Prism Sound converters bring flexibility to Birmingham Conservatoire’s new music rooms

Prism Sound has supplied the new Birmingham Conservatoire with a range of audio interfaces, including 20 of its flagship ADA-8XR multichannel converters fitted with Pro Tools compatible interfaces and one Atlas 8-channel USB interface with eight microphone amplifiers.

Part of Birmingham City University and officially opened this week by its principal, Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, the £57 million Birmingham Conservatoire boasts five new public performance spaces including a 500-seat concert hall, a 150-seat recital hall, a 100-seat organ studio, a black-box studio called The Lab and an 80 seat Jazz Club – the first permanent jazz space in any UK conservatoire.

In terms of technical facilities, the Birmingham Conservatoire has seven recording studios including two 5.1 surround sound mix rooms, three stereo mix rooms, a 5.1 surround post-production edit suite and a dedicated mastering suite. The various studios are equipped with recording consoles from SSL and Avid and monitoring from PMC, Genelec, B&W and ATC.

“Our performance venues, recording studios and teaching rooms combine the best traditions of analogue performance with the flexible functionality of 21st century digital systems,” said Matthew O’Malley, studio manager at Birmingham Conservatoire. “We were not simply looking for a turnkey solution but for an ongoing relationship from which the potential for knowledge transfer and support for our music technology education programs could evolve. Prism Sound’s world leading design, performance and innovative approach to these criteria made them the ideal fit for the first new build Conservatoire of the digital age.”

With a history dating back to 1859, Birmingham Conservatoire is one of the leading music and drama academies in the country, being the third highest ranked UK conservatoire for music in the Guardian University Guide 2018. Over the years it has nurtured industry talents including singer-songwriter Laura Mvula, conductor Mike Seal and actor Nicol Williamson.

Positioned on its parent institution’s City Centre Campus, Birmingham Conservatoire now sits just metres away from Birmingham City University’s media and recording facilities, including four TV studios and Europe’s largest static green screen.

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