Central offers degree-level training in all aspects of theatre production, management and design, and is the only UK-based institution that offers a full-time degree course specifically in Theatre Sound Design as a separate design discipline. Sound Design is one of the most rapidly developing of the specialist theatre disciplines and digital technology has dramatically increased the practical potential for the creation and realisation of sonic environments as part of the dramatic narrative.
The School has recently acquired three Yamaha DM1000 V2 digital mixing consoles to support the delivery of the course. Gregg Reed Fisher, head of the Theatre Sound Design program at Central and a professional theatre sound designer himself, is impressed by the multiple and creative roles played by the school's Yamaha DM1000s. "We are delighted with our new DM1000s. The synergistic and cost-effective combination of small footprint, portability, immense flexibility, expandability, and audio quality make the DM1000 ideal for our many requirements. In Theatre Sound, we need to control sophisticated audio material in acoustically challenging environments, which can often mean complex psychoacoustics, large numbers of speakers, multiple delays and a desk sufficiently flexible to control it all. The DM1000 fills that bill."
Students at Central learn by doing. In this summer term, Central has at least 15 productions underway which will be performed in a variety of venues both on and off-site - from the 'main stage' Embassy Theatre to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, to a cupboard adjacent to the main foyer. "Obviously it's vital that we can easily adapt our audio to any number of difficult playback and reinforcement situations," Fisher says. "The DM1000 is perfect at coping with anything we throw at it. Presently, we have two DM1000's cascaded in the Embassy Theatre for an upcoming major production. Ultimately the project-based 'hands-on' curriculum is about equipping the students with the core skills and understandings they need to work effectively and creatively in theatre sound design. They need to work, in school, with equipment and concepts that they will actually encounter in the industry. The digital technology embedded into the DM1000 allows us to pursue those goals.
But theatre productions are not the only way the DM1000s are used. One of the consoles is currently dedicated to a new experimental studio facility which is exploring protocols and interoperability between lighting, sound, video and projection. Fisher continues: "Our students need to train for the "real" world. They need to understand, and work with, digital audio transmission networks and integrated computerised show control protocols. Our new Experimental Studio is designed to facilitate those explorations, with a fully specified DM1000 being the command centre for digital and analogue audio applications. Working alongside a battery of high-spec computers, running a variety of different audio design, RTA, and show control software (and Studio Manager, of course) the DM1000 is the core audio networking distribution point for the facility."
Yamaha has been a major player in digital audio for as long as there has been digital audio and Central has long pioneered Yamaha digital consoles, from the early days of the Pro-Mix through to the O1Vs and O2Rs. However, the support received from Yamaha is a significant aspect of the school's relationship with these products - "it's what comes with the products that matters most and Yamaha training and support is invaluable," says Fisher. "As th
