These pages provide an overview of our state of the art electroacoustic studio facilities, which are used for a variety of tasks, including multichannel electroacoustic composition, mixed instrumental and electroacoustic composition, programming and DSP, interface development, multimedia work, etc.
This is a brief guide to the studios, and does not give a complete list of facilities. The equipment and software are subject to a continual programme of improvement, and studio configurations are sometimes customised to accommodate specific projects. The following information should therefore be taken as a guide only.
MiniBEAST
MiniBEAST is a 30-channel loudspeaker diffusion system, which is permanently installed in the Elgar Concert Room, the Music Department's largest teaching/rehearsal space. It is available for rehearsals of acousmatic and mixed instrumental/electroacoustic works, as well as for general research uses.
Informal MiniBEAST listening sessions take place from 11.30 am till 12.45 pm on Wednesdays.
Portable equipment
Mobile equipment for recording and studio use includes: a Fostex FR-2 sound recorder, M-Audio Microtrack recorders, Sound Devices 744T recorders, DAT recorders, Alesis ADAT and hard disk recorders, DACS and RME microphone preamplifiers, Mackie MIDI controllers, MOTU audio and MIDI interfaces, a variety of microphones (manufactured by Neumann, AKG, SE Electronics, Sennheiser, Shure and Soundfield), a Publison DHM 89 effects unit, a Panasonic AG-DVX100 video camera and Apple laptop computers.The equipment in the BEAST system is also available by arrangement to postgraduates for off-site concerts and installations.
Other facilities
The studios also have a small lounge area for postgraduates. For general information on facilities within the Music Department, see here.