Alice Dagger

Music & Drama Education Expo London is Europe’s largest conference and exhibition for anyone involved in music & drama education, and it takes place on 24 & 25 September 2021.

The CPD conference programme will consist of a broad range of high-quality, free-to-attend workshops and seminars over 24 & 25 September 2021. Delivered by award-winning teachers and practitioners from organisations including Open Drama UK and Musicians Union, these sessions will help music and drama education professionals from across the UK enhance their provision and inspire young learners.

Black Cat Music & Acoustics is delighted to exhibit at the conference again this year, and will be displaying a mixture of music education products ranging from Wenger music stands, orchestra seating and conductor's equipment to choral and orchestral folders, staging/choral risers, a comprehensive range of instrument storage solutions and the Studiobricks sound-isolation booths for rehearsing and recording music, vocals and podcasts.

Come over to stand B60 to have a chat with the Black Cat team and pick up your free conductor's baton (or Black Cat coffee mug)!

Scendea are thrilled with the Studiobricks Office Solutions phone booths which were supplied and installed by Black Cat Music.

Recognising a need to create additional telephone and meeting rooms in their compact office space, Scendea turned to Black Cat Music & Acoustics, exclusive UK distributors for the Studiobricks sound-isolation booths.

Black Cat Acoustics was able to supply and install the booths for Scendea within two months, and Scendea are really pleased with the results. "We are delighted with our Studiobricks Sound Isolation Booths, sourced and supplied in under 2 months by the Black Cat Acoustic Team", reports Becky Murphy, Marketing Manager at Scendea.

"The Booths have completely transformed our compact office space, with the impressive sound-proofing allowing us to create intimate meeting rooms, increasing productivity for all team members."

Becky and her team were equally impressed with the service provided by Black Cat Music & Acoustics, commenting:  "We are delighted with the seamless service provided by Alice, Nik and the Black Cat Acoustic team and wouldn’t hesitate to collaborate on future projects."

Black Cat Music & Acoustics will be exhibiting at the MTA Virtual Conference on 14th and 15th May.

Black Cat Music has been a loyal corporate supporter of the Music Teacher's Association (previously the MMA) for many years now and is pleased to continue supporting the important work that the MTA does for the UK music education sector.

The Black Cat team will be present at the conference (online this year) and we will be exhibiting our range of music stands, choir and orchestra folders, conductor's equipment, instrument storage, staging and sound-isolating music practice rooms.

Black Cat Music is proud to be the exclusive distributor for Wenger in the UK as well as being Master Distributor for Wenger in Europe and Russia. Wenger is world-renowned for the quality and longevity of its music performance and education products, which come with a minimum 5-year warranty.

Black Cat Acoustics is proud to be the UK distributor for the Studiobricks sound-isolation booths: affordable, flexible and easy to build and relocate when required - without compromising on acoustics. The Studiobricks booths are ideal as music practice pods, recording studios and for media production, voiceover and podcasting.

For more information on any of our products or services, just call the Black Cat team on 01892 619719 or email sales@blackcatmusic.com

Black Cat Music & Acoustics was delighted to sponsor the ABO online conference in March 2021.

The three-day, online forum offered an opportunity for delegates from the UK and beyond to discuss the impact of the pandemic, Brexit and the Black Lives Matter movement on orchestral music and to seek solutions arising from them. Hosted in partnership with Classic FM, Help Musicians, Classical Music and the British Council, featured speakers at the ABO conference included Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England (ACE) and the Minister of State for Digital and Culture, Caroline Dineage.

Black Cat's online exhibition stand displayed Black Cat products ranging from Wenger's excellent range of music stands, orchestra seating, instrument storage solutions and conductor's equipment, as well as acoustic treatments ranging from the Wenger acoustic shells to the Goodear acoustic shields and the Studiobricks sound-isolating rooms for rehearsing and recording music.

Dawkes Music has installed a beautiful new Studiobricks Studio Room in their Maidenhead shop, offering a professional set-up for hearing all the details in your sound and performance.

The Studio Room offers:

- Professional quality sound proofed studio space Little to no reverb or room feedback

- Testing space for instruments

- Dawkes Music’s newest facility, the Studio Room is a professional quality bespoke studio space.

The Studio Room was designed specifically with Dawkes’ space and needs in mind, with high-quality sound proofing.  The nature of the Studiobricks booth’s acoustic properties allow for all the details in one’s sound to be heard.

If you’re really looking to form an in-depth understanding of the capabilities of a new instrument or accessory, this is the room for the job. Such a space also makes it perfect for making high quality recordings. It is also a space dedicated to test Dawkes’s new selection of electronics, such as microphones, amplifiers, and effects pedals.

