Interview with Michael Reddick, Regional Sales Manager at Calrec.
Growing Up in South Manchester: A Glimpse Into Life in the ’70s and ’80s
– When and where were you born?
I was born in Manchester in the UK in 1972, and my father was Irish from Belfast, and my mother was English.
– I remember that the ’80s and the end of the ’70s were a very difficult time in Ireland.
Yes, my father came to England when he was nineteen to try and get away from the problems and start a new life.
– What were your parents’ occupation?
My father had many different jobs. He worked as a projectionist in a cinema, and he made furniture as a carpenter. He didn’t have a profession as such; he just worked where it was possible to work locally in South Manchester. My mother spent quite a lot of time at home when I was a child looking after me and my brother. She worked as a typist in a company known for making hats. Stockport in South Manchester was very famous for producing hats in the ’50s and ’60s.
– Would you say that you came from a poor family?
They weren’t rich. They were working-class people. We didn’t have a car until I was about 11 or 12.
– Would you consider South Manchester a good area to live?
It’s generally considered okay. My mother still lives in the same house. She’s 90 now. It’s a pretty quiet suburban area.
– What were you like as a child?
I became interested in electronics like radios and enjoyed taking them apart. I was also interested in music, so I persuaded my parents to buy me a guitar. I learned to play the electric guitar and started to play rock music, eventually forming a band. I really admired bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Those were the kinds of bands that were my heroes in those days and still are, really.
From Carpentry Roots to Electronic Engineering: A Journey of Passion for Physics and Computers
– What were your achievements in school like?
I left school with A-levels in Physics and Maths. Back then, there was a new subject they introduced called Computer Studies. I became really interested in computers as well.
– Very interesting. Your father was a carpenter, your mother was a typist, and you took an interest in Physics and Computers. What did you do next after that?
I went to Manchester University to study Electronic Engineering which covered quite a few disciplines, involving electronics, mathematics, computer science, and also power engineering and transmission lines.
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel all over the world
– Why did you choose to study this course?
One of the things I remember my parents buying me was a little electronic laboratory. It was like a box where you could build your electronics projects. Another thing that sparked an interest in that area was studying computer science in school.
– Who paid for your university?
The government. In those days, you didn’t have to pay.
– Would you say that your university years were important for your career?
Yes, definitely. My first job was in electronics, and I wouldn’t have been able to get that without a university degree. It was also important as a way of learning how to be independent because I lived in university accommodation for a few years.
First job – Ferranti Computer Systems
– What was your first job?
I worked for a company called Ferranti Computer Systems which was a huge company. The branch I worked for made military simulators, things like helicopter simulators, submarine and flight simulators. I got a job working there as an engineer designing electronics. I learned a lot, and I worked there for quite a few years before I got a job working for an audio mixer company.
From Musician to Audio Engineer: A Career Journey from Neve to Calrec in Sound Technology
– How did you find this job?
As a musician, playing guitar in groups, we spent time in a recording studio and I became really interested in that technology. The whole thing about audio consoles and the manipulation of sounds was something that really interested me. I had the opportunity to move to a different job after a few years at a company called Neve, which makes professional mixing consoles.
We’re now talking to people about IP networking, remote production, and distributed production
I took a job there because it combined my two main interests. I worked there for quite a few years before moving to Calrec. Neve was involved in music recording, post-production, and live broadcast and location-wise, it was very close to Calrec, about 20km. A lot of people who worked at Neve moved to Calrec, including me.
Expanding Calrec’s Global Reach: A Journey from Engineering to Sales and SMPTE 2110 Success
– When did you join Calrec? What was your first position at Calrec?
I joined Calrec thirteen years ago in 2011. My first position is the same role I have now, really. Calrec used to be and still is very successful in North America, so the company brought me in to expand business in other regions, specifically Eastern Europe and CIS regions. I started to make contacts in Eastern Europe and took it from there.
I wanted to get out, see the world, and travel
My job involves sales and business development, however, the job has changed quite a lot, we can now do virtual meetings, and also the technology has changed a lot – we’re now talking to people about IP networking, remote production and distributed production.
