Pro-Music-News Recording and Studio

Largest ever installed Rupert Neve Designs analogue console on Hawaii

Honolulu Community College (HCC) has installed the largest Rupert Neve Designs 5088 discrete analogue console manufactured to date, a 64-fader desk outfitted with 33 Portico modules in the penthouse section plus Martinsound Flying Fader automation. The 5088 console is the centerpiece of the Music and Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE) program’s brand new state-of-the-art production facility, which was funded by the Mike Curb Family Foundation through the University of Hawaii Foundation (UHF) and by federal grants.
According to the MELE Program Director, Keala Chock, the decision to install the 5088 was based on Rupert Neve’s long history as a premier designer of analogue audio circuitry together with the quality and flexibility of his current Portico technology. “It's a very solid platform for our students in Hawaii to engage in some really cutting edge technology in an analogue format,” explains Chock. “We are the only program in the university and in the state of Hawaii that offers a degree in audio engineering, so it was important for us to recognize who the industry giants are and some of the technological contributions that have been made. Rupert Neve is among the best – if not THE best – because of his contributions.”
The 64-channel 5088 console houses 32 Portico 5032 Mic Pre/EQ modules plus a 5043 Stereo Compressor. “We have plans to expand, given the 5088’s unique architecture, which allows for diverse analogue/DAW custom configurations,” comments Chock. “It’s a huge step forward for the MELE Program in a lot of different ways, both in the academic sense but also in the professional training that can happen here for other engineers and creative industries.” Fall classes at the 200 and 300 level are already filling up fast for 2010, he notes.
The new Mike Curb MELE Studio facilities, which include a classroom and two tracking rooms and offer space for future expansion, were designed by local architects Shimokawa + Nakamura. The contractors were Hidano Construction, also based in Honolulu.
All outboard gear is routed through a state-of-the-art patchbay designed and installed by Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment audio engineering faculty and Belmont Dean Wes Bulla. The outboard credenza racks includes some of today’s best compressors, limiters and equalizers, such as George Massenburg 8304, Universal Audio 1176N, LA-2A, Vintech Pre/EQ, and Manley Variable Mu units. The studio also has high-end Eventide 7600 and Lexicon PCM 96 DSP devices. All this outboard analogue gear is integrated with a Pro Tools|HD4 Accel System, which is loaded with UAD plug-ins. The microphone cabinet is loaded with studio standards manufactured by Neumann, Shure, AKG, Manley, Earthworks, Audix, Rode and Sennheiser. Studio B is set up with a Toft ATB24 console integrated with a Pro Tools LE system.
Honolulu Community College developed an educational partnership with a national leader in the music business & entertainment education, Belmont University in Nashville, TN.
© 09/2010 Pro-Music-News™
© 1997 © 2010 Pro-Music-News™. All rights reserved. Thank you for visiting Pro-Music-News™.