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.

Top Guest Lecturers

We've had some incredible guests visiting us recently, such as Tudor Davies who came in to talk about his work as Sound Supervisor on Later with Jools Holland, Glastonbury for the BBC, TFI Friday and a whole lot more. Many thanks Tudor!

Audio & Music Production Level 6 Faithless Trip

Students from Bucks University attended two Faithless arena shows at Birmingham Barclaycard Arena (The NIA) and Alexandra Palace on the 2^nd and 4^th of December. Faithless have recently had a number one album with Faithless 2.0

Following an extensive case study of the technical requirements of a touring arena show, the students, who are in their final year on the Audio & Music Production course, were taken through audio setup by Front of House Sound Engineer Mark Kennedy. Mark uses the latest Solid State Logic 500 digital console to mix 56 inputs from the stage.

Following the guided tour of the console and the l’acoustic sound system, the students were taken on a tour of the Stage, Monitor System and Radio Equipment. The students also had the opportunity to mix a recording of Insomnia through the PA

Stage Manager Toby Plant and the backline crew then took the students through each departments role on the stage before the band arrived to Sound Check.

All were then able to watch Mark mix the show from the Front of House position.

 Audio & Music Production visit to Sennheiser HQ

Bucks New Uni’s long term partners, Sennheiser UK recently played host to our Audio & Music Production Freshers at their UK headquarters in Marlow. Sennheiser’s Phil Cummings introduced what is now widely regarded as the leading microphone and headphone manufacturing company in the world.  The trip was also an opportunity to hear about how the partnership benefits Bucks students, and in particular, the annual Sennheiser Scholarship Scheme, where the winning first year student will receive £1500 in cash, along with a range of Sennheiser gear to help them through their studies and kick start their career in audio production.  The visit included a Q &A with the students’  live audio lecturer at Bucks,  Dan Peters,  who talked about his recent work with legendary dance act, Faithless.  The morning  rounded off with an interview with Joe Campbell; long term Live Sound Engineer for The Prodigy.   More recently, Joe has been working as Monitor Engineer for Adele and the visit to Sennheiser came just before Joe headed into rehearsals for Adele’s new live show and her much anticipated follow up album to her record breaking release ‘19’.

Bucks Audio & Music Production Students Working @ Glastonbury

GLASTONBURY 2015

Five lucky students were selected from Bucks to work on the Pyramid stage and The Main Stage at Glastonbury this year. We've asked them to give some idea of the jobs they undertook, their highlights and whats been happening since....here we go....

Sam Newman

I was working for Skan PA on the other stage. In the load in i got very hands on with everything, including flying the PA (a d&b j-line rig), running multi's, building front of house (which consisted of 2 avid profiles on a flip-flop system and spare cat 5 lines for any visiting desks), running out stage VEAMs and building monitor world (2 PM5Ds on flip flop, also with spares for visiting desks) 

During the show days we were patching in the satellite boxes on the rolling risers and placing microphones. Got to work with some awesome bands, highlights being Jungle, the chemical brothers and Ella Eyre. We also were involved with changeovers and stripping the risers of microphones after every set. 

Since Glastonbury I went out on tour doing FOH and Monitors at 5 festivals throughout the UK. I was on a Yamaha ls9. These festivals included Y Not festival, Truck (in Oxford) and Tramlines in Sheffield. We provided full production across 3 stages. On our stage we had acts such as Don Broco, Lower than Atlantis and The Xcerts. 

Since then I was offered work by Skan to do a European tour with Crosby, Stills and Nash, being a system tech for the monitor engineer. 

James Desnapp

i was working with Skan Pa on the Other Stage. 

Skan invited me down to their warehouse before the estival in order to meet the team, while i was there they had me build some Yamaha Rio Racks for one of the headliners FOH system and help them load all the arctic lorrys ready for the festival.

On the Wednesday we got to fly the main PA system which was comprised of two main hangs and two side hangs of D&B J 8's and 12's and a number of subs across the front of the stage. On the Thursday the rest of the Skan crew arrived and the day mainly consisted of getting all microphones, cables etc ready for the Friday and testing and tuning the system

The rest of the weekend i spent working as one of the two mic and cable teams as part of Skans AB (or Flipflop) system, this consisted of meeting with bands, techs etc who weren't self contained (Bring own crew, mics, cables etc) and getting all microphones ready of stands and micing up everything on risers back stage, then cabling and line checking every band before they went on. 

Over the whole weekend i got to work with some incredible bands including: Jamie T, Ella Eyre, Clean bandit, the Maccabees and the list goes on. 

out of the whole weekend though, the Chemical Brothers where the stand out act.

Paul Abdullah

I was allocated a position to work with the crew at Neg Earth, one of the leading lighting company in the entertainments industry.

I met up with the crew for the Pyramid stage in the warehouse for a day before the festival. The day involved marking up truss, by numbering and colour coding each piece, so upon arriving on site the truss can be assembled quickly and also marking where each lighting fixture is to be rigged as well, such as the moving lights and strobes.

The day before the main arena opened, I headed over to the Other Stage, which is run by a different bunch of crew from Neg Earth. Here I fitted in well with the crew, which had a much more relaxed atmosphere than the Pyramid stage, which was heavily influenced by the fact everything had to be spot on for TV.

After chatting with Tom Lesh, the guy overseeing the lighting aspect at the stage, he showed me the lighting desk they were using, Grand MA 2, and let me have a play with it through the use of the connected visualizer (Wiziwig) of the lighting rig.

From there, Tom invited me back the next day when the stage opened to the punters and had me doing lights for the various artists that did not have Lighting Operators. These artists included some really big names, which was amazing for me! I ended up doing lights for Ella Eyre, Everything Everything, The Maccabees and many more.

I also had the delight to build the lighting rig for Kayne West, which ended up with me being given 5 local crew for me to instruct on how to build, which was a surreal experience, but a good learning curve on how to instruct people and keep everyone occupied.

After the festival I sent an email saying thanks to both the crew at the Pyramid Stage and the Other stage for having me. About a month after, I got an email from Tom Lesh, the guy running the Other stage, asking if I was available to work for Neg Earth up in Glasgow for their festival at Bellahouston Park. I was meant to be on holiday in Holland that week with family, but I did not want to miss an amazing and possibly once in a lifetime opportunity, so I took up the offer to work for Neg Earth.