Four years ago, principles at Full Sail University commenced planning to create a multi-purpose, live performance venue.
After a year-plus of construction, “Full Sail Live” has been completes and is slated to be one of the largest, dedicated sound stages for live concert training at an educational facility.
Full Sail Live will serve numerous campus-wide events including live musical performances, monthly graduations, open house events, multi-visual presentations, guest lecture appearances, 16-speaker surround movie screenings and live concert student training sessions.
The building is flanked by a new audio recording facility and linked by fiber for audio and video interfacing.
DiGiCo SD7 and SD8 consoles were selected for installation to serve at FOH and Monitor engineering positions respectively, and round out an impressive arsenal of 50 dedicated live production audio consoles currently used on campus.
“The console purchases were based on many elements,” said Director of Audio Programs, Dana Roun, who developed Full Sail’s Live Production training curriculum in 1981 while working as a touring engineer before coming onboard full-time in 1988.
“We took into consideration superior technology and reliable service, industry acceptance, cost and value, as well as relationship and trust.”
“As an educational facility—and this venue being the largest of six live production facilities on the campus—we have a responsibility to provide our Show Production students the full range of live concert industry tools, including lighting, video and audio.”
“We knew we wanted a flagship console, and we knew its usage would need to cover a very wide range of functionality. The hitch, however, was that in planning our budget for the building four years in advance, the console purchase line item was merely a placeholder; I didn’t want to lock into our console until the last minute to ensure we were getting the most current technology available.”
While researching consoles for the new Full Sail venue, Roun requested a demonstration of the latest DiGiCo console technology. His lengthy experience working with DiGiCo consoles over the years was a big factor in that decision.
“We owned a D5 for many years, so we were very familiar with the quality of the DiGiCo consoles and the responsiveness of the technical support staff (very important in a 24/7/365 environment!).
I was introduced to the SD7 at a tradeshow years ago and considered it a bit out of our price range at the time. I had been waiting to see how the SD7 consoles would be received, and last year we had grads on the U2 tour that advised us to get a good look at an SD7, which renewed my interest in the console.
Other graduates—and we have many out there on tours and operating in the shops of top rental and production companies—reported having used SD7’s on their tours with great success, and SD8 consoles were seen on corporate and regional shows. Their insight into what consoles are actually moving out on current tours and corporate work is invaluable to us.”
Dave Dean, the school’s long-time Department Chair for Live Production (and an active FOH engineer with KC And The Sunshine Band) echoed Roun. “The D5 console held up remarkably well considering the hundreds of live production students that used it year-round during that 5-year span,” said Dean.
“Our desire was to keep up with the top-level riders in the industry. That, coupled with feedback from friends that had used the SD7 in the field, and our great experience with the D5, we were very excited to get our hands on the new SD7 and SD8.”
The all-in-one functionality of both the SD7 and SD8 consoles—and the transparency of sound notwithstanding—have made them highly regarded among all the school’s veteran audio engineers and educators. Ken Robinson, Full Sail’s Advanced Show Production Lab Specialist, summed it up.
“The SD7 and SD8 have raised the bar on what can be expected from a digital audio console. From functionality to features to sonic quality, these consoles are leaps and bounds above the competition. It’s no wonder that so many engineers are beginning to move in DiGiCo’s direction.”
“While discussing the signal flow of the new building,” said David Arias, Production Manager for the Show Production department, “I realized that the presence of several MADI I/O ports on the consoles would allow us to eliminate the bulky analog snake I/O that we would typically use to interface our video playback sources from the mezzanine production spaces. In the past we have sub-mixed the decks and only sent a stereo pair out to the FOH and Monitor positions. We can now easily send discrete channels everywhere, easily.”
As the venue moves closer to completion and becomes fully functional for both entertainment and education, Roun is excited to get the new students up and running and in rigorous training on the new consoles.
“We have been training live production technicians for almost 30 years, and one of the keys to success in this business—besides work ethic and attitude—is the ability to understand the basics and learn to use the tools.”
“The purchase of both the SD8 and SD7 consoles will properly prepare students for success by offering them two comparable yet distinctly different consoles that lend themselves to different applications and production challenges. As long as the team at DiGiCo continues their relentless commitment to the live production industry they will always have a place here with our students.”
