Midas and Klark Teknik bring industry to education

Midas Klark Teknik has presented Bucks New University with wall plaques to recognise a burgeoning relationship between the organisations, and their joint efforts to tailor courses to the audio industry.

Bucks New University prides itself on strengthening links between education and industry, and the hookup with the brands is a striking example. Midas Siena and Verona consoles, plus Klark Teknik equipment including Square ONE Dynamics and Graphics units are being used for live sound modules in the university's BA (Hons) Audio & Music Production and Music & Live Event Management courses. The university has a 500-capacity venue for which students book bands, promote concerts and provide sound and lighting expertise. The Midas and KT equipment allows them to experience a real-world setup, with dedicated front of house and monitor consoles.

"We'd seen a growth in live music on our Music Management courses which reflected global growth, and we wanted to reflect this change on the production side," explains the university's head of applied production and new media, Frazer Mackenzie. "We're experts at providing academic qualifications, but it's industry itself that knows what it needs from the next generation, whether it's sound engineers, or for positions in R&D and technical sales. Students often think purely in terms of becoming a sound engineer. I would hope we can start turning out graduates that companies like Midas would view as someone who could work for them."

The university has embarked with MKT on a series of master classes which are increasingly focussing on digital technology. "We use a video of one of the Midas master classes as a promotional tool for our courses; it's on YouTube and demonstrates Midas' involvement in higher education," says Mackenzie.

MKT and Bucks New University are planning workshops for 18 and 25 January 2011 for second year students, focussing on both analogue and digital technology and using a Midas PRO6 to make a digital/analogue comparison. There are also plans to involve staff including Midas director of console development Alex Cooper and other R&D engineers in the teaching programme.

"We want to look at topics such as the philosophy of audio and how you listen, and that ties in with Midas, who are getting more and more involved in the syllabus," says Mackenzie. "Our courses also aim to reflect issues like networking and dsp processing which are ever-evolving."

MKT is equally keen for its work with the university to produce graduates with an understanding of the industry and the job opportunities it can provide. "Lots of other courses I've come across have an academic, theoretical approach, and I felt there was a severe lack of practical background in education," says Midas Klark Teknik's technical sales manager Jason Kelly. "Graduates were getting out into the real world and hitting a brick wall. We are confident that with some industry input, certain students leaving Bucks New University will be a good fit for companies such as Midas Klark Teknik as well as for the wider live production industry."

Photo: Midas Klark Teknik's John Oakley (left) and Alex Cooper (right) present the plaques to Bucks New University's Frazer Mackenzie

Midas live performance mixing consoles have been used by the world's most demanding sound engineers, performers and rental companies for three decades. The company strives to raise the standards of sonic quality through its programme of continual research and development, implementing new control functionality and user-friendly desk operation to anticipate and accommodate the ever-evolving needs of audio professionals who specify Midas consoles for their major tours, festivals, international events, broadcast projects and prestigious fixed installations.

Klark Teknik was founded in 1974 and in the years immediately following, their innovative approach to design and development allowed them to introduce some truly groundbreaking designs. Klark Teknik was responsible for one of the world's first digital delay and digital reverb units, however it was their concepts for equalisation devices that really changed the world of professional audio resulting in the DN370 and the famous DN360. Today Klark Teknik continues to bring innovation in design and dedication to engineering and sonic quality in both the analogue and digital realm of signal processing, with the Square ONE and Show Command ranges updating the brand.

Buckinghamshire New University has enjoyed a long and successful history since it was founded in 1893. The University now offers an extensive portfolio of courses spanning the creative and cultural industries, the management and information management sectors, and the public sector. It also offers services to industry including contract research, consultancy and the opportunity to employ graduates. The University has recently completed a major campus re-development programme, which saw the opening in September 2009 of: a new state-of-the-art building in High Wycombe known as the Gateway and comprising a learning resource and technology centre, events hall, gym, sports science laboratory, dance, drama, music and video production studios, library and meeting rooms; new student accommodation in High Wycombe; and a new base for nursing students and applied healthcare research in Uxbridge, West London.