An Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition console is now central to the University of Stavanger’s one-year advanced graduate programme in Music Production and Recording (MPR) after its recent installation. Before settling on the British desk, director of MPR studies, Mark Drews turned to Facebook for recommendations, namely an audio educators group. “The Audient quickly emerged as the favourite,” he confirmed.
“The Audient quickly emerged as the favourite”
Investing some time deciding on the correct configuration, Mark found Audient’s local distributor, Prolyd “very helpful” and he was also able to chat extensively with head of recording at Oslo Concert House, where one of the largest Heritage Editions has been in residence for over two years, now.
The MPR course is aimed at advanced students and mature professionals from all over the world and described by the University of Stavanger’s website as a “unique alternative to a traditional music recording internship.” With places limited to just 10 per year, students’ studio time and practical opportunities are plentiful including near weekly sessions with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in the new, world-class Stavanger Concert House.
“It’s easy to explain the signal flow of the console”
“An important test of any gear is how quickly folks can understand the fundamentals of using it,” said Mark as he prepared to go away for his autumn break leaving the one-week-old Audient console with 36 inline channels in the hands of students. “I wanted to make sure they were able to get underway as soon as possible,” he said, as they started to find their way around the desk just half an hour after it was up and running. “They’re a good bunch so it will be nice to see how much they manage to handle it on their own.”
A bold move? Perhaps, but it paid off. On his return, not only was the studio was still standing (although “still in a bit of a moving-in state”) there were surprisingly few questions. “A few basic questions about routing through our outboard digital converters,” he volunteers. “This week we’ve had a chance to go through all the basics, so activity level is beginning to rise. It’s easy to explain the signal flow of the console even though we have plenty more things to connect to the system.”
There are plans to expand the University of Stavanger’s offerings at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and online applications are already open for next year’s MPR course. Today however, current students are actively using the console and helping finish off the wiring. Mark has received only positive feedback. “Everyone likes the look, layout and smell (most likely the wooden packing crate) of the new console!”
Audient is very pleased to hear it.
