MPARL

Computer lab with workstations, rolling chairs, audio equipment, a projection screen, and blue-and-gray patterned carpet.

Innovation meets education and research at the Music Production and Audio Research Lab (MPARL). Serving as a classroom, music production studio, and research space, MPARL provides a flexible environment for learning, creative work, experimentation, and discovery.

The lab features a 24.2-channel surround sound system with speakers positioned throughout the room, including ceiling-mounted, perimeter, and ear-level speakers. This immersive audio setup supports a wide range of teaching, music production, composition, sound design, and research activities. MPARL can also be used in connection with other ICAT spaces, including Perform Studio and the Cube.

MPARL includes 19 iMac workstations. Each station is equipped with an M-Audio Oxygen 61 MIDI keyboard controller and a Blue Yeti USB microphone and audio interface, giving students tools for creating, recording, and working with digital sound. The lab also includes a Yamaha AvantGrand NU1X hybrid piano and a Dante-enabled Behringer X32 mixer.

The room’s asymmetrical architecture and sound-absorbing treatments help create an environment suited to listening, production, research, and instruction.

Classes and projects in MPARL focus on areas including music production, composition, digital audio, recording, and the exploration and manipulation of sound. The lab supports both technical instruction and creative experimentation, giving students opportunities to work with music technology in a dedicated teaching and research environment.