Upcoming changes to Spirit Studio.

Every year at Spirit Studios, we carry out essential maintenance and any upgrades to our facilities throughout the summer months, with the aim to improve performance, accessibility and efficiency. Following feedback and discussions with tutors and staff, we’ll be making some changes to Spirit Studio between 30 May -13 June. Because of this, the studio will be unavailable to book between these dates.

These changes are to improve monitoring performance, increase the space around the console for students during lessons, and to make better use of the studio’s open-plan design.

What’s changing?

Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ll be doing to make these improvements:

• The console will be rotated 180 degrees and pushed towards the far wall by approximately 30 cm.
• The PMCs will be positioned between the console and far wall.  A dedicated rack for their amps and processors will be positioned along the far wall.
• The outboard rack will be split into two separate pieces of furniture.  These racks are on casters, so you’ll be able to position them to suit your session.  For example, you could keep them either side of the console to maximise floor space when recording, or you could position one or both of them behind the listening position when mixing.
• We’ll be making some minor changes to the console master section, allowing us to position the Mac’s keyboard and mouse on a riser over the master section faders. 
• The 40” TV on the wooden beam will be relocated on to a stand, and that be positioned centrally behind the console. You can then remain in the listening position whilst operating a DAW, and we can remove the computer trolley to free up some space.
• The tape machine will be relocated to the far-right corner.
• One of the Aviom foldback units in the outboard rack will be relocated to the machine room, and dedicated cat 5e tie lines will be added to the wall boxes.
• The projector will be removed.  A 60” TV can be utilised in classes as a secondary screen instead.
• We’ll be doing a bit of a tidy up, removing any cabling and tie lines that don’t get used (AES, MIDI, Video etc.).

These changes will greatly improve the delivery of lessons in Spirit Studio, providing the option of seating space for each student behind the console.  It could also allow us to host Spirit+ masterclasses to a larger number of students.

With the repositioning of the console, PMCs and tape machine, you’ll find the floor space slightly larger when recording too.  Additionally, the console will no longer act as a barrier between you and the artist, and they’ll better be able to hear any recordings and see the computer screen between takes.

We apologise for the short notice of this maintenance window, but we hope you enjoy these upgrades!  We’ll keep you updated with any other maintenance windows and upgrades throughout the summer, and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.