AES New York 2015 Presenter or Author
Taidus Vallandi
Primary Affiliation: DiGiCo - Las Vegas, NV, USA
Secondary Affiliation: Group One Ltd. - Farmingdale, NY, USA
System Engineer And Product Design & Development Consultant
A native of Estonia, Taidus Vallandi got his start playing in high school bands and apprenticing at the Estonian Music Society recording studios, before moving on to study computer systems engineering at the Tallinn University of Technology.
In 1988, he landed a position as a systems tech/touring engineer with Westfalen Sound, a preeminent German production company. Over the subsequent 12 years, he worked on European tours with artists including Prince, Genesis, Phil Collins, Joe Cocker, James Brown, Deep Purple and Jethro Tull. Additionally, he handled FOH for an astounding 1300 shows over the course of 5 years for the European touring production of “The Phantom of the Opera”, as well as on historic German appearances by Pope John Paul II and then-president Bill Clinton.
Vallandi began a lengthy partnership with famed production manager, Lars Brogaard in the late ‘90s, working again as systems tech/engineer on prominent European/UK tours with Diana Ross (1997’s “Voice of Love”), Rod Stewart (1998/99’s “All Rod, All Night, All The Hits”), Bob Dylan (Fall of 1999), Deep Purple (“Concerto for Group and Orchestra” with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000), and Simply Red (2000’s “Spirit of Life”), and Marilyn Manson (2001’s “Gods, Guns And Government”).
Over the years, Vallandi has served as a product/sound design consultant for a host of major pro audio companies such as Electro-Voice (X-Line system), Klark Teknik/Midas (crossovers), AKG (wireless systems). In 1994, he worked closely with L-Acoustics to launch its innovative V-DOSC line-array sound reinforcement system developed by Dr. Christian Heil. Vallandi implemented the first V-DOSC system live on tour with Supertramp on the band’s reunion tour in 1995/96. In 1999, he was brought in as a consultant on the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Australia, working with Audio Director and famed audio designer, Bruce Jackson (Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen).
In 2001, Vallandi designed and road-tested a new control surface while on tour with Rod Stewart. His work was later incorporated into the celebrated D5 digital console, which launched the new DiGiCo company (formerly Soundtracs) and led to his retirement from the road and into full-time employment as DiGiCo’s Technical Sales Manager in 2002.
Vallandi eventually relocated to southern California in 2003 to open DiGiCo’s U.S. offices, and later became part of the Group One Limited team in 2008, handling DiGiCo’s technical sales for the U.S. distribution company.
More Info: http://www.digico.biz/
Session List
Nov 1:
Virtual Sound Checks and Processing in a Networked Environment (Presenter)
