New York University s program in music technology unveiled today a new $6.5 million state-of-the-art music technology facility, a 7,500 square foot multifunctional teaching, recording, and research space designed by Gensler and the Walters-Storyk Design Group.
Facility Includes James L. Dolan Music Recording Studio; 3D Audio Research Lab; 10.2 Surround Sound; 25-seat Control/Classroom
New York Universitys program in music technology unveiled today a new $6.5 million state-of-the-art music technology facility, a 7,500 square foot multifunctional teaching, recording, and research space designed by Gensler and the Walters-Storyk Design Group. One of the most technologically advanced audio teaching facilities in the United States, the new facility greatly enhances the existing 12 studios which house the music technology program of NYUs Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. The studio is located on the sixth floor of 35 West 4th Street.
Were thrilled to open our new music technology facility, which includes the James L. Dolan Music Recording Studio, said Mary Brabeck, dean of NYU Steinhardt. The combination of audio excellence, research focus, and educational possibility strengthens both the pedagogical and research missions of the School. The new facility provides our faculty and students with a stunning environment and the latest technological equipment to support their creative and scholarly work. I am extremely grateful to Mr. Dolan, a member of my Deans Council for his generosity and vision, and to the Dolan Family Foundation.
More than a decade ago, the faculty in music agreed that music technology should be thematic throughout all of their programs. We launched a plan to build our venerable music technology program not only for its own sake, but because we recognized that music technology would be the driving force in the development of our acclaimed programs in music business, music composition, jazz studies, music performance, and music education. The opening of the facilities, and the crown jewel, the James L. Dolan Music Recording Studio, represents a watershed moment in our ongoing plan, said Lawrence Ferrara, director of the programs in music and performing arts in the Steinhardt School.
NYU Music Technology Facility: Audio Slide Show from NYU Steinhardt on Vimeo.
The scale and depth of the technological and acoustical capacity of this facility is unparalleled, said Robert Rowe, vice-chair, director of music composition. We are deeply appreciative of the contributions by James L. Dolan, president and CEO of Cablevision Systems Corporation and chairman of Madison Square Garden, the Dolan Family Foundation, as well as New York University and the Steinhardt School, without whose support this dream could not have been realized.
Internationally recognized, the music technology program at NYU Steinhardt prepares undergraduate and graduate students for successful careers in sound engineering, computer music, audio-visual production and post-production, mastering, scoring for film and multimedia, audio for games, software development, and multimedia production. The program likewise fosters innovative academic research in a variety of fields, such as music information retrieval, digital signal processing, music cognition, and 3D audio.
The new complex is distinguished by the James L. Dolan Music Recording Studio, a 25-seat control/classroom which features a fully automated 48 channel SSL console and the first Dangerous Music 10.2 surround installation in New York City. The facility includes a live performance room large enough to accommodate a small orchestra, several research laboratories, offices, a conference/seminar room and a large iso/drum booth. Multiple windows and a full line of sight provide natural light throughout.
A unique research lab dedicated to 3D audio experimentation is equipped with an innovative, reconfigurable grid outfitted with sixteen Genelec speakers, two Genelec subs and multi-channel micing, tracking and playback options. The lab also boasts extremely low (.2 second) reverb time.
To create a teaching studio of this magnitude, a master team of architects, acousticians, and technologists was formed by an NYU Steinhardt faculty team consisting of Ferrara; Rowe; Kenneth Peacock, music technology program director; Agnieszka Roginska, associate director; and Tom Beyer, chief systems engineer and adjunct faculty member.
Having worked on a number of NYU and Steinhardt projects Gensler was an obvious choice as our primary architectural firm, said Rowe. The Walters-Storyk Design Group was highly recommended for architectural and acoustical design. In addition to extensive high-end recording studio design credits, they have created many of this countrys finest audio teaching facilities.
The James L. Dolan Recording Studio presented us with a number of inherent design challenges which required inventive solutions, commented WSDG co-principal John Storyk. As a teacher and frequent lecturer at many schools around the country, I am extremely aware of the need to provide students with sufficient work space and visual access to instructors. Those issues were among our deepest concerns in developing this design program.
We are confident that the James L. Dolan Music Recording Studio marks a significant advance in our ability to prepare students for successful careers in the expanding field of music technology, Beyer said. It is important to note that while previous generations have been primarily focused on the traditional arts of creating, recording and mixing music for theatrical, broadcast, film, television and radio productions, todays professional music industry encompasses a considerably wider and more technically demanding curriculum.
A wealth of new fields ranging from forensic audio reconstruction to perceptual audio coding, virtual acoustics and video game sound development are expanding current and future employment environment horizons, Roginska concluded. Computer science developments, new job titles and entire new fields of research are surfacing on an almost daily basis. The only way to prepare for this brave new world is through education. It was the teams intention that the Steinhardt Schools innovative music technology complex will serve for many years as an invaluable training portal for our next generation of audio professionals.
About Walters-Storyk Design Group
The Walters-Storyk Design Group www.wsdg.com has designed over 3000 media production facilities in the U.S., Europe, the Far East and Latin America. WSDG credits range from the original Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studio in Greenwich Village to NYCs Jazz At Lincoln Center performance complex, broadcast facilities for The Food Network, Interlochen Public Radio, CBS and WNET, and corporate clients such as Hoffman La Roche. Recent credits include private studios for the Goo Goo Dolls, Jay-Z, Timbalands Tim Mosley, Tracy Chapman, film composer Carter Burwell, Aerosmith; Green Day, Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keys. WSDG principals John Storyk, Beth Walters, and Dirk Noy lecture frequently at universities and industry events, and contribute regularly to industry publications. WSDG is a six-time winner of the prestigious TEC Award for outstanding achievement in Acoustics/Facility Design. The firm maintains offices in NY, SF, Argentina, Brazil, Beijing, Mexico City and Switzerland.
About Gensler
Gensler is a global architecture, design, and planning firm with 32 locations and more than 2,100 professionals in Asia, UK, and the Americas. The firm has over 2,000 active clients in virtually every industry and delivers projects as large as a city and as small as a task light for an individuals desk. Genslers philosophy of design is integral and complementary with our philosophy of service to our clients. We believe good design is, first and foremost, responsive to the concept, the goals of the client, the needs of the users, and the requirements of the budget. For us, the best solution emerges from a thorough understanding of all aspects of the project.
About Cheryl Fleming
Cheryl Fleming is a Manhattan based photographer photographing worldwide architectural projects on the island of St. Maarten, Florida and New York City. http://www.cherphotos.com/architecture