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Studio Policies

BELMONT STUDIO GROUP MISSION

The Belmont Studio Group serves as audio and media production classrooms and teaching laboratories for the Belmont University Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business (CEMB) Audio Engineering Technology, Motion Pictures, Media Studies, Songwriting, and Music Business programs. The primary functions are:

  1. To provide an environment conducive to instruct and learn professional audio recording and production techniques.
  2. To create opportunity for student audio engineers and producers to develop their audio recording and production skills.

 

BELMONT UNIVERSITY CEMB STUDIO FACILITIES

Robert E. Mulloy Student Studios, Massey Building (REM)

  • Studios A, B, C, Post Suite, DAW B-11, DAW B-12, DAW B-13, DAW B-14

34 Music Square East Building, 37203 (34MSE)

  • Classrooms 201, 218, 222, Quonset Hut Studio, and Columbia Studio A

Ocean Way Nashville, 17th & Edgehill, 37212 (OWN)

  • Studios A, B, C

R. Milton and Denise Johnson Center, 1909 15th Ave. S.

  • Third Floor Audio Suites
  • Third and Fourth Floor Video Editing Suites
  • 308, 345, 405, 406 Computer labs
  • Sound Stage (402)
  • Foley Stage (440)
  • Mix Room (437)
  • Theaters (114 and 115)
  • Color Correction Suite (304)
  • Television Studio (430)
  • TV Control Room (103)

 

STUDIO PERSONNEL: REM AND 34MSE

Studio Managers

Chief Technical Engineer

 

Student Studio Staff Engineers

  • Monitor recording sessions and class related activities
  • Provide technical assistance to the Studio Managers

 

Studio Technical Engineers

  • Assist the Chief Technical Engineer and Studio Managers as assigned.

 

Studio Office Assistant/Studio Monitor

  • Perform clerical duties as assigned.
  • Check students into and out of classrooms and labs as necessary for class projects.

 

STUDIO PERSONNEL: OWN

 

Director of Studio Operations

  • Pat McMakin: 615-320-3900, pat.mcmakin@belmont.edu
  • Maintains executive management responsibilities of the OWN studio facilities.
  • Responsible for commercial studio bookings.
  • Consults with Janas on matters regarding academic use of facilities.

 

Studio Supervisor

  • Steven Crowder, 615-320-3900, steven.crowder@belmont.edu
  • Responsible for daily operations and staff assignments.
  • Oversight of student session schedule.

 

Chief Technical Engineer

 

Operations Coordinator

  • Assists Studio Supervisor as needed in daily operations.
  • Handles financial transactions.
  • Responsible for student session schedule and bookings.

 

Full-time Studio Staff Engineers

  • Assist commercial recording sessions.
  • Provide technical assistance to the Chief Technical Engineer.

 

Student Studio Staff Engineers

  • Monitor recording sessions and class related activities
  • Provide technical assistance to the Chief Technical Engineer.

 

Student Studio Technical Engineers

  • Assist the Chief Technical Engineer and Studio Managers as assigned.

 

STUDIO USE POLICIES

 

Types of Studio Use

Academic Class or Lab 

  • Courses assigned to meet in a studio facility.

 

Academic Sessions

  • Academic sessions are assigned by faculty to their students to achieve course outcomes. These sessions are assessed by faculty and become part of their student’s grade.

 

Personal Sessions

  • Personal sessions are available to students, CEMB faculty and professional studio staff as an opportunity to develop and enhance practical audio engineering and production knowledge and skills. 
  • Faculty sessions can be used for academic research and professional development.

Events

  • Belmont Studios are also used by the CEMB to host events including, but not limited to, seminars, workshops, retreats and related community meetings and events.

Studio Session Participants & Responsibilities

Every session must have the following participants: Producer, Session Engineer and Assistant Engineer.

  • Sessions may have more than one Producer, Session Engineer and/or Assistant Engineer. 
  • Sessions may only have one Client.

