Audio Education 2024, Pt. 5: Southern University

Southern University has opened a new recording studio next to the Recital Hall in the Tourgee A. DeBose Music Hall on the university’s main campus in Baton Rouge, La. that is outfitted for Dolby Atmos work. The facility was built to support a Bachelor of Music program focusing on music technology and recording arts that started in fall 2024. A Bachelor of Digital Media Arts with a concentration in recording arts is scheduled to begin Fall 2025.

The new control room, which has an adjoining live room and iso booth, is equipped with a 48-fader SSL Duality Pro-Station, which offers integrated Pro Tools control, and a Genelec 7.1.4 monitor system as well as George Augspurger-designed and manufactured stereo main monitors. WSDG Walters-Storyk Design Group provided acoustic design and construction. Rick Camp, owner of RC1 Productions & Designs in Las Vegas, NV, handled technical design and integration. The studio also connects to the performance hall over a Dante network.

“Our curriculum is heavily focused on our music tech and recording arts students, particularly those looking to build careers in audio engineering and production,” says Gerren Porch, M.M.tech, recording studio manager & instructor of music tech/recording arts in the College of Music. “Through our curriculum, students gain experience working with a variety of tools. They don’t only develop their creative skills in audio engineering, but they also work on the technical aspects, like patching external equipment, system calibration and even troubleshooting. This ensures they are wellrounded and prepared for all facets of studio work.”

Camp’s pre-pandemic design brief was for a stereo room, but when Apple Music’s Spatial Audio platform rolled out in June 2021, he persuaded the school to incorporate immersive capabilities.

With the SSL desk already purchased, Camp came up with a novel custom solution that combines Duality’s functionality with a Pro Tools system and third-party, Dante-enabled converters, speaker optimization and monitor management hardware components from Antelope Audio, DirectOut and Grace Design. “In the Duality, I’m using a 5.1 panner output with a stereo cue output to feed the side speakers; I’m using auxiliaries one to four to feed the ceiling speakers,” Camp explains.

Ultimately, Porch adds, “By the time they complete the program, our students will have mastered not only the technical aspects of audio engineering but also how to work fluidly between the SSL Duality and Pro Tools. This hands-on experience in hybrid workflows gives them the realworld skills they’ll use throughout their careers.”

CONTINUE ON TO THE CONCLUSION, PART 6