Recording

Supported By
ProSoundWeb
The SSL ORIGIN desk at USC has been integrated with an Avid Pro Tools | HDX system in the Thornton School of Music’s Red Room.

USC Thornton School of Music Selects Solid State Logic ORIGIN

New 32 channel in-line analog mixing console helping teach Music Production bachelor’s degree students essential audio engineering skills.

The Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles has installed a new Solid State Logic ORIGIN 32 channel in-line analog mixing console to help teach its Music Production bachelor’s degree students essential audio engineering skills.

Students must display significant musical skills to be accepted onto the Music Production degree course, says Rick Schmunk, Music Technology program chair: “We’re not dealing with students that want to be engineers. This is a Bachelor of Music, not a Bachelor of Science degree. Students spend as much time learning about songwriting, arranging and sound design.”

Because students are busy studying many facets of the business, Schmunk notes, “We don’t have the time to teach students all of the functionality that’s in a large-format console before we unleash them on a room and let them work. So we needed something that didn’t have automation and other things that could get them into trouble.”

The school’s new ORIGIN, purchased through Vintage King Audio, replaced an aging digital worksurface. “We have long wanted a small in-line console that could fit in a room like this,” says Schmunk. “The control room is small and the price point to get a quality in-line console has always been a problem for us. When ORIGIN came out, I looked at it skeptically, thinking that either it would cost too much, or it wouldn’t have the functionality that we wanted. But I was quite blown away to see what SSL had included in this package.”

The ORIGIN desk has been integrated with an Avid Pro Tools | HDX system in the Red Room, so named for the color of its acoustical treatment, in The Music Center at Thornton School of Music. The Red Room offers the largest tracking space of the three production studios in the building, accommodating 15 or more musicians.

“We needed a really good analog training ground and the ORIGIN is perfect,” explains Brian Malouf, Assistant Professor of Practice for the program. Malouf’s career began as a first chair symphonic percussionist before he switched to sound engineering and worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna. “My comfort level with the ORIGIN was based on my long history with SSL. When I was chief engineer at CanAm Recorders in Tarzana, I was the one who purchased the two SSL consoles for that facility, in 1983. At that time, we were only the third studio in all of Los Angeles to buy an SSL. I’ve been working on SSLs since that day,” says Malouf, whose credits include a combined total of 53 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums.

“One of the reasons for installing the ORIGIN was to ensure that students can work with a live band as we get them to just a slightly more advanced stage,” Schmunk addss. “That means more than just recording drums but getting a small group together and being able to engineer and have the skills to produce a session like that. ”

The school’s audio manager worked with pro audio solutions company Desk Doctor, based in Burbank, to wire the room and integrate ORIGIN while students and faculty have been working from home during the coronavirus pandemic. In phase two of the project, Schmunk reports, they will add a patchbay and a few items of outboard equipment before the school reopens for in-person instruction in the fall.

Solid State Logic

Recording Top Stories

Supported By

TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik’s mission is to design and build iconic microphones and modern professional audio equipment that provides classic sound for recording, broadcast, studio, and stage . Our vision is to be a global leader in emitting good vibes through manufacturing and design, all while capturing the spark of the TELEFUNKEN legacy and transmitting it with uncompromising quality.