A Collaborative
Hub for Creators
The Sound Recording Studio at Toronto’s Artscape Daniels Launchpad
By Andrew King. Photos by Eliot Kim.
Sound Recording Studio control room
The
product of 10
years of consul-
tation, research,
and collaboration,
Artscape Daniels Launchpad is a new, one-
of-a-kind fixture on Toronto’s creative and
cultural landscape.
Located in the East Bayfront neigh-
bourhood of the city’s bustling downtown,
it’s a 30,000-sq.-ft., $34-million collaborative
space where entrepreneurial artists, design-
ers, and creators can come together and
foster a sense of community while honing
their skills and, ultimately, elevating the pro-
file and profitability of their work.
Among the various facilities compris-
ing the space is the state-of-the-art Sound
Recording Studio within the larger Digital
Media Lab, which offers a dedicated control
room and live tracking room in addition to
full interconnectivity with adjacent spaces
for a myriad of creative possibilities.
The Sound Recording Studio is the
result of a collaboration between several
esteemed engineers, designers, and con-
sultants in Toronto’s pro audio community
and, since formally opening in the spring
of 2019, has welcomed users ranging from
30 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
burgeoning recording artists and producers
to some of the city’s most recognizable mu-
sical luminaries.
Artscape Daniels
Launchpad
130 Queens Quay E., East Wing –
4 th Floor
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6
416-520-5908
[email protected]
www.artscapedanielslaunchpad.com
Artscape Daniels Launchpad is a lot of
things – some actual, some conceptual –
but at its core, it’s a community-focused
arts and entrepreneurial hub that provides
co-working studios, educational programs,
development services, and support to help
creative entrepreneurs grow and thrive.
As Caroline Robbie, the facility’s lead
designer with Quadrangle Architects, told
Toronto Life around its grand opening in
late 2018, “There’s a disparity between the
amount of training creatives get and their
relative lack of income. So many of them are
forced to supplement their pay by working
other jobs, and we want them to be able to
focus on their creative work.”
Subsequently, the facility comprises
a few key elements: The Commons, a co-
working and gathering space conducive to
informal networking and idea-sharing; the
Creative Studios, which include dedicated
and fully-outfitted Textiles + Fashion, Fine
Metals + Jewelry, Woodworking, Digital Fab-
rication, and Electronics workspaces; some
rentable multi-use and meeting spaces; and
the Digital Media Lab, which, in addition to
the Sound Recording Studio, encompasses
a Photography Studio and adjacent Green
Room, VFX Studio, and Edit Suites.
Launchpad members pay a monthly
fee to use the space and access its profes-
sional development programming, though
some components – including the Digital
Media Lab – are available to outsiders at a
higher daily or hourly rate.
Casey Johnson the manager of the
Digital Media Lab and joined the Artscape
team in March 2019, shortly before the
lab formally opened. He boasts a rich and
diverse background in various creative and
technological industries – from photogra-
phy and film to AV for live and corporate
events to music and audio production –
which is fitting considering Launchpad’s
interdisciplinary focus.
“It was a really wide job description
– working with creatives and building
a creative studio culture, but also doing
community outreach and business-facing
administrative aspects,” says Johnson about
what initially drew him to the challenge. “It
seemed to line right up with my interests
and experience, so that was the appeal to
me – this amazing place where all of these
different facets come together.”
Evidently, with such a wide-spanning
role, there’s no such thing as a “typical day”
for Johnson. The afternoon he spoke with
Professional Sound, for example, he had
various users going in and out of the Sound
Recording Studio, a multi-cam stream going