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Hereford College gains a high tech fully digital recording studio

1st Feb, 2005 to 1st May, 2006

Handed over at Easter 2006, Jeff Byard Sound and Broadcast provided a turnkey package from initial acoustic consultancy to a state of the art digital recording studio installation for Hereford's 6th Form College music department.

Having won a substantial award for academic achievement, Hereford 6th Form College approached Jeff Byard in late autumn 2005, with a view to supporting the College architects James Morris Associates. Having had experience designing studios for Granada, Morris Associates were very anxious this project would have to meet the exacting criteria laid down by the Head of College Music, David Ventura. Having seen, (and heard) examples of live recording spaces at the Nimbus Classical recording facility in Monmouth, the College music Maestro was avid in his quest to achieve accurate reverberation time, with a tail that was conducive to good quality classical recording. The brief also called for a purely natural sounding space in a relative small area, with no artificial electronic reverb.

Studio model

The architect was fully aware this challenge was far easier said than done, and in the volumetric area allocated to this studio, may even prove too difficult to design. Precise acoustic prediction is extremely difficult for the very best of architects and acousticians and would normally involve very complex maths. How would it actually sound on completion? Would it match the brief for a 2 second RT? Would the reverb sound like a great concert hall, or an underground toilet in Paris? A lot was resting on this build, and the architect was not about to take this level of risk either.

The architect had heard about our skills with studio and live sound work, but didn't realise we had actually invested in the very latest 3D computer mapping technology to accurately predict room acoustics in 'virtual' 3D.

Accurate prediction of acoustics

The software EASE is an acoustic prediction and simulation program, originally designed for loudspeaker interaction within a given space. It allows a designer to calculate highly complex data for acoustics, and come up with a very accurate prediction within a 3D model of the building.

With the visual aid of 3D color mapping, the program will allow you to see how the sound will behave in the room within the parameters you have entered into the program. It takes into consideration surface texture, wall shape, windows, floor data, seating, and will calculate for absorption for a seated audience. Every parameter can be set accurately, and within the program you can build any type of room conceivable.

Able to listen to the acoustic first hand

The real bonus is the EARS extension to the program where we can put on a pair of headphones and actually listen to the predicted design so you can hear how your acoustic space will sound. You can listen to speech, or music through the simulator, and you can walk around the room, turn around, stand up, and hear the differences in sound.

Where this program really scores maximum points is you can design all of this, before a single contractor goes on site, which means changes can be implemented to enhance the acoustics before money is spent.

Retro-fitting of badly designed studios is never the best option, and can cost thousands to put right. Good studio or concert hall design is expensive, and Hereford College simply could not afford this level of design budget.

Jeff Byard comments: 'This is unique software. With this program, we are able to present the acoustic outcome to a client before a room is built, or before radical fabric changes are made, or before a sound system goes in. For PA, we can even decide what type of loudspeakers would work best, and where they should be positioned for the most optimum performance within the space. We know that acoustics is a highly complex field, especially if you are asked to produce accurate data on what might happen in a building, and when. This investment will help us in our quest to achieve much better results. With only a few offering this service in the UK, this service is unique too'.

You can imagine how delighted the architect was at Hereford College when he found out we could offer this solution at a price they could afford. We were immediately asked to proceed with putting the architects design into EASE to check the results for them.

EASE prediction followed through

As originally thought, we did have to do some 'tweaking' to achieve the required design brief from the auralisation. The ceilings needed to be raked from front to back, and surface texture of the back wall required modification to make the reverberation sound natural. It became evident from the EASE model, an RT of 2 seconds was simply not possible in this space without major compromise to intelligibility, so a more manageable 1.6 secs was adopted, which would still give the 'liveness' required, but without sacrificing musical detail. A CD was presented to the College for all to hear, and the comments came back.

'It is such a bonus to be able to create, and fine-tune an acoustic space within a computer program without spending thousands of pounds only to find the end result has to be changed. This job simply would not have been achievable to the high degree of accuracy required by the College lecturer, without the EASE model' comments Jeff Byard.

Following the acoustic design work with the EASE software, it was agreed the build had to ensure it matched the program in every way. Numerous site visits with specialist builders William Powell ensured every attention to detail was carried through right to the end.

Jeff comments: 'I recall at one point, being scolded by the site foreman for causing a lot of trouble in the main live studio with having to create a stepped ceiling with a gradual rake on it.

You can see in the picture (above) the complex timber structure to support the ceiling. It was a monstrously difficult task for the builders, but they achieved the structure admirably, and we knew from the auralisation it had to be done. We had of course, already made the comparisons in EASE before the building went up, so this work was vital if the end result was going to be achieved.'

