ROMEDIGS REYES: AHEAD OF THE STREAMING CURVE WITH THE V-160HD
By Adam Noyes
Roland’s V-160HD is a tremendous live streaming and switching solution to give your professional production a cutting edge with all the latest and greatest features. Roland recently did a great article on their blog about Rommel “RomeDigs” Reyes, who is an on the go lifestyle streamer. He works in the highest qualities, and keeps hopping from place to place without sacrificing this quality, with the V-160HD.
Check out some highlights from that article, below.
How did your A/V career begin?
I grew up in San Francisco and worked in Silicon Valley for ten years. I’ve always been fascinated by TV and film. I was that kid with the video camera. I was a consultant for a music label, and the parent company was the largest Filipino television media network in the United States. I’d always go back and forth to the TV department to see what they were doing, producing, editing.
That was in 2005. This took it to another level because I saw behind the scenes and how to put it all together with the proper tools. Then I jumped in, started researching how to run a broadcast, run cameras, put everything together. There are a lot of moving parts.
What did you learn from working at legendary Bay Area hip-hop station 106.1 KMEL?
Those were my college years, and I consider those five years my boot camp in the music industry. Guys like Sway—I was his little shadow. I did everything from answering the phones. In programming, I saw how records get on broadcast radio, music submissions, and meetings with record executives.
It was an education, finding out how to get things moving with marketing radio. We were producing Summer Jam concerts seeing how that comes together. It was huge to see the inner workings of how music gets played on the radio and how marketing ties in. I was hooked.
▲ Jazzy Jeff’s Playlist Retreat
ROME + ROLAND
You have a long history with Roland A/V products. Can you tell us about how that relationship has evolved?
Before meeting the team at Roland, I had an Internet TV network. We were streaming shows Monday through Friday, and I had a little Roland VR-3. This was before we could do wireless broadcasting. It was awesome because I would take that everywhere, even to remotes. That thing was so awesome and sturdy.
Fast-forward to 2015, and I met the Roland team through Jazzy Jeff. I told them how much I loved Roland products and that I was touring with Invisibl Skratch Piklz as their technical director. I had the VR-4HD on the road with the V-1HD, and they saw me extend a four-input into an eight-input. They thought, “OK, this dude’s kind of creative with his switching set-ups.”
We built a relationship. They connected me with the tech support guys, and I would bug them all the time. I was adding all these different cameras. They knew I enjoyed what I was doing, so they were open to letting me pick their brains.
What makes Roland gear so unique and essential to your work?
It all goes back to the TR-808. That’s how I learned about Roland. I’m a musician, and that thing was a beast—not only physically, but in terms of capability. From every producer back in the ’70s, ’80s, up to now, it’s the standard. I figured, if they were going to go into the Pro A/V side of things, it would be the same philosophy.
To this day, I still utilize the VR-4HD as my backup. It’s my parachute, my security blanket. The audio inputs are great, and the video quality and keying are incredible. How it connects to streaming is seamless. I’ve used Roland Pro A/V gear on all my broadcast media productions. They range from film, TV, and live music events to award shows and sports programs.
▲ V-160HD in Stern Grove Setup
V-160HD IN THE FIELD
Describe the role the V-160HD plays in your setup right now.
The V-160HD is on steroids. That thing is incredible. It’s got everything you need: SDI inputs, HDMI inputs, special effects, sequences to control your camera’s graphics. When you get into it, you’re like, “This is a lifesaver.”
The first thing that we used it for is Stern Grove, a festival in San Francisco for three months during the summer. We’ve got Thundercat, Joan Jett, Thievery Corporation. I needed something that could handle eight inputs, SDI as well as HDMI, then go out to an LED screen that will showcase what’s going on stage. We’re also streaming live on the Internet at the same time, plus using graphics and lower thirds.
Tell us about working A/V at Stern Grove and some of the challenges the V-160HD helped navigate.
There are fewer failure points now from my cameras, because of the SDI and HDMI inputs. I don’t need converters or adaptors anymore. It’s just a home run from the camera into the box. Also, with the capabilities for lower thirds, I store images and bring them up any time. It’s awesome. I have the Stern Grove audience, which is 10,000+. Then, we have a livestream audience to cater to as well, which can be 2,000 to 4,000 people. There are different commercials for different audiences, different branding.