Transcript
88.5 KURE Production Upgrade Proposal By Brian Bahr, John Harlow, Owen Ballard, Luke Milius and Darren Hushak
Project Leader: Brian Bahr
[email protected] 651-494-7365
Faculty Leader: Darren Hushak
[email protected] 515-371-5830
Introduction KURE was originally founded in a dorm room of Friley Hall as KRMA in 1949. When founded, KRMA broadcasted music using the water pipes and could only be heard in Friley Hall. KRMA became KMRI in 1950 and then KISU in 1961. In 1969, KURE’s current studio was constructed in the Friley Hall basement and was still broadcasting on the AM frequency range. In 1970, KISU became KPGY and transitioned to FM radio broadcasting. The call letters were once again changed in 1983 to KUSR and, finally, to KURE in 1996.
Purpose In 2009, KURE upgraded its DJ studio through support from GSB. This upgrade brought the studio into the 21st century by allowing KURE to remove obsolete analog technology and replace it with newer digital systems. KURE now intends to upgrade its Production studios in much the same way. The most recent Production equipment was installed in 2004. The PC is running Windows XP operating system (now out of support) and records using Adobe Audition version 3 (current version being 6.5). The Soundcraft LX7-II soundboard has broken faders and we can only utilize 11 of the 24 inputs into the soundboard. The Tascam 122 MK II tape recorder, DOD SR430QX equalizer, and Nady CL-5000 compressor are unusable. A modern Production studio utilizes a digital audio workstation (DAW) capable of multitrack recording and nondestructive editing, coupled with an audio console that doubles as a control surface for the DAW. The DAW also typically comes with a suite of compression, equalization, reverb, and other editing tools. The modern console allows for advanced routing, recording, and mixing capabilities, all storable and recallable with a single button press. The technology used to interface these devices is a networked audio protocol called Dante, which allows for advanced networks of audio devices to be created and operated using standard networking infrastructure.
Impact on Student Experience Today, KURE provides several production services to the Iowa State and Ames community including: FM and webstream music broadcasts Kaleidoquiz/QuickyKwiz Live In-Studio Performances Production services KURE Fest Sports broadcasts News broadcasts All events, services, and programs are completely student-run. KURE consists of approximately 80 DJs and staff. Its Board of Directors is made of 23 students from various majors including Marketing,
Journalism, Accounting, Biology, Child/Adult/Family Services, Engineering, and Event Management. All KURE staff are volunteers and nearly all KURE services and events are free and open to the public. KURE receives funding from the Student Government (formerly Government of the Student Body). However, Student Government typically only funds operational costs and avoids capital projects. Since KURE is a philanthropic organization that doesn’t charge for any of the services or events listed above, with a staff composed entirely of unpaid volunteers, it is not practical for KURE to fundraise the amount needed for this project. Although CAC does not typically fund student organizations, KURE is not a typical student organization. KURE operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. KURE is also regulated by the FCC, which places a greater standard of accountability on our organization. Annually, we host a musical festival and one of the largest radio trivia events in the world, Kaleidoquiz, which this year boasted 1000 participants and 2000 listeners. We are one of the oldest student organizations at Iowa State University and Kaleidoquiz also happens to be the oldest campus tradition unique to Iowa State University. In Fall semester of 2014, KURE’s Live and Production departments recorded more than 30 local and touring music artists. The Sports department hosted three weekly talk shows and regular on-location playby-play broadcasting of games. The News department hosted two weekly talk shows and the Music Review department hosted a weekly talk show. All of this original content is delivered to the Ames community with the assistance of KURE’s production equipment. The proposed upgrade would allow KURE’s Production department to expand and improve the quality of its services. Increasing the inputs with the wall plate and snake cable would allow KURE to host larger, more complicated musical acts, as well as perform more behind-the-scenes multitasking for talk shows and on-air events. The Midas console would decrease the learning curve for new volunteers, making it easier for students to learn how to record and produce. The console combined with the Logic Pro software would also give students an experience similar to what they would experience in a real-world production environment. In summary, the upgrade of KURE’s production equipment will provide ISU students with industry standard production experiences, allow for higher performance capacity within the studio, and yield higher quality recordings.
Integration with Current Infrastructure Being 65 years old KURE is already well integrated with Iowa State University’s technology infrastructure. Live shows are transmitted via university ethernet to our radio tower atop Zaffrano Hall, where it is then broadcasted in a 15 mile radius to the Ames community. Within the studio, the technology requested will connect with our current Livewire system. Taking KURE’s production facilities into the modern world with state of the art digital audio management and routing and up-to-date software solutions would require low infrastructural overhead. Because KURE is a student-run organization, with ongoing production and engineering staffs, installation, maintenance, and training of the equipment are all handled in-house. Should software/firmware need updated or an item need repair, KURE’s staff are the first line of defense in keeping all things operational. This means installation and maintenance fees will be insignificant. KURE doesn’t anticipate any of this equipment becoming obsolete for at least 10 years.
