Music producers flocked to ACM Guildford recently for our annual Audio Production Event – seen by many as a must-attend event for essential networking in the studio and production world.
Consisting of five masterclasses and exclusive one-to-one sessions, our very lucky Music Production students were treated to a packed day of all things production.
Kicking off the day was prolific Bhangra producer, Kuljit Bhamra. Having created over 2,000 Bhangra songs, Kuljit spent his masterclass giving students a unique insight into his thought process and ways of working. During the session, Kuljit performed on the tabla and told students how his playing can be heard on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, amongst many other famous films and records. Questions were encouraged throughout, with one student asking him what his favourite microphone was – Kuljit shared that for live situations he always prefers a Shure SM58 but for studio sessions he would rather use a Neumann. After wrapping up his well-received masterclass, Kuljit moved to one of our production suites to give students one-to-one sessions.
Next up was electronic music producer, Prash “Engine-Earz” Mistry, who went into great detail on the technical side of music production. Speaking about phasing and different systems to monitor their music, our students found Prash’s session very engaging and eagerly awaited their one-to-one sessions with him following the masterclass.
The third session of the day focused on a different side of the industry, with sound designer Adele Cutting speaking about her career in the videogame industry. Having worked at both Pinewood Studios and EA Games, Adele has now set up her own company, Soundcuts, where she has quickly grown the team from five to 13. During the session, Adele spoke about the role of a sound designer in the games industry, revealing that they’re responsible for the music, FX and speech. Adele’s class gave students an excellent introduction to sound in videogames, and after the session, a few lucky students got to expand their knowledge further in a one-to-one session with the inspirational sound designer.
The afternoon continued with long-standing friend of ACM and world-class producer, Phill Brown. With a whole host of A-list names on his musical CV, Phill had a wealth of experience to draw on when talking to our students. He spoke to students about the recording process and mentioned that, often, less is more when it comes to mic’ing up a drum kit. The packed-out room of eager students were clearly inspired by Phill and his career, and were thrilled to show him their work during their one-to-one sessions.
Wrapping up the day was Jason Perry – producer, songwriter, and vocalist for the band A. Jason used his session to take students on a journey through the entire production process, starting from a demo and progressing to the finished track. Everyone was astounded by Jason’s passion for music and left the session eager to crack on with their own productions.
The event was a great success and saw students take the unique opportunity to make direct connections at the heart of the music industry. With many pieces of music shared on the day, and new techniques learned, students left with a great deal of knowledge, experience and all important connections to the industry.
“As firm believers in learning by doing, it is vital for us to put on these events at ACM. We are thrilled that so many fantastic producers have taken time out of their busy schedules to speak to our students – it was an amazing day and everyone left having learned a lot!”
Mark Smithers, ACM Music Production Pathway Leader
We’d like to say a massive thanks to all the amazing producers who joined us at our Audio Production Event. It really was a brilliant day for all involved.
If you’d like to learn from the best and make connections that will kickstart your music career, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit www.acm.ac.uk/open-days/ to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
