A great way to socialise and meet people at university is joining a society. As a Sound Engineering and Production or Music Technology student we suggest you join the Live Sound Society. The society’s main purpose is to provide students with the opportunity to work on gigs and live productions, gaining real insight about what it’s like to work in a live environment. We spoke with Sound students James Finch and Joshua Price-Nixey to find out what it’s like to be in the society.
How and when can students join the society?
James: Students are encouraged to join during Welcome Week. The annual fee is just £3 a year.
Josh: But students can also join the society at any point during the year. I personally recommend getting involved as early as possible so you don’t miss out on any of the events we help run.
James: The society is open to every BCU student and training sessions are available for those eager to learn more before working in a gig environment.
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What can students gain by being a member?
Josh: Members gain a large amount of hands on experience in the running of live shows, which is extremely useful if they are wanting to go into the live sound industry.
James: The society aims to provide real world experience to young engineers who can learn from older students. It also offers students a chance to develop skills employers are looking for such as organisation and leadership.
What are the main activities you do as a member?
Josh: The main activities you will do are heavily focused around the live sound world. At the start of the year we run training sessions where members get the opportunity to learn how to use our equipment. We then put members onto gigs around Birmingham and beyond where they will put their theoretical knowledge into practice and gain experience. Members will also learn how to spec a gig. This means they should be able to organise a gig from beginning to end, organising the equipment they will need to take. We tend to build up to summer throughout the year because we have a number of medium festival stages we run, such as Acoustic Festival of Britain.
James: For festivals we tend to use equipment such as the Midas Pro 2 and d&b audiotechnik Q-series line array. Members also have the chance to work on pub gigs with industry-standard equipment such as the Behringer X32. Plus, the society runs a trip to PLASA Focus Leeds to speak with production companies and view the latest technology in the industry. All of these events provide valuable experience and the opportunity to network with possible future clients.
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