Frequently Asked Questions

• While TIMARA majors and instructors receive priority in scheduling special events, recitals, installations, and rehearsals in the gallery, others in the Oberlin community are welcome to request the space. 

•  The maximum reservation period is one week; shorter reservations will be easier to accommodate.  Reservations early in the semester are typically much more feasible to accommodate than end-of-semester reservations.  

• If you would like to visit the TIMARA Gallery to determine whether it is a good fit for your project, please email our studio engineer, Abby Aresty at aaresty@oberlin.edu to set up a meeting.  

• If you decide you would like to make a reservation request, please open a Helpdesk Ticket.

To print in the TIMARA studios, you will need to use papercut's online interface to print from the web at https://papercut.cc.oberlin.edu:9192/user.  Log on with your ObieID and password and follow the instructions provided.  

The TIMARA server no longer exists as of Fall 2020. TIMARA has moved to Google Drive and Box for storage.

• All gear must be returned before Fall Break.  If you would like to check out gear to take off campus over break, you must submit your open a ticket at least one week in advance. No late requests will be considered.  

• The studios are open during the breaks but no support is provided. Regular studio rules are in effect, and failure to abide by these rules will result in loss of studio privileges.

• The gear depot will be closed during breaks. However, if you will be on campus over break, you may check out gear ahead of time as long as you first get permission by opening a ticket.

Please join the general TIMARA mailing list.  This list is geared towards alums as well as current students, staff, and faculty at the College and Conservatory who are not affiliated with TIMARA but who would like to stay apprised of our activities.

The best way to do this is to email timara [at] oberlin [dot] edu or  open a ticket.

If you are a major/minor, use the links below to add yourself to the calendars.

If you are not a major/minor, or the links are not working, open a ticket.

• TIMARA Analog Synth Studio: Click this link to add the calendar.

• TIMARA Recording Studio: Click this link to add the calendar

• TIMARA Multichannel Studio: Click this link to add the calendar.

• TIMARA Media Production Studio: Click this link to add the calendar.

• TIMARA Gallery Click this link to add the calendar.

• The control room and makerspace are handled individually since majors only have access after completing 330 for the control room and the makerspace quiz for the makerspace.

Your instructor has a link that they can share with you directly which you can use to add yourself to the relevant calendar for the current semester. Do not share this link with anyone else. Sharing this link may result in loss of studio privileges

In both cases, submit a ticket

• Lockers are assigned to TIMARA majors on a first come, first served basis.  To reserve a locker, you must complete the start of semester process and your depot quiz. Then you may attend regular depot hours or fill out a reservation form for equipment item 390001. A depot assistant will fill your reservation.

• Lockers may be checked out for the duration of the academic year.  Lockers must be cleaned out and locks must be returned to the depot by the end of finals week during the Spring semester or before you leave town for the summer, whichever occurs sooner.   Please check the studio calendar for the relevant deadlines and due dates. 

Non-major access to the TIMARA studios over WT is limited to the TIMARA cafe. Use of the studios  are reserved for TIMARA majors' Winter Term projects and to facilitate studio updates. Non-majors who have taken one or more of the TIMARA 200-level sequence and would like to request access to the studio related to the course they completed may submit a proposal for review via the help desk system at least two weeks prior to the Winter Term deadline. Please note that exceptions to this rule are rare.

If you are a non-major who has taken TIMARA courses in the past but you are not currently enrolled in any TIMARA courses, you may request to use any of the studios for which you have taken the relevant course.  For instance, you may request access to the control room if you have taken TECH 330, and access to the analog synth studio if you have taken 201. Those granted studio access will receive  access to the relevant reservation calendars and the code for the back doors to the studios.  Access to the control room will typically be limited to business hours.  

To request access to the control room and recording studio, the analog synth studio, or the multichannel diffusion studio, please open a ticket, so long you meet the criteria outlined below: 

• 1. You are not a TIMARA major

  2. You are not currently enrolled in any TIMARA classes 

  3. You have taken the relevant TIMARA courses to access a particular space 

  4. You would like to request access to the space for the semester

• If you are a current Oberlin student, you do not have to have taken a TIMARA course to access the maker space.  

• If you are a non-major who is not currently enrolled in a TIMARA Maker Space (TMS) course, to gain access, you will need to attend a group training session, to successfully complete the maker space quiz.

• The makerspace may not be reserved by students but is available on a first-come, first-served basis. It will be periodically closed for classes and special events, as indicated on the makerspace google calendar. 

•  Access may be revoked if students do not follow all maker space policies.  

Please open a ticket to inquire about reservation policies and availability at least 2 weeks prior to the event.  The department makes decisions about these requests on a case-by-case basis.  

• Gear from the TIMARA Equipment Depot is generally reserved for TIMARA majors and minors and students currently enrolled in TIMARA Department courses.  

• We occasionally make exceptions to these rules for students enrolled in secondary lessons with TIMARA students or for those with other connections to the department. 

•  If you would like to borrow gear from the Depot but are not currently enrolled in a TIMARA course, please complete an application below.  Note that equipment requests should be made as early as possible; timely requests are more likely to be approved.  Students submitting requests less than a week in advance should simultaneously prepare other options.

• If you are requesting gear for a Conservatory degree recital, please note that your first stop should be ConAudio.  For College events, please talk to Concert Sound.  The A/V center in Mudd is another good place to check. 

•  We will not lend gear for recitals to anyone who has never taken a TIMARA course before, unless a TIMARA major has agreed to assist and to be fully responsible for the equipment AND the request was made a minimum of two weeks in advance of the dress rehearsal.  

• To request gear for a recital, please fill out the equipment request form.  Note that prior to reviewing and approving or denying your request, we cannot promise gear will be available for your event as our first priority is to serve departmental events.

• We are excited to collaborate with colleagues across disciplines to provide resources for teaching and learning electronics! 

• We have to ensure that non-TIMARA courses taught in our maker space will not interfere with our existing courses or displace TIMARA majors seeking to work on independent projects.  

• We also need to ensure that we have  funds to purchase the quantity of components we need to support all courses taught in the space and to pay the maker space assistants who hold open studio hours and who help keep the maker space clean and organized. 

• With these goals in mind, if you plan to use the TIMARA maker space for more than one or two sessions, we will typically ask you to require a course fee from your students that will go towards supporting the day-to-day operational budget.  (The course fee we will request will vary depending on the details of your course.)  Please reach out to our studio engineer via our ticket system to set up a time to visit the space and to discuss the details of your course to see whether this space will be a good fit for your class!