South Africa’s Academy of Sound Engineering (ASE) has established a second campus, headed by musician, engineer and producer Keith Farquharson. Overseeing the project from the early stages of its specification, through to welcoming the first intake of students in February 2016, Farquharson has drawn on his considerable experience in both the live and studio business to realise this goal.
‘Significant time and investment have been spent on creating recording spaces that not only sound good, but give students the feel of being in a genuine recording studio environment rather than a classroom,’ he explains. ‘To that end, having the consistency of Audient hardware in each room, has made a tremendous contribution to that.’
A long-time Audient user, he has specified British studio gear throughout Cape Town ASE: ‘Apart from the 36-channel ASP8024 console with patchbay in the main room, there is an iD14 at each workstation in the Computer Lab and even a Zen in the smaller mixing and mastering room.’
For the past nine years, Farquharson has been sound engineer for Afro-fusion band Freshlyground: ‘I’ve had an Audient console in every studio I’ve owned since I bought my first ASP8024 in 2001,’ he says, underlining Audient’s suitability for Academy of Sound Engineering. ‘It was the ideal choice for the school in terms of value-for-money, reliability, and most of all, the intuitive way the console is laid out makes it perfect for teaching.’
The Academy of Sound Engineering was founded in 1997 and regards itself as South Africa’s largest tertiary education provider in the field of Music Production and Sound Engineering Technology, offering a three-year Diploma in Audio Technology and the country’s only Bachelor of Science Degree in Sound Engineering Technology. Its sister campus in Johannesburg operates out of the premises of the SABC, the country’s national broadcaster, and in February this year expanded to a bespoke studio complex right across the road.
Fully committed to his role as MD at the Academy of Sound Engineering in Cape Town, Farquharson is already thinking of future expansion: ‘The next purchase will definitely be the ASP8024 Heritage Edition,’ he says.
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