Avid Powers New CIT Studios
Canberra Institute of Technology’s new Woden campus is an impressive $300m edifice to hands-on learning. AT caught up with the Head of Music Department, Mark Webber, and Technical Officer – Music, Simon Wheaton, for a tour of the new music studios.
21 January 2026
Photos:/ David Appleton
AudioTechnology: What’s the journey been like to get to this brand new campus?
Simon Wheaton: A bit of history: in 1997, at the old CIT Woden campus, we were recording to Tascam DA88 and DA38 multi-track digital tape machines, using Yamaha O2R digital mixers, and a Pro Tools TDM system. When I became the technical officer, my job was to integrate Pro Tools with the Tascam recorders. Over the years, we upgraded the Pro Tools system with the latest DSP and hardware.
We also upgraded to Digidesign D-Command and C24 control surfaces for Pro Tools – phasing out the Tascams and going fully Pro Tools with outboard Focusrite ISA828 mic preamps.
Fast forward to 2020, in our planning for the move into the new Woden campus we knew the D-Command and C24 had reached end of life and we planned to upgrade to the Avid S6 and S4. We also specified Avid MTRX interfaces to replace older units like a pair of Avid HD/IO interfaces, a Focusrite Red 16Line, and a Digidesign 003. We kept our Focusrite ISA828 outboard preamps from the old Woden campus, along with a Drawmer 1960 and API A2D for additional preamp channels, as they’re still high quality and usable.
AT: CIT’s commitment to Pro Tools-centric learning was never in doubt?
Mark Webber: Continuing with a Pro Tools-based studio was non-negotiable. It’s still the industry standard. There are many DAWs, all capable, but Pro Tools dominates in professional settings, and it’s our job to get our students ready for the real world.
AT: You’ve got two control rooms. How do they differ?
Mark Webber: Having two control rooms was crucial as they support different learning stages. Our Certificate IV subject, Studio Techniques, uses Control Room 2, a simpler system for learning fundamentals like microphone technique. Students can experiment, for example, recording an acoustic guitar to compare microphones and positions. Control Room 2 has Mackie stereo monitoring, while Control Room 1, with the S6, supports a Genelec 5.1 mixing system for diploma students studying surround sound. The Avid S4 and S6 are state-of-the-art control surfaces.
AT: What’s your approach to the live rooms?
Mark Webber: We designed this facility to have multiple small and medium-sized live rooms, rather than fewer larger ones. It gives us greater versatility and helps to support our Music Performance stream. We can have up to six ensembles split into two groups of three for simultaneous rehearsals, while a studio remains free for recording. The more students we can have rehearsing and recording the more they improve.
There are many DAWs, all capable, but Pro Tools dominates in professional settings, and it’s our job to get our students ready for the real world
INTERCONNECTIONS
The control rooms are connected to the live rooms via copper multicore. Longer runs, between Music and Media control rooms, and the Multipurpose Space, use MADI optical lines. The whole of the new campus relies on Dante audio-over-IP across the enterprise network, which provides another option.
The campus is geared up to allow students from various related disciplines – Music Performance, Sound Reinforcement, Sound Production, Lighting and Media – to collaborate. Simon Wheaton describes one such scenario:
“The Music Performance students regularly perform as bands in the Multipurpose Space [see box item] where they’re assessed and experience the pressure of performing in front of their peers. In that scenario, we’ll have Diploma Sound Production students mixing the band on our Allen & Heath D-Live S7000 mixing console with Waves Titan-R SoundGrid Server console. The Sound Reinforcement students will take care of the monitor mixes on an Allen & Heath SQ6 mixing console. Students taking the elective Lighting subject will be on the MA Dot2 desk creating ambience in the space. It’s a great performance space with an excellent JBL VTX A6 line array.
“While that’s happening, the Media students can be roaming with cameras sending multi-camera feeds to the media control room for live vision switching.
“A split of the multi-channel audio goes to the Music control room where other Diploma students record and create a stereo mix for the media control room for sync. We might also create a stereo mix for a livestream.”
CIT: cit.edu.au
Innovative Music (Avid): innovativemusic.com.au
Studio Connections (Genelec): studioconnections.com.au
TAG (A&H): tag.com.au
MadisonAV (JBL): madisonav.com.au
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