Having run its Music Industry Arts (MIA). music production and business diploma programme since 2010, Ottawa’s Algonquin College has built a large studio with a teaching-orientated control room and equipped it with a Solid State Logic Duality mixing console.
‘The aim of the programme is to prepare students for the myriad of music industry employment possibilities that the real world has to offer,’ says Program Coordinator and Professor of Music Business Program, Colin Mills. ‘To that end, Duality is used to illustrate a wide variety of modern recording methods and techniques. The console is uniquely flexible in that it can be configured to emulate console architectures ranging from traditional analogue to contemporary DAW controller. Between group sessions and personal studio time, students learn how to apply these skills in order to create professional-calibre recordings.’
The MIA is a ‘non-semestered diploma programme,’ according to Mills, and condenses the usual two-year, four-semester corriculum into three semesters that run over 12 consecutive months. It accepts up to 75 students, who receive their diploma after a single, very busy year. The Duality was chosen for its ability to address all aspects of music production with a straightforward, industry-standard user interface and DAW controller.
‘The programme is about 60 per cent audio production and 40 per cent the business of music,’ Mills says. ‘We find that giving our students a full understanding of how the industry works will prepare them for various career options. On the production side, Duality delivers a ‘best of all worlds engineering experience’ that is consistent with our mission.’ The console is prncipally used for all levels of the programme’s Recording, Engineering, Production course, which runs all year.
‘Students are in the studio with the SSL for ten hours per week on this course alone,’ Mills says. ‘We offer other classes that reference Duality workflow that include our Digital Audio Concepts and Production Theory courses, each of which has two levels. Additionally, after the halfway point of the first 15-week semester, each student is required to give 15 hours of studio time on the Duality per semester. Most of these student sessions run immediately after class, overnight and all weekend, so our studio ends up in use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The console works flawlessly, day-in and day-out, delivering great sound. It’s also great that the console is backed by SSL, a company that actually responds immediately to any question or problem. With our schedule, there really is no other console but Duality for our programme.’
More: www.solidstatelogic.com
