For their Live Audio Production class, James MacLean, a support lead at the Libraries’ Digital Media Experience (DME) Lab, and Media Production classmate Owen Greco needed the perfect space to record a live, instrumental performance for their major fourth-year course assignment.
The assignment required students to plan and execute a live audio event utilizing multiple sound channels. Some classmates opted for live karaoke or comedy shows, but James and Owen were focused on developing an immersive live audio-visual performance.
To do this, the duo booked the Libraries’ Media Creation Studio, which provided the ideal setup to execute a technically challenging musical and visual live recording. While the pair brought in some of their own equipment, the ready-to-use Studio saved them from having to source or rent extra gear.
The partners split the production responsibilities: Owen took on the instrumental, and James used the Studio’s lighting set up to curate a subterranean environment. For the musical piece, Owen brought in a Roland sampler to create evolving synth texture tracks. He took the sampler, a specialized instrument often used by DJs, and ran it directly into a large analog mixer he’d placed on the Studio floor. To complement the direct audio from the sampler, the pair positioned two microphones on either side of the Studio to capture the natural room tones reverberating through the room.
To match the moody tones of the music, James transformed the room into a minimal, yet immersive atmospheric environment. Utilizing the Studio’s three-point lighting setup–equipped with Amaran 300D lights favoured by content creators and filmmakers–he completely altered the room’s colour palette. “I wanted the room to be this deep red,” says James. “We used those lights to create this amazing look in the room.”
James also borrowed a video camera and tripod from the DME to capture the whole performance, filming against the Studio’s white back wall and shooting the entire piece in a single, continuous shot.
The result was an experimental sonic live performance set in a mesmerizing atmospheric environment.
For James and Owen, the Media Creation Studio provided the space and resources to produce a highly technical, creative performance. When asked why they chose the Media Creation Studio, James highlighted its ease of access. “The best thing about the studio is that it’s already set up for you,” says James. “The lights are mounted, the backdrops are ready, and the gear is super accessible.”
Because of that accessibility, James and Owen were able to walk in, perform their set efficiently, and walk out with an incredible audio-visual project.