Think of the words ‘Edinburgh’ and ‘entertainment’ together and the first idea that tends to pop into one’s head is the annual, month long Festival Fringe. But Scotland’s capital enjoys a year-round variety of stage entertainment, nowhere more so than at the Pleasance Theatre, owned and run by the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA). So it’s just as well that a Yamaha LS9 digital console is there to handle the pace.
The Swiss government has an excellent record of investment in the future of its population, being possibly the most ‘pro-training’ administration on the European continent. Promoting a wide range of training initiatives for young people, one example of these is the biennial Federal Diploma exam for Sound Technician, which Yamaha supports by providing equipment.
Yamaha’s M7CL and LS9 digital mixing consoles continue to make great inroads in the education market - their user-friendliness, high end facilities in a compact footprint and cost-effectiveness all making them very attractive to schools, colleges and universities. The latest establishment to invest in Yamaha is Aberystwyth University, which recently took delivery of two new systems.
For further education colleges which offer courses covering the technical production aspects of live music and theatre, it’s crucial that student training is done on industry standard equipment which graduates will find in the ‘real world’ after their studies. For this reason, Kendal College has just invested in a Yamaha M7CL digital mixing console.
When Nick Gaunt, technical support manager for Archbishop Grimshaw School, a Solihull comprehensive, was presented in late 2006 with the case for needing a new mixing console, local audio specialists SSE Audio Group suggested that a Yamaha M7CL-48 might just fit the bill.
With the recent introduction of the SB-168ES stage box for Yamaha’s digital consoles, it was the ideal opportunity for SSE Audio Group to invite people to beat the winter blues with a Yamaha demonstration day at the company's Redditch headquarters.
In a society increasingly obsessed with the idea that merely turning up to audition for television talent contests is the way to have a career in the performing arts, it’s gratifying that establishments such as the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) are there to provide realistic, high quality training for this most difficult of industries to work in.
When several students of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, had the opportunity to design the audio system for an open-air concert by the Italian Orchestra dell'Insubria, Yamaha’s regional office was more than happy to help.
February saw the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) stage a brand new adaptation of The Who's legendary 1973 double album Quadrophenia, which inspired the 1978 film of the same name.
Over the past two years, the University of Derby has invested £55m in student facilities which includes a brand new Arts, Design and Technology campus due to be opened in 2007. The new campus will be home to those studying for various degree courses which cover everything from live performance to the technology of the live event, the studio, multimedia and the design of studio equipment.
Founded in 1848, London Metropolitan University is the largest single university in London and one of the largest in the UK, with over 25,000 students including 7000 international students from over 155 countries. It is one of the foremost providers of undergraduate, postgraduate, professional and vocational education in Britain and has an enviable international reputation for constant and creative educational innovation.
Founded in 1906, The Central School of Speech and Drama is one of the pre-eminent Drama schools in the United Kingdom, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs and training for the dramatic arts and the performance and media industries. Central has built an international reputation for “total” theatre training―working closely with the theatre and performing arts industries to provide both traditional and up-to-the-minute knowledge and skills across the wide range of disciplines necessary to create live performance.
Newcastle College is the largest in the North East and has a national reputation for the quality of it's Music and Performing Arts courses.
A museum doesn’t always spring to mind when thinking of applications for a Yamaha digital mixing console but Bradford’s award winning National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (NMPFT) is using a DM1000 for a variety of key tasks in support of the Museum’s many and varied activities.
Opened in 1996, the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala show at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on the 30th January. Performing in the show were many former students who delighted an audience of some 2000 people, among whom were Institute graduates and a number of high profile guests such as Sir Paul McCartney who as lead patron takes a close interest in the Institute and its work.
In 10 years, the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel [French National Audiovisual Institute] (INA) has become a major player in audio and video training in France. It offers hundreds of training courses both at introductory and advanced levels, in very diverse areas. The Institute has facilities that are the only ones of their kind in France, and its renowned trainers bring them constant success: even the private radio station NRJ is a partner with its prestigious NRJ School. Yamaha is one of the INAs preferred partners.
Founded in 1882, the Royal College of Music rightly deserves its reputation as one of the foremost conservatoires in the world. It is here that performers, conductors and composers are taught their professions and skills, many going on to reach international acclaim. It is difficult to think of almost any influential figure in the music world and not think of the Royal College of Music. Gustav Holst, Benjamin Britten, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Dame Joan Sutherland are just a few of the prestigious names on the college’s roll of honour.
One of the most intriguing landmarks of Switzerland is the new Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern. Three arches, each 19 meters high, host an impressive collection of 4000 pieces of the more than 10.000 produced by Paul Klee in his lifetime. The centre also includes seminar rooms and a large auditorium for events such as performances of the Zentrum Paul Klee Music Ensemble, guest ensembles and theatre productions.
The world renowned Guildhall School of Music and Drama has recently added a Yamaha PM5D to it’s equipment inventory to work alongside the DM2000 which already occupies its editing suite in the School’s Stage Management and Technical Theatre department.
Thinking of a career in the music industry? Want to train on industry standard equipment to be a sound engineer, performer or learn the business side of the music industry? Then go to Greenock! Yes, that’s right – that Scottish town nestling on the banks of the River Clyde just down a bit from Glasgow. Greenock is where you’ll find the James Watt College of Further & Higher Education which has just completed the building and installation of a multi-million pound school of music and the performing arts.
03/2004 - Founded by Queen Victoria in 1845, Queen's University Belfast was the
first university to be established in the North of Ireland. Now one of
the UK's top 20 universities, it boasts upwards of 25,000 full and part
time students at postgraduate and undergraduate levels and around 3,500
employees.
02/2004 - “The price was right, it’s a small compact mixing desk and ideal for either analogue or digital work,” said Howard Austen, an engineer in the Broadcasting department at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication. He was referring to the college’s recently acquired Yamaha 01V96 mixing desk which forms an integral part of a new purpose built studio. The desk was supplied by leading pro-audio specialists, HHB.
01/2004 - One of Europe's leading music conservatoires, London's prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, has dramatically enhanced the quality and flexibility of its main house theatre with the acquisition of a Yamaha DM2000 digital mixing console.
03/2003 - "Video, music, radio; and then pull in more, that was always part of the plan." David Kay talking animatedly about Alloa’s Click Learning Centre, and just how he sees its potentials developing. "We were officially opened on the 5th April 2001 by the Princess Royal and currently have sixteen hundred members."