– You were a professional Electronic Engineer. Why did you change your career direction to sales?
That’s a good question (laughs).
– Yes, this is quite common, and I always want to know why.
I wanted to get out, see the world and travel around. When you’re an engineer sitting in an office designing things, you don’t really get the chance to travel, whereas if you’re working in sales, it’s easier. I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world.
– What were the projects you would consider difficult or interesting?
I think one of the most difficult and interesting projects was a SMPTE 2110 Proof of Concept I did with a prominent Brazilian broadcaster back in 2018. At the time, they wanted to be sure that it was possible to exchange Multicast streams between Video Switcher vendors and an audio mixer. They decided that the best way to do this was to go to each vendor’s HQ. Calrec loaned them a console and a person. I was the person, so together we visited the HQs of Grass Valley, Evertz and Imagine Communications which are all located in Canada.
When you’re an engineer sitting in an office designing things, you don’t really get the chance to travel. However, if you’re working in sales, it’s easier
We carried out the Proof of Concept tests between Calrec and each video vendor. It was quite challenging, and I learned a lot. The moment we successfully received the first audio via a stream was met with cheers and applause by everybody there. It was a great moment that will always be remembered.
– What is the main market for you?
Broadcasting and live production, pretty much anything where there is live broadcast—so news, sports, eSports, live entertainment shows, education, radio. We specialise in everything that’s going live and on air. The main criterion in that situation is that the systems have to work seamlessly. All our systems have built-in automatic redundancy, so if anything happens, it will automatically switch over to the redundant spare parts of the system. Our consoles are used to broadcast the most-watched events of all time, like the Super Bowl in the US and the Queen’s funeral in the UK.
Calrec’s Global Presence: Key Markets in Eastern Europe, South America, and the United States
– What are the major countries where Calrec operates?
Calrec is a global brand and has a strong distribution partner network around the world. Calrec’s biggest market share is in the United States.
– What are your marketing regions?
It’s Eastern Europe — Kazakhstan, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Georgia, Czechia, Finland, Ukraine, and so on. Mainly Central Europe and Eastern Europe, and also South America – Colombia, Brazil, Chile… It’s quite a big area with lots of different cultures and climates.
IBC2024
– Next question is about IBC. What does Calrec intend to introduce?
IBC2024 is going to be a very exciting show for Calrec. We will be launching ImPulse V, a cloud-based DSP processing core which will deliver the same audio quality and feature set as Calrec’s hardware-based ImPulse processing cores, hosted entirely in a public cloud environment like AWS, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
Calrec: New Remote Production Tools Announcement at IBC 2024
In response to the explosion of remote production and distributed working over the last couple of years, Calrec will also announce an expansion of its remote production capability.
Save the date in your diary, as part of Calrec’s quest to solve tomorrow’s audio challenges, we have some very exciting news which is set to be the highlight of IBC2024!
We would love it if you could join us outside the main front square at the RAI Amsterdam at 11am on Friday 13th September, before joining us on our stand C47 in Hall 8.
IBC2024 is going to be a very exciting show for Calrec
Personal Life
– I have questions about your personal life. Do you have any children?
Yes, I have a daughter. She is an ecologist and works for the government on ecology and issues like climate change and diversity, which are very important subjects currently.
– You said that you love to explore. What other hobbies do you have in addition?
The two main hobbies I have are playing electric guitars and working on old cars to restore them. For some reason, I’m interested in Italian cars.
– Why Italian cars?
I’m not sure. The second car I bought when I was young was an Italian car. I think there’s something about the passion they have in engineering their cars, and I’ve always been interested in that. I work at home on projects like restoring the metalwork, the body, and the engine.
– Great. Thank you very much for the interview, Michael!
Career:
Jan 2011 – Present – Digital Consoles, Calrec Audio Ltd.
Jul 1992 – Jan 2011 – Product Manager, AMS Neve
Aug 1982 – Sep 1992 – Senior Design Engineer, Ferranti Computer Systems Ltd.
