Clive Davis Department Built at NY University Professional Audio Design, Inc

When the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, now a fixture at New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, was still in its planning stages, Clive Davis (chairman and CEO of BMG North America) approached Troy Germano of the Studio Design Group to discuss his part in the project. Davis’ goal was to build a studio for a university course, which would provide students with a well-rounded background in the inner workings of the recording industry. Knowing that the classroom facility should resemble a high-end professional studio, Germano brought in longtime colleagues Dave Bell of Whitemark LTD in England and Dave Malekpour of Professional Audio Design (PAD).

“The idea was to build an educational facility for recording that also had a strong emphasis on the overall studio process and business,” said Germano. “We wanted the students to get a good cross-reference of what goes on in the record industry from how an artist is signed and lead by an A&R person to the technical aspect of engineering, as well as day-to-day studio life.”

Germano knew that the gear needs for this type of educational environment would be a little different than in a normal recording studio. Solid State Logic’s 24-channel XL 9000 K Series SuperAnalogue Series console made the most sense because NYU wanted SSL quality without overwhelming the students with an intimidating 96-channel console.

“The idea of the school is to have a hybrid of both analog and digital,” commented Germano. “The marriage of Pro Tool|HD with the SSL console is the right combination for enabling students to acquire practical experience.”

PAD’s Malekpour and his team aided with the equipment selection, provided all of the gear (with the exception of the SSL console, which was supplied by SSL), installed it and also provided some training on the Pro Tools setup.

“After a great experience while working with the Tisch School about a year ago when we sold them an SSL 4040G+ console for their music department, we were excited to be a part of their new project, which accrued this level of equipment in a school setting,” Malekpour said. “We are happy about our relationship with the people at the Tisch School and would like to continue helping them with anything they need.”

PAD continues to service and support this facility as it begins its operation. “When the project is over and the school has to function on its own, Dave and his team are still there,” explained Germano. “He has always had an ongoing relationship in terms of maintenance and technical support, which is often something you don’t see from other equipment dealers.”