Oxford University’s Faculty of Music Unveils New Studios

Oxford, U.K. (April 23, 2026)—The University of Oxford’s Faculty of Music has a new home, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.

The university unveiled its new Schwarzman Centre, home to seven faculties, institutes and research centers, at the start of the current academic year. The center houses the Faculty of Music’s three music studios, including one equipped with a Harrison 32Classic 32-channel console that can capture live performances from a variety of music venues and rehearsal spaces over the building’s integrated Dante AoIP network.

“Studio Three is a traditional recording studio,” explains Daniel Hulme, the Schwarzman Centre’s studio manager. “As well as more experimental and electronic compositional work, we teach students the traditional ways of making music in the recording studio, with small- to medium-sized ensembles performing in a room together.”

The studio has an associated performance space, the Ensemble Room, plus four smaller practice spaces which all tie via the network into the Harrison, which features 64 bi-directional channels of Dante. “The Harrison gives us connectivity between all those spaces in that immediate area, so you can really capture a good-sized ensemble with separation.”

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​As Hulme was investigating console options, he felt that the Harrison console’s operation would be easy for the students to grasp. “They’re not technicians, they’re not engineering students; they’re musicians. It’s not an engineering course; it’s a creative practice course. So, the workflow of the Harrison was perfect, in that it’s a relatively simple, open architecture. Some other products are more geared towards tech-heavy engineering, and have multiple layers; there’s lots of stuff that could be overwhelming for a music student. There are no hidden layers to the Harrison. It’s all there to see.”

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As he narrowed his search down to two console options, he continued, “The thing that I liked about the Harrison was primarily the sound of the console, the sound of the EQ and the mic pre. It did not disappoint. I ran some stems through it and listened to the EQ. It was a beautiful thing. The 32Classic has the right balance of function, form, and sound. That really appealed to me.”