March 14, 1995
SF State students studying audio production in the broadcast and electronic communication arts department are preparing for the age of multimedia -- an age in which computers, video, film and audio are integrated in exciting new ways.
The university's program, which includes about 100 students, is approaching its 50th year.
"SF State's audio production program is one of the oldest in the country," said John Barsotti, associate professor. "The department has been in media, radio and television, since 1946, and they have always had an area of emphasis for audio from the beginning."
The university made plans for a media audio studio in 1967, which opened in 1973, Barsotti said.
Today, the studio in the Creative Arts Building includes a 24-track analog recorder and digital work stations.
It has been "extremely hard" for SF State to keep up with the digital revolution in sound recording, as conventional tape recorders have been replaced by hard-drive digital storage and editing systems, said Barsotti, especially in the last five years.
"At least once every three to five years the university provides for the department. But in between, it has been pretty slim pickings because very little new equipment has been coming down the line," he said. "We got a new console not too long ago, but we had to get money from the department and outside donations."
Audio production is a mix of art and technology. Engineers and producers work creatively with musicians, using studio effects to produce a desired sound.
Learning the art can be demanding, said Barsotti.
"Our audio production curriculum is one of the most technical in the country for engineer/producers," he said. "We don't go into the fixing of the equipment or its design, but students need at least one semester of electronics to advance to the highest level."
Guy Hamelin, 27, has played guitar for 16 years and is a student in the program.
He agrees that recording music is an elaborate and demanding process.
"So far, it's a big challenge. It's difficult to do," said Hamelin, who played lead guitar for the local group Static Religion for three years.
"It's like taking raw sound. You don't want the sound from the instruments to bleed together," Hamelin said. "You want to isolate things, and take all the tools you have, all the effects processing, the equalizers, the time delays, and utilize those to recreate a room, recreate space, give it those little things so that it sounds like what you're used to hearing professionally on record. Those things just don't happen because of the band."
Hamelin said the result of the studio process is what counts.
"It's got to sound cool," he said. "You can take all this stuff and tweak it, but if it doesn't sound good as a whole mix then it's no good."
With the recording industry growing at a phenomenal rate, the job prospects for skilled audio producers are good, said Barsotti.
"Many people are now working in everything from cottage industries and small studios to more of the growing project studios," he said. "It's amazing how many studios have opened up in the Bay Area."
Hamelin is not quite sure where he will end up after he graduates, but believes his training is valuable for a musician.
"It's hard to say where I'm going to go with this. I'm going with the flow, but don't know exactly where it's going to take me. This is something I'm interested in, it's something I'm excited about, I care about, so maybe it will bring something to me."
According to Barsotti, SF State graduates have found jobs all over the world.
"In this area, we've had students for so many years that they're all over the place," he said. "They may stay here or go to Los Angeles or New York or Nashville. We've had students go to Australia and Europe."