Newly Renovated Recording Studios for Music and Spoken Word Open in the Penn Libraries

Two newly soundproofed recording studios in the Albrecht Music Library’s Ormandy Music and Media Center provide expanded opportunities for the Penn community to make recordings of their creative work.

Responding to an ongoing need on campus for recording spaces available to students, two studio spaces in the Glossberg Suite, located on the fourth floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, are being outfitted with soundproof tiles and doors this semester. Once complete, the studios will reopen for all Penn students, faculty, and staff to reserve.

“We are incredibly happy to be able to enhance the Glossberg Suite to provide more recording space for the Penn community,” says Liza Vick, Head of the Otto E. Albrecht Music Library. "The University of Pennsylvania’s new strategic plan calls us to be interwoven and inventive, and our studios enable this creative practice across the disciplines by allowing musicians and podcasters to create in our space and with our collections.”

The studios come equipped with the fundamental tools needed to create a high-quality recording, including microphones, headphones, and computers with editing software.  

Both spaces can be used to record the spoken word for podcasts, video voice-overs, and interviews. The Glossberg Recording Room, the older of the studios, has been a popular choice for campus podcasters for several years, including #OurWharton, Amplify Nursing, and the Lauder Podcast, and podcast hosts will now benefit from the studio’s enhanced soundproofing.

The newer studio—Recording Room 424.6—is specifically outfitted for music recording, ideal for enthusiasts looking for a small-scale recording area outside of their home or office. “Our campus is full of students who love music and are passionate about their work, but aren’t necessarily earning a degree in music,” Vick notes. This studio features broadcast microphones, small diaphragm condenser mics, stands, cabling, and a four-channel Audient interface.

Other spaces for recording and media production in the Penn Libraries include the Hechtman Recording Studio, which supports video, audio, and photo production. The Music Library also lends musical instruments, hosts vast collections of scores, books, and other reference materials, and provides access to streaming audio and video.

Bookings will begin on June 3, 2024. To request a reservation, visit the webpages for either studio: Recording Room 424.6 (suitable for recording music and spoken word) or the Glossberg Recording Room 424.2 (suitable for recording spoken word).