Facilities
We have an extensive range of production facilities, which are used by students throughout their degrees. These include facilities for:
Audio
University Campus, Ayr boasts extensive facilities for radio production and also has its own radio station .
There are 4 dedicated radio studios:
- Radio studio 1 and Radio studio 2 boast Soundfield stereo drama mics. Both of these studios have control rooms and performance areas.
- Radio studio 3 consists of a control room and a small performance area.
- Radio studio 4 is a larger self-op studio which houses UCA Radio, the campus student radio station.
All four studios are equipped similarly, with Soundcraft mixing desks, cassette decks, CD players and Minidisk machines as well as studio and guest microphones. All studios are equipped with Macintosh-based ProTools digital editing software and hardware. All studios have phone lines, and studio 3 has an ISDN phone line.
The performance areas are equipped with multiple mics, which may be used to record round-table discussions or interviews.
Field recordings may be made using a stock of professional tape or minidisk recorders, and there is a range of mics and accessories, which can be used both for studio and field recording purposes. There is an ISDN reporter’s kit, with portable field mixer.
There are two large Mac labs, and two smaller dedicated labs all equipped for audio and radio editing using ProTools.
The Hamilton Campus has two fully equipped studios and a newsroom:
Students also have access to Marantz portable cassette recorders and portable minidisc recorders and a number of Mayah 'Flashman' portable hard drive recorders.
On screen digital editing programme is Adobe Audition with the addition of BURLI <http://www.rcsuk.com/burli.htm> news management system.
Studio 1 has an Alice 2000 desk and ISDN link which has enabled students, and radio stations, to transmit material for broadcast. Studio 2 has a Soundcraft desk and Marantz cassette.
In addition, both Studios have two Denon 'hotstart' minidisc recorders; two Denon CD players; Tascam cassette; Technics record deck; Tascam BR20 reel-to-reel tape machine; presenter microphone and two guest mics with Sonifex telephone balance unit. Plus a network PC with Adobe Audition on screen editing programmes and BURLI newsroom management software.
Music
Five recording studios run Digidesign's industry standard Pro Tools recording system and feature Control 24 hands-on tactile control surfaces.
Two music production labs feature 25 Apple Mac G4 computers. Each PC runs Digidesign's Pro Tools LE and Propellerheads' Reason software packages. Every workstation has a MIDI keyboard, Digi 001 audio interface and high quality sound module.
Three fully kitted-out rehearsal rooms (drum kit, PA, amps, etc..) are available for student booking.
Further equipment is available on loan to students including: Yamaha AW4416 D.A.W., Tascam DA-P1 Portable DAT machines and wide selection of instruments (Roland MC-505, Novation Supernova etc.).
Television & Video
There are two television studios, sponsored by Panasonic, both of which are equipped with mics and sound mixing desks, which can also be used for radio recordings. Take a look at the AyrSpace WebTV station.
Digital Editing & Graphics
A dedicated radio non-linear Mac Lab has 5 Macs, each equipped with ProTools sound editing software, and accessories.
The Hamilton campus has two dedicated Mac Labs for media students running the latest industry standard software including Quark Xpress, Microsoft office X and Macromedia Dreamweaver.
Digital Art
There are two dedicated Art studios which are used for predominantly traditional art activities such as life drawing. There are also two dedicated Mac labs running MAYA 3D animation software, Apple’s Final Cut Pro video editing software, the Macromedia suite for web design, and Adobe packages for illustration and image manipulation. When not timetabled for classes, these facilities are on open access.
Photography
Photography is supported by equipment for both digital and traditional approaches. Conventional SLR cameras and a 6-station darkroom are used for the production of monochrome prints, in addition to which there is a range of digital cameras for capturing images for manipulation in a range of software packages. recording studios run Digidesign'