Moving Right Along: New equipment elevates the recording experience

Regular audience members that attend concerts and recitals in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music Edge Recital Hall had grown familiar with a familiar sight - a tall, metal pole in the center of the fifth row of seats that supported the microphones necessary for excellent sound recording. These mics not only provided the students and faculty with professional recordings to be used in their graduate study applications and personal marketing, but also provided viewers of the live-streamed performances a high-quality experience.

Over the summer, the pole was removed and a brand new system was installed—the Servoreeler system. It consists of a precision servo operated mechanism that stores, deploys, retracts, and positions suspended microphone cable by remote control without the use of slip rings.  Live microphones can be quietly positioned, while preserving the integrity of the audio signal. 

In addition, the Servoreeler Master Controller (manufactured by Redco Audio) is designed to interface with Redco Audio modified Servoreelers to bring a Graphical User Interface and automation to the Servoreeler user.

Paul Griffith, senior academic professional in sound recording, showed off the abilities of this device gleefully one recent afternoon. (Look for footage on our website and in our social media in the days to come.) “This device gives us a lot more flexibility for how we can support our performers,” Griffith said. “We can make adjustments to accommodate a concert with several different groups that perform at different levels and make sure we’re getting exactly the kind of sound we need.” 

After the School of Music procured this first set of devices for Edge Hall, Griffith and Daniel Bara, interim director, reached out to University of Georgia (UGA) Enterprise Information Technology Services and received a Student Technology Fee allocation through the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences to install similar devices in the two larger spaces used by the School of Music. In early October, a complete Servoreeler system was installed in Ramsey Concert Hall at the UGA Performing Arts Center, and before Thanksgiving Break, Hodgson Concert Hall will also be equipped with its own system.

“We’re really lucky to have such a great and resonant space for all of our ensembles to perform,” said Bara, “ and now to have equipment that can even better represent and record the students’ work in that space is just a real gift for us.”

“Adjusting the microphones’ positions is a huge part of recording engineering because doing so affects the recording’s timbre significantly,” said Will Collins (B. Mus. music composition and music theory, jazz minor, and classical music recording certificate ’26 ) “So, gaining the ability to use more than one mic position will dramatically increase our ability to tailor each recording to the unique sonic characteristics of every performance.”