THE CLIENT
The Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary is an animal research sanctuary in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence of primates. In 2003 the City of Des Moines deeded over 200 acres of land to the sanctuary for the improvement and study of primates and early human development and educational, public recreational and associated uses.
THE TEAM
Chosen to help the sanctuary with their AV technologies was a local company called Triad Productions, Inc. The company started out with the goal of becoming Iowa’s premier recording studio. After reaching that goal they expanded into other areas to better serve their clients. Currently there are four divisions supplying products and services to clients all over the world. One of these divisions focusses on AV and customized AV solutions. Triad’s AV Services division has over 50 years of history in audio visual excellence and became part of Triad in 1995. Today, they continue to build on that legacy by offering an array of professional services. From conference room and presentation facility design and installation, to equipment rental and staging services, and expert repair and maintenance of today’s sophisticated AV gear, Triad AV Services is a tremendous resource for audio visual expertise.
THE CHALLENGE
Recording and gathering data is a tremendous part of the work that is done at the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary. To capture much of this information, certain parts of the habitat environment have to be outfitted with microphones. However, being as intelligent and as curious as they are, the bonobos primates soon did a fairly thorough job destroying the microphones that were originally specified by Triad AV. It was at this point that the company’s president, Dick Trump began his search for an alternative microphone that would be more durable and resilient in the habitat environment of the bonobos.
Trump chose Clockaudio’s omni-condenser microphone, a weather-resistant product that held up well under the regular maintenance required including the hosing of the facility.
Dick Trump shared, “Clockaudio’s moisture-proof microphones were made of Delrin which is a very sturdy plastic, so the build quality of their C007 was excellent for our purposes for the habitat.” He added, “In addition, because this product was originally designed for surveillance and recording in sensitive areas, it had an extremely low profile.”
For this particular installation, Triad was able to fit the microphones on a stainless steel mount which didn’t draw attention to itself and exposed only a very small surface area for the mics. This left the other more sensitive parts of the microphone well-hidden from the primates. Used in conjunction with a Lectronics mixer and JBL loudspeakers, two Clockaudio line-level boundary mics were installed inside each of bonobo enclosures.
PRODUCT PROFILE
The C007 is a through desk/ceiling/panel mount boundary layer design microphone with an omni-directional polar pattern. Its features include:
- High quality engineering
- Non-reflective delrin
- Non-conductive body
- Ease of mounting
- Low visibility when mounted
- Open ended, CPPW01 or PPA with XLR termination.
The C007 is designed and typically used for surveillance in sensitive areas – banks, airports, railway stations, law courts, conference and convention centers.
PROJECT UPDATE
As part of their on-going support and maintenance, Triad AV Services returns to the primate facility to visually inspect and test the integrated equipment. In a recent call with Dick Trump, he reported that during his last inspection, the Clockaudio microphones were still operating as an integral part of the habitats for the Bonobos and continue to collect sound recordings for the facility’s research
ABOUT TRIAD PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Triad’s AV Services division has long been known for their expertise in designing state of the art custom audio visual solutions and presentation facilities. Triad’s experienced professionals can design a permanent facility or innovative solutions that precisely meets your communications needs and create the right environment for effective communications.
This case study was created to highlight a significant past Clockaudio installation.
Information for the study was obtained from the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary website and from an article originally published in May of 2008 in Installation, an AV publication. Additional content was provided by Triad AV Services to Clockaudio as an addendum to the historical account of this project in March and April of 2016.
We thank Triad AV for their willingness to participate in this study. Clockaudio is proud to have been part of this installation.
