Vintage King Integration: Mt. San Jacinto College

80 miles to the east of Los Angeles doesn't seem that far from the hustle and bustle of big city life. But as the miles peel away, the landscape shifts from busy rust-colored shopping centers to a split view of lush green farmland and the rocky terrain of Mount San Jacinto.

Mt. San Jacinto College's local campus sits firmly planted in the foothills of its namesake. Although the location may seem remote, it attracts students from the surrounding area who come to the school to learn all about state-of-the-art studio gear and techniques. MSJC Lead Audio Technology Instructor Robert Bozonelos has been working to provide them with these opportunities, most recently by teaming with Vintage King to create a 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos room.

"A lot of our students don't have the opportunity to drive to Los Angeles or to a very large metropolitan area to access these tools," Robert says. "So it was important for me, integral, that our students experience tools that the industry uses in an area that wouldn't normally have it."

Robert teamed up with Vintage King Audio Consultant and Design Specialist Greg Fraser to select the Avid S6 control surface and ATC Loudspeakers for the space. Vintage King Technical Services Specialist and Installation Expert Frank Verschuuren led the installation, ensuring everything was just right for the students and instructors.

Watch our new Vintage King Integration video below to learn more about the Dolby Atmos room at Mt. San Jacinto College and other on-campus recording and mix facilities. Continue on after the video for our full conversation with Robert Bozonelos.

How did you come to work for the school? What was the program like when you first got here?
When I first got here in 2005, I started out in the music department, and I learned during my time there that our sister campus, San Jacinto, where we're at today, had an audio program. And being a musician, it's intrinsic that audio is part of what you do. So I decided to come over to this campus, I took all their classes, and befriended the professors here.

Around 2012, they asked me if I wanted to change from music, pure music, to audio technology. And at that time, we were still using a lot of analog equipment. We were still using a lot of analog surfaces, and we were using systems that were integrating tape machines as well.

What was the curriculum like at that time? Was it more recording-centric?
The program here at that time was based on a lot of core production techniques in both music recording, live sound, and audio for video or audio post-production. So it was very well known in the area in terms of places where you can get any formidable training for audio at any job. But really, a lot of it was heavy on understanding technical aspects of audio, understanding integrated aspects of hardware, software, and then being able to use that for any type of production work.

When you took over leading the department, where did you want to steer the curriculum to?
I wanted to bring more of a spatial audio experience to this area. And as you can see, we're sitting in a 9.1.4 Dolby Atmos studio today. This studio represents to me the height of audio and what this area really needs.

A lot of our students don't have the opportunity to drive to Los Angeles or to a very large metropolitan area to access these tools. So it was important for me, integral, that our students experience tools that the industry uses in an area that wouldn't normally have it. So it was always my vision to bring the best, highest-quality current gear to our program.

You teamed up with Vintage King when bringing in new gear, and for the Atmos room install. Talk about working with our team to decide on a vision and bring it to life.
Great support, great team, from sales to technical support to integration. Vintage King has been a godsend in many ways in terms of giving us the tools we need and being a vendor that is accessible. For myself, being an audio instructor and a technician, having access to a vendor, a company that has boots on the ground, so to speak, they can come to our facilities and work hand in hand. It's very important. I'm much more inclined to work with a vendor like Vintage King that has support that can be here face-to-face. And I've worked closely with Greg Frazier and Frank Verschuuren on both getting the tools we need and securing the technical support. And Frank and I worked hand in hand to build the facility and get these tools in the hands of our students.

What was the installation process like with Frank?
Working with Vintage King and Frank has been a personal enjoyment for me. As someone who enjoys technical challenges and seeing things built, I worked side by side with Frank to bring this vision to fruition. With Frank as the lead technician, I got to work and learn next to an industry professional who has worked around the world. Working with Frank to integrate this equipment not only helps the college grow, but also helps us when things go wrong. So now, having been a part of the build, I know exactly, as the educator, why things happen, and those whys become the ultimate learning objectives for students.

How did you decide on the Avid S6 for the Atmos room?
The Avid S6 control surface really showcases and implements the tools necessary for students to record, mix, and master. This is important, as students can physically interact with a control surface that is fully integrated with both the software and the hardware, which is great. This helps students understand the holistic approach we want to showcase with our learning partners at Avid. We use their tools, and the students get to experience that, so when they're out in their professional careers, and they come across them, they have the know-how.

As an Avid Learning Partner, we train students at the Pro Tools 100 level. So students can get their Pro Tools certification here. Students can get exposure to using the S6 control surface, and they can also have access to all of the newest hardware. So each studio we have is outfitted with a Pro Tools MTRX, and here in the Atmos room, we have the Pro Tools MTRX II, which is one of their flagship interfaces, if not their flagship, along with the brand-new Pro Tools HD Sync.

We also use Avid legacy tools such as the Avid HD I/Os. Every room that we have here is also a Pro Tools HD room. Some of our rooms use the HDX card running DSP processing. And some of our rooms use what is known as native or host-based processing. So each room does represent the totality of the best that you can use from Avid and Pro Tools. And every room has updated software.

What made you decide to go with the ATC monitors (SCM25A MK2, SCM12 Pro, and SCM12i Pro) for the Atmos room?
We went with the ATC monitors because they're the industry standard for spatial audio. We were looking at other models as well, but we decided on the ATC for their fidelity, and their quality. And all the speakers in the room besides the sub are ATC. They were highly regarded and Greg at Vintage King really said that this is the way to go. So we chose it. I'm glad we did as they have an amazing sound.

