Howard Audio

The South African bush is beautiful - and every now and then, work takes you somewhere truly special.

This weekend we had the chance to perform in the Letsitele bush as part of the Makulu Bush Concert for The Mahela Group . Sharing that setting with a top-class group of musicians and a great technical team was a real joy - and we were made to feel so welcome from start to finish.

Big thanks to everyone who was part of it, and to the crew behind the scenes for making it all happen.

Musicians: Rixi Roman, Floors Oosthuizen , David Klassen, Matthys Maree, Brendan Ross, Bez Roberts - and myself.

The IDIDTHAT.co 2025 Craft Awards Rankings are out - and this one feels especially significant for us 🔥

Howard Audio has been ranked #9 overall in the company rankings, a space that’s typically dominated by production companies. Seeing a music and sound studio recognised in the overall list like this is a first for us, and a strong result.

Among the work that helped drive these rankings were our audio rebranding for Cell C and Chicken Licken’s ‘Soul Food To The World”. Two very different briefs, both built on the kind of craft we care about most.

We’re also proud to share:

🥇 Howard Audio: #1 in Music & Sound
🥇 Adam Howard: #1 Sound – Original Music Craft
🥇 Adam Howard: #1 Sound – Original Music (Sonic Branding) Craft

More than anything, it feels like a testament to how we work. Our alignment with strong clients and brands allows us to create and elevate, landing in the space of fresh, new and premium. Our commitment to our clients is unwavering and their trust in us is the winning formula.

To our clients and creative teams who continue to inspire us with their ideas that we get to shape, mould and curate. Thank you.

Sonic branding is a space that we love crafting in, this is where experience and a real understanding of music and brand unite. It can be complex, multi layered and yet the outcome is simple.

For any outrageous ideas that you would like to explore and not quite sure how to execute musically, get in touch. We are here to find the campaign sweet spot you need.

👉 https://www.howardaudio.co.za/contact-us

For the last year and a half I’ve been sitting on something I couldn’t speak about properly, for obvious reasons.

Now that it’s been announced: there’s a new international feature film in the works called 'The Road Home', directed by Oscar-winning Bill Condon, with a screenplay by Michael Bronner.

The story is set in the Graceland era - the period around Paul Simon’s work in South Africa, and the cultural and political complexity of that time.

The cast includes Cynthia Erivo, Guy Pearce, and Thabo Rametsi, who will be portraying Hugh Masekela.

My role has been very personal. I’ve been working closely with Thabo - we’ve already done a number of trumpet sessions together - focusing on the physical truth of how Hugh actually played: how he held the instrument, how he approached phrasing, what felt natural in his hands. I’ll also be on set, helping with those details as we go.

The other part of this is the music. Under the production of legends Hilton Rosenthal and Bobby Summerfield, we’ll be recording original material for the film at our studios.

Hugh was a friend. I travelled the world with him. So this isn’t “work” in the usual sense - it comes with responsibility. The aim is simple: do it well, and treat his legacy with the care it deserves.

More to share when I can.

Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/theroadhomearticle

Mandisi Dyantyis’ Symphonic Celebration with The Egoli Symphonic Orchestra is selling out quickly - and we're really looking forward to sharing the stage with Mandisi once again.

It’s been a big inaugural year for our orchestra and one of the things I’ve enjoyed most has been seeing just how wide the audiences have been across the work we’ve presented - from "Red Bull Symphonic feat. Kelvin Momo” to “Jonathan Roxmouth - My Favourite Broadway” and now this (with many corporate events in the diary) we can’t wait to see what the future holds for us!

It’s exactly what excited us about starting the Egoli Symphonic Orchestra in the first place - forming an orchestra that could move between musical worlds and challenge what an orchestra can be - always keeping the musical standard high.

If you’d like to come and experience Mandisi’s Symphonic Celebration at The Teatro, book soon before it’s too late.

I’ve been involved with Red Bull Symphonic over the past two years - and it’s been an incredible experience to be a part of.

Conducting the newly formed Egoli Symphonic Orchestra on the Teatro Montecasino stage last year was an awesome career moment and having the chance to trade the baton for my trumpet in the middle of it, alongside Kelvin Momo… that’s the kind of thing you don’t take for granted. I’m so excited to be continuing the Red Bull Symphonic journey this year - more on that very soon 😉

As we prepare for the launch - I worked again on the Red Bull Symphonic interactive Maestro Game where you can build your own version of a track and stand a chance to win tickets for this year’s show.

I worked with a top producer and created the orchestral loops that the game is built around. I then worked closely with the Red Bull team to make sure the whole thing felt right when it played back.

If you want to play, build your own version in the Maestro game and submit it - I’m excited to hear what people make.

👉 https://www.redbull.com/za-en/events/red-bull-symphonic-south-africa

We’re absolutely thrilled to share that our collaborators at Multi-Media picked up Best Sound Design at this year’s Naledi Theatre Awards - a win we’re genuinely proud of.

We went into the night with seven nominations across six categories, up against an incredibly strong field, so to see this one land for the technical craft is a big moment.

Multi-Media rolled out L-Acoustics’ L-ISA Hyperreal system on My Favourite Broadway - a spatial audio system that lets sound be placed and moved more naturally in the room, rather than coming from a traditional left-right mix. It made a real difference to how the show translated in The Teatro, and they deserve the spotlight for pulling it off at that level.

A special mention as well: congratulations to Bryan Hill on his Lifetime Achievement Award. Bryan has been an instrumental part of our Teatro shows - backing the vision from the get-go and helping create the kind of conditions where ambitious shows can actually be done properly.

Very proud of the team. Congratulations to all the winners!

Another very special win at the Naledi Theatre Awards 👇

Diary of a Wimpy Kid took home the award for Best Production for Children and Young Audiences and we couldn’t be prouder of our two older kids, Tabatha and Joshua, who were cast in the show.

Tabatha was also Dance Captain, a role she a role she stepped into with so much maturity. They both had the best time, learned so much, and came home buzzing after every performance.

A big shoutout as well to Vicky Friedman and Daphne Kuhn for creating such a positive, encouraging space for the kids at Theatre on the Square, Sandton. That kind of environment makes all the difference.

Proud parents, full hearts. Well done everyone!