Richard F. Rose, Miami-Dade Community College

Miami-Dade Community College, Kendall Campus, has developed a Sound Engineering program that provides training in three related areas: studio recording, MIDI techniques, and live sound reinforcement. The overriding philosophy of the program is our orientation toward student-run operations. The program relies heavily on student involvement and participation at all levels. This helps to minimize costs--students serve as engineers, tutors, and technicians--and generates income. The commercial use of our facilities provides a degree of autonomy that would not be available if all funding needs were at the discretion of our institution's administration.

Sound Engineering studies at Miami-Dade Community College, Kendall Campus, are associated directly with the Music Department, within the division of Arts and Letters. Because we are a two-year institution, our goal in Sound Engineering is twofold: (a) to help students gain hands-on familiarity with the tools of sound engineering, and (b) to help students become critical listeners. In other words, we are ears and operations intensive and not math intensive. Students become skilled engineers, working hands-on, while developing critical listening and mixing skills.

Sound Engineering course work is only one aspect of Sound Engineering Studies at Miami-Dade. We stress practical real-life experience through live sound reinforcement and on-site recordings for Music Department concerts and other campus events. Students also gain experience assisting in our multi-track recording studio. All beginning Sound Engineering students serve an apprenticeship with one of our "licensed student engineers." Additionally, lab classes immediately involve novice recording engineers in recording sessions.

The Sound Engineering area of the Music Department has established an organized Student Assistant program. This helps us to operate as a professional sound company. Key positions in our administrative structure, under the direction of our faculty, are manned by student scholarship recipients. They are: Studio Traffic Manager (oversees studio bookings), Maintenance Technician (tests equipment, does some repairs), Live-Sound Recordist (responsible for live-to-two-track concert recordings), Live Sound Supervisor (responsible for all sound reinforcement), and Tape Librarian (stores and catalogs all projects, assists with tape sales).

All students are eligible to become licensed sound engineers. After completing basic class work, those students seeking licenses are trained, tested, and given security clearance so that they may engineer their own sessions without immediate faculty supervision. Licensed engineers serve as mentors to our novice engineers and oversee many of our commercial sessions.

In addition to our student assistant program, we offer students membership in Jaguar Audio Group (JAG), our campus audio club. The purpose of JAG is to provide students with additional on- and off-campus sound engineering experiences. Jaguar Audio Group is a student service organization of special interest to those exploring diverse aspects of sound engineering. Its members serve as a board of directors for our studio operations. JAG sets our rate structure for studio use, decides on purchases, sells recording tape, maintains equipment, and monitors (cleans) our facilities. JAG members, under the supervision of faculty and student assistants, volunteer for Sound Crew, providing technical support and muscle power for weekly Music Department events at on- and off-campus locations.

Additionally, JAG services and the use of our recording facilities are available to the public. We provide on-campus and on-site recording and sound reinforcement services on a donation basis. Our rate structure is as follows: For a $50.00 donation, a three-hour recording session, a student engineer, multitrack tape (we keep it and reuse it), drum set, and acoustic piano are provided. We can provide MIDI equipment, but normally do not program it for clients. That is extra. We have one on-staff engineer (an adjunct faculty member) who charges $25.00 per hour, should clients desire a more experienced engineer. Payment is made to Jaguar Audio Group.

We converted an inside, windowless classroom into a recording studio by building a "room-within-a-room" for acoustic isolation from outside noise.

One end of the studio is acoustically reflective and the other end is non-reflective, creating an acoustically flexible work space. Parallel surfaces are avoided within the studio and room dimensions are carefully controlled to help eliminate standing waves. Sonex panels are fastened to the side walls and surrounded with strips of unfinished wood placed at random angles, in order to provide sound diffusion.

The control room floor is "floated" above the level of the studio floor to help eliminate sound energy transmission between rooms. The glass viewing window between the control room and the studio consists of 3 glass panes of different thicknesses. The final pane, facing the studio, is angled at 5 degrees toward the floor. The three side-walls surrounding the recording console are covered with plywood, and 1" x 2" faring strips are attached to the plywood. Fiberglass panels (used for constructing air-conditioning ducts) are fastened to the faring strips and covered with burlap. Monitor speakers are placed on a shelf slightly above the recording console, creating an ideal environment for mixing recorded projects.

The MIDI studio, a former small-ensemble rehearsal room, is located across a hallway from our recording studio. The MIDI studio houses six workstations and each station contains a multi-timbral keyboard and computer (IBM, Macintosh, or Atari). Two stations are suitable for large-scale MIDI production, providing multiple multi-timbral modules, a Macintosh computer, a small 12-channel mixing console, an effects processor, a time-code generator, and a DAT or cassette tape-recorder. One station "breaks-down" for use in the recording studio. The computer, time-code generator, controller keyboard, and sound modules can be easily transported.

