Glasgow Winterschool 

Saturday 13th Janurary 2024

non members register with the code R1YNE9NK

10.30am

Keynote Welcome 

Welcome from Melanie Wilson Chair of ASDP and then keynotes from Gareth Fry, Sound Designer. 

11am

Panel Discussion: Creating sound design content for Scottish theatre

Niroshini Thambar, Niamh Gaffney , MJ McCarthy,

hosted by Caitlin Skinner.

Caitlin Skinner, Artistic Director and CEO of Stellar Quines to host a panel discussion about how sound designers create new content for theatre productions. Panelists include Niroshini Thambar, MJ McCarthy and Niamh Gaffney.

Caitlin Skinner (she/her)

Caitlin is Artistic Director of Stellar Quines Theatre Company. She is also one half of feminist theatre company Jordan & Skinner and director of new writing theatre company Pearlfisher. She was formerly Artistic Director of the Village Pub Theatre and Associate Director at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. She is also co-host of the podcast Quines Cast with Hannah Lavery.

Her recent directing credits include Through the Mud by Apphia Campbell (Stellar Quines/Lyceum There) Until It’s Gone by Alison Carr (Stellar Quines/A Play, A Pie and A Pint) Sister Radio by Sara Shaarawi (Stellar Quines/Pitlochry Festival Theatre) You’ve Never Slept in Mine by Jenni Fagan (Stellar Quines/Edinburgh international Book Festival) Hindu Times by Jaimini Jethwa (Dundee Rep/Lyceum/EIF/Pitlochry Festival Theatre/Stellar Quines) Distance Remaining by Stewart Melton (Helen Milne Productions) Alone by Janey Godley (National Theatre of Scotland) Five from Inside by Rona Munro (Traverse Theatre) Move-Glassed co-director (disaster plan) Hope and Joy by Ellie Stewart (Pearlfisher/Stellar Quines) A Brief History of the Fragile Male Ego, At A Stretch and Sanitise (Jordan & Skinner) Sunnyside Centre (Village Pub Theatre), and The Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde (Lung Ha Theatre Company).

Niroshini Thambar

Niroshini is a musician, composer, and sound designer. Initially playing violin and piano, she moved into composition and audio production. Her work spans theatre, installation, film,and participatory art projects. Her creative research interests encompass ecology, identity and belonging.

Recent theatre credits include Disciples (Stellar Quines), Cyprus Avenue (Tron Theatre), To the Bone (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Maud’s Map (Citizens Theatre), Jinnistan (Play Pie Pint), Little Women (Pitlochry Festival Theatre/Watford Palace Theatre), The Bookies and Gagarin Way (Dundee Rep), Here (Curious Monkey/Northern Stage), Scent of Roses (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh), The Tempest (Tron Theatre), Ghosts (National Theatre of Scotland), Hindu Times (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh/Pitlochry Festival Theatre/Naked Productions), Revolution Days (Bijli Productions), Helping Hands (Pitlochry Festival Theatre/Sound Stage). Further work includes Associate Director for the audio-led drama Niqabi Ninja (Independent

Arts Projects/EIF) and Series Composer for United Kingdoms (Naked Productions/BBC Radio 4). For more information, visit niroshinithambar.com

Niamh Gaffney (She/They)

Niamh is a Sound Designer for Autograph Sound.

Training: Graduated London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts 2020

Associate Sound Designer: Cabaret (KitKatClub Playhouse Theatre, London 2021) Olivier award winning for Best Sound Design 2022, Bridgerton Secret Cinema (2022), Jerusalem (Apollo Theatre, London 2022), Peaky Blinders Immersive London (2022) Secret Cinema Guardians of the Galaxy the Experience (2022), Once on This Island and La Cage Aux Folles (Regents Park, London 2023)

Sound Designer: Pride & Prejudice*sortof UK Tour (2022) & Toronto (2023) Olivier award for Best Entertainment or Comedy 2022, These Demons (Theatre503, London 2023), Fair Maid of The West (Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon 2023)

12.15pm

Round table discussion: Challenges facing parents and carers working in theatre sound

Matt Rowe from Parents in Performing Arts (PiPA) will lead a round table discussion about the challenges that parents and carers face working in the performing arts.

Matt Roe (he/him)

‘Having previously worked for Dance Base, Filmhouse & EIFF and now working as the Scotland Programme Manager for PiPA (Parents and carers in Performing Arts) I feel passionately about the benefits of a more diverse workforce and about promoting PiPA’s amazing framework of resources.

I love working with Scottish based arts companies and Freelancers to allow a greater flexibility and dynamism for a healthy and sustainable work life balance that’s available to all.’

www.pipacampaign.org

Lunch

1.30pm

Seminar: An introduction to Spatial Audio

Ronan Breslin, lecturer in Sound Design at Glasgow School of Art holds a lecture to explain spatial audio and some of the applications within live arts and theatre.

