The course features modules in composing, recording, engineering and producing music for a range of disciplines, for which the university recently invested in a number of new Yamaha MG12s. Another key element is the Live Sound modules, where students enjoy hands-on experience of QL1 and LS9 digital mixers.
"We have been using Yamaha mixers in our music labs for 12 years and the latest investment has been an upgrade to the most recent MG12 model," says technician and assistant course lecturer Jamie Donnelly.
Supplied by education technology specialist Academia, installed by Jamie and course lecturer Chris Allen, the MG12s are principally used to aid lecturers.
"Each music lab holds around 22 students and the MG12s are used to interconnect the multiple audio interfaces of the PC-based presenter machine, the lecturer's MacBook Pro, hardware synthesisers, auxiliary cables and microphones," says Jamie. "The synthesisers even include a venerable Yamaha DX7, which is still going strong!
"The MG12s offer an unparalleled experience for us. Not only do they provide maximum bang for our buck, they're robust and offer all the connectivity and reliability we could ask for. We're absolutely delighted with them."
The Live Sound modules give students the chance to experience hands-on mixing with the QL1 and LS9-16. They are used in lectures, are lent to students to use on live shows and also for the final year performances.
"For these performances, second year students do the live sound mixing for the third years' final Composition and Performance assessment, says Jamie. "Chris and I also use the consoles when providing live sound reinforcement for college events, a recent example being a masterclass by Brian Cox. For all of these events the flexibility of Dante networking is really useful, including recording to a DAW via Dante Virtual Soundcard."
"From a teaching point of view, the QL1 develops the familiar workflow of previous generations of Yamaha console, allowing us to show students similar workflows on a wider range of digital mixing consoles, without having to learn completely new systems. These transferable skills are crucial in training our future live sound engineers," says Chris.
(Jim Evans)
