http://www.avidblogs.com/florida-state-university-upgrades-ruby-diamond-concert-hall-with-s6l/
Ruby Diamond Concert Hall is a historic auditorium that was first built in 1911 and serves as the primary performance venue for Florida State University in Tallahassee. With a capacity of about 1,200 seats, the state-of-the-art facility supports a wide variety of university and community performances and events. I recently spoke with F.S.U.’s Specialist in the Arts, Mike Shapiro, about upgrading the historic hall with a new Avid VENUE | S6L system.
DH: Tell me about what challenges you were facing before you acquired the S6L. What was the process by which you decided on the new desk?
MS: The F.S.U. College of Music completed a major renovation of our concert hall about six years ago and the console we had at the time was limited for the productions we were doing. Eventually, we’d need something more robust and rider friendly. We were looking for something that had deeper capabilities and something that could handle the larger more demanding productions. Our musical events range from classical to rock to jazz to opera. With such diverse productions it was crucial to find something that was more flexible and had adaptability to produce whatever show was booked for that particular day.
We started looking around for a desk that could fill that void. I went to InfoComm 2015 in Orlando and was looking at several consoles. Avid had just announced the new S6L line so I had to check it out. While I was comparing the different consoles, the search kept leading back to the new S6L. The desk was in a beta type state and the Avid team was still working hard on it but you could tell it was going to be a great addition to the Venue line.
Another deciding factor was a seamless integration with our [Pro Tools] HD rig. We use a lot of Dante devices from Focusrite’s RedNet line and it was paramount that the new console fit in to our current infrastructure. Plus, we really wanted to boost the sample rate to 96KHz. The S6L was exactly what we were looking for. I don’t want to say we got lucky because I trust Avid products. We ended up purchasing an S6L 32-D with the E6L-192 engine in the summer of 2016. We also upgraded the E6L with (2) AVB cards, a MADI card and expanded the Stage 64’s I/O.
MS: The F.S.U. College of Music completed a major renovation of our concert hall about six years ago and the console we had at the time was limited for the productions we were doing. Eventually, we’d need something more robust and rider friendly. We were looking for something that had deeper capabilities and something that could handle the larger more demanding productions. Our musical events range from classical to rock to jazz to opera. With such diverse productions it was crucial to find something that was more flexible and had adaptability to produce whatever show was booked for that particular day.
We started looking around for a desk that could fill that void. I went to InfoComm 2015 in Orlando and was looking at several consoles. Avid had just announced the new S6L line so I had to check it out. While I was comparing the different consoles, the search kept leading back to the new S6L. The desk was in a beta type state and the Avid team was still working hard on it but you could tell it was going to be a great addition to the Venue line.
Another deciding factor was a seamless integration with our [Pro Tools] HD rig. We use a lot of Dante devices from Focusrite’s RedNet line and it was paramount that the new console fit in to our current infrastructure. Plus, we really wanted to boost the sample rate to 96KHz. The S6L was exactly what we were looking for. I don’t want to say we got lucky because I trust Avid products. We ended up purchasing an S6L 32-D with the E6L-192 engine in the summer of 2016. We also upgraded the E6L with (2) AVB cards, a MADI card and expanded the Stage 64’s I/O.
DH: What kinds of acts and events do you support at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall?
MS: Our College of Music orchestras, wind ensembles, bands, choirs, opera, world music and jazz programs perform in the hall year round as well as national touring acts. The University performing arts series brings in guests such as Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Bennett, Jazz at Lincoln Center (with Wynton Marsalis) and Smokey Robinson. We also host a lot of non-musical events such as dance productions, graduation ceremonies, guest lecturers, film screenings and various student organization functions.
Ruby Diamond also serves as the main performing arts venue for community organizations that do not fit in the Civic Center, amphitheaters or smaller clubs. We’re a medium-size, 1,200 seat performance hall, so anything in that audience size, comes here.
MS: Our College of Music orchestras, wind ensembles, bands, choirs, opera, world music and jazz programs perform in the hall year round as well as national touring acts. The University performing arts series brings in guests such as Yo-Yo Ma, Tony Bennett, Jazz at Lincoln Center (with Wynton Marsalis) and Smokey Robinson. We also host a lot of non-musical events such as dance productions, graduation ceremonies, guest lecturers, film screenings and various student organization functions.
Ruby Diamond also serves as the main performing arts venue for community organizations that do not fit in the Civic Center, amphitheaters or smaller clubs. We’re a medium-size, 1,200 seat performance hall, so anything in that audience size, comes here.
DH: Do you archive all performances—what all do you use the desk for besides mixing the performances?
MS: The College of Music archives the final mixes in our music library. I also back up the complete session files in two separate archives. I haven’t used the console for anything beyond live performances to this point, but I can see definite advantages of remixing through it. Also, the virtual sound check is something I plan on utilizing in the very near future to hone mixes.
The S6L and Venue software is super flexible. That was what we were looking for and it’s handled all of the punches we’ve thrown so far. It has thoroughly exceeded our expectations with more features still to come. Avid really knocked it out of the park with the S6L, and I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface.
No comments:
Post a Comment