KURE will be setting aside an amount equal to the annual depreciation of the equipment purchased. By preparing for the future when the purchased technology has become obsolete KURE will be able to provide more of its own funding to an upgrade.
Budget Item Hardware: Midas M32 Console Soundcraft Expression DN-32 Dante Apple Mac Mini Dante Virtual Soundcard ADAM A7x Focusrite Rednet D16 Middle Atlantic Slim 2 10U Slant Sonnet Rackmac Mini Cisco SG300-10 10-port Gigabit Managed Switch Axia AES Node Mogami 32 Channel W2938 Redco 2U Punch Panel (32 Punches) Neutrik XLR Female Wall Jack Neutrik XLR Male Wall Jack Neutrik XLR Male Connector Neutrik XLR Female Connector ART HeadAmp Pro 6 Yellowtec Microphone Boom Yellowtec Mic Boom Support Grommet Yellowtec Mic Boom Plastic Grommet Sleeve Subtotal: Software: Adobe Audition 6 Logic Pro X Subtotal: Total:
Number
Unit Cost
Total Cost by Funding Source CAC Initiatives Other
1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1
$4,999.00 $599.00 $875.00 $30.00 $749.00 $1,499.99 $211.20 $169.95
$4,999.00 $599.00 $875.00 $60.00 $1,498.00 $1,499.99 $211.20 $169.95
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
1 1 30 1 24 8 24 8 2 1 1 1
$186.08 $1,347.00 $12.75 $17.00 $3.72 $3.55 $3.52 $3.75 $199.00 $296.00 $68.00 $21.00
$186.08 $1,347.00 $382.50 $17.00 $89.28 $28.40 $84.48 $30.00 $398.00 $296.00 $68.00 $21.00 $12,859.88
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
1 1
$349.00 $199.99
$349.00 $199.99 $548.99
$0.00 $0.00 $0.00
$13,408.87
$0.00
Budget Justification Midas M32: New digital console to allow for better signal flow, processing, storing and recalling of presets. This console, with the DN-32 Dante, would be audio network capable, creating a much better distribution of audio throughout the rest of the station. DN-32 Dante: Makes the M32 network capable with the dante protocol, which can interface with other Dante devices including computers, the Focusrite Rednet included in this proposal, and other equipment already in our studio. Apple Mac Mini: This would serve to replace our current production computer (currently running windows XP), so that Production can run more modern audio recording and editing software. Dante Virtual Soundcard: The Dante Virtual Soundcard makes the mac mini capable of networked audio via the Dante protocol, leading to tight integration with the Midas Console. ADAM A7x: These are high quality audio monitor speakers, to give a good quality representation of the audio we are listening to while recording, mixing, and editing. Focusrite Rednet D16: This would serve as the Dante side of our network bridge between the new Dante system and our current livewire system, giving a high level of connectivity and routing amongst all of the studio equipment. Middle Atlantic Slim 2 10U Slant: This standing rack holds outboard production equipment such as the Mac Mini and Fireworx sound effects unit. Sonnet Rackmac Mini: This would allow the mac mini to be placed in an equipment rack, for cleaner physical integration with the remaining studio equipment. Cisco SG300-10 10-port Gigabit Managed Switch: This switch would provide the networking infrastructure required for all of the new network capable production equipment. Axia AES Node: This would serve as the livewire portion of the network bridge between the new Dante system and our current livewire system, giving a high level of connectivity and routing amongst all of the studio equipment. Mogami 32 Channel W2938: This is new snake cable to give us 32 channels of interconnect between our production studio and the main studio B.
Redco 2U Punch Panel (32 punches): The punch panel is needed in order to connect microphones and other input devices from the studio with the console. Adding a punch panel with 32 punches allows Production to utilize all inputs of a console instead of less than half. This panel would be filled with the XLR jacks, connected via the snake cable to the other jacks. Neutrik XLR Male/Female Wall Jacks and Male/Female Inputs: The XLR wall jacks and inputs act as inputs in the punch panel in the studio and connect to the console in the production room. ART HeadAmp Pro 6: This is the headphone amplifier that would give guest artists their own headphone mixes during performances and allow those in production to communicate across studio walls. Yellowtec Microphone Boom/Support Grommet/Plastic Grommet Sleeve: The microphone boom and grommets are needed to hold the producer's microphone above the digital console. This will free up desk space and allow proper positioning of the microphone for optimal performance. Adobe Audition 6: Adobe Audition is a fantastic program for streamlined editing of finalized stereo audio recordings; this is very useful for quickly putting together audio files for radio playback. Logic Pro X: Logic Pro allows software multitrack recording of the channels from the Midas M32 console. Multitrack recording is needed in order to mix down, master, and archive in-studio performances and events.
