The newly established Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries brings together the creative disciplines within the University of Glamorgan, including Art & Design, Media & Communication and Drama & Music. The specially-designed building contains cutting edge technology and industry-standard studios. At the heart of the School's eight recording studios sit two Audient consoles: an ASP8024 and the ACS8024.
"Our experience with the first Audient desk purchased in 2003 has been so good that another Audient was the obvious choice for our expanded facilities: this time a 36-channel ACS8024," explains Jim Barrett, Divisional Head for Music and Sound and also a director for the Music Producers Guild.
"The Audients provide all of the routing and EQ facilities found on much higher budget desks with uncompromising signal quality, they are intuitive in their operation and give students the experience of working on a fully featured recording desk," continues Barrett. "With the added Control Section and Audient ASP510 Surround Sound Controller on the new desk, we are able to operate the desk conveniently with Pro Tools in 5.1 surround but also have the facility to go to 2" analogue tape and IZ Radar so we can cover all aspects of recording."
The ACS8024 combines the sound quality and feature mix of the ASP8024 with an additional Control Section bay. This allows a Mackie Control Universal or Digidesign Command 8 to be installed, bringing DAW control conveniently to the listening position of the console.
"The desks get a hard life with four hundred students using and abusing them!" says Barratt. "We have found that our first desk has really stood up to this, year in year out, without missing a beat. If anything should go wrong, however, it is comforting to know that it is a British manufacturer just up the road."
Andrew Gwilliam, Senior Lecturer at the School is very pleased with the educational value of the Audient desks. "I find the EQ very musical. The configuration of the console is also very good for teaching, as it allows you to work in a similar manner to an SSL or Neve console - without the expense. The Audient console is certainly the best and most user-friendly within the price range," he confirms.
Stuart Jones, Lecturer in Music and Sound Technology says: "The strength of the University's record in media education and production has led to its collaboration with a consortium of institutions including The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, The Roland Academy and The Gus Dudgeon Foundation for Recording Arts.
"Furthermore, there is a growing research community in the field of music and sound within the University, making it essential that we have the facilities to enable us to do everything from pre- to post-production in-house. Our studios must be able to operate flexibly to the requirements of the students and courses," he explains. "As the Audient desks can be put to work in many different ways, they are the perfect compliment for such strong and diverse needs."
The new faculty for 2000 students gives undergraduates every opportunity to interact with state-of-the-art equipment in a wide range of other vocational courses. The Cardiff building houses design studios, a 180-seat theatre, a digital and 16mm projection cinema, music performance practice areas, photography and journalism spaces, animation studios and computer labs, all underlining its position as a specialist 21st-century media production, design and performance studio.
(Lee Baldock)
