Soundsnap SFX

Searching sfx on Soundsnap.com

BNU students on sound and film courses now have full access to the amazing Soundsnap SFX library. This is an incredible resource for finding all sorts of sounds and music.

Sound Design lecturer Alan Green says "There are getting on for half a million sound effects in this extraordinary collection. As a sound designer you can only be as good as the sounds and resources you have a available to you, so this really is a huge boost for our students. We have also created a Foley studio recently, plus installed facilities including an Electronic synthesis suite, and a Dolby Atmos mix stage. It all adds up to a professional level sound design facility for those interested in creating the detailed and immersive soundscapes required of films, games and other forms of audio media."

You can listen to the sounds and music available in the Soundsnap library on their website; https://www.soundsnap.com

F1 sound

Great post about BNU graduate Scott Ramsell who has been recording sound on location for F1....

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXeTXHiL3uq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Dolby Atmos facilities

Our Audio Studio 1 has received a major update and is now equipped for mixing 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos. Along with the addition of Avid's flagship control surface the Avid S6 students are now able to work in this immersive new sound format, whether making a cinematic surround sound mix for film or games or creating immersive spatialized music. For more information on Dolby Atmos see here...

https://www.dolby.com/technologies/dolby-atmos/

BNU is committed to giving our students the opportunity to work with the latest technologies and industry standard tools. We' ll be introducing multiple new items to our facilities over coming months... watch this space! 

Avid S6 in action!!

Live events work

2nd year audio student Zuzanna Wawrzkiewicz has been doing an amazing work experience opportunity with our local live events company Southby Productions. 

https://www.southby-productions.co.uk

Zuzanna worked for a week with the Southby team in the preparation and running of a special concert by the Aurora Orchestra at the Printworks venue in London.

Many thanks to James and Anna and all at Southby for providing such a generous opportunity to get involved with their work behind the scenes.

Moving on up

The University has climbed 18 places in the 2022 Complete University Guide league table of UK universities and ranked 14^th of institutions in London and the South East. 

This included our Music & Sound courses which ranked 5th in London and the South East.

Sound & music students are recording some experimental live theatre performances working in collaboration with Performing Arts and Film & Television Production. Mixing on the Behringer X32 desk and recording onto Pro Tools this has involved a wide array of mic techniques using body-word radio mics, multiple boom microphones, and our Audio Technica AT8022 X/Y Stereo kit. Sound and cameras are routed through to our Outside Broadcast truck. A similar set-up is used for recording live music shoots in the university studios working with external clients including BBC Music.
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Keeping in Contact

 Sound Design student Tom Boyes pictured contact mic'ing this metal sculpture on campus here at Bucks! Contact mics can capture extremely clear sound, picking up resonances that would never be heard if using conventional mics. 

Students are currently working on a project making recordings from the local environment and then returning to the studio to load the sounds and produce an original composition. 

NSS results

Bucks sound and music courses have been given a thumbs up by our students in the recent NSS 2020 survey.

The average score for overall satisfaction with the course was 94.6%. And BA Audio & Music Production scored an impressive 100%.

NSS 2020 asked students across the country about their experience at uni. Other highlights for Bucks include;

Bucks is in the top 20 of all UK Universities, when all 27 questions in the survey are averaged.

Bucks is in the top 3 of all Universities in London and the South East, on the same measure.

Bucks ranks 3rd in England for the learning opportunities we offer our students

Bucks ranks 8th in the UK for the advice we offer our students about their study choices.

In London and the South East, Bucks is in the top 10 for:

• overall satisfaction 
• the sense of community our students experience 
• our quality of teaching 
• satisfaction with assessment and feedback; and 
• the academic support we offer. 

Bucks Students’ Union is in the UK’s top 3 in terms of how students perceive the students’ union represents their interests

Top 10 employment rates

Figures published by Higher Education Statistic Agency (HESA) shows that Bucks has one of the top employment rates in the UK. Bucks New University ranks 8th in the UK for graduates entering employment or further study.


