Through donations to the Gifting Amazing Annual Fund, we have been able to commission a new Audio Recording Studio within the Performing Arts Centre; the first of its kind at St Cuthbert’s College. Building work commenced in October and students will be able to use the new studio in 2024.
The project was the brainchild of Head of Music Dragana Yelavich, who prior to teaching was a Sound Engineer. Dragana says, “Having just completed external courses on ‘mixing techniques in the classroom’ I identified a real benefit for St Cuthbert’s girls to take their creativity further with the addition of a recording studio, so I raised it with the team during our strategic planning.”
Mike Young, Head of Co-Curricular Music, agreed, “We loved the idea and quickly identified that the drum tuition room, which already had a good level of acoustic isolation, could accommodate both an audio recording space and a separate playback space. The new playback space will accommodate five students, which is great for listening to projects that are being recorded.”
Oliver Gilmour, Head of Performing Arts, added, “There are a lot of opportunities for broadcasting the great work of our students to a wider audience. The ability to record our groups through an online platform will deliver strong educational opportunities for students to learn about the fundamental skills of recording. It will also allow us to broadcast on a YouTube channel.” Mike responded, “We elected for a totally digital network for the recording process, after all this is how the world is going with musicians in different countries collaborating over the internet. St Cuthbert’s students are already using touch surfaces for their music making on their own laptops and iPads; in the industry it’s called ‘in the box’. The equipment we’ve selected is designed to prepare our students for this revolution that is taking place in the recording industry, where everything is digital, and nothing is analogue.”
To assist students looking to study Music at a tertiary level, the team is already working with providers at the School of Audio Engineering, an International organisation leading the teaching of digital musical production. Mike adds, “The University of Auckland has strong digital music production and we’re visiting them to take in the best possible experience for our students, dovetailing into what is happening at the tertiary level.”
Dragana shares that, in the Year 10 classes they are already teaching based on audio software and laptops, and that having completed her recent courses, this new knowledge has greatly facilitated her teaching. “I’m able to impart the most up-to-date knowledge and get the girls excited about the possibilities that are out there”.
We were fortunate to have the music production expertise of parent, Joel Little. Joel is New Zealand’s most renowned record producer, musician, and Grammy Award-winning songwriter who is best known for his work with artists Lorde, Taylor Swift, Broods, Sam Smith, Imagine Dragons, Ellie Goulding, Khalid, and many more. He kindly donated his time and reviewed the design plans before we commenced to build stage. Mike reflected that his input was invaluable, as Joel had just completed his own studio build in Auckland. Joel pointed out that the initial design specs on the recording space should be increased in the playback area to accommodate more students who would be sitting there for longer. We were able to give feedback to the architects and engineers on the strength of Joel’s advice and we’re looking forward to him joining us at the launch of the new recording studio in early 2024.
Mike concludes, “In the future, we’ll use recording as part of our Year 9 Rock Programme, in the Year 10 Urban and Digital Programme, and within the St Cuthbert’s Year 11 Diploma – all of the students within this course will use the new recording studio”.
When asked whether they see St Cuthbert’s having DJs in the future, Dragana had the great suggestion they could DJ the School Socials and College Balls….watch this space!