A wish to go back to teaching on an analogue mixing desk on the part of Jean-Michel Dumas has resulted in the installation of an Audient ASP8024 at the Université de Montréal’s music technology department. Reporting that it ‘feels like a huge upgrade’, Dumas counts cost, feature set, reputation and operating costs as important factors behind the decision.
‘Understanding the signal flow is easier in the analogue domain since you can follow the audio clearly,’ he explains, ‘Our students also have to be ready for live sound where the analogue paradigms are still used, even if digital desks are present.’
The console is in action for an average of seven hours a day, serving ‘countless students’, so reliability is also key. ‘The fact that the DLC module could be integrated to the board was what sealed the deal, since we needed a surface control, and Audient found a way to streamline the process with a great driver – that Steve Flower even customised for us – and great mapping options [presets for Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase]. The Pro Tools integration is flawless,’ he says.
‘The EQ section sounds surprisingly good and can compete with other, more mythical desk makers. The in-line way of doing things was new for us, but we are finding new cool ways to work because of it.’
The new desk has led Dumas to explore new areas of teaching: ‘We are even thinking of bringing back a tape machine to show the students an alternative way to work. We are also very curious about automating an analogue layer with the DLC through the Faderlink plug-in. I haven’t had time to try it yet but it’s a fun thing I want to do – even if I’m not quite sure of the benefits on the actual results,’ he says.
The desk is located in a conventional studio which is upgraded as and when funds become available. ‘We also have a bunch of outboard gear that gets inserted on the Audient when needed, other preamps we can A/B stuff with,’ Dumas says.
The University has a thriving music department with jazz classes, demos and grant applications where a professional studio recording is needed. ‘Once in a while, students also write and produce the music used over the University’s telephone network,’ Dumas says. ‘We are seeing very exciting music being made here and it shows no sign of fatigue. WWII oscillators going through custom programmed DSP while a string quartet reads from a score? Hey, why not?’
The console was supplied by local Audient dealer, Sonotechnique.
