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At the University of Northampton, the Popular Music department is creating an environment where traditional recording workflows and cutting-edge spatial audio research live side by side. At the helm of this innovative programme is Dr Stace Constantinou, the Course Leader for both the Popular Music and Music Production degrees, whose extensive research profile highlights a career dedicated to sonic exploration.
You can view his academic work on the University of Northampton Pure platform. With a rich background in avant-garde spatial sound and a deep commitment to preparing students for a changing industry, Stace has spent years embedding reliable, functional and inspiring tools into the university curriculum.
The “Wow Factor” in the Main Studio
For the approximately 70 students who progress through the three-year programme, the audio journey begins in the university’s large professional recording facility. The space features large control rooms and two live rooms, anchored by an Audient ASP8024 large-format console.
“One reason for the Audient is the ‘wow factor’” Stace explains. “The ASP8024 desk looks beautiful (I know looks aren’t everything, but it is good to work in an environment where aesthetics have been considered). It’s highly functional. It works like an affordable version of an SSL or Neve… It’s highly reliable. It’s an excellent desk for teaching/ simulating professional environments. I can’t think of any downsides.”
The console provides an ideal bridge between analogue workflow and digital flexibility, integrating smoothly with the department’s Pro Tools setup. In the six years Stace has worked at the university, the desk has proven itself to be completely bulletproof. “It’s been very reliable,” he says. “We haven’t had any issues with it. It works well both for recording and tracking.”
To help students understand how their work translates across different listening systems, the mixer supports multichannel mix-down monitored through an eclectic range of monitors. These include large PMC SX-Pro monitors, mid-sized PMC Result 6 speakers and a pair of custom Auratone-style speakers that Stace built himself. “Having these different options allows students to hear their work in a variety of ways,” he notes. “Which is important for understanding how mixes translate across different listening systems.”
Everyday Reliability
Beyond the main console, the Audient ecosystem extends across the department with iD audio interfaces. As the workhorses of daily student life, they make managing a busy educational environment significantly easier, as Stace points out.
“Alongside this, we regularly use smaller Audient interfaces like the iD4 and iD44. These are excellent everyday audio interfaces, simple, reliable and easy to use. They work straight out of the box with our computers, making them ideal for students who need a straightforward, no-fuss solution for recording and playback.”
A Personal Space for Immersive Research
While students cut their teeth on the ASP8024 and iD interfaces, Stace’s personal research is pushing into the frontiers of spatial audio. He has recently set up a dedicated environment in his home studio, a compact 3m by 4m room with a 3m ceiling where large speakers are impractical. Here, he has integrated Audient’s new immersive audio interface, ORIA, to manage an 8-Genelec speaker array.
Stace’s fascination with spatial audio goes back to his early days working as a crew member at a contemporary music festival in Huddersfield. “The setup was striking: eight live percussionists arranged around the space, with the audience positioned in the middle,” he recalls. “Alongside the performers, there was live electronics, including the sound of a pulsar being beamed in in real time. It was a huge operation and had a real impact on me as it was the first time I’d experienced sound working at that kind of scale and immersive intensity.”
This seminal experience led him to experiment with quadraphonic sound, octophonic sound, binaural recording and stereo techniques using Jecklin boards. Now that the wider industry is finally embracing spatial audio, the ORIA has become the perfect tool for his ongoing research into live spatial mix patterns and varying speaker setups.
“The ORIA system is currently being used more for research purposes,” Stace explains. “It offers a range of features that make it particularly useful for exploring spatial audio. This includes detailed control over speaker setups and sound placement, which is essential when working on immersive audio projects”.
Preparing Students for the Future
The ultimate goal of this technical ecosystem is to prepare the next generation of engineers and producers for the rapidly changing demands of the audio industry. By blending rock-solid traditional studio training with exposure to newer spatial workflows, the university ensures its graduates are ready for anything.
The results speak for themselves. “The current crop of third-year students are just submitting their end-of-degree projects, many of whom have heavily utilised Audient gear throughout to a greater or lesser extent, so watch this space!” Stace teases.
Check out Stace’s personal creative journey on Instagram @stace3624. To hear the incredible tracks being produced by these talented students, dive into their dedicated playlists on SoundCloud and Spotify.