 

Client: The person (faculty, staff or student) reserving academic or personal studio time. 

  • Client must be present and remain at the session at all times.
  • Client must coordinate in advance all Studio Session Participants before submitting the Session Confirmation (formerly the Session Work Order). Engineers and Assistants must sign the Session Confirmation before submitting the form for approval.
  • Client must sign all required forms at the end of the session.
  • If a session must be cancelled, the Client must notify the Studio Manager as soon as possible so that the time can be made available to others.  Personal Sessions may be cancelled through the Client’s account on the http://www.belmont-studios.org/ website.
  • The Client may not give away approved, unused studio time to anyone.

 

Producer: The person(s) who will oversee and manage the audio recording (i.e. "production").

  • A Client may serve as Producer.
  • A Client may serve as Producer and Session Engineer.
  • A Producer may not serve as an Assistant Engineer.

 

Session Engineer: The person who will record and/or mix the audio production.

  • The Engineer must meet the qualifications as listed for Qualified Student Engineers.
  • A Client may serve as Session Engineer.
  • A Client may serve as Producer and Session Engineer.
  • A Session Engineer may not serve as an Assistant Engineer.

 

Assistant Engineer: The person(s) who will assist the Engineer during the session.

  • A Client may not serve as Assistant Engineer.
  • An Assistant Engineer may not serve as Producer.
  • The use of currently enrolled AET2090 Audio Engineering I students as assistants is strongly encouraged.

 

Studio Guidelines

  • Studio Clients may not promote the availability of any Belmont studio, or their access to it, outside of the Belmont Studios website or approved Belmont intranet communications.
  • The Client is responsible for the actions of every participant in the session and must insure that every participant is aware of Belmont Studio and University policy.
  • The use of alcohol or illegal drugs in the studio facilities is grounds for disciplinary action by the University, CEMB, and Belmont Studios Administration.
  • Tobacco may not be used inside any Belmont studio facility, and may only be used outside the facilities in designated areas.
  • No food or drink is allowed in the control rooms or studios with the exception of bottled water with a cap. Food and drink is allowed only in the lobby areas.

 

Academic Session Guidelines:

  • The Producers, Engineers, and Assistant Engineers must be currently enrolled Belmont students participating to fulfill a course requirement.
  • Only the Producers, Engineers, Assistant Engineers, Musicians, and AET1380 observers may be in the control room and its’ related studios during Academic Sessions.  No guests are allowed in Academic Sessions.
  • Studio Session participants may not derive personal income from the Sound Recordings produced at a Personal session.
  • Studio Session participants may not derive personal income from the use of the studio during the Academic session time.

 

Personal Session Guidelines:

  • The Producer, Engineer, and Assistant Engineer must either be enrolled Belmont students or current employees.
  • The Client is not charged a fee for use of the recording facility.
  • The Client is not charged a fee for hard costs of operating the facility, such as regularly scheduled piano tuning and studio staff labor. 
  • The Client provides his/her own recording media. Sound Recordings from Personal Sessions may not reside on CEMB Studio Hard Disk Drives after the session is complete.
  • Studio Session participants may not derive personal income from the Sound Recordings produced at a Personal session.
  • Studio Session participants may not derive personal income from the use of the studio during the Personal session time.

 

Studio Recording Equipment Check-out Policy

  • All recording equipment and instruments are reserved for use in the studio facilities and may not be loaned for personal use.
  • Clients and Session Engineers are responsible for the proper use of recording equipment and instruments, and will be held financially liable for any negligent damage to equipment and instruments that takes place during their session.
  • CEMB instruments are available to any recording session on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Microphones:
  1. oChecked out from the Staff Engineer or Studio Monitor to the Session Engineer only. Only the Session Engineer and the Assistant Engineer may handle microphones.
  2. oAET2090 Audio Engineering I students may only use Dynamic Mics on Academic sessions.
  3. oStudents who have completed only AET2090 may only use Dynamic Mics on Academic sessions.
  4. oAET 3190 Audio Engineering II students may use Condenser Mics available in the CEMB student mic locker, RCAB Condenser Locker, and the QHUT mic locker.
  5. oMicrophones in the CEMB Staff Locker and RCAB Curb Collection are available to Faculty, Professional Staff, and approved Student Staff Engineers.

