Sri Lanka - A new, 16-station audio lab, Audient Creative Hub 2, has been unveiled at Sri Lanka’s Pearlbay Institute, equipped with iD4 audio interfaces. The compact audio interfaces add to the Audient inventory alongside the flagship ASP8024-HE mixing console, further strengthening the bond between the facility and the British manufacturer.
General manager of academics at Pearlbay Music, Maheshwara Medawatte says: “Audient Creative Hub 2 is designed with a unique classroom concept where the lecturer is able to walk around and monitor classroom activities, whilst the students work on high-spec computers purpose-built for music production.
“Each station is equipped with an Intel i5 computer with 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSDs loaded with four different DAWs as well as the latest plugins and VST. Students work with Nektar Impact LX49+ MIDI keyboards whilst monitoring on Beyerdynamic DT240 Pro headphones, and of course there’s the excellent Audient iD4 audio interface delivering high-quality, console-grade recording and playback.”
Opened in December 2020, Pearlbay Institute was established to inspire the next generation of producers, engineers and artists. Over the last four years, it has done exactly that. Its student count is fast approaching 1000, 12 of whom have completed the Higher National Level 5 Diploma programme, pending certification from Pearson. Over the last three years a total of five cohorts of the International Level 3 Diploma in Music Production have been through the system.
“Most of the students progressed to Higher Nationals with us and a couple even transferred to our university partner BIMM to start their bachelor’s degrees,” explains Mahesh. “All of them learnt signal flow and recording techniques on the ASP8024-HE console - the crown jewel of Pearlbay Music Studio.” Pearlbay continues to add to its technology with the recent arrival of the compact ASP4816-SE console which will be teaching students very soon.
Today, a number of alumni are already garnering attention on the international stage. Mahesh cites Teshan Savinda as a rising star who has recently completed his HND: “He has been with us since the beginning and won the ICMP university partnership music production competition in 2022. He is an exceptional music producer with a big future ahead of him. Kenula Kandanaarachi is currently in our 2nd HND batch,” he continues.
Mahesh confirms there is more to come from the educational division, too. “We have a few different course plans in the works, ranging from Electronic Dance Music Production and DJ Skills to Podcasting. There are long-term plans to bring courses in other creative media fields but our primary focus is audio and music technology.
“Additionally, we have been working to bring workshops from notable professionals. We had the pleasure of having Grammy-nominated producer and fellow ASP8024-HE user Romesh Dodangoda join us online for a workshop earlier this year, which was a great experience for our students.”
Pearlbay Institute is a part of the Pearlbay studio complex and creative hub which provides recording and production services, education and equipment retail all under one roof.
