Catalyst, an arts and technology learning institute located within the historic Funkhaus complex of buildings in Berlin, Germany, recently installed a Solid State Logic ORIGIN 32-channel analog mixing console in the biggest of its three large-format tracking studios.
The ORIGIN console, installed at the beginning of the current scholastic year, was supplied by Audio Pro, SSL’s distributor in Germany, and is being used by students on Catalyst’s Creative Audio Production and Sound Engineering programs. It was integrated by Catalyst’s in-house team of technicians in the institute’s K4 control room, named for its designation on the building’s original blueprints.
“K4 has probably 135 square meters [1,450 square feet] of space with three live rooms,” says Nathaniel Suter, operations lead for Catalyst. “We use K4 for all of the practical studio lessons for the Creative Audio Production course, from year one to year three, on the certificate and BA degree courses. When students work on projects they’ll split up and some of them will work in K4 and some will work in some of our other studios. They potentially have a lot of hands-on time with those studios, and especially the ORIGIN.”
The Catalyst staff elected to upgrade the mixing console in K4 to an SSL ORIGIN during its annual summer development period in 2021. “The ORIGIN is more of an instrument,” Suter says, compared to the previous desk. “It has a sound. It has character and tone. It has a workflow that is perfect for the classroom. And it’s enjoyable to use. That all contributes to the experience in the studio for the students. That’s not something that you can really describe, but we’ve seen it practically in the fact that the students are using that studio way more than they used to.”
ORIGIN’s operation doesn’t impede the students as they learn about other aspects of the production process, he adds. “It means that the learning environment is less encumbered by moments of the students not having some sense of control. Say they are miking a drum kit and learning to deal with that situation; you don’t want the console to stand in the way of that. The consistency of the ORIGIN contributes to that, to a smooth learning environment. The functionality of the console is also not overwhelming, which when you are learning something is really good. Yet it’s still a comprehensive console.”
Catalyst’s Funkhaus premises house over two dozen studios and production suites, including a mastering studio, a multi-speaker sound studio and vintage radio production studios. Courses include electronic music production and performance, music production and sound engineering, film production, visual effects and acting. They range from four-week summer courses for beginners to bachelor and masters degree courses validated by a university partner in the U.K.
There are about 110 students on the Creative Audio Production program, Suter says, plus a few more than that on the Electronic Music Production course. “We have students this year from about 70 different countries,” he says. “I don’t know of any other schools that have the numbers of students that we have that have as many studios. We like being able to offer that to our students. Our intention has always been to give the students as much hands-on time as possible.”
