Recently installed at the Universidad Profesional Dr Carlos J Borrero Ríos (UP University) in Puerto Rico, an Audient ASP8024-HE is the centre of a new on-site recording lab to support a new audio technology programme.
Taking advantage of the Audient’s modular console design, UP University was able to specify a console which aligned perfectly with its needs – a 36-channel console with Dual Layer Control and Patchbay – to serve its new control room, live room and isolation booth.
‘The console is a great fit for us here at UP University since it gives us the flexibility and capability to run big live sessions and mix in the console,’ says Armando Sepulveda, an Audio Engineer Professor at the university. ‘It’s also a great tool for teaching how to run a recording studio in the hybrid studio era combining the DAW with the analogue console and outboard.
‘Thanks to this console we can better teach the use of an analogue console in a recording or mixing session and we can also help students learn signal flow, thanks to its built-in patchbay.’
The AS8024-HE was originally specified by his colleague, Professor Ramon Martinez, who appreciated having preamps and EQs on all 36 channels. It’s worth noting that the Audient Console Mic Preamps and EQs are splittable across both the short fader and long fader paths, for ultimate flexibility in a tracking session.
Sepulveda himself is a musician, recording artist and audio engineer, and well placed to teach the next generation of audio engineers in Puerto Rico. From the outset he saw ‘the clarity of the preamps and the flexibility of the signal flow, and also, the EQs a pleasure to work with’ as primary assets. Aso key was its ability to control a DAW with using DLC control, which has proved to be ‘really useful’.
In the years since his graduation from Full Sail University 15 years ago, Sepulveda had got out of the habit of working with an analogue desk. ‘I’ve used a mouse and keyboard for too long, but now having the DLC is a truly great and efficient way to interact with the DAW,’ he says.
However, he confesses to have been ‘pleasantly surprised by its quality’ – so much so that he’s since started buying Audient products for his own use.
UP University has its eponym – and founder – Dr Carlos J Borrero Rios to thank for the launch of the new audio technology programme. ‘Here at UP University we strive to provide diverse educational opportunities, combining arts and medicine,’ Sepulveda says. ‘It is Dr Carlos J Borrero Rios’s great passion for music production, live sound and recording that inspired this newest course, and this passion is really what drives the audio programme here. I’m very proud to be part of the team.’
Students working towards an Associate’s Degree in Audio Engineering at UP University are tutored in sound theory, operation of DAWs, music theory, recording techniques, live sound, mixing and postproduction, as well as entrepreneurship and ethics. All of this is being taught through lectures and labs with an emphasis on giving students a real-world experience of the working environment in this profession.
The audio programme is currently in its infancy, but with the opening of the new studio there are great plans to grow as word begins to get out. Indeed, Armando envisages the Audio Technology department becoming the largest in the university, and the audio engineering programme itself to be recognised across Puerto Rico.
More: https://audient.com
