BELMONT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC TAKES THE DIGITAL COURSE

—Two Yamaha PM1D Systems Double as Mixers, Teaching Tools—

BUENA PARK, CA (May 29, 2002)—No one in the professional audio industry will argue that the landscape for learning has changed. Although on-the-job training was a rite of passage in the "olden days," advancements in technology now demand an even higher degree of expertise. Music technology educators are faced with the task of not only providing students with the skills and concepts, but also with the latest teaching tools. Nashville's (TN) Belmont University School of Music (BUSM), one of the nation's largest and most high profile commercial music programs, is one institution that aims to equip their facilities with specific gear that students will utilize in real world applications.

Nashville's Belmont University houses two Yamaha PM1D digital mixing systems

That attitude was reflected when the University recently purchased two Yamaha PM1D digital mixing systems as part of an upgrade at the school's 1000-seat Massey Performing Arts Center, an on-campus venue that hosts up to 70 events per week.

A generous gift from the Friends of the School of Music created a capital campaign for new equipment, which allowed the school to finance building renovations, new lighting equipment, and new audio gear. Jeff Kirk, director of events administration and coordinator for the commercial music program; Keith Mason, coordinator of the music technology program; and music facilities manager Frank Baird settled on the Yamaha PM1Ds after exploring various analog and digital options.

"We all have road experience," Baird explains. "Our approach to teaching is to run events at the school as if they were actual tour dates, so part of our decisions were based on what is being used on tour and in similar venues. We also knew that the Yamaha PM4000 set the standard with its control surface, and the PM1D most closely mirrored that design. The other benefits were that, with the onboard effects, we wouldn't need to purchase new outboard effects, and thus eliminate some space at front of house. On heavy recital days, we'd be able to save time by calling up the setting for something like a basic drum kit and use it for any number of performances.

"The Yamaha PM1D seemed to be the best fit for what we're doing at Belmont," he continues, "because our students—and in general, students today—are very tech savvy. They're the generation that grew up with computers, so they're familiar with paged architecture. The consoles are actually amazing learning tools in that the user can get a 'visual' with the screen and actually see how things work."

The engines for both PM1Ds are housed onstage, leaving only playback and wireless racks at front of house. House EQ comes from the console and processing from three BSS Onmidrive loudspeaker management systems, which will eventually be utilized for left-center-right mixing.

Clair Brothers Systems of Lititz, PA, completed the Belmont installation and is scheduled to install a new custom house P.A. system, based on the company's signature I-4 line array. Balcony fills are Clair RS80 cabinets, loaded with two 8-in. speakers and a horn. Onstage, seven EAW 400 cabinets are now augmented with 6 passive Clair 12-AM "Wedge" cabinets, driven by Crown MacroTech 2400 amps. Other new audio gear includes microphones from Sennheiser, Neuman and Danish Pro Audio, giving BUSM the capacity of up to 16 simultaneous channels of wireless.

"I can give them a homework assignment where they get to design an actual setup, say, a 'quartet with singer out front,'" Baird explains. "They can then go into their computer, set up the scene, load the disk back into the PM1D, and bring it up, complete with EQ settings, and other parameters. For shows, we'll give them a stage plot, an input list, and then spend about an hour with them so they know where things go. Then, we'll give them a walk-through and will leave them alone. You can usually tell if they're ready or not to turn on the console, dial in EQs, etc. I'll spend as much time as I need to, but usually an hour is enough. They're often alone with the consoles three to four hours, so they're learning things before the staff does. So far, the only difficulties they've been encountering are common issues.

"They're picking it up fast," Jeff Kirk elaborates. "Now pros are actually coming here to learn from our students. Skills that were once learned on the road or in the studio are now the bases for academic programs. A lot of veterans are often forced to re-educate themselves on the latest equipment in order to remain competitive.

"As the commercial music programs at Belmont have grown, the needs of the students and the facilities have changed. We now not only have a 'real world' atmosphere, but also a world class facility."

For more information on the PM1D, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Commercial Audio Systems Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/proaudio.