How special is it to have this Dolby Atmos room here? There probably isn’t another one for 100 miles from here.
We take pride in the fact that we have a state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos system. Having a 9.1.4 system like this really showcases the highest level of audio technology in terms of immersive audio in the industry. It's important for us to have this because our students come from such diverse backgrounds, and giving them the tools and the ability to experience this is very, very meaningful.

This system is calibrated using a Trinnov. So the room that we're in right now is tuned for the space itself. Each speaker, each monitor has been calibrated. The space itself, to me, is almost like its own instrument. So when you walk in, and you listen to a song, or you watch something audio-done for post-production, to me, it's very much, for lack of a better word, something like a religious event where I like to come in here and experience the sound. And students come in here and experience the sound in a very unique way.

Walk us through the full setup here in this building.
Here at Mt. San Jacinto College’s audio program, we have several control rooms, a master control room, and our Dolby Atmos room, all outfitted with today's finest equipment. Starting with our master control room, we use Avid Legacy HD I/Os. We use the Neve 1073 OPXs. We use a legacy S5 control surface. And that room oversees a live orchestra, choir, drum room, and vocal booth. So we have one central master control room that we use when we want to control or do multi-tracking across the board.

From there, we have four other control rooms that are integrated and connected to master control via Dante. Two of those rooms have Slate Raven control surfaces running the Pro Tools MTRX Studio, all connected to the Dante network. But one of those rooms has a Universal Audio Apollo [Apollo x8p Gen 1] as well. We like to mix it up. We like to have different flavors so that students can use both the MTRX and the UAD as well. All the rooms also have UAD Satellite units to run the plug-ins. Universal Audio has been very kind in gifting us the use of all of their plug-ins, which is very important for our students. Many of these plug-ins are emulating gear that you aren't going to be able to get your hands on.

The room that you're in right now, of course, is a Dolby Atmos 9.1.4 room that features ATC speakers and the Avid S6 control surface. And what's special about this Dolby room is that it runs two machines. One Mac runs Pro Tools while the other Mac runs the renderer. So this represents what you would potentially use at an advanced dub stage production suite. So across all of our studios, we use the most current version of Pro Tools. But ultimately, we want our students to experience the best. So having outboard pres, control surfaces, interfaces, Dante, and the right systems that are calibrated enables our students to have the best sound quality across any one of our rooms.

How important was it for you to have these rooms all connected via Dante?
So this has been my biggest push, my vision is to make sure that students are very well-versed in audio over IP. And Dante, which is pretty much the industry standard, is the way to go. So every room has Dante-enabled devices with switches all connected on a local area network. And that local area network also has a dedicated NAS, where students can learn to share files among integrated components. This represents how a large production facility would work. So, say, like, Warner Brothers, where there are multiple studios housed in one area, but each one of the studios is communicating back and forth with each other. So there could be, audio over IP, audio over MADI, and utilizing new ways to communicate versus just analog in itself.

What’s been the reaction from students after they've gone out into the real world post-graduation and actually worked with this gear?
Once students finish the program and go on to their respective career paths, they come back with a lot of great insight about what they thought the industry was gonna be like and say, “Wow, we're thankful for the integrated education that we received.” And that is always a primary goal for us here. We want to showcase that audio is a vast, vast industry, and that you may end up doing live sound, working in the studio, or working with audio over a network at a stadium. But the goal is to showcase to students all the prospective tools that can diversify the field. And students have come back and said, “Thank you,” for showing that side of the industry. It's not myopic and focused on one thing. It can be multifaceted.

How do you go about balancing the curriculum so everything is touched?
Developing a curriculum to meet the demands of both the industry and the diversity of career paths has always been the challenge here at Mt. San Jacinto College. As we want to blend both the creative and the technical, and take the two and make technical creatives. Technical creatives represent to me the catalyst for what the industry currently needs. We need individuals who have technical skill sets, but are creative in terms of making diverse content. Problem solvers who are willing to go out and work in different markets globally. So ultimately, our curriculum looks at all of that. The complexity is that the industry moves very fast.

So we have to move with it. And that's where our partnerships with outside vendors like Vintage King are very important. It helps us to stay current in terms of keeping our curriculum up to date and meeting those standards. So, for myself, who has written curriculum many, many times, I always look at the point of view of what's going on in the industry and what would I be looking at in terms of a job if I were a student? So I always approach writing curriculum as a student. What would it be that I need as a creative, as a technical individual, to make sure that no matter what, I'm going out in the world with the right tools?

What would your advice be to another administrator looking to level up their audio program?
It’s all about what the community needs. This isn't just for students in the audio program, it's for the community, and that's what we do here at the college. It's a community college for everyone in terms of accessibility and open access.

Students are very, very excited about the potential that this equipment has brought to this campus and to the community in hopes of building new culture as well. I'm all about seeing new music, new scenes, everything that can be possibly done through the support of this campus, its tools, and ultimately the vendors that have been so critical in supporting this, like Vintage King.

If you’re interested in Vintage King's system design and integration services for your college or institution, our team is ready to help! Contact a Vintage King Audio Consultant via email or by phone at 866.644.0160.