Good recording studio design adopted throughout

Another important feature to note is the walls are all non-opposing, and non-symmetrical to diffuse standing waves and 'flutter echoes'. However, as a totally modern College facility, we had to keep a look of 'neatness', and contemporary design, without sacrificing the all important quality of sound. We needed reflective surfaces to achieve David's required reverb time, but at the same time, he didn't want harsh reflections to impede the natural decay of reverberation. This was all part of the challenge. When a softer, less reflective type of acoustic is required, the College studios have acoustic curtains on easy glide tracks that can be drawn across.

Sound isolation between studio walls

The ceiling at Hereford was solid concrete over 18' thick. A roof void was provided, loaded with a fibre infill, then acoustic ceiling tiles to ensure sound transmission was kept at an absolute minimum.

This design alone was no good for bass absorption, particularly in studio 2 (the rock studio). Jeff Byard comments: 'I was told there would be drum kits, guitars and bass cabs in studio 2, which can only mean one thing; very high sound pressure levels, which result in vast amounts of sound energy, all moving around rapidly in a very confined space. I insisted that some of the walls had to be 2 feet away from the main block wall, with a 'sandwich' wall spec, to absorb the low frequency energy. Most people think a solid concrete wall is best for stopping sound, but that's not exactly true. Sound will pass through concrete; you have to control it, without damaging the room acoustic, and without upsetting nearby residents either!

High electrical spec for the recording studio

Working with the main electrical contractor, we specified, and supplied all specialist audio cabling requirements within the studios, again producing a precise plan to ensure every cable was installed away from any source of interference, and would provide sufficient circuits for the largest of recording sessions. Specialist wiring of electronic equipment was carried out by our own technician with utmost attention to quality throughout.

Project management at every stage was critical too. Whilst the budget was within sensible means in order to complete the work properly, there was certainly no room for error with such a complex build.

DigiDesign ProTools installed for recording

Jeff Byard impressed on the College the importance of using top quality, easily expandable digital recording equipment. Therefore, a DigiDesign ProTools HD recording system was specified along with the Control 24 work surface.

Pro Tools is acknowledged as the industry leader in professional digital recording both in broadcast and recording studios worldwide. The system can be expanded to include dozens of additional channels, and has the flexibility for the most demanding of recording applications. The system is capable of an astonishing 192 audio tracks, and will also record in the highest audio quality possible to ensure accurate detailed recordings. The host computer is a MAC-G5 and the studio is also equipped with a professional CD burner.

College lecturer David was introduced to PMC monitor loudspeakers, (one listen and he was hooked!) to ensure that every nuance could be captured in the control room from each of the two studios. The ProTools system also ensure all future requirements are catered for such as Dolby 5.1/7.1 surround sound, as and when it would form part of the syllabus.

THX approved surround sound system

Whilst we were on site, we also designed, installed and commissioned a 'THX approved' Dolby surround sound system for playback of electronic generated music.

There are various home set-ups available for surround sound systems. However, the system we installed at Hereford meets with approval the industry certified THX standard. In a nutshell THX performance offers a unique listening experience, both in terms of high end audio performance and sheer dynamics, than box standard off the shelf systems.

For example, with THX approved systems, you must have an audio analyzer to set up the system properly. This will ensure each speaker channel matches the frequency response of the room. If one speaker is out of frequency alignment or level, the whole system will not perform properly.

Not many people are made aware of all this when buying cheaper systems from discount stores. A tremendous amount of audio post production goes into making films, (we know this all too well!) and you usually get what you pay for. Some claim that sheer power in wattage is always good, but for many reasons this is not necessarily true. It takes a lot more than sheer power to achieve the real experience of Dolby surround sound.

Readers who are movie buffs might be interested to know, the sound from the woofer in the system we supplied for Hereford College will only operate below 60Hz, which means you will really hear those sound effects in the LFE channel, and music reproduction in Dolby digital is magical. Not one to often heap praise, David was very impressed with our surround system, and muted “wonderful, simply wonderful'.

A good recording facility, installed on time and on budget

We were involved with the project for 15 months, with near continuous time on site towards completion installing the digital recording equipment. The studio was finished bang on time, with a grand opening by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Hereford now has a remarkably good studio for it's students, (for a fraction of the cost of similar studios) and the recordings we have heard made from this studio, have certainly been to a very high standard.

We do have examples of our preliminary EASE work on this project for you to download and listen to on our projects page.