On January 15, 2016, we celebrated an important anniversary.
It was the 10th anniversary of us going live from our new main broadcast studio!
Twelve years ago, back in 2004, we began investigating ways to improve our broadcast facilities. We were slated to become a “beta test site” for some new studio equipment manufactured by the Cleveland-based Telos Systems. The size and amount of equipment we would be obtaining led us to consider building a brand new studio space.
At the time, our main broadcast studio was the size of a large walk-in closet. The configuration of the room was such that if you wanted to interview someone, you had to turn around 180-degrees away from the controls to look the person in the face. We couldn’t have more than 3 or 4 people in the studio without body odor and personal space becoming a major factor. We could have solo artists come down and perform, but any group larger than a duo had to be put in another studio.
We finally determined that we could take over a section of the vinyl music library to build the studio, once we moved the records elsewhere in the station facility.
After the records were moved, we built a cardboard mock-up of what the new studio and furniture would look like as we finalized our plans.
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| July 18, 2005 | July 18, 2005 |
Construction on the new studio began in the Summer of 2005.
Various construction contractors arranged through Case Western Reserve University did the work to build the walls, and install carpeting, electrical wiring, and air conditioning.
They started with cutting a whole in the wall of our lobby. This would become the window into the new studio which you can see in the empty space through the hole.
Here’s the view from the other side, looking out into the lobby! (By the way, through the window, that’s the late Stella Salamone of “Wrath of the Thrash Queen/Domestic Decay”)
Here’s the framing of the walls of the studio. This area would later become the “back wall” where the rack for new music now sits.
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| September 28, 2005 | October 4, 2005 |
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| October 9, 2005 | October 21, 2005 | October 28, 2005 |
The studio furniture was built by Studio Technology in Pennsylvania. They are the same company who built the radio studio at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and at various XM and Sirius Radio studios. They had been building the furniture at their shop through September and October of 2005. They delivered and installed the new furniture on November 3, 2005.
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Next, the all-volunteer WRUW Tech Crew stepped in to do the studio wiring and configuration.
WRUW’s core build-out crew consisted of station volunteers. The core crew included Technical Director David Caban who designed all the wiring and configurations, General Manager Tim O’Connor, and crew members Sam Harmon, Amy Harmon, and Amaury Rolin. They all spent many weekends and long weeknights at the station. On special “general help days”, other staff members came down to measure wire, drill holes and make the new studio a reality.
Here are members of the staff running some of the wires from the studio to the office. Ace Kumar and Amaury Rolin are getting rained on with dust.
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There would be several more weeks of wiring, drilling, and gnashing of teeth in frustration.
Finally, after months of effort through the Fall of 2005, the new studio was done!
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The show “The Cream of Broccoli Radio Hour” had the auspicious honor of being the last show broadcast from our “old” studio. The new studio went live on Sunday, January 15, 2006, at 12 noon, with David Caban’s show “Sunday Matinee”.
We draped a red bow across the new mixing console so we could “cut the ribbon” near the start of the show to honor all the hard work from our staff members.
At 12 noon, General Manager Tim O’Connor pressed the button to put the new studio on the air for regular broadcasts.
A couple dozen staff members showed up to witness the first broadcast from the new studio. They filled the studio, hallways, and main lobby of the station.
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Partway into the first hour of the show, Technical Director David Caban cut the ribbon to signify that the studio was officially “open” for regular broadcasts.
Ten years has flown by so quickly!
Since that marvelous occasion 10 years ago, we have upgraded various equipment in the studio to keep pace with new technology and sources of content.
We’ve installed new CD players … new CD burners … a new phone interface system … added Skype for long-distance interviews … and switched a lot of our music library to digital playback requiring a third computer monitor on the desktop. (Notice only two monitors in the pictures above!)
We have been able to bring you amazing show content we couldn’t easily do before.
We have been able to have musicians comfortably perform in the studio, whether solo artists or small ensembles.
We’ve been able to bring you great interview shows and discussions thanks to the space to host people at multiple microphones.
Overall, we’ve been able to bring you better radio programming than ever for the past 10 years.
Thanks for your financial contributions to helping us be the greatest non-commercial station in Northeast Ohio!
Happy anniversary to our main broadcast studio!
