national music centre: recording studios rfp contentsnmc.ca/pdf/nmc_recording_studio_rfp.pdf ·...

National Music Centre: Recording Studios RFP August 2012

Contents National Music Centre: Recording Studios RFP .......................................................................................... 1

NMC Recording Studios RFP ....................................................................................................................... 2

Vision for Recording at NMC ....................................................................................................................... 2

NMC Studio One .......................................................................................................................................... 3

Basic required elements for NMC Studio One ....................................................................................... 4

Other general information re NMC Studio One ...................................................................................... 5

Services required for NMC Studio One ................................................................................................... 5

Rolling Stones’ Mobile ................................................................................................................................ 6

Required services for the RSM ................................................................................................................ 6

Request for Proposal Process ...................................................................................................................... 7

RFP evaluation procedure ......................................................................................................................... 7

How to participate ............................................................................................................................... 7

Questions ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Confidentiality ...................................................................................................................................... 8

Contractual status ................................................................................................................................ 8

Format and address ............................................................................................................................. 8

Schedule ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Appendix A: NMC Floor Plans .................................................................................................................... 9

Appendix B: About NMC ............................................................................................................................ 12

About the National Music Centre ........................................................................................................... 12

Mission ............................................................................................................................................... 12

Key attributes ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Brand essence .................................................................................................................................... 12

Core organizational activities ............................................................................................................ 12

NMC Recording Studios RFP – 2 August 2012

NMC Recording Studios RFP The National Music Centre (NMC) will include two recording facilities in its new facilities, set to open in 2015: NMC Studio One and the Rolling Stones’ Mobile (RSM) recording truck. As part of the construction process, NMC is seeking design and advisory services for the following:

• Design and installation supervision for NMC Studio One, a new construction which will house a full recording studio using vintage equipment

• Advice as to which of two consoles should be used in NMC Studio One – a console from Olympic Studios vs. a Trident A-Range (also known as a Triad), both of which are currently in NMC’s collection

• Equipment specification and installation supervision to connect the Rolling Stones’ Mobile recording studio to a stage in the King Eddy for live tracking and other possible locations

This RFP includes the following:

• NMC’s overall vision for its recording facilities • Detailed information about NMC Studio One, including NMC’s current ideas, construction

constraints, and required services • Detailed information about the Rolling Stones’ Mobile, including NMC’s current ideas,

construction constraints, and required services • The process for participating in this RFP • Current floor plans and more detail about NMC as appendices

Vision for Recording at NMC Fostering Canadian creativity, and supporting Canadian artists in the development of new work, are at the core of NMC’s vision. The recording tools at NMC are intended to support artists in residence and other partnerships. The studios are intended to offer a unique recording opportunity: in both, historic recording equipment will be integrated with contemporary digital recording platforms (Pro Tools, or other tools as recommended), allowing artists to achieve a particular sound that cannot be created solely with the digital equipment in common use today. Artists will also be able to use musical instruments from NMC’s collection for recording and performance: primarily keyboards and vintage electronic instruments and sound equipment. (Note the use of instruments and equipment from the collection is at the discretion of the Collections Manager per the collections policy.) NMC Studio One is primarily intended for supporting the work of artists in residence but could also be used on a fee basis by other artists. The Rolling Stones’ Mobile is primarily intended for recording “live off the floor” of the King Eddy stage. Both studios will be used for other opportunities as and when appropriate.


NMC Studio One NMC Studio One will be a completely new construction. In NMC Studio One, NMC’s goal is to create a natural, comfortable environment in which artists will enjoy creating new music. It will feature analog equipment from NMC’s collection from the 1960s to the 1980s, and modern tools, offering the best of both worlds: high quality vintage microphones, pre-amps, compressors and reverb units to provide “heritage signal paths,” coupled with the opportunity to track digitally using Pro Tools. It will be a full service studio featuring one of two recording consoles currently in NMC’s collection. NMC would like guidance as to which desk to install:

• A custom console designed for Olympic Studios by Keith Grant. NMC’s desk is the last transistor/analog desk built for the studio in the mid-70s OR

• A Trident A-Range console, also known as a Triad. NMC has the sixth (built in 1975) of 14 built by Trident Audio Developments. It was first used in Copenhagen at Rosenberg Studio and then at Easy Sound; it then traveled to Bomb Factory in North Hollywood, from which NMC acquired it in 1997.

