About




The Studio for Research in Sound and Technology (SRST) at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) provides an environment for inquiry, technological innovation, and education in the sonic arts and sound design.  


SRST serves as a hub for experimentation in design with and of sound, facilitating research in sonic interaction, experience, composition, and performance. The Studio hosts a selection of courses where sound or music technology factors as a central medium or subject of study, offers its own educational programs, and produces events that facilitate exchange among practitioners and the public.




Founded in 2018 as the Spatial Audio Studio and located at 15 Westminster St., SRST features an acoustically treated room with a 25.4 channel sound system, flexible seminar/work area, extensive digital composition tools, and a selection of hardware synthesizers including Serge modular and GRP. As a workspace for projects, SRST can be reserved by students enrolled in associated courses.

As a site for research, the Studio facilitates faculty, staff, and student experimentation with outcomes aimed at peer review publication, presentation at conferences and festivals, and other forms of exposition. SRST hosts visiting lectures and workshops by designers, artists, and technologists and provides a fresh context for exchanges with industry and cross-institutional research networks.