DeKalb, IL (April 30, 2024)—Northern Illinois University’s Recording Arts and Media Technologies faculty has made the Flock Audio Patch XT digitally controlled, all analog patchbay part of the department’s hybrid recording setup.
Over the last four years, the department has updated its recording studio, which consists of a main control room, a live room, a dry room and a smaller isolation booth, as well as the audio systems connecting the studio to the school’s Concert and Recital Halls for recording and live streaming purposes. The collaborative effort to upgrade the studio spaces—which included design work by NIU instructor Dr. Mark Snyder and installation by recording services manager Kyle Strain and graduate assistants Ethan Patterson and Christian Baugher—was as much of a practical consideration as it was an educational one.
Flock Audio Readies Patch App DX Update for NAMM
“We had some older gear that was starting to become outdated with newer applications,” NIU professor Kerri Chandler explained. “Upgrading our facilities was timely, and it also provided our students with that learning situation of understanding how all of this equipment works together. They also could play a role in seeing what the right mix of tried and true and newer technology could be that would work for our purposes. Since we intended to push towards a hybrid mentality between analog and digital gear, the Flock Audio Patch series was something we knew we wanted to have.”
In addition to aiding the overall learning process, the accessibility of the Patch interface and the added organizational features of Patch APP DX encouraged NIU’s students to experiment and make the hybrid setup their own. For Chandler, this gives them the opportunity to develop as independent artists as well as collaborators.
“Patch XT has helped us find different ways to integrate our workflows for a wider range of projects than was possible before,” she said. “We encourage students to create their own recording assignments and really make the studio their own. Feeling like they have that ownership helps them to build confidence and independence as well as foster that life-long love of learning about what they do.”
