V
ancouver, BC – Students of the International Academy of Design and Technology in Las Vegas have the opportunity to get real world hands-on experience in a professional recording setting. The school's newly opened Vegas View recording studio is part teaching facility but is also being operated as a commercial recording facility.
The project was conceived and overseen by Studio designer and manager Robert "Bobby" Ferrari. He explains: "The goal is similar to that of a "teaching hospital" where students work with real clientele covering all aspects of recording from the engineering and production side to the customer service and management aspect of the industry. The student experience at IADT and Vegas View is one of full professionalism. Many EDU facilities turn students loose in the studios with no guidance other than what they have been shown in the classes. Here we place students in scenarios as assistants, tape ops, DAW operators, setup techs, and later first engineers on actual sessions, as well as management and marketing. We are currently developing a way to teach students how to best market themselves in the world of independent engineering as well. How to approach potential clients and booking studio time is all part of what we do. The best part is that we are growing future audio professionals that will go out and support the industry from an informed perspective."
Ferrari worked with California based architect and designer Carl Yanchar. The team held similar vision for the recording spaces, in particular the live recording space. "Acoustically the room was built as homage to Bill Putnam, the father of modern recording. The wonderful surprise there comes in the live recording space which has an amazing warm sound like no other. You hear it and feel it the moment you enter the space, this really adds to the sonic quality when recording to a DAW. (We) both felt the recording space was perfected 70 years ago and that was what we set out to build, a classic sounding environment. The challenge was finding modern building materials that would have the same properties as the materials of old that were laden with toxics. After some searching we were able to find those items resulting in rooms that sound fantastic, look great, and feel like no other."
In order to route all of that warm, high quality sound Ferrari worked with the Custom Shop at Radial Engineering in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia (Canada). "When it came time to order the connection panels for all the spaces my first call was to Radial. Ryan (Juchnowski) and I had worked on Odds On Recording 4 years ago and I already knew it would be cost effective and of the highest quality. Ed (Evans, System Designer) had AutoCAD layouts of the panels on this install, we sent those to Radial, Ryan did his due diligence and within a few weeks all of the panels were on sight and ready to be installed. It could not have been any smoother or easier for us as the end user and installation team. In this day and age Radial is still providing customers a service that has become a lost art. I wouldn't use anyone else for installation projects."
Just a few months since its grand opening Ferrari is enjoying the response from not only his students but other initial professional users including indy artists and music producers working at the facility creating for film and television productions. "So far the reviews have been fantastic; in fact industry veteran David Holdredge has called it "the best" sounding drum room in the city. There will be a lot more to come!"