Within the sound and music areas Bucks graduates have gone on to work for top studios and companies in the field such as Southby, Brittania Row, Sky TV, Goldcrest, Warner Bros De Lane Lea, Halo, TT Games, CTV, Vice Media, Gibson, and the BBC to name a few.

Lockdown Lectures

Life on the course continues as normal (more-or-less!) during the campus closure. Recently we were joined by Sound Designer Enos Desjardins for a special guest session to talk dialogue music and SFX and hear about his work on films like Trust, Black Mirror, and the Netflix film Close.  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3345691/

On set for The Hornet's Show

Recording in 3D

Great session recording sound with the Soundfield SPS200 ambisonics mic. This allows for a '3-D' recording of the environment, which can then be reproduced in our 5.1 Surround Sound studios with immersive results. 


 

Sound Design for Games, in Studio 1

BBC Introducing at the Royal Albert Hall

Nice video documenting the recent BBC Introducing recording undertaken by our students at the Royal Albert Hall!

For lots more video from across the department see here...
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-UK1ub2QtBPMJxsqgC7hfQ/videos

Pinewood 2019

Another year, another visit to the extroardinary Pinewood film studios. This included spending some time in Pinewood's vast dubbing theatres with Head of Mix Operations James Doyle who went over recent work at the studios such as the sound mix for the multi Oscar winning film Roma.
We also toured of the studio lot seeing the early stages of set building for the forthcoming Bond 25 and some of the historic settings within the studio grounds as seen in films such as Mary Poppins Returns and many others.
 

We're on Twitter...

For the latest updates please see our twitter accounts...

BucksMusicDept
Moving Image at Bucks

And for course information please see here...
BA Hons Audio & Music Production

BA Hons Audio & Music Production with Foundation Year
BSc (Hons) Sound Design
BSc (Hons) Sound Design with Foundation Year

Sound for Sky

Bucks graduate George Jones has been working as a sound operator on youth magazine show Whatsup TV for Sky Television. George got the opportunity via the MamaYouth project following a year's work at a small independent music studio,
He says, "working as a trainee sound operator and runner on What’s Up TV was a great experience, intense but great. The first episode is on the 26th of Jan on Sky One and it runs for 7 episodes. It’s a magazine style show, so we did a lot of interviews on location and then had a week of filming studio links. Really excited to see the show air next weekend and get my first tv credit!"

Check out the series here WhatsupTV

UPDATE!
George is now working as a sound trainee on the popular TV drama series 'Silent Witness', and following this will be shooting a new HBO show at Leavesden Studios. 

Sennheiser winner

AMP student Lukas Kalvaitis has won a remix competition put on by our industry partners Sennheiser. Given a collection of loops and samples students were asked to create an original piece, with the winner picking up a pair of Sennheiser HD25 headphones.
Congratualtions to Lukas, you can check out his winning mix here

Working at the World Cup

3rd year AMP student Scott Ramsell will be part of the VAR crew for England's world cup match against Panama on Sunday. 
See below from The Bucks Herald.
Best of luck Scott!!

Scott Ramsell, 20, is currently working in Russia as a Referee Audio Engineer; linking up referees with video assistant referees (VARs).

Scott will be pitchside at Sunday’s England World Cup match against Panama, helping to ensure that the VAR, which reviews decisions made by the head referee with the use of video footage and a headset for communication, runs smoothly. This is the first time in a World Cup that the system is being used. 

England’s match is in Nizhny Novgorod, western Russia, and Scott is responsible for ensuring that the referees on the pitch can communicate with the VARs stationed in Moscow, 260 miles away. 

Scott, who is studying a degree in BA (Hons) Audio and Music production at Buckinghamshire New University said: “It’s exciting but at the same time there is a lot of pressure, with more than 500 people involved in the production of one match.

“Everyone’s job can have an impact on someone else’s so you have to be on your mettle to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

“During the matches I am right next to the fourth official and the VAR TV that the referee looks at to arrive at decisions.”

Scott has already worked on some games including Sweden vs. South Korea, and will continue to work on matches involving Argentina and Croatia, Switzerland and Costa Rica, as well as a last-16 and quarter-final match.

