Norway’s University of Stavanger has brought an Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition console into its one-year advanced graduate programme in Music Production and Recording (MPR).

While settling on the British desk, Director of MPR Studies, Mark Drews, consulted a Facebook audio educators group: ‘The Audient quickly emerged as the favourite,’ he says.

The MPR course is aimed at advanced students and mature professionals from all over the world and described by the University of Stavanger’s website as a ‘unique alternative to a traditional music recording internship’. With places limited to just ten per year, students’ studio time and practical opportunities are plentiful including near weekly sessions with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in the new, world-class Stavanger Concert House.

Determining the correct configuration for the console, which has 36 inline channels, Drews found local distributor, Prolyd ’very helpful’, and was also able to chat extensively with head of recording at theOslo Concert House, where one of the largest Heritage Editions has been in residence for more than two years.

‘An important test of any gear is how quickly folks can understand the fundamentals of using it,’ he says. ‘I wanted to make sure students were able to get underway as soon as possible,’ he says, adding that they started to find their way around the desk just half an hour after it was up and running.

‘There were a few basic questions about routing through our outboard digital converters. This week we’ve had a chance to go through all the basics, so activity level is beginning to rise. It’s easy to explain the signal flow of the console even though we have plenty more things to connect to the system.’

There are plans to expand the university’s offerings at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and online applications are already open for next year’s MPR course. Today however, current students are using the console and helping finish off the installation wiring.

Drews has received only positive feedback on the ongoing installation: ‘Everyone likes the look, layout and smell – most likely the wooden packing crate – of the new console,’ he reports.

More: www.audient.com