Richard Smith of DWR Distribution, an L-Acoustics Authorised Training Centre and the Certified Provider Distributor in South Africa, recently headed up L-Acoustics Certified training for a select group of technicians at the company’s offices in Johannesburg.
The two-day training course is internationally recognised and provides technicians with both the technical and practical skills and certification needed to operate a range of L-Acoustics professional sound systems.
Under the guidance of Richard Smith, who has served as a brand ambassador for L-Acoustics in Africa for over a decade, attendees are taught all that they need to know to operate L-Acoustics’ Kara, Kiva II and K2 professional audio system. Smith is a passionate and committed teacher and trainer and takes enormous pleasure in passing on his years of knowledge and experience to a new generation of L-Acoustics Certified Technicians.
“I have always loved teaching and try to take advantage of any opportunity presented to share my knowledge and experience with others in the audio field,” said Smith. “There is nothing more rewarding than watching those special light-bulb moments when a trainee suddenly grasps a new concept or skill.”
Smith has trained for several years and had the privilege to become the first South African to gain official L-Acoustics Trainer Certification towards the end of last year. “I have been involved in, and attended L-Acoustics training over the years, and have enjoyed seeing how the company has evolved and adapted its training offerings to meet the needs of technicians in the market,” he pointed out.
“In the past, L-Acoustics took a highly structured, standardised approach to its training programmes,” explained Smith. “However, in recent years, they have adopted a more modular ‘A la Carte’ approach. Participants start out with Level 1 training, which consists of two modules. Once they have completed the compulsory System Fundamentals module, covered on the first day of training, they are able to stipulate which system they would like to specialise in for the focused “K-Day”, which is delivered on the second day. Once a trainee has completed the K-Day course in a specific system, such as the Kara, they are able to return to learn about other systems, such as the Kiva II or K2, without having to repeat the first day of training. This provides operators and engineers with the opportunity to become certified in a range of L-Acoustics systems.”
L-Acoustics have Level 2 Training, consists of a “Variable Curvature Line Source” module, which is an in-depth look at Line Source System concepts started in Level 1 and more advanced SoundVision techniques. L-Acoustics have recently announced an exciting, brand new module called “Loudspeaker System Calibration”, which deals with the very practical approach to system setup and calibration, with a particular focus on the new P1 Controller, and it’s M1 Measurement and tuning tool.
DWR regularly hosts L-Acoustics training courses, both for the staff of rental companies and facilities that have invested in L-Acoustics professional systems and for free-lance engineers and operators that want to add L-Acoustics systems to their professional repertoire. “One of the greatest benefits of the L-Acoustics Certified Training courses is that audio engineers and operators who attend training at our facility are able to take the skills and certifications that they gain and work with L-Acoustics technology anywhere in the world,” Smith pointed out.
