Training
 |
"...if only all the equipment we bought came with a course like this!" |
Wherever you are, if you need training, we can come to you! During an average year we run courses in over 75 schools and other centres throughout the UK as well as in twelve other countries.
Training options:
On-site courses
Training or workshops in your school or centre - find out more about on-site courses
Soundability residential event
Our popular and respected course exploring the creative, therapeutic and educational applications of Soundbeam, and other new music technology
Soundability 2012
Download our Soundability Leaflet (PDF, 130K)
Professional qualifications
New! Are you working in a therapeutic/care environment, perhaps
already using Soundbeam or related technologies, and looking for a
professional qualification to advance and formalise your skills? The
University of Sunderland will be offering an MA courses(subject to
validation) - mainly by correspondence - in Sound and Music
Therapies, projected first intake February 2009.
Further details from Professor Phil Ellis:
phil.ellis@sunderland.ac.uk.
About our courses
We offer a range of options and can customise the training so that it is most appropriate to your students or service users and staff. Anything from two hours to five days is possible though the half-day and full-day packages are the most popular.
Alternatively, our twice-yearly three-day residential Soundability event has become a highly popular and respected course exploring the creative, therapeutic and educational applications of Soundbeam, and other new music technology.
The courses are designed to deliver relevant, accessible and applicable information training about Soundbeam and other technology to existing users, as well as allowing those who just want an opportunity to make an informed evaluation of it. Delegates to Soundability do not need to be musicians or technical experts - we keep the group small enough to be able to cater for all levels of interest and knowledge. Advanced workshops are now available for those who have been before, or who have reached a level of confidence where they feel ready to take Soundbeam to the outer limits of what it can achieve.
We don’t believe that instructions, own their own, are enough. Ideas, inspiration and a sense of purpose are crucial. Our courses cover all the essential information about setting up and using the equipment across a wide spectrum of disability and ability. We'll also explore other types of technology, including vibration equipment, and include an emphasis on planning, and evaluating work, looking at QCA guidelines, OFSTED criteria, and strategies for integrating Soundbeam successfully into the curriculum. There's a core timetable of essential material, plus a range of optional workshops so that delegates can design their own course, depending on the balance - between reinforcing basic information and learning about new things - they want.
Over the years we've found beautiful venues in Devon, the Pennines, Kent and elsewhere to host our courses. This has always been a prominent feature of Soundability, you learn more with sole use of a comfortable, attractive and inspiring environment.
Not only do we have our 'regulars', they come from far and wide. Soundability attracts delegates from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Israel and throughout Europe. It's a fantastic opportunity to find out about different cultural perspectives and practice in music and special education, and it's always a brilliant social occasion.
Courses contain the following key objectives:
- Basic assembly and operation of the system
- Understanding the controls – what you need to know and what can wait
- Setting realistic objectives and evaluating activity
- Using Soundbeam’s pre-programmed setups
- Designing and saving original work
- Advanced applications: MIDI controllers and pitch sequences
- Using the Switchbox and multiple beams
- Vibration, sampling and sound processing