Jan 25, 2016 The Audio Studio

My name is Robert Nelson and I am the Audio Projects Librarian. The Audio Studio, in the Marriott Library’s Faculty Center, was established to assist the University of Utah research and student community in the integration of digital learning objects into curriculum/course projects.

The Audio Studio contains these features:

• Soundproof recording space
• Professional vocal microphones that can capture individual or group sound
• ProTools Digital Recorder for recording digital soundfiles

I manage the Audio Visual Services in the Faculty Center (my colleague Tony Sams serves as the coordinator for Video Projects in the Video Studio.) My title is Audio Projects Librarian: Faculty and students work with me to coordinate their audio outcome: from idea – conception – recorded/edit final project. My background in sound comes from my experience as a Radio Deejay on local community station 90.9 FM KRCL. I have hosted their Saturday afternoon Reggae Program: Smile Jamaica since 1988.

From 2003-2012 I was one of the hosts of KRCL’s Radioactive interview program. I conducted over 400 interviews with people like Ralph Nader, Amy Goodman, Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein and many others.

When the Marriott Library undertook a major renovation, I was transferred from the Curriculum Library to manage the newly created Audio Studio.

In the past six years, I have been involved in consulting, recording, editing and performing over 75 unique Audio-based projects. Simple recording: trim the intro, trim the outro, export an edit adds at least another 50.

I feel I have a unique insight into how New Media is expanding the traditional text based services in Academic Libraries.

What are some examples of that New Media creation? I’ll describe three Projects I have consulted on since the new semester started.

1. Global Health Podcast Series
   1. Project: U of U Anesthesiologists want to create a podcast to tell stories and engage advocacy in Global Health missions.
   2. Consult: I met the Doctors, gave them advice on how to format their interview questions for research purposes and have begun recording/editing their podcasts.
   3. Outcome: Capturing experiences from Doctors in places like Rwanda and Cuba. We recently had a phone line installed in the Audio Studio and this was our test recording

2. Student Sustainability Essay Contest – Real People, Real Stories
   1. Project: Working with a Graduate Student in Environmental Humanities. Year after Year Utahans express concern regarding air pollution and political/economic gridlock which prevents substantial action. The goal is to record 5 contest winners who will read their essay for a public presentation on climate change.
   2. Consult: I met with the MA Student to conceptualize how I would record and edit the winners’ submissions.
   3. Outcome: 5 edited digital stories for upload to Multi-Media Presentation in the Student Union in February.

3. Online Course Narration
   1. Project: New Political Science Faculty has need for professional sound to narrate Online Course.
   2. Consult: After listening to her recordings using a USB microphone, I suggested we record using the Audio Studio microphones for a better sound quality. After discovering that her course integration system didn’t allow for importing sound, I had to find a better way for her to record directly into her laptop. So I used a better USB microphone called a Snowball. Most Faculty arrive at the Audio Studio because they cannot get a good microphone sound out of their cheap plug-in laptop microphones.
   3. Outcome: She has been using the Snowball mic and the soundproof Studio space to get the professional audio she needs for her Online Course.

So that’s the sort of projects that take advantage of the equipment and services of the Audio Studio.

Robert Nelson – Audio Projects Librarian

1705-V Faculty Center
Marriott Library
University of Utah
P: 801-581-5228
E: Robert.nelson@utah.edu
Source: Creativity and Innovation Services Department Blog