Useful Links

Training

BBC Academy
Skills to educate, inform and entertain.

BBC Tech Careers
Various - from apprenticeships to MSc level degrees

Calrec
A range of training materials.

Dolby Atmos
Official Dolby site with training articles for Dolby Atmos

Film Sound
Learning Space dedicated to the Art and Analyses of Film Sound Design.

Intro to Sound Recording
Geoff Martin's comprehensive online study material resource that can be purchased as a book.

Lawo
A tutorial course on Lawo mc2 consoles.

Loudness (EBU)
The source for current information on loudness recommendations by EBU PLOUD group.

Loudness (Netflix)
Mixing guide and specifications for Netflix.

NFTS (Broadcast production course)
This unique 12 month course, run in partnership with Sky, the largest pay-tv broadcaster in the United Kingdom, will prepare you to work in a multicamera studio environment as either a Vision Mixer, or a Camera/ Lighting or Sound specialist. The course includes a six-week internship with Sky and some of the modules are taught at Sky Studios. Sky also guarantees to employ at least one graduate of the course each year.

Ravensbourne
Courses at all levels for broadcast production.

Skillset
Creative Skillset is the industry skills body for the Creative Industries. It works across film, television, radio, fashion and textiles, animation, games, visual effects, publishing, advertising and marketing communications.

Speech Intelligibility
Comprehensive explanations and advice from DPA mic university.

Studer
Official Studer certification course for Vista series digital consoles in broadcast applications.

The Production Academy
Bite sized fundamentals for live sound.

Hire

Better Sound 020 7482 0177
Suppliers of professional sound equipment to the Broadcast, Corporate and Live Event industries

FX Rentals 020 8746 2121
DJ & PA systems, digital pianos and backline, Pro Tools & Pro Audio

Gearhouse Broadcast 0845 820 0000
Event Communications, Equipment Rental, Equipment Sales, Outside Broadcast, Project Solutions and Systems Integration.

MWC Mike Weaver Communications 02476 602605
Hire Motorola two-way radios and systems short-term or long-term contracts.

R G Jones 020 8971 3100
Major UK hire and sound reinforcement company, established 1926.

Terry Tew 020 8502 2943
London based hire company with great experience in hire for the broadcast market, radio mics, talkback, intercoms, PA, monitoring etc.

Sound related videos

Audio: An Introduction for Video People
Helpful advice for Directors, Producers and self shooters.

Bob Katz - Loudness: War & Peace
Mastering guru Bob Katz explains how the loudness war has evolved over 40 years! (and might be over hopefully soon!)

Andrew Scheps: "Lost in Translation: Audio Quality in Streaming Media"
Award winning producer/mixer Andrew Scheps delves into the implications of the various streaming platforms.

The Loudness War
The most succinct demonstration of why you shouldn't over compress mixes (in under 2 mins!).

Organisations

Acoustics Research Centre
Blog of the Acoustics Research Centre, University of Salford, Manchester.

Action on Hearing Loss
Royal national charity helping people confronting deafness, tinnitus and hearing loss to live the life they choose.

AMPS
The Association of Motion Picture Sound - UK organisation for film and TV sound technicians.

AES
The Audio Engineering Society is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology.

APRS
The Association of Professional Recording Studios, UK organisation for the recording indsutry.

BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

BECTU
The media and entertainment union.

BEIRG
The British Entertainment Industry Radio Group, representing radio mic users in the U.K.

BKSTS
British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society. Founded in 1931 to serve the film industry.

British Library (Sounds)

Listen to a selection from the British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings, which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.

BVE
BVE is the UK’s largest event for professionals involved in taking content from creation to consumption.

CAS
Cinema Audio Society. US based. Formed in 1964 for Sound Professionals in the Motion Picture and Television Industry.

DPP (Digital Production Partnership)
Provides technical specs for delivery of TV programmes to UK broadcasters.

EBU
European Broadcasting Union is the world’s leading alliance of public service media.

GTC
Guild of Television Cameramen

IABM
International trade association for suppliers of broadcast and media technology.

IEC
International Electrotechnical Commission - International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies

ISCE
Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers - caters for all members of the sound and communication industry

OFCOM
UK communications regulator.

PLASA
International membership body for those who supply technologies and services to the event, entertainment and installation industries.

Radio Academy
Charity dedicated to the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK radio broadcasting and audio production.

VDT
Verband Deutscher Tonmeister (VDT) is the German Association of Sound Engineers, a meeting place for audio professionals who work in the arts, media and communication.

Broadcast History

ADAPT
How TV used to be made - Researching the history of television production technology. Library of videos

ORBEM
Compilation by Roger Beckwith of old BBC radio equipment and memories from the people who built, maintained and used it.

BBC Tech Ops
Compilation by Bernie Newnham from people who worked in BBC TV Tech OPs.

BBC Pebble Mill Studios
This site is to celebrate and document programme making at BBC Pebble Mill. Contains video interviews, photographs and text about the programmes and the building.

Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording
Dedicated to the preservation of the technology of sound recording and its impact on music, broadcasting, film/video and science.

MBC
Based in Chicago, The Museum of Broadcast Communications is the premiere broadcast museum in America and home to the only National Radio Hall of Fame.

MCR21
A project to restore the BBC’s MCR21 or Mobile Control Room 21. It is the most original and complete example of a BBC Monochrome OB van.

Old SMs
Nostalgia site about previous BBC SMs (Studio Managers).

Transdiffusion
A not-for-profit historical society dedicated to documenting and preserving broadcasting history, with a huge amount of content and many links.

TV Outside Broadcast History
A comprehensive overview of BBC and independent OBs from 1937 to present day.

TV Studio History
Martin Kempton's amazing "An incomplete History of London's Television Studios".

UK 625
Andrew Wiseman's "Television Room", with a large collection of historical video clips.