Friday 30 April 2010

Students Remix TV Theme Tunes




BTEC Music and Music Technology year 1 students were set an assignment to produce a remix of a TV theme tune. They were given the melody line and chord progressions as well as a handful of samples to start with. They then used Logic software to create their remixes. All the finished remixes were entered into a ‘TV Remix’ competition where all the students listened to the tracks and voted for their favourites in a number of categories. The winners received certificates and prizes including music books written by Paul White, editor of Sound On Sound magazine.

Category of ‘Best Overall Production’
First Place – Chris Orwin
Second Place – Sam Percival
Third Place – Sam Ballet
In the category of ‘Most Musical Remix’
First Place – Jordan Linsey
Second Place – Shelley Peters
Third Place – Matt Hurst
In the category of ‘Biggest Dancefloor Filla’
First Place – Guy Speakman
Second Place – Liam Henwood
Third Place – Dan Canvin
In the category of ‘Best Use of FX’
First Place – Scott Linton
Second Place – George Dunscome
Third Place – Jake Ball
In the category of ‘Wackiest Remix’
First Place – Luke Holbrook
Second Place – Nathan Askill
Third Place – Chelsea Paget

Tuesday 6 April 2010

NEWS RELEASE - Strode College music students release online album



30 March 2010 NEWS RELEASE - Strode College music students release online album

Strode College Music Technology students have launched their own online record label ‘Strode College Records` and released their first album `Sound on Sound vol.1`. The album, which is a compilation of the students’ best work, is available for free download from www.strodecollege.bandcamp.com The album includes a broad range of music styles including dubstep, drum’n’bass, hip hop, acoustic pop and dub reggae.

Strode students are required to record and produce music for commercial use as part of their BTEC Music Technology course. For this project they also had to design their own CD covers and create promotional material including videos and posters.

The students launched `Strode College Records` and the compilation album at an event last week, featuring live performances from international student Sam Wasira also known as hip hop artist `Replay`, Jaz Miller of Sherborne, Sam Raywood of Othery nr Taunton and Holly Walshe who lives in Street. Around fifty people attended the launch event including Ben Shillabeer from `Sink and Stove Records`, Allan Trinder and Steve Bilsborough from Glastonbury FM radio. Some of the students played their tracks on Glastonbury FM later that evening, including budding music producer Sam Hadfield of Stoke-Sub-Hamdon, aka L.U.C.I.D.

Adrian Smith, Strode Music Technology Lecturer, said: “This is a new initiative for our students and it has gone really well. They learn a lot about how to make good quality music at Strode, but this project has also helped them understand how music is produced, marketed and promoted commercially. Gaining a broader knowledge of how the music industry works and learning new business skills will undoubtedly help them in their future careers. As part of the course our students are also required to perform live using music technology. To promote the album they will be performing in local schools in the next couple of months and at Strode Theatre on June 16 in an event called Sound on Sound”.

Strode Music Technology student Levi Minett, who lives in Stawell near Bridgwater, is really pleased with the album. He said: “The launch event was amazing and all the students put a lot of effort in to create really good products. The fact that you can download the music online is great. I am also organising a gig later in the year to promote my band ‘Inside the Dream’