AUDIO ENGINEERS

1. KOBBOON HANSEN (THAILAND)

2. SIIRI METSAR (HULLU-AUSTRALIA)

KOBBOON HANSEN

Kobboon Hansen gained his education in the recording arts in the UK. In London, he gained his Diploma of Audio Engineer Recording at SAE Institute followed later by a Bachelor degree in Arts/Recording at Middlesex University. Since 2005, Koboon has worked extensively in Thailand and also in Australia and Vietnam as a live sound engineer and equipment installation specialist.

Experienced in audio calculation & specifications, product alignment & installation, sound engineering and audio seminar speaker, Kobboon is a respected audio and sound expert trusted by major producers for major arenas, theatres, special entertainment venues and recording studios. Career highlights include venues: Hard Rock Café, Centerpoint Playhouse Theatre, Central World, Ten Sui Fun Park at Saigon Vietnam, Protools Recording System Installation at U Tower Bank Cooperative, Bavorn Temple Thailand, Mint Night Club, Australia and recently as Sound Technician/Operator for The SE Asian Seminar on Technical Theaters.

2. SIIRI METSAR

For over twenty years, Siiri Metsar has been twiddling the knobs on mixing consoles, earning a solid reputation in studio recording as well as in live music production in Australia and internationally. Her work has encompassed all things audio, from the demands of popular Australian music festivals and international touring, to the challenges of sound mixing in inner-city pubs and clubs; from audio production in many of Melbourne’s theatres and halls, to a long-term association with the prestigious Famous Spiegeltent, enjoying regular seasons both in Australia and overseas.

Having initially completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at LaTrobe University, with majors in music production and sound engineering, Siiri served a solid audio apprenticeship with a small Melbourne recording studio, making demos and albums for a range of local independent musicians and songwriters, and honing her recording and production skills with several of her own projects, including the Girl Zone compilation CDs in 1994 and 1996, which received great accolades in the press and amongst women’s organisations. At the same time, Siiri worked freelance in live sound, often with the artists that she recorded, but also building long-term associations with various music festivals including Maldon Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Knox Festival, Stringybark Festival and Woodford Folk Festival, many of which she is still involved with.

From very early on, Siiri’s interest in world, ethnic and acoustic music developed specialised skills which would become very much in demand amongst organisations such as Melbourne’s The Boite, ABC Radio National’s Music Deli, Womadelaide, City of Melbourne and Multicultural Arts Victoria.

Since 1996, the Famous Spiegeltent has been a major feature in Siiri’s work, and regular seasons have seen her “run away with the circus” as far afield as Edinburgh and Brighton in the UK, and closer to home in Adelaide, Sydney and in Melbourne, which enjoyed seven tremendous seasons of music and mirth from 2001 to 2008. She participated again at this year’s Spiegel Garden at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as the Avignon “Off” Festival in France, which experienced the magic of the Spiegeltent for the first time.

Siiri has also enjoyed a long-term standing with Strut & Fret Production House, which includes the annual Garden Of Unearthly Delightsas part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where Siiri’s role as Site Sound Manager in 2010 saw her overseeing the audio production for ten venues, as well as mixing the sound in the Garden’s own Spiegeltent. Other work with Strut & Frest includes Brisbane Festival’s Carnival’s Edge, the Umbrella Revolution venue for The Melbourne International Comedy Festival and audio production and mixing for Pyrophone Juggernaut for the Docklands Ignite! Festival in both 2008 and 2009.

Siiri is touring internationally with Melbourne’s Spaghetti Western Orchestra, which enjoyed a highly successful two-and-a-half month European tour in 2009, with a return to Europe late in 2010. Previous tours have seen the group performing in Montreal, Paris, Toronto, New England, Arizona and Texas in the USA, and Macau in China. It is a challenging show, with 32 channels of professional orchestral instruments on stage, foley effects and voices, with five musicians re-creating the big orchestral sounds of Ennio Morricone’s brilliant scores from the Spaghetti Western classics.

Other recent work includes audio production and live mixing for Sydney Festival’s production of Smoke and Mirrors, which has so far this year enjoyed seasons during Sydney Festival in January, Adelaide Cabaret Festival in June and Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, with upcoming seasons in 2011 in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland, New Zealand.

Working with her own specialised and dedicated team, Siiri offers a highly professional approach, with courteous, efficient service and exceptional sound quality, honed by decades of dedication to her craft.