Studio One will also feature other vintage recording equipment from the 1960s to the 1980s currently in NMC’s collection. It will be located in two spaces (1,324 square foot each, approximately 27'-9" x 47'-9" with 13-foot ceilings), on the third and fourth floors of NMC’s west block. On the architectural plans, these are currently simply empty spaces. Defining base building, including electrical, and mechanical requirements for the studio will be an early task. NMC Studio One will be primarily used by individual artists, or small groups of up to five or six artists, for tracking specific instruments or vocals as part of larger, ongoing, multi-track recording projects being undertaken by the artists- and technicians-in-residence. Master classes and other recording school activities may also become part of studio programming. It is unlikely that it will be used for full-scale recording projects. Projects will likely book in for a few days at a time, or as long as a week; longer projects are not anticipated. The studio will also be available to outside professionals (who are not engaged in the artist-in-residence program) for specialized and specific tracking as part of larger recording projects, on a limited basis, to ensure adequate studio time is prioritized to meet artists and technicians-in-residence needs. Use of this studio will be scheduled in advance; it will not be available on a drop-in basis. NMC will have a sound engineer on staff to ensure the equipment is maintained and used properly. A large volunteer contingent will also be recruited to support the every day work of the studios The anticipated mix of projects is as follows:

• Twice per year: world-class professionals • Once per month: mid-level professionals • Every day: Locals, budding artists


Basic required elements for NMC Studio One The following basic required elements for Studio One are based on research by NMC. This list is intended to serve as a starting point for discussion; these elements will be reviewed as part of the contract awarded via this RFP.

1. Control room The quality of the acoustic design, technical specifications, and layout of the control room are the most crucial elements of this project. The control room must be highly accurate, and provide a listening and monitoring environment for a group of musicians, technicians and engineers to work together. It should be a minimum of 800 square feet, and should have a large soundproof window into the live room. Another significant aspect of the studio design and install will be the wiring and layout, including the placement of the patch bay and effects racks in relation to the console. The choice and placement of the monitor speakers – both the near-field speakers and the main built-in wall speakers – will also be important. While the control room will not be a studio, it should be able to support voice and limited instrument recording.

The control room will include the following equipment: • An analog console (either the Olympic or the Trident A-Range) • Pre-amps, compressors, tape machines, EMT plate reverb placed into additional isolation

room/storage room • Tools for both analog and digital (Pro Tools) tracking • At least one 2” x 24 track machine (NMC has one 3M model m79s, one 24 track, and one 2

track) • A high quality !” two-track tape deck 2. Live room / Sound room The live room should accommodate five to six people, a drum kit, a grand piano, and other necessary equipment, such as other keyboards, amps and so on. It should be at least 600-800 square feet. It will require several bass traps, and some sound baffling. Artists will be able to record live off the floor, and will also be able to do overdubbing. The room will include vintage microphones, and possibly other musical instruments and/or sound equipment from NMC’s collection. 3 . Isolation booths There should be two isolation booths off the live room, with glass walls which look through into the live room, which are acoustically isolated from the live room by a pair of double-ply windows with an air gap between them. They should be at least 5’x5.’ 4. Other possible spaces • A shop/rack room of 50-100 square feet for storage • A production room


Other general information re NMC Studio One • The studio requires as much sound isolation as possible and should be a ‘box in a box’ design • The live room(s) should have a floating concrete floor for sound isolation • The HVAC system will be high volume/low pressure with lined ducting, the route of ducting

from the main air source to the studio spaces must be carefully addressed • The studio will not have a back-up generator of its own, there will be a main system for the

whole building • Power supply will be via both central UPS and individual rack UPSs • Isolation of sound between the two studio levels – as well as the spaces above and below the

studio will be important • The studio will have a decent size microphone cabinet for storage

Services required for NMC Studio One To realize the above, NMC seeks the following services to make the best use of the two spaces on levels 3 and 4 as NMC Studio One:

• Advice on determining basic building system requirements (such as power, electrical, and HVAC)

• Advice on room acoustics and soundproofing requirements, specifically noise isolation services, building systems noise control, and room acoustic services in order to achieve a low background level of NC 20

• Design services for studio construction which make best use of the available space • Provision of architectural drawings and construction specifications (or equivalent coordination

with NMC’s architectural team) • Expert consulting on recording equipment, particularly the choice between the Olympic and

Trident A-Range consoles • Supervision of room construction, including site visits • Supervision of the studio fit-out and recording equipment installation • Equipment testing and staff training once the studio is complete


