Administrator Kirt Hamm in front of some of the new Pro Tools gear purchased for the Gilbert location
As a part of its multi-million dollar campus upgrade, the Conservatory has purchased 26 new Pro Tools rigs for both its Tempe and Gilbert locations. "Modern audio production and Pro Tools are synonymous," says administrator Kirt Hamm. "In order to stay current with the ever-rising trends in technology, we saw fit to put the latest version of Pro Tools in all our labs and studios."
For starters, the Pro Tools labs at both locations have a total of 12 Pro Tools HD rigs featuring 96 I/O interfaces and the latest software. Since class sizes are limited to 12 students, this means that each workstation will have no more than two students each, giving maximum hands-on time during labs and projects. In addition, the D-rooms at both locations sport HD rigs with both a 192 I/O and 96 I/O. The D-rooms at the Conservatory are set up for 5.1 recording and mixing and offer a Focusrite Control 24 controller, TC Electronic System 6000, monitors from M&K and Hafler, various keyboards, drum machines and a wide variety of plug-ins. The school's floating Pro Tools rigs, 8 in all, consist of two Pro Tools HD rigs featuring three 96 I/O interfaces each and a Sync I/O. The remaining six rigs offer Digidesign's 002R interfaces and Pro Tools LE. These portable rigs are used for various student transers and the popular commercial production classes where students get a handle on how to produce and edit spots for radio and TV.
"We've taken great pains to put our student's hands on the latest technology to make it easier for them to acheive the kind of success that our recent Grammy winners enjoy," offers Hamm. Hamm is referring to Darrell Thorp and Moka Nagatani, recent Grammy winners for Best Engineered Album non-classical. "Our goal is to have our grads employed in the best studios in the world. 