"We have a very nice studio set-up, with a full live room and tracking studio," says Ryan Williams, director of the recording department at the school. "But with up to 20 students in a class, we needed an efficient way to give them experience with the real basics of recording and mixing."
To give students experience in multi-track recording without having to take turns on the main console, AIM invested in a set of ten Fostex LR16 mixer-recorders, one between each two-person workstation. "We needed something that covered the full range of functions - mic preamps, basic EQ, signal processing, routing, and of course multitrack recording. The Fostex LR16 does all that for us."
Williams continues, "In doing my research, I saw the Fostex LR16 as a digital mixer-recorder that I could fit into 12 rack spaces and do virtually everything I was hoping for - not just now, but moving forward as well. It starts with the 16 tracks of pro quality recording and mixing, plus it has on-board effects processing.
"In designing a 900-hour vocational program, it's important to tech the basics quickly and efficiently, so that as they move into the world of Pro Tools and DAWs, the knowledge transfers between platforms. The design of the LR16 does that; it's very logical and intuitive."
(Jim Evans)
