Wednesday, October 10, 1984/THE BLUE BANNER/7
Music department
goes ‘state of the
art’ with digital
By Shawn Wickham
UNCA audio engineering
technology students will
have the jump on misic
students in other univer
sities because they will
leam to use "state of the
art" (or what is current)
equipment.
Dr. Joyce Dorr and Dr.
Wayne Kirby, of the UNCA
Dttisic department, talked
with several other univer
sities who offer audio
engineering technology. Of
these, only UNCA offers
"hands on" experience with
the equipment.
Kirby said that multi
track (24-track) digital
recording studios are
located primarily in New
York and Los Angeles.
This is because the
equipment is not standard
ized (produced in a set
quality or quantity);
therefore, it is expen
sive.
Kirby said these prob
lems may be ironed out in
the next year or so.
How will the digital
equipment work, and how
does it compare to the
more widely used method of
recording?
Analog (the primary
method of recording albums
and tapes) takes an acous
tical signal (such as the
vibration of a guitar
string) "converts it into
an electrical signal, then
into a magnetic signal,"
Kirby said.
Then the process repeats
itself backwards and the
signal is again acoustic
al. "In other words, it
can be heard out of your
home speakers," he ex
plained.
"Each time energy is
converted, there is an
analog happening," Kirby
said.
Digital recording dif
fers from analog recording
in that it takes an acous
tical signal, converts it
into an electrical signal,
then san^>les the sound at
a fast rate.
The UNCA music depart
ment— will make digital
recording equipanent avail
able to students Spring
semester, 1985.
Each time it samples,
the sound is converted
into a number. Instead of
an electrical analogy, a
stream of numbers, or
digitation, occurs.
This way, the infor
mation is effectively
digitized, stored on tape,
reconstituted back to an
analog, and then
amplified, said Kirby.
The main advantage of
digital recording is that
there is no longer a prob
lem with tape hiss. In
other words, a cleaner
sound is recorded. Also, a
wider dynamic range is
available because it can
pick up extremely loud or
soft sounds.
According to Kirby, this
is ideal for classical
music.
UNCA's digital recording
equipment was purchased
from Audio Techniques,
Stanford, Conn. It cost
$25UO and was purchased
with the proceeds frcm
last year’s "Celebration
of the Arts" and the "Hol
iday Concert."
Jeff Comer, who is tak
ing part one of the audio
engineering technology
course, said that he's
looking forward to working
with digital equipment. He
feels that it is opening
up a lot of new doors.
Andy Huenreberg, another
student taking the course,
said, "I can’t wait. It's
state of the art, and the
only way we'll get gigs is
if we’re up on the state
of the art equipment."
Kirby is active in the
field of digital recording
both as a producer and
engineer. He is releasing
an album next month on the
Kirby Digital 'Recording
(KDR) label, entitled
DOUGLAS JAMES PLAYS MCH,
BARRIOS, AND BROUWER.
It features Douglas
James, former teacher of
classical guitar at UNCA.
Staff photo by Phil Ross
Dr. Wayne Kirby of the UNCA. busIc departaent has his
hand oa the future of audio engineering tednology
stodents, in the fom of digital recording equipnent.
yearbook
from page one
terest but Williams talked
to some of the faculty and
they expressed some inter
est.
"We also want some fac
ulty members to come (if
they don't have too much
to do)," said Miller. "We
will take anybody—experi
ence or no experience."
"If we can prove to the
faculty and administration
that we are going to put
out a quality book, we
might go somewhere," said
Cabe.
Miller added, "If it's
not going to be quality,
then we don't want one."
Why does UNCA need a
yearbook?
"I think a yearbook is
basically to show the
changes of the campus,
student life and caii5)us
atmosphere," said Cabe.
She added, "It's the
best advertisement for the
school."
"High school students
freqently look at year-
bool« in order to help
them decide which college
to go to," said Miller.
"I think with the new
Highrise and more stu
dents we need one," he
said.
"I think a yearbook is
an historical account—it
shows how the university
has grown," said Cabe.
The last yearbook on
canq)us, about 3 years ago,
failed to generate enough
interest to keep it going.
Dean Hines, the last
sponsor, said that the
lack of interest and the
inability to keep staff
were the reasons the old
yearbook failed.
"We would start out with
15 people at the begin-
ning, and by Christmas we
would have four or five,
and by the end of the
year, only two or three
staff remained," said
Hines.
Right now this yearbook
is in the organizational
level. Finances, support,
and cooperation will de
termine if UNCA publishes
a yearbook this year or
next.
Funding for the book
will not come out of stu
dent fees this year. The
revenue will have to come
from ad sales and charging
for the book.
"Next year we [the SGA]
could vote on it to see if
the yearbook would receive
any money from student
fees, but first we have to
prove ourselves," said
Miller.
The SGA is backing the
yearbook but Chancellor
David Brown wants some
figures to back up the
support. This is one rea
son the meeting on Thurs
day is a very important
one for those wanting a
yearbook.