studio a

This is the major music studio at 52 featuring four separate recording areas which make live multitrack recording a pleasure for both the band and the engineer or producer. A greater degree of acoustic design has gone into this studio to make it the ultimate space for real and acoustic instruments. While a 100 watt Marshall cabinet close miked may sound almost the same in either studio A or B, a jazz or world music group featuring strings, brass, woodwind or percussion instruments will enjoy the extra acoustic detail attainable in studio A. The multiple recording spaces are perfectly suited for recording completely live or layering tracks individually. The variety and number of great microphones on offer will satisfy any project.

A comfortable and spacious control room is the heart of a great studio. Studio A features great acoustic design, full automation, 96 channels on mixdown, three levels of monitoring, hard disk digital recording and an outstanding selection of high end outboard equipment. Brands such as Focusrite, TC Electronics, EMES, RME, Apple, TL Audio valve gear, JBL and Yamaha make up a fantastic combination of equipment at hand.
Studio A has been built to suit a wide variety of music recording purposes. The combination of warm rustic colours complimented by natural timbers and polished slate throughout provide a relaxed creative atmosphere.

Musicians generally comment that they feel at ease and at home in the studio from early stages of each session. From a practical point of view, studio A also features an easy load in from a side laneway at street level.

studio b

In many ways, studio B is simply a scaled down version of studio A. Many of the features are similar or the same, such as the recording and mastering formats. Studio B has less choice of mic pre’s and microphones than studio A but still more than enough for most project requirements.

Many smaller projects for solo artists or duos are recorded in B with great success. It is also an excellent studio for tracking drums, keyboards or guitars and for general editing and compiling jobs. For home studio owners it offers a cost effective place to take a project to complete specific recording tasks or final mixing.

For more information on the Melbourne studios, and a comprehensive gear list, go to the Studio 52 website.

recommended Melbourne accomodation


Melbourne Discovery offers group accommodation in the heart of the city of Melbourne for school, sporting, cultural and social groups. They offer a FREE planning & booking service - leave the logistics to them so you can enjoy your Melbourne experience.

how do we get there?

Kriskindl Guesthouse caters for long term students, apprentices, workers and short term/long term national and international travellers.

The Kriskindl is a three backpack guesthouse providing the comfortable basics. The Kriskindl was the site of a Cobb and Co. coach house with a huge circular Sandstone well under the cement car park. The Kriskindl beehives provide breakfast’s unique honey.

Features include:
Clean, Comfortable and Friendly rooms
Free old style breakfast with both daily and weekly rate
Free tea, coffee and fruit
TV lounge
Free Linen - Electric blankets in winter
Free pick-up
Internet
See food fridge - If you can see it you can eat it
Coin operated washing machine & dryer
Dining room open 20:30 hrs a day
Clothes hoist
Secure Parking small fee
Kitchen facilities
Public phone
Copy and fax facilities
External Smoking Area
No alcohol on premises.

22A Hillcrest St, Tempe, Sydney | Phone: +61 (0)2 9558 3332 | Mobile : +61 (0)416 122 082

Sydney info

info still coming

teacher's manual

All the latest up to date information, and everything you need to know
about the project is contained in a downloadable PDF file. (About 150kb)
All you need is Acrobat Reader on your computer.

PDF list of all schools which have participated in Kool Skools

How to prepare your schools’ Kool Skools Press Release
The same principals can be used to create a press release for your own band or any newsworthy subject.

the press release
Create a Heading: news worthy, short, catchy, positive heading.

for example:
‘There's more to Jazz in Wangaratta’

‘Music students have time of their lives’

‘Mt Waverley SC Fires up its music school’

Bankstown students showcase hidden talents’

‘Geelong Grammar’s new Jazz CD is too Kool!’

‘Doncaster’s showcases diverse range in music’

‘School group travel 1600kms for music opportunity’

‘Young musos realise dream in local studio'

‘Blackburn CD a funk-fusion of great musicians’

‘Arts students make their mark in Eltham'

Photo images
- Images must be strong & positive clear high resolution shots good enough to give to media.
- You could feature strong individuals with career aspirations or a standout character in the project
- Each photo must have a caption attached and name of person(s) in picture.

Photo 1:
The ‘face’ of the school project.
Main face or 2 faces of the schools project – can be the most photogenic boy or girl or duo that presents a strong photo image for the project – could be the best soloist or singer – this photo is
about presenting a strong photographic image. If the project only has one band then use the main person(s) in the band.

Photo 2:
The main band shot or a larger group shot
The most serious band or artist in the schools project or a group shot of several bands together – the one that has the best story to tell (achievements/skills) or just a good looking ‘lots of people excited’ type shot.

Photo 3:
Representing the graphics project
Image of the graphics & multimedia aspect of each project. Once again the main or most photogenic art student(s) with a camera or computer or drawing in hand.

Photo 4:
Representing the school and staff
The school may have an existing ‘press shot’ which can be supplied and teachers can be pictured as a group or individually in the studio with the bands. This is particularly useful if the story is going to be used in the school newsletter or yearbook. It is also a good thing to do so that your school and teachers can be recognised for the important role they play. Teachers can of course also appear in the other three photos if you so desire.