Ronan Breslin (he/ him)

Ronan Breslin is the Programme leader of the MDe at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA).

Ronan is a sound engineer and composer with over 25 years of experience in the music and broadcast industry. Ronan joined the GSA in 2009 following a decade as a broadcast engineer at BBC Scotland and led the design and launch of the MDes and BDes Sound for the Moving Image.

Ronan’s research is concerned with the application of 3D audio technology and the impact of technology on recording studio practice and culture- particularly in a Scottish context. He is also co-proprietor of La Chunky Sound Studios in Glasgow and continues to work professionally in audio-visual production.

2.30pm 

Workshop: Binaural Recording

Kev Murray and Joe Connell lead a hands on workshop on binaural sound recording. Please bring your own headphones! 

Kevin Murray (he/him)

Kevin Murray is a Sound Designer and composer with a Masters in ‘Sound Design for the Moving Image’, from the Glasgow School of Art.

In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA New Talent award for his original short film

‘Paperclip’.

Kevin recently worked on creating the sounds for multiple VR Applications for the ‘VR Hive’ company based in Paisley. Kevin has written music for various outdoor events, across the UK. He is currently Sound designer and Composer for Itison’s ‘Glasglow’ in the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, now onto its sixth year.

Previous theatre work includes: Sound Designer for Hamlet with Ian McKellan

at the Edinburgh Fringe 2022, Sound Associate for the National Theatre of

Scotland and Sound Designer for Pitlochry theatre’s production of ‘Noises off’.

Kevin also Composes and Sound designs for film. Previous credits include

‘The Macbeths’ produced by Citizen’s theatre and Urbancroft films, and ‘Liz

Lochhead’s ‘Thebans’ for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Kevin is currently working on a development of a theatre piece using Binaural

and spatial audio blended together.

3.30pm 

Spotlight: Audio networking for 'Secret Cinema'

Ian Threlfall talks about his creative solutions to audio networking for Secret Cinema

Ian Threlfall he/him

Since Ian graduated from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) in 2008 with a BA in Sound Technology he’s been very fortunate to work on events all over the world and in a variety of different sectors. From sporting events including Wimbledon, Premier League Football and Olympic Games, television shows including Saturday Night Takeaway, Sunday Brunch and Graham Norton to West End theatre shows both home and abroad and large scale immersive shows in both the UK and the Middle East.

Now co-director of a company specialising in audio, comms and networking for the event and broadcast sectors.

4pm 

Perspective: Creative Sound Design

Calum Paterson (sound designer and founder of The Audio Story Company) brings the day to a close with a relection on the workshop and content creation.

Calum Paterson (he/his)

Calum is a theatrical Sound Designer & Composer. He specialises in immersive and binaural techniques, and creates work in all areas of live performance and digital media. From audio-drama to theatre, Calum is passionate about using sound to tell transformative stories that bring people and communities together through collective experience. Calum runs The Audio Story Company, a creative organisation who produce immersive experiences which fuse sound, music, voice and physical performance with the aim of redefining the boundaries between art and the people it serves.

Selected Sound Design or Composition credits include: Castle Lennox, Life Is A Dream, Wendy & Peter Pan (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh). Me & My Sister Tell Each Other Everything, If You're Feeling Sinister (Tron Theatre). The Dodo Experiment (Citizens Theatre). ADULTS (Traverse Theatre), Message From The Skies (Underbelly's Edinburgh Hogmanay 2022). Merry, Happiness Collectors (The Audio Story Co). Design By Disaster (Braw Fox Theatre).

Selected Associate credits: Mrs Puntila & Her Man Matti, Pride & Prejudice *Sort Of, The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh). The Cheviot, The Stag and The Black Black Oil (National Theatre of Scotland). Stand By (Utter Theatre). Ceilidh (Theatre Gu Leor).

Digital & Screen Credits include: The Woolgatherers (The Audio Story Co & Tron Theatre). The Lost Reindeer (The Audio Story Co. & Hopscotch Theatre Co.). CreateWorks (Braw Fox Theatre & Edinburgh University), Happy Ark Day (National Theatre of Scotland, BBC Scotland), The Unseen Child (Hopscotch Theatre Co.).

All day The Audio Story Company will be working in the studio with kids of all ages!

Sign up your children to take part on the link here

Please note, the ASD reserves the right to make changes to the programme without prior notice. Such alterations may occasionally be necessary due to circumstances beyond our control.

All events will be filmed and photographed - your presence confirms your permission for the ASD to use any images or recordings of you in our publicity materials and seminar archive.

The ASD does not accept responsibility for anyone acting as a result of information or views expressed on its training courses including course material. Opinions expressed are those of individual trainers and not necessarily those of the ASD. Participants should take professional advice when dealing with specific situations.