Skillset accreditation

Some good news in the department. The Film & Television Production course has recently been accredited by Creative Skillset, the industry body for skills in the creative industries. It's a prestigious award and good news for students on Audio & Music Production too, who work closely with those on Film&Television contributing to the location sound and audio post-production/sound design on productions during the course.

Audio & Music Production itself is accredited by JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Support), a Skillset approved organization. JAMES accreditation is awarded to audio/music courses which are considered as meeting the needs of industry effectively, and the course is one of only a handful in the country to have been accredited.

http://www.jamesonline.org.uk

Sennheiser UK Ltd presents scholarship to AMP student

Leading audio manufacturer Sennheiser UK Ltd has presented its second annual scholarship award of £1,500 to Audio and Music Production student Callum Paxton.

The scholarship is presented to students based on their academic performance in the first year and is part of an education partnership agreement between Bucks and Sennheiser.

It was presented following interviews between six shortlisted students and Phil Cummings, Sennheiser’s Marketing Projects Manager, where the students were asked a series of questions.

Callum said: “The money will help pay for recording equipment and to help set up a covers band I am playing with to finance my university studies. I also plan to use the money to finance high-quality and innovative sounds for a website for the covers band.

“It is great that the University has this partnership with a manufacturer of the calibre of Sennheiser and is one of the reasons I feel the university stands out.”

Phil Cummings said: “All of the candidates interviewed well and it was a tough choice to give the scholarship to Callum over the other students.

“Sennheiser is committed to developing the future of audio music production and is proud to be associated with Bucks New University.”

Mr Cummings was assisted by singer Nellie Bell, who is sponsored by Sennheiser, and will be recording in the audio production suites at Bucks New University next month.

She added: “I am extremely impressed by the facilities at Bucks New University and the standard of students. All were enthusiastic and answered the questions well.”

Runners-up Rob Cadman, James Collet, Jim Mitchell, Elliott Newman and Mark Timms each received a pair of Sennheiser HD25 headphones.   

Congratulations to our 2014 graduates!

Graduation week for Bucks students was last week (8^th – 12^th) September. It was a time for caps and gowns; suits; impressively vertiginous heels; pomp and ceremony. But, above all, it was a time for celebration (with maybe a smidge of alcohol).

In addition to all our graduates receiving their well-earned degrees, a few were also awarded special prizes.

Firstly, receiving the “Best Sound Design Production” award from Sennheiser was Mark Rowles. Mark graduated from AMP with a First Class honours degree and received the award for his final year sound design work on a collaborative film called ‘Immerse’. The film was part of Mark’s Showreel, of which Mark said: "I worked with students from other courses at the University including Film and Television Production, Animation and Visual Effects, and Advertising: so it was a real team effort.”

Mark is currently working as a freelance location sound recordist but hopes ultimately to work in audio post-production for television and film.

Also awarded special prizes were Roy Bates and Ian Bonner. Both graduated on Tuesday with 2:1s in Audio and Music Production. They received the annual “Focusrite Prize for Best Music Production” for their work recording, mixing and mastering a two-track EP for Colourshop; a singer/songwriter music project created by brothers Alfredo and Diego Salvati, from London.

Roy is now working as an Audio Technician at Bucks and Ian is a trainee live audio technician and operator at Moonlite Productions in Southern Road, Aylesbury.

Roy, Ian and fellow graduate George Belben have also set up a music production company called Fiermente Productions. Its website is at www.fiermente.co.uk. Fiermente Productions has worked with artists including Telpha and Misha and his Merry Men. The team is about to work on Colourshop's next EP.

Other award recipients were Adam Whalley, who received the JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Support) award for 2014 (read more about what Adam is up to now here), and Nick Lucas who was awarded the Richer Sounds award for his achievements in production and recording throughout his degree.