The TIMARA Studios

TIMARA's computer cafe is a resource for the entire Oberlin community. You won't find food down here (unless you bring your own), but you can swing by to hang out, listen to some vinyl, peruse our library, or make use of the plethora of audio- and video-editing software that we stock on our lobby machines. Or, just stop by to get away from the rain and snuggle one of our studio dogs. 

As one of our newest spaces, the makerspace provides students with the tools and space they need to learn about electronics and interactive media, to tinker, and to build whatever they can imagine. Courses taught in the makerspace touch on themes ranging from sound installations, to new interfaces for musical expression, to human cyborgs.

The TIMARA Gallery is a big, blank, empty space. It is available to students for recitals, to document projects, build installations, rehearse, test an idea, practice a setup, and so much more. 

The Assistant Director of Recording Services at Oberlin Conservatory teaches our perennially popular 'Introduction to Recording Techniques' course in TIMARA's Control Room and Recording Studio. The Control Room is outfitted with a Mac Pro cylinder, state-of-the-art Grace Preamps, a hearback system, a stereo pair of Oceanway H4 monitors, a DynAudio BM5A 5.1 monitoring station, and an ASP8024 board. 

The recording studio is, intuitively, a fully outfitted recording studio that interfaces with the control room. While control room access is limited to students who have taken the Studio Recording course, the studio itself acts as a classroom, rehearsal space, and lecture space. Students frequently use the space for their own creative work or to record fellow student groups. The recording studio often plays double duty as a space where visiting artists share their work with our majors.

In the Multichannel Diffusion Studio, students learn diffusion techniques for live, fixed media, and generative contexts. Outfitted with a collection of DynAudio BM5A Monitors and some Genelecs on the ceiling, the space currently accommodates diffusion of up to sixteen discrete channels. Over Winter Term 2018, two dedicated TIMARA majors used the multichannel diffusion studio to help Oberlin's Contemporary Music Ensemble in reviving Jonathan Harvey's 'Bird Concerto with PianoSong' for the Spring 2018 concert season.

The Analog Synth Studio boasts one of the best collections of functional, wonderfully maintained vintage synths you will find in a college setting. Highlights include a Buchla 200 series modular synth, a Buchla music easel, an ARP 2600, a Putney VCS3, and a Pittsburgh Modular Cell[90] Foundation system, among others. Our majors begin their degree studies in this room, learning the history and fundamentals of music technology. Access to this rare collection provides the unique opportunity to learn music technology through the instruments that shaped the industry.

In the Media Production Studio, students develop independent projects in audio, film, and interactive installation. The studio is designed with the demands of video editing in mind, and includes a Mac Pro cylinder, Drobo, iConnect, and Dynaudio monitors. Software resources include Adobe, Max/MSP/Jitter, etc. Over Winter Term 2018, a TIMARA major use the Media Production Studio to develop all of the supporting video materials for Oberlin's premiere of Du Yun's 'Angel's Bone'.