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PRESS RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Genelec monitors educate the next generation of audio talent in Shanghai

NATICK, MA, October 19, 2021 — The Shanghai Vocational School of Contemporary Music has a noble aim: to cultivate professional talents in modern music production and performance. With the support of the Shanghai Municipal Government, it has set about this undertaking by creating a studio complex that will establish a high-level music training base to cultivate market-oriented students. Ensuring that the students are using the best possible equipment, Genelec Smart Active Monitors™ have been installed throughout the new facility. During the early stages of development, Shanghai SunYart Digital Technology Director Alex Wei created a basic layout for the facility and continued to refine the plans alongside Technical Director Zhang Minggang. Technical Execution was provided by He Weier, alongside world-renowned acoustician Sam Toyoshima. One of the key factors for the team was creating a facility that would combine acoustics and aesthetics to the best effect. “Mr. Toyoshima is an acoustic designer full of design aesthetics,” says Wei. “I wanted this project to meet the acoustic requirements and to have visual impact, to have that ‘wow’ factor, so our ideas fitted well.” The design choices meshed well with the more technical decision to select Genelec Smart Active Monitors precisely calibrated with Genelec’s GLM Loudspeaker Manager software throughout the complex, with the monitors’ minimalist design and classic color scheme complementing Mr. Toyoshima’s modern, condensed aesthetic style. “Genelec monitors have gained a good reputation in the industry, and were an inevitable choice for this project,” explains Wei. Beyond the style of the studio complex, a great deal of technical thought has gone into its creation. Take for example the large 300-square-meter recording studio with its variable reverberation time. The space features more than 70 rotary columns with different heights and diameters, and different sizes of sound absorption holes – which are used to achieve a reverberation time ranging from 0.8 to 1.2s. The control room for this space features a pair of 1236 main monitors embedded in the floor-to-ceiling window. The team had a vision of making the monitors look as if they were floating in the glass, but faced challenges with the weight of the monitors and the assembly. Wei worked with Toyoshima’s design, calculated the angle, center of gravity and friction at the bottom accurately, and compared various construction materials and methods. With this worked out, the two 1236 monitors were installed, remaining consistent with the 6 degree inclination angle of the glass. In addition, three 8351 coaxial nearfield monitors have been placed on retractable stands – which don’t impede the sound from the main monitors when lowered, but can then rise mechanically to provide a 5.1 system for surround mixing. These are accompanied by two 7380 subwoofers. “8351 monitors give a very modern sense of science fantasy,” Wei explains. “When they are combined together with the 7380 subwoofers, it’s as if you are piloting a spaceship in Star Wars!” A further unique teaching space comes in the form of the “staircase classroom,” where students sit on steps rather than traditional seating. On one side of the classroom there is a large floor-to-ceiling window, looking into a studio. When the teacher is working, the students can enter the studio to watch or observe through the glass from the steps outside. Above the mixing console, a high-definition camera displays the teacher in action via a projection screen, while Genelec 1238 three-way monitors relay audio to the class. The project also created four other recording spaces, including a mastering room on the ground floor fitted with stereo 1238 monitors and a 5.1 system comprising 8351s and a 7370 subwoofer. Additionally, a multifunctional 5.1 teaching studio features 8260 monitors with a 7370 subwoofer, and two small practice studios in the basement are each equipped with a pair of 8351 monitors. Staff at the school describe the results as going “beyond our expectations,” and Wei is clearly proud of the innovative complex that has been created. “What we’ve ended up with here is excellent sound quality, and very accurate sound image positioning,” he comments. “The teachers at the school, the professors at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and the visiting professors from other schools think that this is the best studio they’ve ever seen.” For his part, Toyoshima agrees: “I think the high-quality equipment and creative atmosphere provided by the school can train a group of future-oriented sound engineers better and faster.” For more information please visit www.genelec.com.

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Photo file 1: Shanghai_school_PR_Image1.JPG Photo caption 1: Main music studio at Shanghai Vocational School of Contemporary Music Photo file 2: Shanghai_school_PR_Image2.JPG Photo caption 2: Multifunctional 5.1 recording studio at Shanghai Vocational School of Contemporary Music Photo file 3: Shanghai_school_PR_Image3.JPG Photo caption 3: Live area at Shanghai Vocational School of Contemporary Music Photo file 4: Shanghai_school_PR_Image4.JPG Photo caption 4: Acoustic designer Sam Toyoshima PDF file: shanghai_vocational_school_Case_Study.pdf PDF caption: Genelec Shanghai Vocational School case study Genelec, the pioneer in Active Monitoring technology, is celebrating over 40 years of designing and manufacturing active loudspeakers for true and accurate sound reproduction. Genelec is credited with promoting the concept of active transducer technology. Since its inception in 1978, Genelec has concentrated its efforts and resources into creating active monitors with unparalleled sonic integrity. The result is an active speaker system that has earned global acclaim for its accurate imaging, extremely high acoustic output from small enclosures, true high-fidelity with low distortion, and deep, rich bass. Genelec is also celebrating 15 years of its Smart Active Monitoring™ technology, which allows studio monitors to be networked, configured and calibrated for the user’s specific acoustic environment. Each Smart Active Monitor or subwoofer is equipped with advanced internal DSP circuitry, which tightly integrates with the GLM (Genelec Loudspeaker Manager) software application, running on Mac or PC. GLM’s reference microphone kit allows the user’s acoustic environment to be analyzed, after which GLM’s AutoCal feature optimizes each Smart Active Monitor for level, distance delay, subwoofer crossover phase and room response equalization, with the option of further fine tuning by the user. By minimizing the room’s influence on the sound, Smart Active Monitors deliver an unrivalled reference, with excellent translation between rooms. Other brand and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. —For more information on the complete range of Genelec Active Monitoring Systems, contact: Genelec Inc., 7 Tech Circle, Natick, MA 01760. Tel: (508) 652-0900; Fax: (508) 652-0909; Web: http://www.genelec.com/.