“Manchester is such a thriving city for the creative industries that we felt we could really help in improving that development further,” Nige Burt says. “It’s vitally important in our provision that we have great links with top employers in the area and with Manchester being such a hotbed, it made sense for us to set up in that environment.”
Further impetus was given by the redevelopment of Manchester’s New Century Hall, which is where the new dBs Manchester campus is based. Dating back to the 1960s, this iconic venue has played host to artists such as Jimi Hendrix, The Hollies, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Kinks, as well as being the venue for the legendary all night Acid House parties of the 1980s MADchester era.
dBs Institute Manchester opened in September 2022 and has already welcomed its first cohort of degree students. In terms of technical facilities, it has one 7.2.4 Atmos studio with 11 x PMC 6s and 2x PMC Sub 8-2 monitors. It also has a large control room with an AMS Neve Genesys Black console and three more production studios, all of which are equipped with PMC result6 monitors. There is a large live room and two separate recording booths which can be patched to any space via analogue and Dante tie-lines. In addition, there is a 40-seat lecture theatre with a 2.1 monitoring system comprising PMC 6 and Sub 8 monitors.
“PMC’s new SoundAlign software was really helpful when we were setting up the lecture theatre as it allowed us to easily calibrate the monitors in the room,” Matt Bernard says.
This year’s upgrade to the facilities at dBs Institute Bristol have also been significant. Alongside the installation of a new Dolby Atmos studio, dBs installed a Games suite, made improvements to the common spaces at its Mitchell Lane campus and invested in more d&b T Series speakers so that it can provide a full line array for small festival stages.
“When we decided to install an Atmos studio in Bristol we faced some particular challenges with the allocated space,” Matt Bernard says. “To ensure we met the height requirements for the overhead speakers we needed a thin speaker, so we opted for PMC Ci65s because they were perfect for this. Similarly, the Atmos studio also has to accommodate a number of students, so we wanted side and rear speakers that did not protrude too far into the room. The Ci40 speakers were the answer as they worked within Dolby requirements for the sides, while PMC Ci65s gave the required SPL for the rears.”
In total three PMC6-2s were installed, along with six Ci65s, two Ci140s and two PMC8-2 subs. The studio, which also had an Avid MTRX, is now fully operational while the Atmos room in Manchester will be ready for students to use in January 2023.
Staying at the forefront of emerging technologies in the creative and technical arena and providing students with both the practical and personal skills they require to succeed in the audio industry are key tenets of dBs Institute’s philosophy. Alongside regular staff, the Institute also brings in guest lecturers whose experience of the real world is vital for student learning and development. PMC will be supporting these efforts by organising workshops in Bristol and Manchester so that students can learn tips and techniques from audio professionals who are already mixing Dolby Atmos projects.
“The ability to be innovative requires that the students have the freedom to be so but also access to innovative teaching concepts and the facilities to push the limits of what exists at present,” Nige Burt adds. “That has been a major aim of the dBs Institute for the past 25 years and remains so.”
For more information about dBs Institute of Sound & Digital Technologies, please visit: https://www.dbsinstitute.ac.uk/
