Studio
The STAR studio has been through many iterations since the station was founded.
Contents
2005 Trial: Union Cloakroom
STAR began in February 2005, using the Union's cloakroom as a makeshift studio for a two-week trial of live broadcasting. More info on the formation of STAR is available at on the 2005/06 page.
2005-2006: Union Laundry Room
Following the success of this trial period, the two-week broadcasts became more regular, and the studio moved to the Union's former laundry room. The setup appears to have included two SM58 microphones on boom arms, a Soundcraft Spirit M12 mixer, and another mixer. Turntables were also available. Other audio hardware included a BSS Audio oPal FCS-966 Constant Q Graphic EQ.
[Source: "2005 Broadcast" (STAR Facebook page)]
[Source: "Studio Antics 2006" (STAR Facebook page)]
2006-2009
The studio appears to have moved out of the Union's old laundry room in 2006, to a room on the top floor of the Union (citation needed). This space had a separate studio and control room, and from c. 2008 used three Audio-Technica AT4040 microphones, two of which were still in use for external recordings in 2019/20. The microphones had a pop filter, and were suspended by the original (silver) Røde PSA1 boom arms, which remained in use until 2019/20. The headphones were connected to an ARTcessories HeadAMP.
[Source: "2006 Broadcast" (STAR Facebook page)]
More photos: "2006 Launch Night"
[Source: "Studio Shenanigans 2007" (STAR Facebook page)]; [Source: "Broadcast Prep 2007" (STAR Facebook page)]
[Source: STAR Facebook photos, November 2008]
2009 Studio
Studio 144 (2011)
I have no idea what this is but there's a photo album on STAR's Facebook page from April 2011. Looks like some kind of external event.
20??-2013 Studio
At some point the studio was painted red. Gorilla Joe was painted on the wall of this studio, which caused anger within building manager Bruce.
The SRM v1 mixer arrived in February 2013, and is still in use today (2019/20).
March 2014 Studio
If this photo really is from March 2014, it appears the studio was painted white again, soon before it was destroyed. (Citation needed.)
Gateway Studio
During the Union redevelopment of 2014, a temporary studio was set up in the Gateway building.
References
- Show post on Facebook
- Temporary setup (shared post confirms this is in Gateway)
Current Studio
Since the Union redevelopment of 2014, the STAR studio has been situated on the middle floor of the building, next to The Saint's office. The space includes a large studio with four Shure SM7B microphones on boom arms, and the SRM v1 mixer. There is an adjacent control room, with four dbx 286s microphone preamps, and all of STAR's computers. STAR also occupies a cupboard in The Saint's office, which is used to store merch, spare copies of Hearing Aid, starTV equipment, and old studio equipment. A detailed list of current studio equipment is available on the Studio Equipment page.
