Thirty years ago in 1985 Harrison introduced the world’s first totally automated console, the Harrison Series 10.
This desk was a turning point in modern console design and set a trend that every other console maker has followed.
Dave Harrison conceived the idea for the Series Ten whilst on a literacy assistance programme in Papua New Guinea.
The Ten was the first to use digitally controlled attenuators – DCA's to control and automate every analog parameter.
For the first time absolutely every section of the console was totally automat-able.
On the surface there where five knobs that could control EQ, Dynamics and Panning, switches around the knobs enabled selection of the 'page' you wanted to control.
I think it was the first 'virtual' console surface made. Using paging and the five knobs, the length of the channel could be much shorter, putting more controls closer to the mixers.
The P&G faders where touch sensitive and motorised, and it was soon realised that the touch switching on the fader could be used to switch states of the knobs.
This meant we had doubled the possible uses of the surface controls.
Automation was recorded onto 8inch floppy discs using the TurboDOS operating system.
In the Centre Section there where two control panels, Global and Shared. Shared showed you channel by channel status and Global allowed for control of all fader states. In the centre fader section was the Monitor Facilities Unit (MFU) an amazing Studio/Control room monitor matrix/switcher and some Remote Faders (like a VCA group).
The console had two sides left/right one side could Main assign out to 32 outputs in 1,2,3,4,5 + 6 channel combinations. The other side could go to the Mix assign which had 16 assignable Monitor outputs. This layered channel concept reduced the width by fifty percent. The Ten had an experimental "real time" interactive graphics package that again pioneered the field.
The crew at Harrison in Nashville provided the best support I have ever come across. We where working some 15,000 km away in Sydney on really new technology, there was no real internet yet and the time difference was fun, but every step of the way Harrison backed us.
The Series Ten was (is) an awesome desk. The EQ and Dynamics where the best sounding I had experienced till then.
I installed and used Series Ten number 005 in 1986 at Soundfirm Sydney. To the best of my knowledge the first TV Series and Feature films mixed anywhere in Total automation were 'Vietnam' a six hour Mini-Series for Kennedy Miller Films, then in December of 1986/87 the Feature film 'Dead Calm' again for Kennedy Miller Films.
That console was expanded, modified and upgraded numerous times up the Ten B phase and was re-located four times as Soundfirm grew and moved premises.
Like many other Harrisons, the desk was affectionately called 'Harry' many great mixes and great times where had with Harry.
Thirty years and some five or six Harrison consoles later, Soundfirm Sydney, Melbourne and Beijing all have Harrison consoles, the latest being a Trion with Dolby Atmos for Melbourne.
Thanks Nashville
This desk was a turning point in modern console design and set a trend that every other console maker has followed.
Dave Harrison conceived the idea for the Series Ten whilst on a literacy assistance programme in Papua New Guinea.
The Ten was the first to use digitally controlled attenuators – DCA's to control and automate every analog parameter.
For the first time absolutely every section of the console was totally automat-able.
On the surface there where five knobs that could control EQ, Dynamics and Panning, switches around the knobs enabled selection of the 'page' you wanted to control.
I think it was the first 'virtual' console surface made. Using paging and the five knobs, the length of the channel could be much shorter, putting more controls closer to the mixers.
The P&G faders where touch sensitive and motorised, and it was soon realised that the touch switching on the fader could be used to switch states of the knobs.
This meant we had doubled the possible uses of the surface controls.
Automation was recorded onto 8inch floppy discs using the TurboDOS operating system.
In the Centre Section there where two control panels, Global and Shared. Shared showed you channel by channel status and Global allowed for control of all fader states. In the centre fader section was the Monitor Facilities Unit (MFU) an amazing Studio/Control room monitor matrix/switcher and some Remote Faders (like a VCA group).
The console had two sides left/right one side could Main assign out to 32 outputs in 1,2,3,4,5 + 6 channel combinations. The other side could go to the Mix assign which had 16 assignable Monitor outputs. This layered channel concept reduced the width by fifty percent. The Ten had an experimental "real time" interactive graphics package that again pioneered the field.
The crew at Harrison in Nashville provided the best support I have ever come across. We where working some 15,000 km away in Sydney on really new technology, there was no real internet yet and the time difference was fun, but every step of the way Harrison backed us.
The Series Ten was (is) an awesome desk. The EQ and Dynamics where the best sounding I had experienced till then.
I installed and used Series Ten number 005 in 1986 at Soundfirm Sydney. To the best of my knowledge the first TV Series and Feature films mixed anywhere in Total automation were 'Vietnam' a six hour Mini-Series for Kennedy Miller Films, then in December of 1986/87 the Feature film 'Dead Calm' again for Kennedy Miller Films.
That console was expanded, modified and upgraded numerous times up the Ten B phase and was re-located four times as Soundfirm grew and moved premises.
Like many other Harrisons, the desk was affectionately called 'Harry' many great mixes and great times where had with Harry.
Thirty years and some five or six Harrison consoles later, Soundfirm Sydney, Melbourne and Beijing all have Harrison consoles, the latest being a Trion with Dolby Atmos for Melbourne.
Thanks Nashville
Macmini 8,1 | OS X 13.6.3 | 3 GHz i5 32G | Scarlett 18i20 | Mixbus 10 | PT_2024.3.1 ..... Macmini 9,1 | OS X 14.4.1 | M1 2020 | Mixbus 10 | Resolve 18.6.5
