WEEK1- AA1: Facilities Introduction

One problem facing EMU is the dance studio on the floor above it. I don't know the extent of the disturbance, not having heard it yet, but I'm figuring it would mostly affect the main studio end of EMU. What is at the other end of the Level 6? Is it possible to move the dance classes upstairs to the other end of Level 6? Posting a timetable of dance classes near the booking sheets outside Peter's office may also be helpful for selecting studio booking times.

Even though EMU is purpose built (suspended main studio, sound baffling, etc), it is purpose built to the limitations of an existing structure - Level 5, Schultz Building, and I feel this is in no way ideal. A studio in a separate ground floor building with public access through one main door and loading bay/studio entrance at rear, away from any (undesirable and largely unintended!) vibrating, ringing, banging, rattling or dancing noise from outside sources is probably better.

Using Studio 5 for one hour the other day and in that short time two people walked in, then apologetically backed out again. Maybe it is my fault for not checking if there is a recording light for that studio, but it got me to thinking that maybe a big white sign with big black letters might be stuck on the door of Studio 5 which read, " If you don't have this studio booked, go check the booking sheet before you turn the handle." Or something to that effect.

Even with a studio light on, some people might think you've gotten bored and fallen asleep or have vacated the studio and forgotten to switch the RECORDING light off. What about connecting the RECORDING light outside the studio to the computer via USB or some such (movement or heat sensor). A click with the mouse every 15 or 30 minutes keeps the light outside on and lets the outside world know you are fine and busily working. No click? Walk on in because the recording light just went out (you could also manually override the timer settings of course). You could work other things into this system (apart from a doorlock which works in tandem with the light!), ie emergency links to medical and security, accessible via a click from within the depths of your studio session. (Footnote: this is not as silly as it seems. A friend of mine actually died at his Audio/Video Work Station - couldn't reach the mobile but he was holding a mouse.) Main point: no 'lights are on and no-one's home'!

I had 2 mobile sightings myself up there that day and then two (highly amusing but also baffling) in forum. My suggestion? You guessed it - a big white sign, etc etc ... but this time two signs, one on each end of EMU above the card readers, reading, "Is your mobile off???". There are probably a few other things you could add to those two signs that some folk seemingly need to be reminded of before they swipe (a clear reminder of the breach conditions maybe).

A word on cable wrangling:
I never thought much about cable coiling until my first day on location in the rain as a trainee on a film set. When the boom operator handed me 30 metres of mud covered cable and a chux, I realised there must be some art to getting this right. And sure enough, if the cable is not set to uncoil easily and readily as the boom operator moves rapidly away during a take, you might find the boom operator heading rapidly in your direction with a nasty scowl (and the boom pole still raised above their head!). As in the studio; a well coiled and placed cable is like a good movie soundtrack - absolutely essential but you don't always notice it's there(!). But seriously, if something or someone gets hooked up in a stray lead, the rest should easily uncoil from the pile with no effort, not knot and transform into a resistant tangly studio tripping vine. I like the idea of the cable hose reel, but wondering how easily this would 'give' if something got caught in the length of cable in use.

Time to bang on about eSATA drives again. The latest mac G5 uses only SATA technology on the inside (no IDE cables, in fact no hard drive cabling of any kind) ... but not an eSATA (external SATA) port in sight. So, go figure. They choose SATA on the inside but don't give you the option to use it on the outside. Did someone say something about navel gazing or did they say FireWire? I suppose when they invented the wheel they couldn't stop spinning that either. I thought there was something sinister I hadn't discovered about using SATA for digital audio workstations but Mac's new rig has blown that idea out of the water.

Strange that after selling your grandmother to invest in a mac workstation, you would then need to squeeze in a mugging to afford a SATA PCI card, if Mac still uses them! An oversight (or not). The specs and the full story on the Macpro (note the absence of eSATA port) can be found at:

http://www.apple.com/macpro/

And for those of you interested, here is a link to an article on eSATA from late last year:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9592_22-6144673.html

The staff of EMU have obviously made some educated and informed choices over the years re: facilities and design, as EMU is equipped with everything from quality mic clips to latest release DME's and sound creation tools for real people wanting to create real sound now; but as much as we all, EMU included, aspire to use the latest in musical technology, hardware and soft, is that really possible?

But that is for another time. In closing, EMU caters to many needs as it is not just a professional standard recording facility, but also an industry hub and training facility, as well as being a valuable archive for all manner of rare and ageing items pertaining to electronic musical technology. Therefore, the organisation of space and resources to maximise usage is an ongoing concern, given the heavy demands and responsibilities placed on EMU and its staff due to its multi-purpose nature.