

With the company's core business being equipment hire, predominantly sound but with substantial amounts of lighting and staging and with business booming, they moved to larger premises, where the extra space inspired Payne to instigate a range of training programmes.

With a background in technical training and a degree in Electronic Engineering, Payne was enthused that the prospect of being able to utilise the extra space in the new premises as a training venue: 'I was inspired by a training course run by John Taylor of d&b. I thought, we could do that.' But his raison d'être isn't to make money - there are easier ways to do that than to provide technical training. No, to Payne this is more of a marketing exercise. 'We are getting people here, sitting them down and teaching them. I believe in the concept of givers gain; if you give something to people down the line you are going to get something back. Obviously, you can't do that cynically, you focus on the giving, not the gain,' Payne professes.

Sound Foundation now runs two main courses, one in acoustics looking at sound in venue and a mix course that delves into the creative side of engineering. In addition, Sound Foundation, which are a major dealer for Yamaha, recently started to run training on the PM5D and the new M7CL, with two free courses introducing digital mixing. Now, three years after Sound Foundation presented its first training course, the company run regular monthly sessions from across their repertoire. With an obvious thirst for knowledge, Payne and Sound Foundation are taking their courses out on the road, providing the same hands-on seminars to colleges and universities: 'Next week, I am going up to Derby University to do a seminar with all their live event degree course students. Again, taking the Yamaha boards up there and discussing digital mixing in the live context. I am also going to the London School of Speech and Drama to do a similar thing and then to LIPA,' Payne explained.

Yet, Sound Foundation is not just a training emporium: a flightcase-stacked warehouse is testament to that. With a rough 50/50 split between corporate and music business the company keeps itself busy: 'Corporate is really important to what we do. Within the conferencing realm we are a total solution provider, for staging, set, lighting, audio-visual and sound. We are not a total package provider for rock 'n' roll because we just don't have that amount of kit to put out on a big show, so when we do larger events we just concentrate on sound,' Payne details.

Sound Foundation's actual inventory comprises two major outdoor PA systems: a d&b audiotechnik Q1 line array and QSub speakers with d&b D12 amplifiers; and d&b C7 speakers with C7 Subs plus d&b P1200 and D12 amplifiers. Smaller d&b boxes (Q7, C6, E3) fill the holes. QSC PowerLight II racks provide extra amplification. The desks? As you might guess, Yamaha PM5D and M7CL, plus Allen & Heath ML3000 and 5000 models. Various processors are available from TC Electronics, BSS, KT, Drawmer and Yamaha.

The company also provides production management services and operates as a reseller for the likes of Yamaha and Allen & Heath.

To ensure this all runs smoothly, Sound Foundation employs a permanent staff of 15 that concentrate on the differing areas of the business. Of these, six are dedicated production staff going out and about on various shows and events: 'We have just done the Kia Cars conference, at the end of the year we are doing Audi Motor Sports. We are also looking at a job this year with Hewlett Packard.' There's some festival work too. 'We have done three years of the Big Chill Festival for example where we did the two main stages and the dance tent.'

The company's philosophy of reap what you sow, does seem, in the often-cut-throat market of PA rental, to be something of a surprise. Cutting costs to spite competitors usually does little to build the industry as a whole and often ends up undervaluing services provided by professional companies and staff. Making sure those staff are properly trained and equipped to do the job ensures that even if the ground and the band really start to rock, the loudspeakers won't come tumbling down.