Calrec Audio recently took me, Louie Bowmer Wade from Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School, for work experience to give me an insightful taster of the pioneering work they do with the production and testing of their mixing desks. In this article I am writing about my experiences with the people and hard work that goes in to the product.

I was pleased to get a quick response after contacting Calrec about work experience because they seemed to work very closely with some of my main career interests: music, audio and computer science and I can honestly say my high expectations were met, if not exceeded, partly due to the wide range of activities which were made available to me. Not to mention the politeness and light humour of the staff meant I had a great time.

On my first day, I was working with the production team to assemble modular inputs for the mixing desks, which required a lot of precision and checking over of the smallest individual components. It’s quite difficult to put into words how thoroughly this department treated their craft, though it didn’t adhere to my personal career paths, it certainly opened my eyes to the industry behind the desks. This was true for working in stores too; I had a good laugh with the lads down there and they showed me the ins and outs of working efficiently to keep track of imports and exports.

On Wednesday, Darren from the support department showed me the software Calrec uses to run diagnostics on customer’s desks, which hugely impressed me, catering to my interest in software and the developments Calrec is making in terms of Audio over Internet Protocol, which are really startling. AoIP has so much potential for the future of audio. Later on, Gary demonstrated to me the impressive technicality of the hardware inside the desks and the extensive testing required for their production.

On the final day Amy gave me a demonstration of a Brio desk which was not only great fun to use, but also quite impressive considering this is Calrec’s most affordable desk, it really blew me away. Later I worked with Ian who showed me the ropes of marketing and how they bring the hard work of Calrec’s other departments to the attention of customers.

Which lead to me writing this blog post; it’s hard to make it not come off as too flattering but I can say honestly that I have really enjoyed my time here and indulging in the work Calrec do, so I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to relay my experiences here.

 

 

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