Our MIDI studio is also available to clients. Rates are also $50.00 per three-hour session, and we provide a student engineer. Clients may purchase a blank DAT cassette from JAG when a stereo master is required. Most often, MIDI sequences are stored on disc and transferred to multi-track analog formats in our recording studio.

Four scholarship recipients, after receiving special training, serve as our MIDI Assistants. Each assistant oversees weekly MIDI time-blocks, and assists beginning and advanced MIDI students. Their services are also available to other Sound Engineering students.

Our "Live Sound" equipment consists of two systems: our large concert system and a smaller recital system. Additionally, a small public address system is assigned to JUBA, our collegiate gospel ensemble. Student assistants and JAG members must be familiar with the components of all systems.

The JUBA system consists of a 12-channel mixer with two auxiliary circuits (used for effects or monitors), several microphones, one stereo power amp, two two-way speakers, a crossover network for separation of highs and lows, two wedge-monitor speakers, a stereo compressor, and a stereo effects unit. The "recital system" is similar and includes a three-way crossover network and amplification, bass cabinets, and side-fill monitors. The concert system is very large and includes a 24-channel board, three-way networking, a large monitor system (side-fills, wedges, and spots), and appropriate amplification for stereo (400 watt amplifiers, several 200 watt mono amplifiers). We have a number of microphones and find that we most often use Shure 58s, Crown PZMs, Sennheiser 421s, and Shure 81s.

Sound setup planning begins well before each concert event. For on-campus events, we allow approximately two and one-half hours set-up time. Our Live Sound Supervisor is responsible for all aspects of the set-up and assigns various duties to JAG members. Additional assistance is provided by members of our Live Sound Reinforcement class.

Rates for off-campus sound recording or sound reinforcement begin at $300.00. It has been our experience that providing services of this nature are often difficult and time/labor intensive. They call for creativity and improvisation, are full of frustrations, yet provide exceptional experiences for our students.

There are two full-time faculty members and three adjunct instructors in Sound Engineering. A full-time Facilities Manager serves as our chief engineer and oversees the daily operations of the program. Adjunct faculty are drawn from professionals within the community who offer their unique experiences and expertise to students. Courses taught by adjunct faculty are Live Sound Reinforcement, Music Business, Multi-track Production Techniques, and MIDI 2. Because of the speed at which current techniques and technology is advancing within the field of Sound Engineering, it is our contention that professionals with "cutting-edge" knowledge are best suited for advanced studies.

Course Credits

Semester 1:

Semester 2:

Spring:

Summer

Semester 3:

Semester 4:

Supplementary Courses:

Because our institution is self-insured, we insure our own equipment with a nationally known company. In case of loss, replacement is expedited. We are fortunate because our losses have not exceeded our annual $250.00 deductible.

All studios are armed with security keypads. Faculty are assigned keys and code numbers for entry to controlled areas. Licensed engineers are listed in the campus security office and must check-in with security prior to admittance to the studios by security personnel. Engineers are responsible for all activity in the studios and are aware of the institution's policies regarding conduct on campus.

As greater numbers of institutions increase reliance on newer music technologies and add or modify curricula in which technological competencies are necessary, creative solutions to student/faculty training and equipment funding needs will be at issue. Those institutions that seek to stay current with changing technologies may find that goal especially difficult as technological developments seem to occur at ever increasing costs and rates. The Music Department at the Kendall Campus of Miami-Dade Community College, Kendall Campus (a two-year institution with over twenty-two thousand students) utilizes a student operated commercial Sound Engineering facility to provide audio support for the college community, excellent training to students, while generating income for equipment purchases and maintenance.

At the heart of this system is the Sound Engineering program within the Department of Music at Miami-Dade Community College. It houses a professional multi-track recording studio and complete computer-based MIDI studio with multiple work-stations. Additionally, several live-sound systems are available to provide sound reinforcement for concerts ranging from student recitals to arena events.

Like that of many institutions, our funding for advanced technology is limited; however, the commercial use of our Sound Engineering facilities and a studen-operated approach to the administrative organization of the Sound Engineering program has generated income, thus decreasing the need for additional staff members while providing a high degree of financial independence rather than reliance on annual institutional funding requests.

The purpose of this presentation was to describe our facilities, our curriculum, our services, and our methods of operation. The training and support system that Miami-Dade Community College has developed may serve as a useful model to institutions seeking to add or adapt newer technologies to their music programs.