AA1 - Week 1 - Facilities introduction
In our very first session of Audio Arts, we were initially taken through the basic course outline and what was expected during the year. Following this, we were given a quick lesson on basic studio etiquette, such as how to roll up various leads correctly, and were also given a few tips, such as to make sure that a boom stand is not touching the floor, but is using only its three feet. On top of these basic tips and a quick tour, I have also informally taken myself on a tour of the EMU. We were also drilled with several general EMU rules, which are as follows.
- Mobiles phones are to be off at ALL times.
- No food/drinks anywhere in the EMU areas, except the kitchen.
- Always completely pack up the studio areas when you are done.
On top of this we were given a general OHS outline, such as to not lift anything too heavy for you, how to lift objects (bend your knees), and to not touch anyone who is slumped over, due to the possibility of electrocution. We were also advised to not leave any leads suspended in the air, as a precaution against tripping, which could cause both injury and expensive hardware damage.
The facilities involve the main recording area; studio 1, which is the primary recording studio; studio 2, which are adjacent to this main area and studio 5, which is the primary interactive studio. Studio 5 contains an electronic drum kit (which could be used to record both audio and 
kitchen.
One of the major problems with the EMU studio is the dance floor which is located directly upstairs, although I have not personally heard the extent of the noise, I can imagine it could be quite disruptive to a recording session. A possible solution to avoid this problem would be to post a timetable of dance sessions in the EMU office.
I would also be quite concerned with the possibility of someone walking in on the recording session, say if they go to come in, and the light is on, they leave and come back in an hour, and the light is still on, they might just walk right on though, thinking you may have just forgotten to switch it off, which could be quite hazardous to a recording. This could possibly be fixed by setting up a link from the computer, so that when you are in recording mode, the light goes on, but when you are not, the light goes off, although I have no idea if such technology exists.
I am really excited to actually get into the studio and see for myself what the acoustics of the dead room and the main EMU space are like, and also to familiarise myself with the hardware and software located throughout EMU.
Until next time.
Nathan Shea
1 Studio 1, Accessed
1 comment:
Your idea of connecting the recording light to the computer has been put put to Christian in previous years, and subsequently put into the Too-Hard basket. Oh, and the dead room is only truly 'dead' if you take the sound-proofing baffles in there and cover the huge glass windows. Whomever built it did not think it through very well...
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