Teach signal flow to music/recording students has been made greatly easier for Jeff Forehan, Director of Commercial Music at West Valley College in Saratoga, California, with the installation of an Audient ASP8024 Heritage Edition mixing console.
Calling the console ‘a serious upgrade’, he says ‘Students love it. Although they are intimidated at first, with proper instruction they get it easily. Teaching signal flow is a dream; it’s very logically laid out.’
Comprising 48 channels as well as Dual Layer Control (DLC) for integration with the college’s DAW, the British desk measures close to 3m. Yet, despite its size, it was actually the cost that was one of the driving factors in choosing Audient.
‘We were able to get so much more bang for our buck, not only in terms of extra features on the desk, but also to purchase the outboard gear and monitors,’ Forehan says. ‘It is also way less complicated than the other high-end professional desk we were considering.’
The Audient is at the heart of the school’s surprisingly large studio space, which is blessed with high ceilings and adjustable acoustics. ‘It’s large enough to record a full rhythm section, small choir or jazz band – which we have done. That room is shared with the video/film programme, so we have a green screen, great lighting as well as a collection of state-of-the-art cameras.’ Forehan adds, ‘The control room needs a facelift, but it is large enough for 25-to-30 students to hang out in comfortably as I instruct.’
Once the ASP8024-HE was installed, Forehan’s decision to choose Audient was substantiated: ‘The sound, for one, is an incredible improvement over what we had,’ he confirms. ‘The creative master section and built-in bus compressor are nice touches as well.’
All of this aligns with West Valley College’s ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality of educational experience: ‘We continually refine our course offerings in terms of content/projects as well as our comprehensive 24-unit Commercial Music Production certificate of achievement programme, which includes my commercial music/recording programmes,’ he explains. Classes incorporating use of the Audient console are Recording Arts I, II, III, Sound Design (for Foley and voiceover) and Music Production from which some 60-to-75 students will get their hands on it over the course of the year.
The future of West Valley College is bright – new music building that will include a state-of-the-art recording studio is on the horizon, with construction due to start in a couple of years.
