The Backdoor Studio FAQs

All current SDSU students.

No.  It is open to every student at SDSU with a valid Red ID and you don’t even have to use it for school projects! Record your garage band, produce YouTube content, record a podcast, etc.

Yes. Reservations are required as the studio is usually booked for weeks in advance. Walk-ins are only accepted if the studio is available and a Media Studio Technician can assist with your setup. Walk-ins are accepted for the editing bay of The Backdoor Studio, though reservations are encouraged. Please see The Backdoor Studio Reservations page for instructions on how to make a reservation.

Please see The Backdoor Studio Reservations page to create an account with us to make a reservation. You will need your RedID number and SDSU student email to make an account.

A Media Studio Technician will manually activate your account within the next business day. We appreciate your patience. Please contact us at as.thebackdoorstudio@sdsu.edu if you believe there has been an error with the activation of your account.

The studio can be reserved for a maximum of 3 hours at a time. Each student can have a maximum of 3 reservations scheduled at any given time. Reservations can be made back-to-back to extend usage time.

The Backdoor Studio hours are 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily during the semester and 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily during spring, summer and winter breaks.

The Backdoor Studio is located on the first floor of the Aztec Student Union behind the Information Booth, at the end of the pedestrian bridge and across from the Oggi’s patio.

Food and drinks are not allowed in the studio or editing bay. Food and drinks may be left within designated areas of the studio and the editing bay.

Media Studio Technicians will set up any necessary audio, video and lighting equipment for your session, as well as assist in setting up software, if applicable. However, please come prepared to run your own session. Media Studio Technicians will be on standby to assist with any troubleshooting needs.

Creating the Backdoor Studio was a visionary project that was in the works for several years. Former A.S. President and member of the Aztec Music Group, J. Cole, proposed the idea of a student-run sound and video studio open to students of all majors. After researching and conducting student focus groups to ensure the studio’s services meet the diverse needs of students, the A.S. Board of Directors and Aztec Student Union Board voted to proceed with a plan to create a non-academic based, student-run sound and video studio for all students to use.

The space was named in honor of the original Backdoor at the Aztec Center, the former building that has now been replaced by Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. When the Aztec Center opened in 1968, the space was originally intended to house two lanes of the Aztec Center bowling alley. However, students voiced their opinions and asked for a space for coffee and music. The coffee part did not last, but the live music certainly did…for over 30 years. This space became known as The Backdoor because guests entered through the back door of the venue. Despite a capacity of only 250 guests, The Backdoor hosted over 3,000 concerts featuring more than 5,500 bands and musicians, including Jimmy Buffett, Linda Ronstadt, Patti Smith, Tom Petty, REM, the Ramones and Metallica.

Yes, our Media Studio Technicians will set up the necessary equipment to record any instruments and vocals for your session.

The Backdoor Studio Equipment

We encourage you to record onto our studio computer, but you are welcome to bring your own computer as well to record. We can supply a secondary audio interface for you to record onto your personal computer. If you do record onto our computer, be prepared to export your files after your session as no files can be saved onto our studio computer.

Yes. The Backdoor Studio has all the necessary equipment for professional video recording, including cameras, lighting and a variety of backdrops. In addition to our green screen, we have black and beige curtains, as well as several different colored paper backdrops.

The Backdoor Studio Equipment

We have a comfortable studio chair along with a few rolling and folding chairs available for other accompanying guests.

In both the studio and the editing bay, we have Apple Mac Studio (M2 Ultra, 2023) computers with Apple Studio Displays (27-inch, 5K Retina).

Yes. You can bring in any equipment you would like to. However, we cannot guarantee your equipment will seamlessly integrate into the native environment of the room.

Please refer to our The Backdoor Studio Equipment page for more information.

An external drive or cloud storage service is recommended. You cannot save to our computers. Any saved projects will be deleted each night.

No, a user's project should never be saved to the studio computers. The user should always save their project to an external hard drive or a cloud service. All files left on our computers will be deleted each night.

You can knock or ring our editing bay doorbell to let us know you’ve arrived for your session and a Media Studio Technician will open the studio for you. You are welcome to wait in the editing bay if you are early.

Your reservation includes your setup and teardown time. If you have a lot of equipment, you may need to arrive early to unload and move your vehicle. Anything of ours that you are using will already be set up.

You can use the loading dock in the basement of the Aztec Student Union if you have a lot of equipment. You access the loading dock from Aztec Circle Drive coming south off of College Avenue. Once unloaded, you must move the vehicle and park it elsewhere. Vehicles left unattended may be cited or towed. There are flatbed carts and hand trucks to help you move your items.

There is most likely a reservation ahead of yours, so getting into the studio early may not be possible. You can always get to the Student Union early to unload and be ready to enter the space at your reserved time.

Your reservation time includes all of your setup and teardown time. For example, if your reservation is from 3-6 p.m., you can enter the room at 3 p.m. to set up, and at 6 p.m. you should be leaving the studio exactly how you found it when you first walked in. Be sure to account for the time it takes to transfer your files from our computer, SD card or hard drive to your personal device or cloud storage. Larger file transfers or uploads may need to be done in the editing bay to not disrupt the next session.