Claiming ‘one of the most comprehensive studio complexes in the South of England’, Northbrook College Sussex used the opportunity of relocating to a new campus for the 2015 academic year to establish a new 24-studio audio complex.
Designed and built by The Studio People, the Northbrook Audio Complex combines analogue tie lines and digital connectivity with a selection of hardware from the likes of Focusrite, Neve, SSL; Soundcraft, Digidesign, TC Electronic and Drawmer, and recording systems including Pro Tools, Logic Studio and Ableton Live. Central to its main Control Room A and B are Audient analogue mixing consoles – an ASP4816 and Audient’s flagship ASP8024. ‘Students really love the uncluttered, logical format – identifying signal paths and mixer sections is much easier on these desks,’ says Curriculum Leader in Music for Creative Industries, Mick Feltham. ‘It’s great to have both the ASP4816 and ASP8024 because it allows them to progress to larger format consoles without getting overwhelmed.
‘We believe that a pristine signal path is the foundation of all great recordings – everything starts and ends as an analogue signal, regardless of where it goes in between,’ he continues. ‘Students have to understand that fundamental concept and pay attention to gain structures and audio fidelity at all times.’
The mixing desks are used in both further education (16-18 year olds) and higher education (18-plus), across all levels for tracking and mixdown. ‘They can be used at entry level and all the way up to advanced production techniques,’ says Feltham. ‘We like to introduce students to the concept of multitrack recording using the ASP4816; they can then progress onto our ASP8024, TL Audio VTC and SSL AWS 900+.’
Northbrook presently has the highest specification studios in a mixed economy college. ‘Ten preproduction booths, three postproduction studios, four control rooms and five live rooms, all of which have been designed and built for world class acoustic performance with full analogue and digital audio networking,’ Feltham says.
When it came to equipment selection, Feltham didn’t cut corners: ‘First, the design layout is clear, all buttons and faders are well marked and intuitive and the overall feel is solid and well-engineered,’ he says. ‘Add to that the flexibility in the routing design and you have a really well thought out, great sounding console. What really sealed the deal for us was the passion and support we got from Chris and Simon, we certainly feel that Audient are true industry partners, a company we can rely on.
‘To be a professional you have to train like a professional in a professional environment, and it is our mission to provide the very best in music industry education at all levels and in all disciplines; Performance, Production, Media Composition and Business and Management,’ Feltham concludes.
