ASE invests in equipment
Published: MEA
SOUTH AFRICA: The Academy of Sound Engineering (ASE) has added to its training facilities with a fully equipped OB van. The Johannesburg-based educator has also invested in a range of new equipment to benefit its students.
‘We need to keep on the cutting edge of technology, and want our students to finish the course with relevant skills and experience to allow them to go straight into the workplace with no need for further training,’ said ASE facilities manager Gray Burnett. ‘The panel van will be used as an outside broadcast vehicle, housing live broadcasting and recording gear. We will be able to record, mix and broadcast audio signals of live sports, music and other entertainment events. This van would be able to house our Avid SC48, Avid Profile, SoundCraft Vi1 Yamaha M7CL or any other large-format console with recording peripherals. Being able to do this is very valuable to our students, as most educational institutes don’t have their own OB facilities.’
Away from the OB van, ASE has also made a number of significant investments to bolster its facilities. ‘The Soundcraft Vi1 mixer is a very popular mid-level console in the live sound industry, and was chosen for its functionality and ease of use. Students gaining exposure to this console will be able to seamlessly move on to any of the larger Vi consoles. Another benefit of this console is its digital integration with Madi and Dante support, allowing it to perform more audio networking functions than just point-to-point routing,’ said Mr Burnett. ‘The Avid Artist Controllers are at the cutting edge of where controller technology is going, as it utilises the Eucon controller software. This is by far the most powerful and adaptable platform for DAW and software control. Having our students use this hardware and software allows them to experience controllers in a different way compared to our Icon work surfaces.
‘The Panasonic P2 camera is an industry standard for HD hand-held video capture. It has master-quality 10-bit, 4:2:2 independent-frame, 1920 x 1080 resolution AVC-Intra 100 recording. Having our students exposed to this camera would allow them to firmly understand high-quality video capture, and secondly be able to walk onto most HD video shoots and be able to operate the equipment,’ he continued. ‘The MAX MSP software allows our BSc students to dive straight into DSP and Midi control and design. Incorporating the Arduino boards and Leap controllers open up the possibilities for control and automation. The RME Madi Bridge is installed into our main lecture auditorium, allowing for the Madi stream from the Vi1 mixer to be distributed to multiple destinations. The studio attached to the auditorium will house the Avid Madi HD, allowing students to record the performances either via the existing analogue infrastructure, or via the new Madi infrastructure.’
Completing the list of new teaching aids is a move towards Dante networking. ‘We are investing in more and more Dante systems to demonstrate to students how audio over IP networks can be utilised,’ explained Mr Burnett. ‘We have Yamaha MY16 cards allowing us to connect our O1V and M7 to the network for multichannel multicasting.’