Part of Delta State University, the Delta Music Institute has installed a 48-channel SSL Duality δelta console as the primary tool in its recently upgraded Studio A control room.
The Delta Music Institute (DMI) is an independent Centre of Excellence within the Delta State University College of Arts & Sciences, offering a Bachelor of Science degree in Entertainment Industry Studies. The faculty focuses on the technological, creative and business areas of the entertainment industries, and has a dedicated music studio complex, which includes the large Studio A live and control room, where the Duality δelta is installed.
The Director of DMI, Tricia Walker, is herself a Mississippi native and university alumna. She returned to the area after spending over 25 years immersed in the Nashville music scene as a songwriter, performer, producer and publisher. ‘A lot of our students in this region have not had the opportunity of formal music training, so a more classical music education might be quite challenging to them,’ she says. ‘There is an enormous amount of talent though, so when the DMI began a lot of those students gravitated towards us.’
DMI courses focus on practical skills, but always in the context of the music and entertainment industry: ‘The music and entertainment industry changes so quickly,’ Walker says. ‘We‘re trying to teach our students good solid technical skills and business skills, but also to think and live entrepreneurially in a creative type lifestyle.’
This approach has seen the DMIgrow significantly over the past six years, but it has reached a tipping point: ‘Our administration has recognised this and has decided to run our programme up the flagpole,’ Walker says. ‘This purchase and some other upgrades put us out there as a flagship programme of the university. The SSL represents the icing on the cake.’
The DMI building was formerly a gymnasium, but was transformed into separate studio spaces, with the centrepiece being a large live room designed by producer Norbert Putnam. ‘It‘s rare to have that much space in a university to dedicate to a recording space Walker comments. ‘And now, with that kind of console in the control room, we can really brag that we have the best facilities in the Eastern United States.’
Miles Fulwider is the Co-ordinator of Sound Recording Technology for the department, and a full-time instructor on the Entertainment Industry Studies course. ‘In the recording studio, nothing compares to an SSL,’ he opines.
Flexible routing, analogue processing, dual DAW control and δelta-Control (in-DAW console automation) contribute to course content. ‘These are the tools that allow students to develop fantastic critical listening skills now,’ Fulwider explains. ‘Having to work their way up in the industry for ten years to finally be able to work in a facility that‘s got great equipment like this – and only then assess their skills – feels backwards. In this institute they have those tools from the beginning. They have the experience and the skills for them to go out and dive in commercially. Hopefully their careers just explode at that point for them.’
Fulwider has found that the console has a profound effect on the way students approach creative projects: ‘Students coming into our programme usually have familiarity with DAWs already – they‘ve already used plug-ins and in-the-box processing. However, when they get to touch something physical, and they really understand signal processing, their workflow changes. When they go back and work on their laptops they are listening differently because they have been able to interact with those signals in a different way – versus just watching meters bounce inside of a DAW.’
An important aspect of the new facility is its part in bringing the Mississippi Delta’s musical and cultural soul to the DMI. This accompanies a political drive todevelop the creative economy in Mississippi. To this end, the institute will be encouraging professional and community clients to come in and engage with the students both creatively and commercially: ‘It’s a win-win for our students because they get to be involved in a professional session, putting into practice things you can‘t get out of textbook,’ Walker says.
‘In late fall of 2015, we were delighted to host Grinder Blues – a super blues group made of dUg Pinnick (King’s X) and the Bilhman Brothers,’ adds Fulwider. ‘It was our first commercial destination recording sessionusing the Duality. The session was a great mix of a professional recording with hands-on learning for a select number of students who served as assistant engineers. With the Mississippi Delta being such an historic place for American music, we plan to build on the concept of destination recording at the DMI in order to offer a unique opportunity to recording artists and entertainment industry professionals.’
This accompanies the opening of the first ‘satellite’ Grammy museum. Located on the university campus, the Grammy Museum Mississippi will ‘be dedicated to exploring the past, present and future of music, and the cultural context from which it emerges, while casting a focused spotlight on the deep musical roots of Mississippi’ When it opens in March 2016.
‘It is going to be a huge benefit to not only our campus but to our region and to our state,’ says Walker. ‘Its primary mission is an educational one. One of the main considerations was putting it in a college town that had a fantastic recording programme with facilities and equipment to match.’
More: www.solidstatelogic.com
