VFX Studio in the Digital Media Lab
and workflows of digital offerings.
“If I went into Launchpad for a session
and there was a digital controller there
that I’m not used to, I’m just not going to
use it; I’m going to plug in my laptop and
work away,” he says. “Considering that, and
that we’re trying to introduce users to a
professional workflow, we thought a simple
analog signal path with a knob for your mic
preamp and a fader for your signal to the
recorder would be more transparent and
less intimidating than a multi-layered digital
control surface.”
Elaborating, he says his goal when out-
fitting any studio is to make the technology
transparent and conducive to the desired
workflow and end results – “and not to get in
the way of anybody’s creativity. The people
there to make music shouldn’t be thinking
about whether or not the available equip-
ment is going to do what they need it to do.”
Embodying Artscape Daniels Launch-
pad’s interdisciplinary and collaborative
About Artscape
focus, one of the most notable aspects
of the Digital Media Lab is the intercon-
nectivity between the various spaces. XLR
patchbays reside in the VFX Studio, which
boasts significantly more real estate than
the Sound Recording Studio’s tracking
room, and other adjacent spaces to offer a
myriad of configurations and capabilities
for all kinds of projects. That includes every-
thing from tracking a fresh drum session in,
say, the Photography Studio to mixing a live
performance filmed in the VFX Studio via
the audio control room in real time, or lives-
treaming a multi-cam broadcast throughout
several spaces. In any such application, a
Rosendahl Nanosyncs HD multi-standard
sync engine keeps everything on the same
word clock.
“We’re not using those capabilities on a
daily basis, but it definitely boasts that func-
tionality and presents a lot of opportunity for
collaboration and learning,” Johnson puts in.
As one of Launchpad’s in-house studio
Artscape is a not-for-profit organization that makes space for creativity and trans-
forms communities. Artscape’s projects, programs, and services are designed to help
creatives thrive while enhancing the communities around them to become more
vibrant, inclusive, and resilient.
Artscape is best known for its work as the developer/operator of a growing port-
folio of 14 unique cultural facilities in Toronto, including: community cultural hubs;
multi-purpose creative spaces; artist live/work studio spaces; and 44 performance,
exhibition, and event spaces.
Artscape’s work is accomplished through a range of social enterprises focusing
on: real estate development; affordable housing and property management; perfor-
mance and event facility management; makerspace management; entrepreneurship
development; community animation and youth empowerment programming; as well
as knowledge transfer, research, and consulting services.
Learn more at www.artscape.ca.
32 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
technicians, Mariana Hutten gets hands-on
with the Sound Recording Studio’s tools on
a regular basis. She graduated with a BFA
in electroacoustic studies from Concordia
University in 2014 and moved to Toronto
shortly after. In the time since, she’s been
helping others get studios up-and-running,
acquiring gear and organizing patch bays,
while also taking on her share of freelance
mixing and mastering work.
She joined the staff at Launchpad in
March 2019 – right around the time that
the equipment Dunphy had ordered was
coming in. “It was pretty cool because ev-
ery day, a new package might arrive, and
it was kind of like opening a gift [laughs] –
like, ‘Oh, the 1073s arrived today!’”
In her role, Hutten delivers technical
workshops, from introductory recording
courses for people first taking advantage of
the space to advanced topics for more pro-
ficient engineers. She also works with clients
to discuss what they want to achieve in the
studio and then guides them along the way.
“The users we’ve been getting so far
are mostly young people into pop, hip-hop,
and R&B, so they might bring in their inter-
face and hook it up to the patchbay or bring
their laptop and just use the aux cord and
record vocals,” she says.
In the eight months she’s been at
Launchpad, Hutten says she’s already seen
users tangibly elevate the quality of their work.
As a specific example, she points to a recent
bursary recipient (the Toronto Artscape Foun-
dation offers bursaries to promising young
creatives every six months) who’s predomi-
nantly a hip-hop producer and beatmaker.
“He asked about mixing all of his beats
in analog with his fingers on the faders as
though he was conducting a band,” she
recalls, “so I taught him how to use the
console, and now, using the [Neve] 1073s
for their tone and EQ, he’s coming up with
some really incredible stuff, and telling his
friends to come out and showing them
around, so it’s spreading.”
Hutten notes she especially enjoys
the process because she herself is relatively
emerging and still trying to make inroads in
the industry – “So it’s cool to be in an envi-
ronment where I’m the mentor that people
look up to.”
In addition to offering high-end tools
and experienced technicians to help users re-
alize their potential, Artscape Daniels Launch-
pad also prides itself on its robust educational
programming and community partnerships.
There’s HXOUSE, the creative incubator