Having relocated to a brand-new campus location in central Glasgow, the Glasgow School of Art’s (GSA) School of Information & Technology (SIT) has new Genelec-equipped sound studios to prepare students for careers in film/TV sound production and postproduction, immersive audio, electronic game audio and experimental sound.
Previously based at the GSA’s Pacific Quay Campus in Glasgow’s Digital Media Quarter, the relocation has brought SIT closer to the main campus but involved recreating Pacific Quay’s three main studios – a Dolby Atmos Room, a Surround Sound Room and the spatial audio Soundlab – in new spaces. The endeavour was supported by local company, Mediaspec.
The principal aim of the new SIT facility was to create a flexible teaching and production environment capable of supporting industry-standard Dolby Atmos workflows, traditional 5.1 surround mixing, and third-order Ambisonics mixing, with support for voiceover and Foley recording too. Designed to provide students with access to industry-standard monitoring environments across multiple spatial audio formats, the decision was made for all studios to be integrated via a Dante network – which represented a major technical advance over the previous campus location.
To deliver on the new spaces – including a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos studio and a 16-speaker Ambisonics Soundlab –11 Genelec 8030 two-way close-field monitors were transferred from the Pacific Quay campus for the new Atmos room, complemented by a 7060 subwoofer, while 16 8010 two-way close-fields were purchased for the Ambisonics room, supported by a 7050 subwoofer. The campus’s compact 5.1 surround sound studio usses the GSA’s existing 1029 monitors, and a separate voiceover booth and Foley studio are also accessible via the Dante network.
Inevitaby there were technical challenges to overcome, as Ronan Breslin, the GSA’s Programme Leader explains: ‘Since Ambisonic sound does not have a low-frequency enhancement channel as part of its defined characteristics, we found that initial playback testing with the 8010 monitor array in the Soundlab revealed very good immersion and localisation characteristics, but the low end required reinforcement. Mediaspec suggested we deploy a 7050 subwoofer in the room – which we fed with summed 100Hz LPF audio. This remedied the issue, following experimentation with positioning.’
Implementation of the Dante network presented a futher challenge, which was overcome by collaborating with the GSA’s IT team: ‘By fine-tuning the network, establishing correct clocking and routing configurations, and carrying out system-wide testing and validation, we were able to achieve a stable and reliable infrastructure,’ Breslin says.
With the commissioning complete, staff and students have had time to get to grips with the new rooms, and the feedback has been positive: ‘All the studios sound incredibly clear,’ says Simon Weins, Sound Technician & Lecturer. ‘The 8030s in the Atmos studio allow for a very detailed image of a mix, which is crucial for our students when making final decisions in their projects. Together with the rest of our system, this allows our students to work at the highest professional level. The stereo imaging is precise, and the low frequency detail is exceptional.’
In the Soundlab, the Ambisonics system has been a revelation: ‘The 8010s may look small but paired with the 7050 they produce a genuinely powerful, full-range sound. Despite the compact footprint, the imaging across the full sphere is remarkably stable and coherent,’ Weins says.
‘Genelec’s clarity and consistency have translated seamlessly from our studios at Pacific Quay to our new home at West Regent Street, minimising the impact that the move had on the workflow of our students and allowing them to continue their work in a professional environment,’ he adds. ‘Overall, the relocation has been a real success for us, with the new facilities being used more than ever.’
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