Suzanne Ciani who was one of the few women working in sound design during the 1970s
UK - In celebration of International Women’s Day 2022, music and sound design company, String and Tins’ No Fixed Mix programme returns for a third year to help create greater accessibility to audio engineering and sound design careers for women.
The programme provides female attendees a snapshot of the audio-post industry from String and Tins’ perspective, along with tips, tools and resources, arming applicants with the confidence they need to accelerate their career in sound-engineering.
Four workshops will take place on weekday evenings throughout May and June, which will be a mixture of online and in-person sessions at their Fitzrovia studio. Creative assignments will be set to be completed between sessions.
This year, the female-led programme will cover a wide variety of topics including an overview of the audio-post industry, sound design insights, composing to picture and mixing for the big-screen. BAFTA-nominated Kate Davis and head of sound at Directors Cut Films, will also be giving a guest lecture.
In order to apply for this year’s programme, applicants must be of at least 18 years of age and are required to email their single-page CV along with a single piece of sound work that they have created to the email, nfm@stringandtins.com. The work submitted can consist of audio only sound design, a collage of interesting field recordings, sound design to a picture, or a piece of music with unusual instrumentation that should last between 10 seconds to one minute in duration.
With the aim of encouraging women to consider a future in sound design, this year’s No Fixed Mix programme has been made possible thanks to the generous support of sponsors, HHB Communications, AVID, iZotope and NUGEN Audio.
Successful participants will be provided with a free 12-month subscription licence to Pro Tools, the industry standard DAW, VisLM, a premium loudness monitoring software and the entire iZotope Music Production Suite so that they can continue to develop their audio post-production skills. The deadline for applications for No Fixed Mix is 00:00 GMT on Sunday 20 March.
Eimear Ní Ghuaire, production manager at String and Tins, comments: “The last couple of years have been, in many ways, a circuit breaker for routine. There have been plenty of challenges, but the speed at which people have adapted is astonishing. It makes you think, when the pressure is truly on, change can happen.
“Last year, we took the workshops online and stepped it up a notch by expanding the course content and inviting guest speakers. Five new faces joined us over Zoom, where workshops ran from May through to July, and we had curated lectures from our own engineers, as well as re-recording mixer Kath Pollard and the foley team from Molinare.
“This year we’re excited to be back in the studio and have some workshops in person including an incredible guest speaker. If you’re interested in sound and haven’t yet found a way to get a foot in the door, we’d love to hear from you. This programme is all about creating opportunities.” www.stringandtins.com/no-fixed-mix

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