Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington has made a 32-channel Rupert Neve Designs 5088 console the centerpiece of their largest studio.
“The biggest thing was ergonomics”, says Peter Randlette, Evergreen’s head of Electronic Media. “You can’t sit at the front of some consoles and reach the EQs. And I love the clarity of the [5088’s] signal flow, in terms of teaching students fundamental principles of recording and production. It’s really straightforward – it doesn’t mean it isn’t potentially complex, but it ‘feels’ really good…and the sound has been wonderful.”
Their 5088 is outfitted with 6x Shelford 5052 mic preamp / EQs, 8x Shelford 5051 EQ / compressors, 8x Portico 5033 EQs, 4x Portico 5032 mic preamp / EQs, 6x Portico 5015 mic preamp / compressors, and Rupert Neve Designs’ proprietary SwiftMix moving fader automation.
“The quality of the physical fader control is outstanding…and the Portico modules all sound really good. Coming from my synthesizer background, I love an EQ where over a certain level you start to ‘hear’ the filter. These sound really good; not ringy or nasal. They don’t stick out.”
The 5088 is also employed to educate the students on the sonic differences that analog summing can make.
“My students have been experimenting with bouncing from the box (Digital Performer, Logic, and ProTools) vs. the 5088 as summing, and oh my God – it’s hard to explain something so clear, but I think the high-frequency transients are not as colored, so the stereo imaging is just clearer…it’s something I don’t think I’ve experienced with other consoles.”
Evergreen has four music technology media labs outfitted with a wide range of equipment new and old. “We still teach students analog recording practices with tape”, which “really complements the digital production structure”.
The school also has a number of “large, acoustically complex production spaces”, a band room with an iso booth, a recital hall with raked seating, and a THX video theater space.
