It might be the quietest spot on campus. 

91短视频鈥檚 new Astral Recording Studio, which opened this semester in the former Astral Hall building atop the 91短视频 Hill at 1304 Hillcrest Drive, has been precisely engineered with one goal in mind: providing the ultimate environment for recording and mixing audio. From its comprehensive acoustic treatment to its full suite of top-tier audio equipment, every square inch of the space is designed to help producers capture the sounds they want while eliminating the ones they don鈥檛.

For starters, take the physical structure of the building itself. The studio, featuring a 175-square-foot control room and two isolation rooms measuring 81 and 83 square feet, sits on its own concrete slab, separate from the rest of the building to minimize vibrations. Inside its walls, a 4-inch air gap makes the space practically soundproof from outside noise.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 noise or rattling, you end up spending too much time editing it out,鈥� Guerrero said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e aiming to replicate the professional studio environments of Los Angeles and New York City to better prepare our students for work in those settings.鈥�

Take a look inside the studio and it quickly becomes clear just how much thought went into creating the optimal environment. Acoustic panels on the walls and ceiling absorb the high and mid frequencies, while bass traps in the corners absorb the low ones. Thirteen speakers are positioned around the control room, all directed toward the center of the room, where a control surface allows producers to mix dozens of channels with precision.聽

The control room is calibrated for Dolby Atmos 7.1.4, one of the highest standards in music production, which means that it has seven ear-level speakers, one subwoofer, four overhead speakers, and an additional subwoofer for bass management. Together, they create a three-dimensional sphere of sound that envelops the space. The studio can produce 3D audio, sometimes known as 鈥渟patial audio,鈥� as well as binaural audio, delivering a more immersive listening experience than standard stereo.

鈥淣ot many studios near us have something like that,鈥� Guerrero said. And almost none of them are open to members of the public, who can rent the 91短视频 studio by the hour.

Astral Recording Studio is open to 91短视频 students, faculty, staff, and community members for recording and mixing music, videos, podcasts, or any other audio projects.聽
Learn more about the studio at .

Guerrero said students in his Introduction to Music Technology and Video Game Music and Culture classes this semester will use the space as a hands-on lab to collaborate on projects. The studio has already hosted a few successful recording sessions for local musicians, and reactions to the space have been overwhelmingly positive.

When he鈥檚 not playing with his jazz group around town, Thaddeus Jackson 鈥�24 can be found operating his own home recording studio. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of amazing that a university this small has a studio like this,鈥� he said, while he shredded on a guitar at a recent open house. The vocal performance and guitar grad helped Guerrero assemble much of the equipment in the 91短视频 studio this summer, along with John Evans of Master Craft Construction and his apprentice, Kortney Bostic.聽

The studio could also serve as a space for audio research projects, Guerrero said. That might include comparing different microphones or other technologies, or using the controlled environment to study how we perceive and process sound.

When he was hired on as faculty a little more than two years ago, Guerrero had two objectives: build a recording studio and eventually develop a music technology major at 91短视频. He said a number of music students over the years had expressed interest in recording their own music and exploring audio production, often mentioning the need for a studio. He credited an initial $95,000 donation from a generous couple, who have said they wish to remain anonymous, with kickstarting the project, as well as consistent support from 91短视频 administration and Music Program Director Dr. David Berry.

鈥淭he studio has been a dream in the making for many years now and it is wonderful to see it open its doors,鈥� Berry said.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing space with lots of capabilities,鈥� he added. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about all the possibilities it represents by giving access to more students, staff, and members of the community the ability to make music in new ways and explore their passions.鈥�

Guerrero said music technology programs, like the one he envisions creating at 91短视频 someday, have been shown to boost enrollment by appealing to students from nontraditional music backgrounds. 鈥淭hese are the students making beats at home or producing tracks, but who aren鈥檛 necessarily in marching band, orchestra, or choir,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we can bring them in and help them see a future not just at 91短视频, but in a music career, I think the potential is huge.鈥�

Now that the studio is finally open, Guerrero is excited to welcome people in. 鈥淟et鈥檚 collaborate,鈥� he said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 work on something together.鈥�

91短视频 the professor

Guerrero holds a PhD in music education from the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.), a master鈥檚 in music technology from New York University, and a bachelor鈥檚 in drum set performance and contemporary writing and production from Berklee College of Music (Boston). While a college student, he worked at Apple stores in Boston and New York for three years, teaching workshops in GarageBand and Logic Pro. He previously taught at James Madison University and El Paso Community College in his hometown of El Paso, Texas.