Universal Audio visit

Tom Waterman from Universal Audio visited recently to deliver a masterclass in mixing with their UAD plugins. Captured on video here

BBC Introducing

We are sooo proud of our continuing work with BBC Introducing. Have a look at some of these vids. All BBC Introducing performances are recorded and mixed by students on the courses at Bucks, both weekly on campus and at locations such as the Royal Albert Hall, as featured on BBC Three Counties radio and on BBC iPlayer

The Hornets Show goes Live!

Bucks students have produced a live outside broadcast for university partners Watford FC with Audio & Music Production students Jan Oleksinski and Simon Cox crewing sound.

Buckinghamshire New University students have filmed an episode of magazine programme The Hornet Show with Watford Football Club live for the first time at the side’s Vicarage Road ground.

The Premier League club’s pitch was the backdrop to the hour-long episode, shown live on the club’s website and hosted by Emma Saunders and Jon Marks. It has usually been pre-recorded at the University’s campus in High Wycombe.

Senior Lecturer Lorna Dean Gibbs said there was no possibility of re-takes and it was 'the first time students had been put under the pressure of providing a live show'.

She added: “Despite a few other issues on the day, and the fact time was limited as the rig and rehearsals had to be done before we went live, the students worked in a professional manner to ensure we were ready for transmission. 

“There was a definite time pressure to the production – once we started streaming there was no way to start again - but that’s a good preparation for the live TV environment students will enter into when they graduate.”

Students studying BA (Hons) Film and Television Production; BA (Hons) Audio and Music Production; and BA (Hons) Animation and Visual Effects work each month with Watford FC on The Hornet Show, which is normally filmed on a green screen background in the University's Gateway building and also using an outside broadcasting unit belonging to the University.

The virtual set used as the backdrop for the show is designed by Animation and Visual Effects students, while Audio and Music Production students manage audio capture and sound design. The Film and Television Production students involved are studying a sports and live events production pathway in their degrees.

Student Jess Adcock said it had been a ‘fantastic experience’. 

She added: “It was a massive change for us from our usual set-up for The Hornet Show, with a change of studio and no green screen background. We also had the added pressure of a live shoot and knowing we couldn’t retake anything.

“This made it all the more exciting and a very valuable experience for us all.”

Emma Saunders said she had been in no doubt that, having worked with the students  throughout the season, they would oversee a well-polished production shooting live.

She said: “The students then went on to exceed these high expectations and produce possibly the slickest show we've ever done.

“I was particularly impressed with their attention to detail and communication skills - both key when working with a presenters who are about to do a live show.

“As a presenter I always enjoy shooting with this team as they are consistently polite, productive and very professional. 

“It feels like I'm doing them a disservice when referring to any of these individuals as students as the work they carry out is of a high industry standard."

Photo credit: Sol Tomlinson.

Dolby Atmos - Industry visits

AMP students were invited to the Dolby Film School recently for a demonstration of their Dolby Atmos format, a spectacular experience of the mixing techniques used in films such as The Life of Pi and Gravity. Examples of other work was also presented, including some groundbreaking Atmos mixes of the likes of Ellie Goulding and Imagine dragons live. Further to this, students paid avisit to a leading Dolby atmos mixing facility in Soho, at Warner Bros De Lane Lea. Operations manager Mike King provided a rare glimpse inside the world famous Stage1, where soundtracks on titles such as Wonderwoman and Early Man have been mixed to completion, not to mention many of the recent Bond films such as Spectre and Quantum of Solace.

 AMP graduate Mark Timms (now studio assistant at De Lane Lea) was also on hand to demonstrate 

the phenomenal studio facilities here. 

Audio and Music Production Graduate on tour with Bear's Den

A&MP graduate, Scott Humphries, has been featured in article from Pro Sound Web discussing the Digico SD9 that he is using to mix UK folk act Bear's Den live shows.

