Recording Studio
Opening soon: our Community Recording Studio!
Whether you’re a student recording audio and video for school projects, a senior recording your family oral history, or a musician, this space is for you.
This space is generously funded by the estate of Robert Leslie Welsh through the West Vancouver Memorial Library Foundation.
In the Studio
Located in the Community Computing Centre on the Lower Level, the Recording Studio includes a Control Room and Live Room. The Control Room comfortably fits two people and is suited to recording podcasts or audiobooks, or for mixing and producing electronic music or video. The Live Room fits up to four people and is suited to recording a range of musical instruments and ensembles.
Our Recording Studio features a selection of industry-standard equipment and software. You’re welcome to bring your own or use ours.
The Control Room is equipped with a standard setup that is perfect for 1-2 people, for vocal, dialogue or instrumental recording:
- Yorkville SM5 Studio Monitors
- Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 USB Audio Interface
- Shure SM58 Microphones (x2)
- Triton FetHead Preamps
- Desktop Mic Boom Stand (x2)
- Laptop with auxiliary monitor and installed software
- Audacity
- Adobe Audition
- Adobe Premiere
- Ableton Live 11 Suite
- Reaper
The computer cannot save your project, so please bring a storage drive (we recommend 16 GB or more) or your cloud storage account credentials.
The Live Room is suitable for up to four people. It contains all the cabling necessary for recording to the devices in the Control Room.
You can borrow this additional equipment from the CCC Desk with your WVML card:
- RODE NT5 (x2) Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
- RODE NT1A (x1) Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
- Shure SM7B (x1) Dynamic Microphone
- Shure SM58 (x2) Dynamic Microphone
- Behringer C1 (x1) Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone
- Cloudlifter CL-2 Mic Activator
- ART Pro Audio Active DI Box (x2)
- Talkback and Headphone Amplifier Kit
- M-Audio Keystation 49 USB MIDI Keyboard
- ATH-M30X Headphones (x6)
- Various XLR, TRS, and Instrument Cables
Booking the Studio
Bookings will become available later in April. Stay tuned here for more information.
You need a WVML card in good standing (not expired and with less than $20 in fines) to book the studio. Don’t have one? Click here to sign up online. Need help with your card? Contact us at 604-925-7400 or circulation@westvanlibrary.ca.
Please review the full Terms and Conditions of Use by clicking here.
Upcoming Programs
Join us for an orientation session (attending an orientation is required prior to booking the Recording Studio) and more!
Frequently Asked Questions
Bookings will open sometime in March. Check back on this page then!
If you already have an approved project from a previous studio booking and you’ve already taken the required orientation, you may drop in to use the studio when it isn’t in use. Please check in at the Community Computing Centre desk first.
The studio can accommodate up to six people. Four can comfortably fit in the Live Room and two in the Control Room.
You may bring your own equipment to use in the studio. You’re welcome to bring your own computer but you will need to install the appropriate software driver to use our audio interface. Unfortunately, our studio cannot accommodate drum kits at this time. Food and drinks aren’t permitted.
Tracking is one aspect of a recording session, but the studio can be used for mixing, mastering, or any creative aspect of an audio project. It cannot be used for unintended purposes like silent study, listening to records, hanging out, Zoom calls, etc. While we develop a user base for the space, we will permit practicing musical instruments in the Live Room, but this may only be for a limited time.
If you miss two studio bookings, your booking privileges will be suspended for three months. We appreciate you letting us know if you can no longer make your booking so that we can make the space available for other creators.
Staff can provide basic troubleshooting. The Recording Studio is a learning environment, and we encourage users to check out our variety of user guides, demonstration videos, programs in The Lab, and online resources to help you on your learning journey. We also recommend including time in your booking request so you can get familiar with the space before recording.
Yes! We have microphone kits in our collection. Click here to place a hold.
Recommended Resources
These resources can help you understand the equipment and software in the Recording Studio.