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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

The Vern’s new creative outlet

Students recording rough demos on their laptops this semester may not be aware that they now have free access to a brand-new recording studio at West Hall on the Mount Vernon Campus.

Senior Martin MacAlister, who has run a smaller recording studio at Mitchell Hall since 2008, is excited to explore his vision for the new recording studio with several rooms filled with the latest sound equipment.

Last year, the school gave MacAlister the chance to purchase dozens of instruments and controls for the space, which is located on the bottom floor of GW’s newest dorm. With an almost limitless budget to work with and his prior knowledge of recording tools, he was able to outfit the studio to be a high-tech facility designed and operated by students.

“The beginning of August was when everything started to be wired,” MacAlister said. “We went with this sound company called Acuity Audiovisual. They bought all of the stuff that was on my list so we didn’t have to go all over the place. and they installed it too. I was there for a lot of that – just a couple weeks before school was when everything was finished.”

While the first month of school was occupied by a lot of experimentation, MacAlister believes that the studio is ready for anything students have to throw at it.

“Since mid-August, we’ve been working out kinks,” MacAlister said. “And just the other day was when we finally put a big ‘passed’ stamp on it.”

Students interested in using the space can find request forms on the Mount Vernon Campus Life website. MacAlister also stressed the need to staff the studio.

One interested student, freshman Mike Goldstein, has been helping McAlister since the beginning of this year, and shares the senior’s high hopes for what the space can yield.

“It’s really cool,” Goldstein said. “I did a lot of theater stuff in high school with sound, and now I’m getting the chance to do some music recording. hopefully people will bring in cool bands and I’ll be able to play a big part.”

While McAlister will graduate at the end of the academic year, the recording studio he helped create will remain at the disposal of creative students – who might just have the next hit up their sleeves.

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