Rolling Stones’ Mobile The new NMC is being built around an historic hotel, the King Eddy, which has been a landmark blues bar in Calgary since it was built in 1919. The main bar room of the King Eddy will remain exactly that – a bar and live music venue. In new construction immediately adjacent to the King Eddy, the Rolling Stones’ Mobile recording studio will occupy a dedicated space from which it will serve as a fully functional tracking tool for the King Eddy stage. It will also be a feature exhibition. NMC acquired the RSM in 2001. One of the key storylines in NMC’s exhibitions explores the evolution of music technology – and the advent of mobile recording technology was a watershed moment. The RSM was the first professional multi-track recording tool that allowed artists to work and record somewhere other than a formal studio setting. It completely changed the way music is recorded and as such it is a major piece of pop culture history. Some of the most famous recordings of all time were made using the RSM. For example, Deep Purple’s Machine Head, various Rolling Stones albums (including Exile on Main Street), various Led Zeppelin albums, Bob Marley albums – the list goes on. One of NMC’s goals, from its earliest days as an organization, was to give artists an opportunity to use musical instruments and sound equipment from the collection. So, making the RSM – an object in the collection – available to artists as a tracking tool from the King Eddy stage is a perfect way to realize this goal. The RSM features a Helios console designed by Dick Swettenham. It will be hard-wired to record performances from the King Eddy stage to either a 2” tape machine, or digitally to Pro Tools – and likely both. The resulting recordings will be primarily used for archival purposes. However, from time to time NMC or some artists may want to make further use of these recordings. In this case, the recordings can be simply taken to the control room in the main studio for mixing, further tracking, and so on. The NMC collections department is restoring and refurbishing the RSM to get it ready for use.

Required services for the RSM The RSM is being refurbished by the collections department for use as a tracking vehicle from the King Eddy stage. For the RSM, NMC seeks the following services:

• Advice on connecting the fully functional RSM to the King Eddy stage (such as electrical, power and data loads), and possibly to the Studio One live room

• Supervision of the equipment installation/connection of the RSM to the King Eddy stage • NOTE: This work does NOT include advice on the acoustics of the King Eddy


Request for Proposal Process This RFP represents the opportunity to be involved in the creation of a facility like no other in Canada and, to a certain degree, the world. This project will be the catalyst for giving music a permanent home in Canada, engaging people in music, and revitalizing one of Calgary’s most historic communities. NMC encourages experienced recording studio designers to submit responses to this RFP. NMC is committed to ensuring this RFP process is open, fair, and transparent, with the express intent of engaging the best ideas and creative minds from around the world. Note that the information in this RFP represents the vision of NMC to this point in time, and is subject to change as the design process moves forward. Further, please note that this information is the sole property of NMC and must remain confidential. Participants in the RFP process may only use this set for purposes of informing their submission, and may not share them beyond their project team, by any means.

RFP evaluation procedure A committee will review all responses, and selected designers will be invited to an interview. The winning designer will be selected on the basis of both their submitted proposal and the interview.

How to participate NMC is looking for a designer who is excited to collaborate with NMC in realizing its vision for the recording facilities. Interested designers/collaborative teams are invited to submit formal proposals that include AT LEAST the following:

• A demonstration of understanding of NMC’s vision for the recording studios • A conceptual methodology for approaching recording studio design at NMC, mainly with

regard to NMC Studio One • A demonstration of experience • A demonstration of previous projects with similar challenges • A proposed fee structure and preferred contract structure • At least three client references

Submissions should be based on this document, as well as the architectural plans and other information contained within the appendices. Note: There is a MANDATORY conference call for all interested participants on Monday, September 10, 2:00 pm Mountain Time, 2012. To participate in this call, please register by emailing Naomi Grattan at [email protected] in advance. The deadline for responses is Friday, September 21, 2012 at noon, Mountain Time. Responses which do not fully meet the criteria outlined below at the sole discretion of NMC will not be considered.


Questions Interested participants MUST participate in a conference call to review the project and to ask any questions. Failure to participate in the call will lead to ineligibility to submit a proposal under this RFP. Please refer to the schedule below for dates. Following the call, additional questions can be submitted to: Naomi Grattan, Exhibitions Project Manager, at: [email protected] Please note that all questions and answers will be shared with all participants. Participants are asked NOT to contact any other staff or contractors involved with the NMC project.

Confidentiality All submissions will be treated as confidential between NMC and each participant. NMC will not disclose their contents to other participants or the general public. NMC reserves the right to discuss submissions with its consultants and related parties.

Contractual status NMC is not bound to accept any RFP. Participants should be aware that no contractual relationship with NMC will arise upon submission to the RFP. All submissions become the property of NMC.

