SoundAdviceUK is a new music concept created and run by media, design and creative professionals, musicians, interns and people of all ages. Our aim is to create an inspirational and ethical organisation that supports music of every genre, offers training and work opportunities and becomes a role model for a more socially balanced and creative way to work and live.
We are very professional but very relaxed, encourage participation and offer support and advice to help promote musicians and music. We film and interview unsigned musicians and people in the music industry, gather stories and information for the website and help others do the same.
We film with professionalism and concern for everyone and all participants sign permission forms and approve programmes before they are used.
We work closely with sister project Youth on Youth, which provides media training and support for young people and organisations, who want to use video as a medium for creative empowerment and communication.
We want SoundAdviceUK to be as ethical, “green” and non-corporate as we can make it. We will not knowingly accept donations, advertising, or content from sources that are questionable and our account is with the Co-Operative Bank.
By funding SoundAdviceUK ourselves we can ensure that musicians get the last word and pay nothing and by asking for donations we know that we are not over-charging. If this fails we may use advertising to cover costs, but it will be music-related, reasonably priced and in a discrete section of its own.
We will do our utmost to eliminate sexist, racist, ageist, aggressive and otherwise inappropriate content. We accept that we will make mistakes and ask everyone to let us know if they see anything they object to.
SoundAdviceUK provides access to music, musicians, venues, technical people, the industry, music projects, career guidance, behind-the-scenes information and debate. Anything music related has a place in SoundAdviceUK and if you can't see it, please let us know.
- The Diary is where you put information about any music related event
- The Music section has promo videos for musicians and bands of all genres
- The Venues section contains information about venues and festivals
The Forum is a place for music related debate, questions and advice, where you can put videos you make that promote a musician, orchestra, choir, band, venue, music course, project, or music related service.
The Industry section is where people in the music industry talk about what they do, offer advice and explain how they got into it.
The Projects section can be used to document and promote music projects and display video, photographs, writing, artwork and recordings.
The Education section provides information about music education, courses, careers and training opportunities.
We want to develop the educational potential of SoundAdviceUK because we have experience and interest in this field. For the past 20 years our parent company Individio and sister project Youth on Youth, have worked with government, education and youth organisations, trained teachers and young people and produced social and educational value programmes and teaching resources.
Clients and partners have included the BBC, DfES, MTV, 14 – 19 Government Education Strategy, Government Art of Regeneration Project, Teachers' Television, Connexions, The Learning Trust, The Ideas Foundation, The Industrial Society, The Media Trust, The Carr-Gomm Society, Edge, The Technology Education Programme [TEP], Middlesex University and other colleges, schools, local authorities and youth and community projects.
The SoundAdviceUK website provides a showcase for education projects that relate to music and a source of advice and inspiration about jobs, media and music. You can upload information about music related education and courses and we can advise and help teachers, pupils and students who want to undertake music related projects and/or produce music related video programmes.
Everything we do for musicians and creatives is free, but we ask everyone to donate what they want to pay and can pay. We also ask you to support and thank us by telling your friends, colleagues, students and local music venues about SoundAdviceUK and asking them to support us.
We are unfunded, overloaded and always looking for people to help. Here are some ideas:
You can do these right now
- Add us to your MySpace and put us into your top friends
- Join the SoundAdviceUK Facebook group
- Contact us, let us know who you are and what you like about SoundAdviceUK
Promotional flyers
Email us at
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and we will send you the SoundAdviceUK flyer which we want you to display everywhere and send to all your friends.
Donations
SoundAdviceUK is not funded, so please contribute what you can to help us. If you can't, then don't. Thank us by telling others and doing any, or all, of the following!
The StickUp Competition
Email
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, ask for the downloadable SoundAdviceUK labels and print them onto A4 label sheets available from most stationers. Then stick them somewhere as different, funny and clever as possible, take a photograph and upload it to the Forum. We will ask for votes to decide who has sent us the best picture. Who knows, one day you may even get a prize for it!
Humour is good and antisocial is bad, because we want friends, not enemies and we will not use anything that looks as if it has caused a problem!
Videos and information for the Forum
Make and upload your music related videos to the Forum, but make sure you only film people who say you can and don't use copyrighted material. If you want to make programmes for the SoundAdviceUK video library, where quality and approach are important, please read Make a Video Programme and contact us.
Music Videos
You can film anything from music performances to an expert explaining an instrument, a genre of music, different playing techniques, or how to choose an instrument and we will put it onto the website.
Venue Videos
You can make short videos to show people what a venue is like, but they must be informative, honest and not commercial. Check on our website for venue promo examples, then contact a venue, musicians, or us to find out when and where there is something for you to film.
Industry Videos
Make programmes about music industry people, services and facilities. For example venues, promoters, managers, recording studios, sound and lighting engineers, instrument makers, independent record labels, etc. See examples in Music Industry, contact us for advice and then film them working and talking about what they do.
Work with SoundAdviceUK regionally
We need people who can film, or provide information, help us keep in touch and represent their local music scene.
Work with SoundAdviceUK in London
At the moment we can only cover expenses, but we can offer training in return for help with any of the following:
- Admin: Organising databases, shoots, events and promotion
- Media: Interviewing, filming and editing
- Computer: Databases, website design and graphics
- Music: Liaising with musicians, venues and the industry
- Education: Developing the educational side of SoundAdviceUK
- Industry: Meeting and interviewing people in the music industry
Working with SoundAdviceUK outside the UK
We are looking for people outside the UK who want to become friends, liaise with musicians and venues in their country and make promo videos for the website. We also want to support music education exchanges and music related travel and gap year opportunities.
