The music curriculum at ICESI University in Cali focuses on contemporary production with an audio-over-IP workflow backed by Dante
Audinate
ICESI University in Cali, Colombia, is one of Colombia's leading universities, with programs in multiple fields of engineering, pharmaceutical chemistry, and law. However, the university's relatively new major in music features some of the richest technological implementations on campus, thanks to Audinate's Dante.
Mateo De Los Ríos Camacho, director of iceSI University's new music program, said the goal of the Dante system was to offer students the best production capabilities in the world.
"Cali is an incredibly musical city and music is really a part of Colombian identity, so we wanted to make sure we were giving our students the exact tools that professionals use," Mateo said. "The most important component of that was having the right technology and infrastructure. That means working with Dante."
Dante is the de facto standard for digital audio networks and distributes hundreds of channels of uncompressed multichannel digital audio over standard Ethernet networks, with near-zero latency and perfect synchronization. Dante allows audio, control, and all other data to coexist effectively on the same network.
"Dante is what elevates our educational offering at the university," Mateo said. "It provides a tactical advantage to our students."
A production approach
Mateo says the city of Cali is full of musicians, including several passionate and impressive salsa bands, who understand the creativity and commitment that are required to create music. However, the city long lacked a music production program that provided the practical skills to record, mix, and produce professional-quality audio.
"In addition, the existing music programs in the city were based on classical training," he said. "We had people who wanted to produce salsa, jazz, hip hop, R&B and pop, and they weren't really learning how to do it. We wanted to change that by taking a contemporary approach. And that means including new technology standards, specifically network audio."
The implementation of ICESI University's music major in 2016 began with the provision of network infrastructure specifically for Dante to the three new recording studios in the newly constructed building, and to all rooms where there could be capacity to produce music. In total, 27 different spaces, including 3 recording studios, assembly halls, individual practice rooms and technical spaces that are connected to a specific Dante network in the building.
"The idea is that through our four-story building we can connect to almost any room instantly," Mateo said. "The first experiment was to have musicians playing in a room and mixing from the other side of the building. When the students first saw that, they were very excited about what it meant."
Unique learning environments
Each space is unique and designed specifically for flexibility in music creation. The spaces include the main production "live room" that can accommodate a single musician or an entire ensemble. The room is two stories high and is physically connected to two different recording studios through glass windows, but, with Dante, the location can be accessed from any recording space or media lab in the building.
Recording studios have a wide selection of devices available for a custom workflow, and Focusrite RedNet devices are used to get all kinds of signals on the Dante network.
"To receive and transmit signals from the different spaces we use Focusrite RedNet boxes, and some with portable preamplifiers," Mateo said. "All connections of the three recording studios are made by RedNet 2 and RedNet 5 boxes."
Focusrite RedNet 2 interfaces offer 16 channels of Dante audio over IP connectivity, while Focusrite RedNet 5 multi-channel bridge interfaces provide seamless connectivity between Pro Tools HD and Dante.
Meanwhile, multiple practice spaces can also be immediately connected to recording studios. These spaces give students immediate access to acoustic pianos, drums, and other instruments. The output of the spaces mentioned above is brought to the Dante network through Focusrite RedNet 1 interfaces.
"It's a top-of-the-line production facility thanks to the capabilities Dante offers," Mateo said. "When our students go out into the world, we know they will have the ability to produce music at an extremely high level, because Dante is the solution that is used in the modern production environment."
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