Waikato Institute of Technology has selected an Audient ASP4816 console to be at the heart of Studio A as it completed upgrades. Bringing analogue back to the School of Media Arts’ studio after a 13 year hiatus was a decision championed by music technician, Brad Morgan.
Morgan explained that the original studio centred around an analogue console: “Its age and maintenance downtime was becoming an issue and in 2003/2004 the decision was made to go to Pro Tools HD with a Control 24. The workflow was simple and the ease of an ‘in-the-box’ solution was convenient for staff and students.”
He continued: “Fast forward 13 years and the decision to create a hybrid system taking in the best of both analogue and digital workflows was something that was welcomed with open arms. External gates, dynamics and effects racks that had been in storage for many years would now be reinstated.”
Morgan also said: “Students had experienced some level of tactile control with the previous system, but I knew that this system and workflow would not only sound better, but also be of great benefit to their learning i.e. signal flow, bussing, external inserts, I/O routing from DAW, patchbay usage, analogue mixing as opposed to in-the-box.”
Having guest lectured on a couple of lessons to get everybody up and running, Morganb is happy to report that 25 to 30 students have already learnt the system since its install and that feedback has been positive.