All you need is a video camera to make and upload programmes to the Forum on the SoundAdviceUK website. Anything reasonable can go into the Forum and with more skill you can make promos for the Music section.
Remember, you are responsble for ensuring that you get permission from everyone and do not use anything that is copyright protected and you can contact us for Permission Forms for people to sign. The following information will help you get started:
Preparation
Tell us what you are doing and make sure you have permission to film from venues and musicians well in advance. You can say you are making a video for the SoundAdviceUK website, but only people trained by us and carrying our photo ID card can say they work for SoundAdviceUK.
Permission (or Release) Forms
Anything you want to upload to the website must respect people's privacy, comply with the Law, use Permission Forms and accept our Terms. When filming anyone under 18 years old, you must get permission in writing from a parent or guardian. You are responsible for this and must not upload any material without all the relevant permissions.
Equipment
One camera will do, but two (or more) will give you a safety margin and more creative opportunities. Use one for a safe, general view and the other for close-ups, different angles and cutaways. We recommend a hand-held mike for interviews and headphones to monitor what you are recording. Don't use tripods, clean your lenses, charge your batteries, take plenty of tape, have a pen and Permission Forms on a clipboard and carry it all in a backpack.
The SoundAdviceUK fail-safe
If an interviewee wants to leave something out, say what it is into the camera immediately, so that you don't forget and the editor knows too. As a fail-safe we email finished programmes to the participants for final approval before we use or upload them and would like anyone contributing to SoundAdviceUK to do the same.
Filming
Arrive in plenty of time with ID and introduce yourself to key people and musicians. Be diplomatic, polite and professional and everyone will be supportive and invite you back. Talk to musicians about what songs, pieces or sections or music you are recording, check that they are copyright free and arrange a time and place for an interview.
Prepare your equipment, unwrap tapes, put a spare on in your pocket and set exposure, focus and sound controls to automatic. We say this because lighting and sound levels may change constantly. If using two cameras, make sure the operators know what they are doing. For example, use Camera 1 for a wider and safer angle and Camera 2 for different angles, close-ups and cutaways. You can swap roles/cameras to get practice with each approach.
Unless you think waving the camera is a good thing, pretend you are a human tripod, hold it with both hands and keep it rock steady and movements smooth. Try to remember “framing” to get interesting and relevant shots and don't zoom too much. Don't wave around looking for the next shot, know what you are going to next and then move the camera smoothly and confidently to get it.
Concentrate on filming things that need to synch with the music and get things that don't at a less critical point, or in another piece of music. If using two cameras, keep both running throughout each piece of music to make editing easier. Get cutaway shots of peripheral things such as the audience, venue, signs and posters, because these can help with editing.
Label used tapes clearly with location, date and other details and slide the safety lock to make sure they cannot be over-recorded. Mark your tapes “T1”, “T2”....etc. and if using two cameras, add “C1”, “C2”....etc. to show which camera they come from. For safety, we advise putting recorded tapes into a zipped pocket on your person immediately.
Interviews
Organise interviews in advance and tell interviewees what you are doing and ask them for their opinions, so that they have an input and can help. Try to interview in a quiet place, use a handheld microphone as close to the speaker's mouths as possible and use headphones to check the sound is audible and not drowned by background noise. Don't forget that all interviewees must sign a Permission (Release) Form.
Editing
You can edit videos yourself, or send us the tapes, the signed permission forms, studio recorded tracks if they have them and a list of credits and we will edit it for you. Programmes are emailed to you for a final check before we use them. Please do the same yourself and make everyone happy.
SoundAdviceUK owes everything to the people who support, help and advise us and we want to say thank you to the following:
- Alice Nickless: Trainee/Production Support
- Annis Harrison: Artist-Designer/Advice and Support
- Brian Nolan: Accountancy/Advice
- Daniel Woldu: Media Industry/Editing/Advice and Support
- Dave Osborne: Musician
- David Holloway, OBE: Education and Youth/Advice and Support
- Diz Sharpe: Advice and Support
- Dominic Kasteel: Producer/Founder
- Ed Harrison: Producer-Director/Advice and Support
- Eli Myers: Web Developer
- Elsie Barker: Media Student on Work Experience
- Fabiana Righi: Artist/Support
- Ictus: Band/Support
- Individio Ltd: Media Industry/Financial Support
- Iskra Karadjova: Media Creative/Support
- Joe Poulten: Musician/Advice and Support
- John Murray: Band Manager/Advice and Support
- John Tirado: Musician/Advice and Support
- Jonathan Barker: Broadcast Director/Advice and Support
- Knacker: Band/Our First Donation
- Louis Kasteel Hare: Animator/Advice and Support
- Miles Landesman: Musician/Advice and Support
- Naomi Roberts: Advice and Support
- Nicholas Malcolm: Trainee/Production Support
- Olivia Kasteel Hare: Media Intern/Founder
- Pierre and Katya Watter: Music/Advice and Support
- Pierre Vella: Website Design/Founder
- RWD Magazine: Music Industry/Support
- Ryan Deans: Trainee/Production Support
- Simon Lawrence: Musician/Advice and Support
- Sorcha Somerville: Artist Intern/Support
- Surekha Jokhun: Intern/Design and Media Support
- The Ideas Foundation: Education/Support
- The Nash: Band/Advice and Support
- Tim Haynes: Design Creative/Founder
- Whitney Iles: Music Industry/Advice and Support
