The Rupert Neve Designs console recently installed at the Honolulu Community College (HCC) is the largest Model 5088 discrete analogue console manufactured to date. The centrepiece of the Music and Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE) programme’s new production facility, the 64-fader desk is fitted with 33 Portico modules in the penthouse section plus Martinsound Flying Fader automation.
‘It’s a very solid platform for our students in Hawaii to engage in some cutting-edge technology in an analogue format,’ explains MELE Program Director, Keala Chock. ‘We are the only programme in the university and in the state of Hawai’i that offers a degree in audio engineering, so it was important for us to recognise who the industry giants are and some of the technological contributions that have been made. Rupert Neve is among the best – if not the best – because of his contributions.’
The new studio facilitieswere designed by local architects Shimokawa + Nakamura, and include a classroom and two tracking rooms – and offer space for future expansion. ‘We also have plans to expand the board, given that the 5088’s architecture allows for diverse analogue/DAW custom configurations,’ Chock adds. ‘It’s a huge step forward for the MELE Program in a lot of different ways, both in the academic sense but also in the professional training that can happen here in Hawai’i for other engineers and creative industries.’ Fall classes at the 200 and 300 level are already filling up fast, he notes.
All outboard gear is routed through a patchbay designed and installed by Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment audio engineering faculty and Belmont Dean Wes Bulla. The racks includes som of today’s best processors, including George Massenburg 8304, Universal Audio 1176N, LA-2A, Vintech Pre/EQ, and Manley Variable Mu units. The studio also has high-end Eventide 7600 and Lexicon PCM96 DSP devices. All this outboard analogueue gear is integrated with a Pro Tools|HD4 Accel System, which is loaded with UAD plug-ins. The microphone cabinet is loaded with studio standards manufactured by Neumann, Shure, AKG, Manley, Earthworks, Audix, Rode and Sennheiser. Studio B is set up with a Toft ATB24 console integrated with a Pro Tools LE system.
Students enrolling at the MELE program can elect to pursue an associate degree in music business and/or audio engineering with matriculation opportunities to Belmont’s Curb College.
More: www.rupertneve.com
