Examination of Witnesses (Questions 5320
- 5339)
5320. Mr Binley: We will consider that
and let you know the next time we meet.
5321. Mr Newberry: We are asking that
the Bill should include fairly extensive consultation with us
in terms of the works that have to be done. There is going to
be a dispute between ourselves and Mr Taylor as to the level that
should be adopted but the cure for the problem is in the work
that has to be done to the railway itself, as to the type of rail,
the type of clips etc., whether it is a single welded rail and
so forth.
5322. We would like an undertaking that work
of the highest quality in terms of effecting the sound reductions
should be carried out in these special circumstances because this
is a use which cannot tolerate the adverse impact of noise.
5323. Unless we can get an adequate assurance
that the work will be done to a level which guarantees us the
noise climate we are currently living and working in, it is not
a situation that can be retrospectively sorted out, we do not
think. If however things do go wrong—and we live in a world
where things can go wrong—the issue then arises as to whether
or not Crossrail will sort out the problem they have created,
as to whether or not works to the tunnel or the rails can be rectified
or alternatively whether or not work can be done within the studios
if the problem cannot be cured below ground. We will need to have
a debate on whether or not that can arise.
5324. Mr Binley: This document we have
just been handed will be classified A63.[58]
5325. Mr Newberry: That is a picture
of the outside of the studios and in due course we will be taking
you on a tour inside the studios. In short, we hope that the Promoters,
particularly in the inevitable adjournment that is going to occur,
will look at the impact upon our studios against the background
that I have set out of the extreme sensitivity of the use which
is taking place. You will hear from Mr Taylor and Mr Bell that
in the real world the levels which they are going to talk about
are the industry levels. It does not matter whether it comes with
a British Standard. It does not matter what you call it. That
is how these premises are built and if they are not built to that
level you do not get the business. It is as simple as that. You
lose your status. If this was to be applied throughout studios
in the United Kingdom, that you did not build them, you would
not have a centre of world excellence in Soho for sound recording
studios. It is as stark as that. We do need assurance that the
current noise climate that we are working in is retained and not
worsening.
5326. That is all I wanted to say in opening.
5327. Mr Binley: Thank you. Might I ask
Mr Elvin, I fear in vain, whether he is willing to give that assurance?
5328. Mr Elvin: We will certainly negotiate.
Can I draw Mr Newberry's attention and the Committee's to the
fact that with regard to some of the methods that he has just
referred to—for example, continuously welded rail—in
information paper D10, paragraph 2.8, that is the assumption for
the construction of the scheme and there are a number of matters
in there which we are already committed to doing.[59]
5329. Mr Newberry: I do not think that
quite answers your question.
5330. Mr Elvin: Perhaps Mr Newberry will
leave the interrogation to the Committee.
5331. Mr Binley: I understand the position.
5332. Mr Elvin: That is not to say we
will not continue to have discussions with the Petitioner during
the adjournment.
5333. Mr Binley: We are delighted to
hear that.
Mr Ivor Taylor, Sworn
Examined by Mr Newberry
5334. You are Ivor Taylor. Can you tell us what
your position is within the company?
(Mr Taylor) I am one of the founders
and shareholders for Grant Central Studios. My current role is
in the company is technical and finance director. I have been
involved in the design of the studios, both in these premises
and the previous premises about 200 metres away, at all levels
from the very beginning of finding the property to seeking the
permission and the licensing.
5335. Tell us a little bit about 51 to 53 Great
Marlborough Street, when you acquired it and so on. What sort
of work have you had carried out within it?
(Mr Taylor) Acquiring the facility was very
difficult. It is very hard to find buildings in Soho that have
the necessary ceiling height for a studio with isolated shells.
Because isolated shells can be very heavy, there are also structural
issues. There was a period of about three years searching for
the building and a couple of years negotiating and starting the
build. It was a very long process. The building when we acquired
it was unoccupied. We occupied the basement and the ground floor.
We completely gutted the basement and the ground floor. In the
basement we installed three studios, two of which are Dolby and
one of which is a non-Dolby studio. On the ground floor we introduced
three studios, again two of which are Dolby studios. One is a
stereo studio and one of those studios on the ground floor is
classed as a Dolby premier studio, a new classification that came
in approximately two years ago for Dolby. All of the studios were
built to the noise and performance criteria but we have only gone
for certification at the high level of certificate for that one
studio. As far as I am aware, it is the first one of two or three
currently in Soho.
5336. You mentioned Dolby. Can you explain to
the Committee the significance of that term? Who are Dolby? What
do they do? What do they regulate? Can you go on to explain why
you need to have a Dolby licence?
(Mr Taylor) Dolby were originally a British
company. Now they are floated on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ray Dolby built his background and noise control reduction techniques
for tape recorders. He did some very pioneering work in cinema
in improving the sound quality for cinema sound. Dolby was the
first company to try and set criteria to improve the sound in
the cinema. That has led to Dolby being the only certification
authority of significance to certify the sound aspect of films.