 

 

STUDIO SCHEDULING & RESERVATION POLICIES

 

Studio Scheduling Priority

Belmont CEMB studios are reserved and scheduled in this priority:

  1. 1.Academic class or lab
  2. 2.Academic class project or assignment
  3. 3.CEMB event, CEMB sponsored event, or CEMB studio session
  4. 4.University event or session
  5. 5.Personal Session

For clients wishing to record a commercial project, please contact Ocean Way Nashville for current rates and availability.

 

Studios are closed to any session or event on these holidays:

  • Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Easter

 

Academic Session Reservation Process

  • Academic Session reservations are assigned during class. 
  • The Studio Manager will post the Academic Session reservations on the Belmont Studios website.
  • Students must maintain a profile on the Belmont Studios website in order to confirm Academic sessions.
  • Academic Session reservations must be confirmed by submitting the Session Work Order form to the Studio Manager no less than 72 hours ahead of the requested session date.

 

Personal Session Reservation Minimum Prerequisites

In order to reserve a Personal Session as a Client or act as a Session Engineer on a personal session, students must meet the following prerequisites:

  • Passed an AET studio course with a final grade of 70% or better in the particular studio requested.  An AET studio course is one that includes a study of the control room operations of a particular studio.
  • Studios and related AET courses
  1. o34MSE QHUT: AET2090 Audio Engineering I or AET2370 Studio Production I
  2. oRCAB: AET2090 Audio Engineering I
  3. oREM DAW: AET2050 Basic DAW or AET4120 Audio Mastering
  4. oREM A, B, C: AET3190 Audio Engineering II
  5. oREM Post Room: AET3190 Audio Engineering II or AET4400 Post Production Techniques
  6. oOWN A, B: AET3790 Recording Techniques (formerly AET4190)
  7. oOWN C: AET3790 Recording Techniques, AET4400 Post Production Techniques or AET4480 Master Mixing Techniques
  • Clients must maintain a profile on the Belmont Studios website in order to reserve personal sessions.

 

Personal Session Reservation Process

  • Personal Session reservations must be confirmed by submitting the Session Work Order form to the Studio Manager no less than 72 hours ahead of the requested session date.
  • Faculty and Professional Staff may request time directly to the Studio Manager, but are encouraged to use the online reservation system.

 

Studio Reservation Guidelines

  • All reservations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Reservations may be made for only 1 studio per date and time slot. Reservations found to be duplicated at multiple studios will be cancelled without notification to Client.
  • The Client may request up to 2 consecutive days of a Personal Studio Session. Each date reserved requires a separate Session Work Order form.
  • Reservations for a Personal Studio Session may be made up to 2 weeks in advance of the requested session date.
  • Reservations not confirmed within 72 hours of the requested session date will be released and become available to any client on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

Personal Session Studio Availability:

Qualified Student Engineer Clients -

  • 1st scheduled day of class through the last scheduled day of class of each semester.
  • Does not include scheduled school holidays (fall break, spring break, etc) or final exam periods.

 

Student Studio Staff Engineer Clients -

  • 1st scheduled day that campus housing opens through the scheduled day when campus housing closes each semester.
  • Includes in-semester school holidays and final exam period (except the Easter Day and Thanksgiving Day).

 

AET Faculty & Professional Studio Staff Clients:

  • Available to CEMB Faculty and Staff year-round; session date subject to approval of Studio Manager based on facility schedule.

Belmont Studio Management System Version 3.1 - Studio Management Systems 2019