SAE Oxford opened up its live room to the City of Oxford College’s talented music students recently, who came in various groups throughout the day to record songs for their EPs, part of an ongoing partnership that is seeing both the college students and SAE’s Audio Production students benefit immensely.
It was a great opportunity for the young musicians to broaden their experience by using SAE’s industry-standard equipment and facilities and record in a professional setting. The sessions will also contribute to the work being completed on their course at the college. Nick Reiber Hodgson, Music Lecturer at City of Oxford College commented: “The most recent project coordinated with Dani (SAE Campus Support Technician) has enabled our students with an invaluable experience of recording in a live lounge setting to record songs for their E.P’s, which will be promoted extensively via social media and performed live at their final major project performance at the O2 Academy over 2 nights on 21st and 22nd of May.”
Ollie Rodgers a 2nd Year Student from the City of Oxford College and member of indie rock band Eunoia, said: “Recording at SAE Institute in Oxford was an amazing experience. It gave a real insight into the recording processes, which ran seamlessly and without fault.
“The studio engineer (Dani) was professional and attentive. Overall a stellar performance and opportunity from SAE with outstanding facilities and staff supplying us with a backbone for our upcoming EP for my band Eunoia @officialeunoiamusic.”
SAE’s partnership with the the City of Oxford College is, however, mutually beneficial as SAE’s Audio Production students have been able to get access to musicians which has complemented their own studies.
Commenting on how the partnership began, Nick said: “We had already been recommending numerous students to SAE and felt that an opportunity to visit the campus and engage with practical workshops would be extremely advantageous for our students. We then held an extremely successful graduation party at SAE, which included live performances from our students.”
Since then, there have been various events and collaborations that have taken place as part of our important partnership. In December 2017, SAE Audio Production students provided live sound reinforcement at an assessed gig organised by the City of Oxford College. There have also been various open mic events for various bands from the City of Oxford College, which have enlisted the help of SAE’s Audio Production students to record and provide sound engineering expertise. In this way, SAE students have been getting extensive live sound experience while the college students are able to get help with their gigs and gain work experience by recording in an external venue.
As a result of this collaborative relationship, a number of students from the City of Oxford College have expressed considerable interest in SAE and the Audio Production degree programme on offer.
With SAE Oxford set to host another assessed gig for the College’s first year music students on May 24, there will be another great opportunity for prospective students to have a look around the campus, meet the staff, students and get a flavour of life at SAE Oxford.