The View from CCRMA
CCRMA, the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, is a major research lab on campus with a storied history — the frequency synthesizer that was later licensed to Yahama was born out of this lab, and this alone made an enormous impact on digital music. The lab iteself is housed in what I think was the old president’s building — it feels like an old mansion. On the 2nd floor there is a computer lab awkwardly placed in the middle of a formal dining room — crown moulding and large bay windows galore.
But the gem of this place is its 3rd floor lounge, with a balcony that looks out at the foothills behind Stanford, the Big Dish perched on the hill.
The picture doesn’t do it justice. You can sit at a table there on a nice day…and it feels great. Inside, there are couches and a foosball table, with large windows showing a view out over campus:
Click on the photos for a bigger view. Too bad you need to have taken a music-related course in order to get access to the building..but once you’ve taken a course you get entrance priviledges until you leave Stanford.