MEANWHILE, IN ROME
Jan 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Tony Ware
Held once a year, the Red Bull Music Academy is a monthlong temporary production school installation. Organized by Munich, Germany-based trio Yadastar for the Austrian energy drink company, the Red Bull Music Academy promotes open-ended cooperative exchange and has been held from Berlin to Brazil and New York to South Africa since 1998. In the case of 2004's edition, held Oct. 3-Nov. 5, the Academy resides in a narrow alley in the heart of Rome, right off the Piazza Mattei and mere steps from the Tiber River.
Opalescent rooms are crammed with Apple computers and an array of software and production equipment. Seven digital work-stations, as well as a “library” from which to check out a varied collection of gear, are made available nightly. For a brisk month, the most up-to-date technology is offered, but the Academy is difficult to reach by anything but foot, and power is temporary, provided by a lorry-transported generator. And selected participants — two groups of 30 are picked for separate two-week sessions — spend their time listening to lectures by the likes of Manitoba, engineer Bob Power and DJ Magic Mike; talking crate-digging with Stones Throw label manager Egon; and hitting the decks with Cut Chemist, one of the year's five resident tutors.
The most valuable facet of the Academy, however, is learning about networking with fellow enthusiasts while walking from the hotel to the site or while sharing the turntables at Red Bull — sponsored nights throughout the host city's hottest clubs.
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