They also cover some of the quality of picture aspects of films
as being suitable for delivery worldwide. This is not the creative
content or the suitability as the BBFC look at it. It is whether
the picture looks good; is the picture of high quality; does the
sound work correctly; is the sound properly delivered; can you
hear the speech; when the sound goes around, does it go around
the right way; is it too loud; is it too quiet. Dolby have become
the de facto standard worldwide for that on behalf of virtually
every single territory, as far as I am aware, where there is control
of distributive cinema rights. You can find Dolby when you go
to the cinema, you can find Dolby on your DVDs—you can find
Dolby virtually everywhere. Part of the Dolby process is trying
to set standards from the very start of the creation of the sound,
through the delivery of the sound in the mixed dubbing stage,
how it is balanced, how it is put together, what the noise performance
is, what the clarity is, always focusing on trying to make sure
that when it is delivered to the end user it sounds correct and
it works correctly. Our contact with Dolby is that we are in the
creation of the process. We will record voice, we will manufacture
sound effects, we will bring in music, we will alter and edit
music, and we will build all of that into a cinema commercial,
and that cinema commercial has to have a Dolby licence, it has
to have a maximum level so that it is not too loud for the audiences
in the cinema; it has to have a certain intelligibility in speech
requirements and in order to make that a practicable workable
standard Dolby has set, for all Dolby certified studios who attempt
to do Dolby cinema commercials or Dolby themes or Dolby theatrical
releases, criteria which we have to design the facility to. Our
acousticians who we retain to design studios, put it into the
best criteria but Dolby have always used NC criteria. In fact
I had a conversation with one of the experts at Dolby about why
they use NC and not any other criteria and his response was that
you would never think of using any other kind of criteria for
our kind of environment. Other criteria elsewhere—obviously
that is not an issue—but leaving aside the sound, dubbing,
mixing and recording environment Dolby use NC criteria and Dolby
use the NC standard as the basis for their licensing. It does
not mean they take every single aspect of the NC standard but
they use the outline of the criteria to perform the performance
levels that we have to meet in the studios. It is important to
note that when my business partner, Karen Humphrey and I, were
specifying to White Mark, the studios, we were very specific that
they had to have Dolby certification, and after the original layouts
and designs were done, which is a very complex process, my understanding
is that White Mark took those designs to Dolby to get approval
that we would get the licensing requirements we required.
5337. Just explain who White Mark are.
(Mr Taylor) White Mark are design consultants
that we used for this facility; we used them previously for the
first facility built in 1994 and they have designed, as far as
I am aware, inside Soho, which is the area we work in, almost
half of the rooms that are used for recording sound, voice, film
dubbing, sound editing. We consider them as one of three pre-eminent
companies inside the UK who do this work to be the best, and that
is why we retained them. One of the things we were trying to do
was to build a world-class facility.
5338. You mentioned that you need the Dolby
licence for cinema commercials, but could you just explain to
the Committee how large the network of what I will call Dolby
cinemas is; is it just one or two or is it national, international?
(Mr Taylor) As far as I am aware any cinema
in the UK that is taking national distribution—so that is
virtually every single cinema—has to be Dolby certified.
The critical thing is that every single film going out, again
as far as I am aware, to fit into that system has to be Dolby
certified. World-wide Dolby does not certify cinemas. You will
see when you go into UK cinemas, in some of the cinemas you will
see that it is a Dolby Digital Cinema, and you will see that placard
up. Our involvement in Dolby's licensing involvement is to make
sure that the film leaving the process it for is of sufficient
quality to meet their criteria and fits into the Dolby distribution
chain; that Dolby authorise the Dolby licence. I think for cinema
commercials where we work you cannot actually send out a commercial
unless it has been through the Dolby quality assurance process.
5339. If as a result of Crossrail the noise
climate within the studios was not to the Dolby standard, what
would be the consequence of that?
(Mr Taylor) We would lose our Dolby licence.
Dolby come and check our studios on roughly a yearly basis. Whenever
we do any work of any significance in the studio we have the studio
recertified. If there was a reason that Dolby felt that our sound
isolation insulation had been compromised I would expect Dolby
to come and check that we were still meeting the noise criteria
that they lay down, which is the NC criteria. If we were found
to be in breach of that criteria and if we were unable to take
remedial action within that criteria they would withdraw our licence.
That is my understanding and I have no reason to believe otherwise.
58 Committee Ref: A63, Grand Central Studios Ltd (WESTCC-9305-001). Back
59
Crossrail Ref: P3, Information Paper D10, Groundborne Noise and
Vibration, Para 2.8 (LINEWD-IPD10-003). Back
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