Situated in the heart of Perth’s CBD, the new Edith Cowan University city campus is a centre for professional and artistic development, set to redefine higher education in Western Australia. Sitting on the doorstep of the city’s iconic Yagan Square, the state-of-the-art university spans 11 levels- delivering expansive, multi-faceted teaching facilities that sit at the forefront of technology and human creativity. The primary hub for the internationally recognised Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), the university delivers world-leading courses in Music, Theatre, Production, Acting, Performance and Design, along with over 300 public performances per year enriching Perth’s arts and cultural calendar.
With eight purpose-built spaces on campus, WAAPA has been designed from the ground up to support world-class productions. Edith Cowan University worked with Audio Visual Integration specialists Diversified, and Theatre consultants Charcoalblue, responsible for Venue and Technical Design, to equip WAAPA with the infrastructure and technical capabilities needed for professional-scale events. As preparing students for the professional stage begins with professional tools, WAAPA has invested in DiGiCo mixing consoles and L-Acoustics sound systems that mirror those used on major productions worldwide. Additional technologies from Fourier Audio, KLANG and Quest have also been integrated into the facility, ensuring students gain hands-on experience with systems shaping the future of the professional audio industry.
“The students that come out of this program will have already spent at least 2 years mixing shows for the public, in our premier venues, on worldclass audio equipment,” explains Sound Coordinator Mike Vernau. “As a response to the needs of what is both a university and a production venue- that has multiple contemporary music and theatrical spaces- we’ve chosen DiGiCo consoles for WAAPA. In the Soundhouse, our Contemporary Jazz music venue, we’re using two Quantum 326 consoles. In the Playhouse, which is our premier Musical Theatre venue, we’ve got a Quantum 338 and a Quantum 225. We’ve also got an SD12 in our Flex Theatre, which is predominantly used for training.”
“We needed something that was flexible and versatile, and that can cover all types of performance,” says Russell Proud, Senior Consultant at Charcoalblue. “We designed the system so students could leave the university and go straight into industry, having already had experience with the latest technology and industry-standard equipment.”
Renowned for driving innovation in the Live, Theatre, and Broadcast sectors, DiGiCo consoles continue to set the benchmark in digital mixing. The brand’s Theatre extension software (‘T Software’) provides additional flexibility, including cue automation, nodal matrix delays, and performer/alias tracking to seamlessly manage complex sound design and cast changes.
“We ensured that the consoles were loaded with the T software to really get the most out of the Theatre productions that WAAPA produce,” notes Russell.
“I feel like what sets DiGiCo apart is the flexibility of routing and layout, and also the sonic clarity of the DiGiCo ecosystem,” adds Mike.
In keeping with WAAPA’s focus on sonic fidelity, L-Acoustics was chosen as the primary sound reinforcement supplier for the university’s premier performance spaces. Solutions from the French professional audio manufacturer can be found across major tours, festivals, and permanent installations throughout the world, making them well-suited to WAAPA’s production environment, as Mike explains:
“Because WAAPA is known as a leading trainer in Sound for Theatre, it made perfect sense to go with L-Acoustics for our sound reinforcement needs. This is because the L-Acoustics sound is synonymous with professional concert, corporate and theatrical spaces across the country. The Soundhouse features 10 x L-Acoustics A10 Focus, and the Playhouse features 15 x L-Acoustics A10 Focus.”
“The Playhouse has a five-array Front of House system,” says Dylan Curtois, Team Lead for Commissioning in WA at Diversified. “We’ve also got hung X12s monitors, and 5XTs for stage-fill. 5XTs are also hung for additional fill. The Playhouse is the largest L-Acoustics system within the building. The second-largest is the McCusker Recital Hall- it’s a L+R Front of House system with two arrays at the front, then another two arrays 5m back, and that’s for different seating arrangements within the venue. There’s also X8 side-fills for the gallery section.”
“It was really good having the L-Acoustics team visit and help commission the venue. They’ve done all of the physical alignment, time alignment and EQ to really maximise intelligibility in all of the rooms.”
Beyond L-Acoustics’ core loudspeaker systems, the manufacturer is also pushing the boundaries of what is possible in live audio, offering immersive mix technology in the form of L-ISA processing- a software/hardware combination empowering sound designers to craft dynamic spatial audio experiences. L-ISA is a technology which ECU city campus has been quick to embrace, as Noah Ivulich, WAAPA Audio Supervisor, explains:
“We feel like L-ISA offers a really great opportunity for spatial and immersive mixing, equipping our students with the ability to move into a space that is industry leading and has quite a different ability than a left-right PA. Something that is going to lead the way moving forward.”
With both the Playhouse and the Soundhouse equipped with L-ISA processors, productions at ECU city campus have the option of enhancing their shows with spatial audio. Though the creative possibilities extend even further beyond this, thanks to The Derksen: a dynamic studio space intended to showcase composition, sonic arts and multimedia. The Derksen features a comprehensive 20-point surround sound system with L-ISA processing. To help students compose experiences for this space, a smaller version of this setup is mirrored in the campus’ Spatial Recording Studio.
Complementing the university’s extensive range of performance spaces are dedicated practice rooms for instrumental and vocal students, where sound reinforcement is occasionally required.
“For the small ensemble rooms, we just needed practice systems that are reliable and bulletproof,” says Russell, “and with solutions from Quest, both amplifiers and speakers, students can practice as much as they want and those systems will keep lasting.”
“Quest speakers and amplifiers offer the sonic fidelity desired in those smaller spaces without the need for a huge PA,” adds Dylan. “It’s good having an Australian brand in a brand-new Australian performance venue.”
Included within ECU city campus’ comprehensive technical ecosystem is the transform.engine, a Dante-connected server designed to run VST3-native software plugins in a live environment. Developed by UK-based Fourier Audio, the transform.engine is centred around bringing premium DAW-centric software to live and broadcast sound applications, as Noah outlines:
“Our ability to integrate the Fourier transform.engine into our workflow means that students can use a huge variety of plugins- making use of studio plugins in a live setting means offering students the flexibility to really test the waters and see what’s out there as opposed to being locked down in one system.”
Another addition to ECU city campus’ expansive technical loadout are solutions from KLANG:technologies, providing students and performers with immersive in-ear monitoring. Engineered in Germany, KLANG is an ecosystem of processors, software and personal monitoring hardware that is being adopted by live music professionals around the world.
“We’ve recently taken delivery of two KLANG:vokal and 24 x KLANG:kontroller units which we will be integrating into our DiGiCo workflow,” says Sam Jones of WAAPA’s Production & Design department. “We’ll use these primarily for orchestra mixers: self-driven immersive mixes for Musical Theatre, and we are also looking at integrating them into our monitor engineer workflows.”
Housing the most comprehensive performing arts school in Australia, Edith Cowan University city campus is set to inspire not only a diverse cohort of students, but also some of the world’s leading creative artists. Designed to reflect real-world production environments, ECU city campus’ investment in state-of-the-art technology will ensure students are equipped with the practical experience needed to transition confidently into the industry, as Mike summarises:
“I’ve been teaching digital audio and live sound mixing for 12 years and having a facility like this is a dream come true. There’s nowhere in the world quite like ECU city campus and we’re really excited to welcome our first group of students through the door this year.”
