However, there are those who are doing something to change this view. One such company is Deep Blue Sound (DBS). Over the past four years it has made huge inroads into bringing the professional audio industry and public education sector together, developing a positive and symbiotic alliance.
Started by Dave Puttick and Nigel Burt, DBS was initially established to bring commercial recording studio facilities to the UK's under-resourced South West region. However, due to a healthy measure of fate and the partners' ability to spot a gap in a market, DBS has successfully combined access to professional-level audio technology facilities with recognised academic qualifications in further education.
It all began four years ago when DBS was approached by Estover College in Plymouth. Already running a popular and successful music technology course, Estover wanted to expand its resources, and DBS provided the technology and equipment to do this. The partnership grew and since then the company has developed relationships with a further three colleges. DBS now delivers six courses ranging from diploma to degree level, to upwards of 350 students a year. So successful has this model been that the company has recently expanded its site.
Operations manager for Deep Blue Sound, Mark Trewin, explains: "The challenge to colleges is that traditionally, music technology courses are linked to their music departments. The cost implication of running these courses is high, perhaps more analogous to the financial needs of IT courses rather than music! Encouraging education-funding bodies to recognise this can be an uphill struggle."
DBS works on a sort of 'rent a campus' philosophy. A private company, it effectively 'charges out' its state-of-the-art audio and studio facilities to the four colleges. However, it doesn't end there. DBS has also been influential in the development of all the course syllabuses, accommodating the different academic frameworks and quality systems for the different colleges - a complex process by anyone's standards. Puttick is keen to point out that every course on offer is accessible to students from all backgrounds and that all courses are eligible for publicly-funded grants.
Until recently, courses at Deep Blue Sound have concentrated on music technology, recording and production for film and television. However earlier this year the company decided to test-run a six-week live sound module as part of its Music Production Diploma. So successful was this, that it has now developed and launched a one-year Higher National Certificate (HNC) in live sound. A proven academic qualification, the course content includes plenty of real-life work experience in clubs, theatres, festivals and concert halls, where students will work alongside industry professionals. This will be interlaced with lectures and practical workshops. The course will run for the first time from September this year.
Passionate about sound, and instrumental in the development of this course, is respected professional sound engineer Simon Honywill (see In Profile, L&SI May 2006). He explains his involvement: "When I arrived, just over two years ago, there was no live sound element here at all. At the beginning of this year I ran a six-week live sound module. It was a total hit. Students learned the roles of FOH, monitor and on-stage engineer whilst simultaneously working towards producing a full-on, live gig. We hired a venue, some local bands got involved, each student took a role - the only thing was we didn't have any suitable kit!"
The first person Honywill turned to was Dave Wiggins at Midas and Klark Teknik: "Dave was amazingly passionate about the idea, he sorted everything, mixing consoles for
