A 36-channel Audient ASP8024 analogue mixing desk has been installed at Livewire Youth Music, an independent charity providing a musical hub and teaching platform for young people in the community in Saltash, Cornwall.
Offering free and open access to music lessons, (guitar, bass, vocal, drums etc) Livewire also uses its facilities to teach live engineering and studio recording skills to those aged 10 to 21. The arrival of the Audient console, along with with patchbay and producer’s desk , has inspired both staff and guests, giving a new learning focus for the studio and contributing to a significant upgrade in sound quality.
Manager Andy Rance has been running the youth centre for the best part of three decades, and welcomed local three-piece band, The Flying Saucepans as the first to be recorded using the console: ‘Our long-time studio and venue engineer, Will Rodgers, led the session with support from two of the older trainee studio engineers,’ he says. ‘It went perfectly. The young band preferred analogue – as does our engineer. This also meant we got the full benefit of the Audient’s superb preamps and EQ from the off.’
Rodgers is already pleased with how the ASP8024 is settling in: ‘What stands out for me is the fact that you can choose any input to your soundcards simply by pressing a button. This makes life so much easier. Also, the sheer number of outputs and routing options. The highlight however, is the clarity and transparency of the musical EQs making it so easy to get the sound you want with minimal effort.
‘The preamps in the ASP8024 sound exceptional and clean, even at a high gain and if used with good quality mics, the signal can be sent straight to the recorder without the need for any added processing or effects.’
The considerable size of the console meant adjustments needed were needed to accommodate it: ‘It was a major mission getting it up to its new home via staircases, narrow corridors and narrow door openings, but with the help of about eight volunteers we managed it,’ Rodgers agrees.
Everybody at Livewire Youth Music also believe it was worth it: ‘Our young trainee engineers are absolutely over the moon and have immediately fallen in love with the desk,’ confirms Rodgers, who admits he is also in his element. ‘I am loving using the Audient and as I get more used to its functions the experience will only get better and better, I feel proud to promote our new studio now we have such wonderful equipment.’
More: www.audient.com
