Makerspace News

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | By

close up shot of a black and pink microphone with a person playing guitar in the back

What’s New This Term!

Tech Highlights

Now that we’re all moved into our new space, it allows us to start working in-depth with several of our new technologies. One of the most notable and quite frankly largest additions to our tech roster is the Whisper Room, an official sound isolation booth perfect for any form of audio recording! Coated wall to wall in sound dampening foam, it couples excellent with our audio tech to produce smooth and clear vocals free of any disruptive background noise.

These coupled technologies are both dynamic and condenser microphones for a variance of sound quality and provide room for students to dabble and experiment. Each mic is directly connected to an audio interface which is connected to the computer workstation adjacent to the booth, loaded with several audio editing software to balance both vocals and instruments. The booth itself is also hooked up with a remote LED light to illuminate the room for viewing music sheets or scripts with clarity. The computing station also comes with its own mic for two way communication between station and booth to make recording a breeze.

Located in our audio lab, the booth is open for all to use, so feel free to stop in and give it a try, no matter your musical inclination!

Collaborations

Students

But it’s not just faculty and staff that use the space for their own projects, after all its biggest population is students, so it’s no wonder we have an abundance of their work to choose from!

Recently, given our new move, students are slowly beginning to trickle back into the space, but a certain group has been consistent in attending every day since our official opening

began back on the 6th. Students Travis Lewis May, Nick Rutherford, Duke Samaka, and Anjola Komdafe have been making extended use of our esteemed audio lab with great enthusiasm. The group is crafting a collective track demo of their music work, so in many ways this is a double collaboration!

Each member takes up an individual role, one directing and composing, another providing additional composition regarding beat, the writer, and the audio engineer to form their own small scale production team. They each bring a variety of editing knowledge to the table, boasting skills in both FL Studios and Logic Pro both of which the Makerspace provides.

They’ve been extremely grateful to the Makerspace for providing a dedicated space to work on audio, as this was not the first time the team came together to create music. Originally they used to house a makeshift studio within one of the member’s dorms in Brock’s own Village residence. With it came the several obstructions of managing their noise levels and picking up the background noise of dormitory life, making for a rather temperamental recording space. Now they can apply their extensive knowledge to create in a fully equipped recording environment.

If you would like a chance to do a live session of your own in our audio lab, or any lab for that matter, visit our Main Service Desk in the Makerspace and make a reservation any time between 1- 6 pm. You can also email us your booking request at makerspace@brocku.ca with the subject line “Audio Lab Reservation”.

FACULTY

Over the past three and a half years we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with students and faculty on a variety of personal and curricular based projects.  We got to sit down with Dr. Karen Louise Smith who has been an avid supporter and user of the Makerspace, and we asked her some questions to learn a bit more about what sparked her interest in using the Makerspace.  She has previously collaborated with the Makerspace for another course she teaches, COMM 3P91 – Information Technology: Policies and Issues where students had to 3D print an object to spark a conversation about a controversy that emerges from an information technology theme.

What technology did you use in your class to enhance experiential learning?

I developed a podcasting assignment for the Social Media course (Comm 2P91 / IASC 2P91 / PCUL 2P91) in the fall 2019 semester that was centered around fake news. The students in my course were able to borrow technologies like a Zoom recorder, or snowball microphone, from the Makerspace to record audio clips to use in their podcasts…Read More

 

Featured Partnerships in Brock News

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Important Announcements

Social Media – Any updates or news can be accessed via our social media on Instagram @brockmakerspace and Twitter @BrockMakerSpace. Be sure to give us a follow on either (or both if you’re so inclined) to know when we’re throwing something new and exciting your way! Don’t forget to tag us in any of your posts, we’ll be sure to give it a like and feature it on our own pages! Embrace the digital and keep on making, in and out of the space!

Upcoming Events & Workshops

MAKERSPACE EVENT THEMES

The theme this month of January will be Audio, where we will take you through a progression of topics surrounding the capturing, editing, and refining of your audio.

Event Titles

  • Makerspace Tour: Audio Lab
  • Audio: Basics of Recording for Podcasting
  • 3D Modelling Sound Waves

Makerspace Event Calendar

Subscribe to our Experience BU page to stay up to date on our events and learning opportunities.

More Events

 

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