The article can be found here:

http://www.prosoundweb.com/channels/live-sound/digico_on_tour_with_british_folk_rock_band_bears_den/

Working for the Beeb

Recent graduate (and Sennheiser award winner!) Mark Timms sent us some news from his current work on the BBC series 'Doctors'.

Working alongside top Production sound mixers such Tony Wass and Andy Redfern, Mark says...

"I’ve just finished my fourth week on doctors now for the BBC and it’s lots of fun, very hectic as they shoot a lot of material each day but you get used to it! I’m the sound assistant and second boom operator, so I’m in early prepping the kit for a 10-11 hour shoot then de-rigging in the evening. The team there are great though and it’s a good environment for learning and making contacts."

He adds that 'There's still loads to learn but knowing my stuff with the Sound Devices 664 mixer and having location sound experience got me in so couldn’t have done it without the help received on the course at Bucks'

As if that isn't a good enough start in the industry, Mark has also been working as a runner at one of Soho's premier Audio post-production facilities Warner Bros De Lane Lea. Of his experiences there so far he says, 'I was able to sit in on several ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement/Dubbing) sessions, including one with Brian Blessed for the Lego Dimensions game, and one crowd session for a film called How To Talk to Girls at Parties. I learnt a lot about how ADR is done at that level, I also spoke to the mix techs about what they do and they walked me through their set up which was great to see.'

Go Mark!!!

Awards Season!

See the full story here... http://bucks.ac.uk/content/newsroom/2016/Daniel_Sloma
http://bucks.ac.uk/content/newsroom/2016/Mark_Timms

BUCKS NEW UNIVERSITY GRADUATE IN TUNE WITH HER CAREER IN DELTA SOUNDS ROLE

Buckinghamshire New University BA (Hons) Audio and Music Production graduate Cara Smith has praised her degree as she forges a career as a Project Manager with the Royal Albert Hall for global audio and communications company Delta Sound.

The company has worked with the world-famous venue for 20 years and Cara’s role includes includes quoting for the use of the in-house EM Acoustics PA system for new productions and project managing sound for events, from quoting a price to ensuring all is set up properly on the day.

Cara said: “I also have the opportunity to mix Front of House and Monitors at some of the gigs we do at the Hall, which is great for keeping my hand in sound engineering and broadening my work.”

Since completing her degree in 2015, Cara has also worked as an Events Assistant at StubHub.

Speaking of her education, she added: “University helped prepare me for this role through both my degree and the work I did outside it whilst studying at Bucks.

“The Live Sound module in particular with Daniel Peters helped broaden my knowledge of how a live gig is set up and run, whilst I also worked as a sound technician covering events at Bucks Students’ Union. This cemented my experience in a real-world situation.

“Through my hard work during my degree, I was also put forward to work at Glastonbury Festival in 2015 as part of their ‘Next Generation’ scheme. I worked with NEG Earth Lights Ltd on the Pyramid Stage and this experience was really beneficial and really helped me gain first-hand experience of how a large-scale event is planned and then run.

“I wouldn’t be in the role I am now if it wasn’t for studying my degree at Bucks, as not only did I learn a lot during my time there but also the connections I made and people I met ultimately helped me secure this job.”

Daniel Peters, Lecturer in Audio & Music Production (Live Sound), said: “Cara’s success reflects the opportunities open to someone as dedicated as she was in her studies.

“The facilities at Bucks and the combination of transferable audio engineering and management skills taught on the Audio and Music Production degree mean students are ready for industry by the time they graduate.

Trip to Pinewood

2nd year students had a visit to nearby Pinewood film studios. This included spending some time with Rerecording mixer Brendan Nicholson who gave us a mixing demo in the Powell dubbing theatre - the largest mixing stage in the UK and equipped for Dolby's latest surround sound format; Dolby Atmos. There have been some amazing films mixed here such as Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting and 28 Day Later


Students also had a tour of the studios, led by Ann Runeckles from Pinewood. This included a peek into the stages where the latest series of classic sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf is in production. 

Many thanks due to all at Pinewood for a great day, and a rare insight into the heart of uk film production.