20 l December 2012
www.psneurope.com
studioreport UNITED KINGDOM
Listen and learn: Alchemea College turns 20
The training facility continues to innovate after two decades, writes alumnus Erica Basnicki (Dip. Studio Sound, 2008)
ALCHEMEA COLLEGE officially opened its doors on 15 October 1992. On 17 October of this year, the very day the college celebrated its 20th anniversary, Alchemea’s Neil Pickles, director of short courses and one of Europe’s most experienced certified Avid instructors, was teaching as usual. But that day’s students included Stefan Olsdal, Bill Lloyd and Fiona Brice of Placebo fame, all at the facility for Pro Tools training Before Alchemea could attract superstar students into its studios, the college found itself having to justify its very existence: “I think the industry and the studios didn’t take audio education seriously,” says sales and marketing director Mike Sinnott. “We fought hard over the years and worked closely with the industry to really make them realise that we are audio engineers, we are passionate about what we do, and we want to teach what is done in the industry.” That fight for credibility
began very early on, when Alchemea had only two studios and was focused exclusively on music. The college purchased a Solid State Logic (SSL) 4000 G Series console – the desk that SSL claims is behind more platinum albums than all other
consoles combined – and for some time it was the only education facility in the UK to own one. When the pro-audio industry started to go digital, it followed suit: “Back in 2003, I had been chasing Digidesign for quite a while about an official course,” said Pickles. “We were in on that very early; the first professional school in the south of England. You could argue about who was the first in Europe, but you’re talking about the difference of two or three months maybe between them.” Over the years, the college has
expanded both physically and in its course offerings. The G Series is still there, but it has been enhanced by TISO’s The Whizzer (purchased directly from company owner Simon Van Zwananberg), which provides transport control from the SSL to the full Pro Tools HD rig in the control room. The college now has a full 5.1
dubbing theatre built around an Avid ICON D-Control 16-fader work surface and Genelec monitors, and as PSNEurope reported last month, Alchemea very recently replaced its Euphonix CS 3000 console with a 24-channel SSL Duality. A well-equipped
programming room includes classic synths such as the
Darryn de la Soul and live sound tutor and FOH engineer Justin Grealy with students at the Village Underground
Yamaha DX7 and the Ensoniq ESQ-1 and the newly developed East Wing hosts the college’s latest programme offering, the extremely popular diploma in live sound engineering, currently partnered with the Village Underground in east London. “One of the brilliant things
about being involved with these venues is that we have work experience on tap for students,” says live sound course co-ordinator Darryn de la Soul. “That’s one of the best things about the course; the network opportunities that it supplies.” As for the course material
itself, which Pickles says “has changed tremendously over the years”, it has always been taught by working engineers, producers and musicians – some full-time staff, some freelance lecturers – with significant ties to the pro-audio industry, connections the college continues to turn to in anticipation of running a new post-production audio programme in the new year. “I’ve got a list of people I
might’ve taught Pro Tools to, who are out there in actual post- pro studios who are working all the time,” says Pickles. “I’m able to call up these people and say, ‘I’m thinking about doing this on the course, do you think it’s a good idea?’” In addition, Alchemea may develop its own degree in the future (a degree path is currently offered through Anglia Ruskin University), it is also considering offering Sibelius training and has “a few more plans” to educate the industry’s next generation of engineers. “Alchemea has a very clear purpose, which is to train people in the ‘wizarding ways’ of audio and to be in touch with the industry, find out what it needs and
train people so that they are genuinely useful and good at what they do, in whatever branch of the audio industry that is,” says college principal Christian Huant. “That’s the mission, that’s what we set out to do and what we still want to do.” In its 20-year history, the staff
Now: Pickles (left) in Alchemea’s 5.1 cinema dubbing studio (with ICON system) The past two decades have
turnover at Alchemea has been very low (most are 10+ year veterans), which Sinnott believes “has a profound impact on everything we’ve done, because we love it and we’re so passionate about it”. The staff are proud of Alchemea’s ‘family feel’ and say it’s not unusual for students to drop by the Mucky Pup (the local pub with, unsurprisingly, one of London’s best jukeboxes) several years after graduating just to say hello, or to talk about their work.
certainly seen a lot of changes at the college and picking out the memorable moments are tough. “It’s very easy to remember the big ticket things; we launched a live sound course, we have a d&b Q series line array and a VENUE console,” says Pickles. “But what really impresses me are situations like a few years ago when I bought a Madness album and was thinking, ‘This is a brilliant album, I wonder who engineered it?’ It was one of my old students, making this amazing record and it stunned me. Then I pick up the Gorillaz album and oh yeah, that’s Steve (Sedgewick). We taught him too. And the list goes on…”n
www.alchemea.com
Then: senior tutor Neil Pickles (rear) in one of the college’s 1997 adverts
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