Format and address Please submit five hard copies and one electronic copy (in PDF format on CD ROM or USB stick) of the submission to:

NMC Recording Studio Design Request for Proposals 134-11 Avenue SE Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G 0X5 Attention: Naomi Grattan

Schedule RFP release Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Mandatory pre-submission conference call Monday, September 10, 2:00 pm MT, 2012 RFP closing Friday, September 21, noon MT, 2012 Notification of short-listed submissions Tuesday, October 9, 2012 (or earlier) Interviews October, 2012 Period of work November 2012 – March 2015 NMC reserves the right to adjust this schedule as necessary. Please note late or faxed submissions will not be accepted.


Appendix A: NMC Floor Plans Level 203.5, west block: Level one of NMC Studio One


Level 204, west block: Level two of NMC Studio One


Level 201, west block: Rolling Stones’ Mobile


Appendix B: About NMC

About the National Music Centre NMC will give Canada a place that amplifies the love, the sharing, and the understanding of music through the act of assembling historic music collections to serve as a foundation for developing public education programs, presenting performances, supporting the development of new music, and fostering partnerships across the Canadian musical spectrum. NMC will be a world-class music education, entertainment, and experience destination created by incorporating, expanding, and honouring the existing historic King Edward Hotel to house innovative and unique interpretative programs and collections. Part education research centre, part museum, part recording studio, part live music venue, this newly designed 135,000-square-foot facility will include new gallery spaces for innovative public programs for people of all ages to explore, learn, perform, research, collaborate, and rehearse music of all kinds. It will be a hub for musical activity in Canada.

Mission To give Canada a place that amplifies the love, the sharing, and the understanding of music.

Key attributes Catalyzing, innovative, genuine, inclusive, focused, supportive

Brand essence Disciplined spontaneity

Core organizational activities The NMC will focus its activities in three key areas. It will: 1) Collect and steward Canada’s national music collection, with the intent of featuring both tangible

and intangible artifacts in exhibitions. This means NMC will: • Acquire for NMC key historic objects (such as instruments, equipment, recordings and

memorabilia belonging to recognized musicians, record labels, archives, churches, collectors and so on) that reflect the musical diversity of the five regions of Canada: Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, the West, and the North.

• Expand the existing permanent ‘Founding Collection’ to include Canadian related artifacts and other items within the keyboard, electronic, and recording equipment collection streams, and make these collections available for use in education and performance (e.g. concerts) programs and to Canadian artists for creating, performing, and recording new music.

• Partner with relevant Canadian music organizations, such as the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (CMHOF) in partnership with Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), the Canadian Country Music Hall of Honour (CCMHOH) in partnership with Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA), and others to develop collections specifically related to inductees within CMHOF and CCMHOH which includes recognized musicians, industry leaders, music humanitarians, music teachers and broadcasters.


• Build active partnerships with other organizations that already have significant collections

related to Canadian music, such as Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, and the Canada Science and Technology Museum, private collectors, regional museums, and universities, among others, which will enable the loan of artifacts for rotating exhibits within NMC Canadian music storyline.

2) Develop and present innovative music programs, including:

• Music education programs at NMC and online through distance learning. • Artist-in-residence programs that bring Canadian artists (both seasoned pros and

emerging artists) from across the musical spectrum to NMC to record, perform, research, and create new music in NMC recording studios, performance and exhibition spaces.

• Live music performance programs featuring emerging and established touring artists (both Canadian and international) within NMC spaces.

• Public music programs for people of all ages including lectures, workshops, film screenings, and so on.

• Collaborative programs that amplify the existing activities of other organizations using NMC spaces such as music teacher recitals, music festivals, showcases, special events, corporate meetings, conferences, workshops, and more.

• On-site exhibitions that engage visitors in the multi-faceted, multi-dimensional world of music from both Canadian and international perspectives.

• Travelling exhibitions featuring both Canadian and international themes related to music.

3) Connect Canadians through music in a variety of ways, including: • Engaging and inspiring Canadians to tell their own music stories online using NMC tools. • Providing strategic support for music programs such as festivals, exhibitions, education

initiatives, and concerts in other regions of Canada. • Connecting Canadian music content such as festivals, exhibitions, concerts, films,

education initiatives, special events, and awards shows, among other events, from across Canada through innovative technology.

• Touring exhibits and collections throughout Canada. • Sharing NMC content through online exhibitions. • Fostering research in strategic program areas. • Advocating for music education in Canada.

national music centre: recording studios rfp contentsnmc.ca/pdf/nmc_recording_studio_rfp.pdf ·...

Documents