Photo Captions:

for example:
. “Paul Brown & Brendan Johnston from Geelong Grammar get a first hand recording experience at Studio 52 as part of this years’ Kool Skools CD”

Or something like:
“Paul Brown from Geelong Grammar explains how songwriting & recording
is now a school assignment.”

*It is unlikely that all photos will be used in any one newspaper. Photo no.1 is the most important key shot to get.

Text/actual press release:
Approx 3-4 paragraphs of text suitable for media release / direct print use in media editorials.
The idea is to supply something that a newspaper or journalist could reprint word for word or with as little re-writing as possible. Many
small papers have limited staff available to write proper articles, so the better the press release is, the easier it is to be pasted directly into the paper. Even serious articles written by journalists
rely greatly on ‘quotes’ and good information supplied in a press release.

Your Press Release should include information like this:
• Exciting or special facts about the school or students (if any) such as awards, tours, band contests won, particular mentors or teachers,
special groups or particular songwriters - whatever drives the school to participate in Kool Skools – whatever is exciting or unique about your CD project.
• Details about the school particularly if they have travelled a long way from a regional town
• Details about the artist(s) on the CD and what’s special about them
• Details about the songs or styles of music included / why / influences
• Previous history in Kool Skools or other events/CD releases etc...

•Comments by teachers and students about the whole experience – it is suggested that key students take on the role of interviewing students
and teachers leading up to and during the Kool Skools Project to gain information and quotes for the press release – some questions could be:

• was recording in the studio what they expected?
• did they enjoy the whole recording experience?
• How did each band go about the songwriting process?
• was it a good learning opportunity, what did you discover?
• what was the best thing about the project?
• Have people collaborated with each other within the project?
• Are other students back at school excited or envious about the project?
• How has the school community got involved?
• what are the outcomes of the project for the school?
• Do the bands in the project want to go on to music careers?
• has it encouraged them or opened their eyes to new opportunities such as multimedia?
• Why did the school choose to participate in Kool Skools?

Anything else that tells a good positive story that is unique or interesting about their school or project.
The PR should include both the contact details of the school, the Kool Skools office and of the studio where the recording took place.

Simply prepare the text before coming to the studio, and allow us to lay it out for cosistency.

Two examples:
Example 1: Thornbury
Example 2: Thomastown

testimonials

“#11 CD for Wangaratta High School! Kool Skools has influenced and changed the lives of many of our students. it has allowed the music department to grow and prosper”.
david ashfield (wangaratta high school)

“for the past 11 years, kool skools has launched the careers of many of our music students including missy higgins and axle whitehead”.
paul retke (geelong grammar school)

“with the challenge of the lack of transport and remoteness of the community, it’s given our young people the chance to meet and collaborate with different musos from other towns. they’ve worked remotely in the past so kool skools has been a great way to really push them into getting together, getting creative and writing their own music”.
dion griffin (north central llen/buloke shire)

“we discovered there was a necessity for an outlet to support more student driven musical projects. after being accepted into the kool skools project, students began working overtime to produce original material. students from both campuses were inspired to collaborate with students they may not have worked with before”. michael davis (caulfield grammar school)

“the project has provided a unique opportunity for young bands in hobsons bay to experience a recording experience first hand. the young people are very excited at the opportunity to record their music and showcase it to friends, family and their local community”. daniel taylor (hobsons bay youth services)

“kool skools was incredible experience. it created teamwork musically but also pulled everything together across campuses, year levels, ethnicities and backgrounds. from year to year the ‘legend’ of the experience of doing kool skools keeps the students focused and creative.”
helen jensen (copperfield college)

“it's amazing to work alongside professional engineers with access to state of the art equipment. kool skools has been a fantastic learning experience. it has had a positive impact on all students from the very young year 8’s through to our vce students. it’s our schools first involvement in kool skools and has been a very positive and rewarding experience”.
scott solimo (benalla college)

"kool skools has been a great project for our youth council members to be involved in. it has given members the opportunity to be involved in a collaborative project with other youth council members who they might not otherwise usually work with. they all talked about how much they enjoyed coming to the recording studio and seeing how everything came together. they are all asking about whether we can do it again next year”.
kate munro (manly council)

“kool skools has given students an insight to the recording and sound engineering side of the industry. students have a feeling of ownership on the cd and a sense of pride about their school”.
lynn liu (cranbourne secondary college)

“kool skools has provided an outstanding opportunity for our young people to develop themselves creatively and professionally by having industry experts take them and their work seriously. all the feedback from both bands and our fresh crew is very positive. kool skools allows us to offer young local bands an opportunity to get recognition and community support for their talents”.
heather padden (frankston youth resource centre)

“our students have experienced the realities of the music industry which has taught the students the necessities of recording which include: adequate rehearsal time, ‘polished’ pieces, techniques to record in time, how to work as a team, how to work effectively in a small time frame, how to cooperate in a team environment under stress, fine tuning their listening skills and the importance of the whole recording procedure at every phase (i.e. rehearsal, record, overdubs, mixing). the multimedia students have learnt the importance of time management and new skills in design and multimedia. also, friendships are formed and some students have learnt how to adapt to different environments and improve their communication skills on a personal level”.
kris garner (brisbane water secondary college)