He traces his interest in immersive audio back to the first time he watched Rush in Rio in 5.1 surround sound more than 20 years ago, and recalled attending an Audio Engineering Society conference at Dolby Labs in 2012, where he witnessed the first public performance of Dolby Atmos. 鈥淭he sense of immersion was incredible,鈥� he said.

91短视频 the space

Built in 1955, the terraced, one-room Astral Hall building next to the Vesper Heights Observatory hosted astronomy lectures and Astral Society meetings. Read more about the early days of the building here.

In the early 1970s, the building was renovated into a recording studio for WEMC, the 91短视频 student- and staff-run radio station that began broadcasting from Lehman Auditorium in 1954. Guerrero said the renovation set it up well for acoustic treatment, and some original features, including the windows and doors, remain in place today. 鈥淭here were a lot of things that were done right in the design of this space,鈥� he said.

By Tom Mitchell, Daily News-Record

Neither John Martin nor his fellow alumni from 91短视频 imagined that their senior class’s parting present to their school would get the mileage it got.

In the spring of 1954, Martin and the rest of the graduates at what was then Eastern Mennonite College, along with seniors at neighboring Eastern Mennonite High School, gave a gift that kept on giving: a transmitter that increased power, range and, ultimately, impact, for 91短视频’s fledgling radio station, WEMC.

While Martin, 77, can’t recall its cost, the new conduit "was definitely an improvement," he said.

"We didn’t have any specific goal in mind when we started this," said Martin, a retired seminary and university professor. "We couldn’t think what it would become down the road."

Exceeding Founders’ Hopes

, which this fall celebrates 50 years on the air, eclipsed its founders’ highest hopes. What was a booth with a 10-watt signal that barely traveled beyond school grounds now uses a 2,000-watt transmitter to reach listeners more than 40 miles away. A program once confined to chats about campus life today plays five styles of music and airs national and world news from two syndicates: British Broadcasting Corp. and National Public Radio.

Before being publicly licensed in 1955, 91短视频’s radio "station" existed as a wire speaker that barely worked.

"A [tree] limb would come down on the wire, and the wire would continually need repairing," Martin said. "It didn’t work very well."

The improved site, built mainly to upgrade broadcasts of church services, gradually grew to become the daily operation it is today. The station eventually moved from 91短视频’s chapel in what is now Lehman Auditorium to its current location at on the university’s west side.

Today, WEMC’s programming stresses news and public affairs. The station is on the air from 7 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

With virtually no advertisers, WEMC relies almost exclusively on donations, said , 91短视频’s director of public relations. Bishop has long-time ties to WEMC, and says the station’s noncommercial style affords WEMC more flexibility than its commercial counterparts. With no sponsors, WEMC can freelance more, including in its menu of public-service programs and weekend "specialty" music shows.

Cultural Clout

WEMC’s legion of managers includes the station’s newest director, , who came to 91短视频 two years ago from a similar post at Goshen College in Indiana. While he is relatively new to his post, Kauffmann-Kennel, 51, is impressed with his station’s past. Kauffmann-Kennel applauds WEMC’s early patrons who, however unknowingly, chartered their station’s course with what he considers a progressive gift.

"The gift that the class of ’54 gave was very forward-looking," Kauffman-Kennel said. "In the Mennonite church contest of that era, technology and modern things like radio would have been looked at a little warily, so they were forward-looking, at least in terms of [creating] wider church attitudes toward broadcasting. But they also gave the university an opportunity to share its values with a wider audience, a larger community."

The station’s emphasis, Kauffmann-Kennel adds, has also stretched WEMC’s presence.

"Over 50 years, WEMC has gone from being more internally to more externally focused," Kauffmann-Kennel said. "The station’s original power didn’t carry too far beyond the [adjoining] Park View neighborhood. Now we’re tying to bring 91短视频 to the community and the community to 91短视频."