May 13 2011 3:00PM
A UCS student has collaborated with a local choir to produce Men at Song, a sumptuous DVD of choral music.
Andrea Healy is undertaking a Foundation Degree in Music Production| at UCS Bury St Edmunds|. She has been working with second year Level 3 Media Production students from West Suffolk College on filming the St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir.
Stephen Cook, Vice Chairman of the choir, approached lecturer Ben Pryke over a year ago for help with filming the DVD. Ben asked the Music department if they could deal with recording the music track.
Andrea said: “It was good to work in collaboration with the Media students, bringing both together. We had to work with clapper boards to synchronise the music with the visual element.
“This project was very relevant to the Foundation degree. Last year we did our live sound module, which included working with orchestras and with musicians at Snape Maltings on the mic-ing structure. This project involved moving on to doing the mixing as well. It was really good to do the final mix on the project after recording it. I would like to thank my tutor Steven Coltart for all his help and guidance.”
There were two recording sessions: a rehearsal at Howard Middle School in Bury St Edmunds and the concert recording at Great Barton Church in November.
As a former piano tutor, Andrea could sympathise with the musicians who may have found it daunting to have microphones thrust in their faces and having to meet the demands of filming.
She said: “It was nice to be able to see it from both sides. They were really great, and the camaraderie between them was fantastic. They are truly professional, but at the same time so much fun. I think that comes across in the DVD.”
Course director Ben Pryke said: “This has been a year in the planning in order to embed it in the course. It was a six-camera set up, filmed over two nights, and the post production was massive. We came back with 25 tapes which had to be edited together.”
There has been a lot of positive feedback from the choir, who were very pleased with the result.
Stephen Cook said: "It was a fantastic experience for the choir to work with these enthusiastic and dedicated students. We were very impressed with the way they set about a very complex task and the end product really does give a flavour of what our choir is like."
Clips from the DVD have been uploaded to YouTube. Copies of the Men at Song DVD, price £10, are available from Stephen Cook at Churchgate Books|, Bury St Edmunds or at concerts- find concert dates|.
Andrea Healy will be going on next year to top up to a full BA (Hons). The single mother of four children, ranging in age from 12 to four years old, commutes from Lowestoft to Bury St Edmunds for the course and has devoted a terrific amount of time and energy to her studies.