About the Lab

Recording Studio Lab (RSL) is a weekly hands-on class that teaches the fundamentals of digital recording, editing, mixing, and mastering. Over 15 weeks, students will work on multiple projects in class and at home.

Required Materials

Students must own and bring to each class the following materials:

• Laptop* with the following system requirements:
• Windows: XP/Vista/7/8/10/11 (32 or 64-bit, Intel/AMD only)
• macOS: 10/5 - 14.x (Intel and ARM64)
• Linux: Requires GTK+3
• Over-ear headphones with a detachable adapter (1/8" to 1/4"). Wired headphones are preferred over bluetooth/wireless headphones for this course, as bluetooth latency will impact audio precision and timing.
• Copy of the DAW Reaper. A 60-day free trial can be downloaded here: www.reaper.fm/download.php. After 60 days, students can purchase a $60 discounted license.

*Recommended hardware:

• An Intel Core i5 or Intel Xeon equivalent;
• Any Mac processor (Intel or Apple Silicon)
• At least 8 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended)
• Fast SSD recommended

Questions? Contact us and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have.

Syllabus/Class Topics

In this 15-week class, students will gain hands-on experience with many aspects of digital recording, editing, mixing, and mastering. Some of the topics and hands-on projects to be covered over the semester include:

• Aligning files in a track
• Introduction to signal flow
• "Punching in"
• Gain staging and mixing
• Editing and vocal editing
• "Podcast" style recording
• EQ and compression
• Layering and composing
• A/V: how to edit video and audio simultaneously
• In-depth track editing
• ...and more

The class will also include a final project. Students can choose to create a life story video, self-produced song, Foley production, hip-hop beats, phone jingles, music video, or any other passion project that applies the concepts learned in class.