The Blackbird Academy Flies High with HARMANs Soundcraft Digital Consoles
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Studio and live sound engineer John McBride and his wife, country artist Martina McBride are the owners of Blackbird Studio in Nashville, which since its founding in 2002 has grown to be a major facility for artists like The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Kid Rock, Tim McGraw and many others. In running the studio, John McBride came to realize that most of the younger people seeking internships or employment had little or no hands-on knowledge-even those who were graduates of college-level audio programs. As a result, John and Martina are opening The Blackbird Academy Studio Engineering Program on September 30, and beginning January 2014 the Academy will launch its Live Sound Engineering Program, which will incorporate HARMANs Soundcraft Si Expression and Si Performer mixing consoles connected via MADI to the Soundcraft Compact Stagebox into their curriculum.
Theres a serious need to provide practical experience to people who want to build careers in this industry, said John McBride. Our emphasis will be on hands-on learning, in a professional environment.
Because The Blackbird Academy is located in Nashville, the community is enthusiastically supporting the school. We make hit records here and the students will benefit from learning not only in our classrooms and studios but also from the artists, producers and engineers that make Nashville one of the countrys great musical centers, McBride said.
There are a million ways to record and mix audio and I dont want students learning from just one person, McBride continued. I want them learning from several people who have been successful in the industry and were going to focus on giving them as much time with the gear as possible.
Tony Cottrill will be the Director of the Live Sound Engineering Program at The Blackbird Academy. Cottrill is the front of house (FOH) engineer for Exile, Ronnie Milsap and Juice Newton and uses Soundcraft Si Performer and Si Expression live sound consoles. The Soundcraft consoles are so powerful that we can have them up and running for a professional live show in 15 minutes, Cottrill said. So we decided I need to teach with these consoles, because if youre out touring with a band and you want a self-contained system with front of house and monitor consoles, a digital stagebox, cable runs and Cat5 lines, the Soundcraft consoles can do that.
Within the Live Sound Engineering Program, Cottrill will teach students how to integrate the Soundcraft front of house and monitor consoles with the Soundcraft Compact Stagebox. Next, students will learn how to mix FOH and monitors on both consoles. Well bring the consoles in and learn theory on different types of processing, using crossovers, gain structure and other essential points, Cottrill said.
Soundcrafts Si Performer and Si Expression consoles will also be used in the schools main live sound area, where a full sound reinforcement system will be set up to teach students how to mix live FOH and monitor sound and learn system networking. In addition to spending time behind the mixing boards, students will learn to work with the Soundcraft ViSi app, which enables remote control of Soundcraft consoles from an iPad.
The Live Sound Engineering Program will also feature a maintenance lab with soldering stations and Cottrill and his staff will teach everything from wiring XLR and RG59 connectors to building crossovers and bench-testing components with test instruments. In addition, the course work will cover acoustics, sound system installation and other areas.
In reality, youre going to come across every conceivable situation, from a best-case scenario like a perfectly equipped studio to a gig where the studio hasnt been maintained or a gig where half the PA doesnt work, McBride said. At The Blackbird Academy, youre going to learn how to get good sound under any circumstances.
The first thing youre going to hear at The Blackbird Academy is that attitude is 99 percent of the gig, McBride concluded. Were looking for passionate, creative, professional people.
For more information on The Blackbird Academy, please visit www.theblackbirdacademy.com
--
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
23/10/2025
The new solution is industry's first multi-channel receiver available for L3Harris's resilient tactical high-frequency data waveforms....
23/10/2025
NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...
23/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile as its preferred communications provider and said all of its reporters will be equipped with SuperM...
23/10/2025
RASTATT, Germany Broadcast and media workflow technology vendor Lawo has tapped Mike Wright as VP of sales, North America....
23/10/2025
MONTREAL European cultural broadcaster ARTE has selected Grass Valley LDX 135 cameras and Creative Grading solution as part of its move from SDI/1080i to a nati...
23/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has named Daniel Parsons as its new chief information security officer, effective Oct. 20....
23/10/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Northern Michigan broadcaster WWTV recently completed a major IP-based upgrade that connects its new Traverse City studio with its control room ...
23/10/2025
A deadline is looming for a new carriage deal between Verizon's Fios TV and Nexstar, with both Verizon and the pay TV-backed American Television Alliance bl...
23/10/2025
NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...
23/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile has as its preferred communications provider and announced that all Fox Weather reporters are being...
23/10/2025
PBS will use generative AI from Amazon Web Services to provide enhanced search results to viewers on the PBS App and PBS LearningMedia platforms, the network an...
23/10/2025
Back to All News
The Resurrected' Marks First Chinese-Language Series to L...
23/10/2025
RT is today publishing a statistical summary from the Register of External Activities for the second quarter of 2025.
The RT Register of External Activities ...
23/10/2025
Series three of the award winning, hit comedy entertainment series The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In is back on your screens, celebrating the very best of all t...
23/10/2025
Performances by Michael Flatley, Andy Irvine, Cuckoo's Nest, Foster and Allen and more
Friday 24 October, 8pm on RT One and RT Player
Fleadh Cheoil re...
23/10/2025
The nights grow longer and the shadows get bolder with Vampire The Masquerade: B...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
The Blackbird Academy Flies High with HARMANs Soundcraft Digital Consoles 