The Studiobricks Studio Room is set to feature as the new setting for videos released via the Dawkes Music YouTube channel.

About the Studiobricks Booth

The STUDIOBRICKS sound-isolation cabin is designed to be incredibly fast and easy to install, without compromising the booth’s excellent sound-isolating properties. Superb sound isolation is achieved from the high performance acoustic materials in the patented panels which simply slot together.

The modular, interlocking panel design makes virtually any size of room possible.

With a typical sound isolation performance of 46dB, the STUDIOBRICKS booth is ideal for professional music studios and for also makes a great home recording studio.

Further information and contacts:

Studiobricks UK Tel: 01892 619719

Web: www.acousticabins.com

The Black Cat team was delighted to attend the Music Mark online conference last month.

Music Mark's first ever virtual conference, Play On: the Music in Music Education, went live to music educators across the country and beyond on Friday 20th November. Hosted by YolanDa Brown, talented speakers and panellists came together for a day of online networking, learning and discussion.

Exploring the theme of putting the ‘music’ into music education, the Music Mark team brought together essential sessions covering genre, composition, accessible notation, and practical CPD for teachers, as well as discussions about diversity and how to address the challenges and opportunities of the current period. Black Cat was pleased to attend the conference and to exhibit in the Virtual Exhibition.

Black Cat Music is proud to be exclusive UK distributor for Wenger in Europe and Russia, supplying music education equipment ranging from Wenger music stands, orchestra chairs, staging and choral risers, choir and band folders, instrument storage cabinets and acoustic treatments to the UK music education sector.  Black Cat is also UK distributor for Studiobricks sound-isolation booths - ideal for rehearsing and recording music in schools, colleges, radio stations and professional recording studios.

For those who were not able to attend the conference on 20th November, a post-conference ticket is now available to book until 14th December. This will allow those who may have missed out on a ticket to our live event to log-on to the conference microsite and watch all of the conference sessions as recordings until Christmas. In addition to the session recordings from the Main Channel and Webinar Channels, you will be able to access the full Virtual Exhibition, the On Demand videos and the Resource Bank.

Successful British Voice Actor Gabrielle Baker invested in a VO edition Studiobricks booth a couple of years ago and describes it as ‘the best business investment I’ve made!’  Gabrielle described the booth as ‘a fantastic product’, which has had a real impact on the amount of work she can produce: ‘The quality of the audio I record has meant that my productivity has increased ten fold and I have full confidence that live sessions with clients will give them the professional quality they require’.

A highly respected and experienced British Voice Actor with her own studio at her home in Kent, UK, Gabrielle works in all genres of voice over and narration with clients around the world.  Gabrielle was a finalist for a Voice Arts Award in 2016 in Los Angeles and has gone on to be a best-selling audiobook narrator.

Gabrielle recently moved house, and was able to take the Studiobricks booth with her to her new home.  Gabrielle reports: ‘The booth is so well designed and easy to build that during my recent studio move my husband and I were able to deconstruct and reconstruct the booth seamlessly and without any damage.  This means that investing in a VO Edition booth is an investment for life, once purchased it’s yours forever’.

Gabrielle adds: ‘The customer service from Black Cat Music was fantastic.  By chance they were close to me so I was able to visit their premises and see, touch and test a vocal booth.  The order was managed by Black Cat Music from start to finish and at all times communication was great.  I was kept fully up to date with the delivery and also a follow-up to make sure I was happy with my new vocal booth. 

Gabrielle concludes: ‘I cannot recommend both the VO Edition Studiobricks booth and Black Cat Music enough.  A great product and fantastic customer service.  What more could I ask for?’

Here are the first ‘hot-off-the-press’ pictures of the acoustic panels which we installed at London South Bank University’s Edric Hall Theatre this week – we are all delighted with the results!

London South Bank University’s Edric Theatre is a dedicated theatre and rehearsal space for drama, performance and technical theatre students. With its reconfigurable 90-seat auditorium, seven studio theatres, rehearsal spaces and backstage facilities, the Edric Theatre is a wonderful space for rehearsals and performances – both for students, and for commercial theatre companies.

The theatre had recognized a need to improve the acoustics in the much-loved Edric Hall, so Black Cat Music & Acoustics was brought in to make the improvements.

The team installed elegant, curved Acoustic GRG acoustic panels – and the result is a beautiful-looking ceiling providing dramatically enhanced hall acoustics.

The whole team is really pleased with the new look and feel of the hall and we wish London South Bank University many successful rehearsals and performances for years to come.

Audiobook narrator Sarah Barron is delighted with her Studiobricks booth from Black Cat Music

Audiobook narrator Sarah Barron needed a professional quality sound-isolation booth to support her busy working schedule, so she chose the Studiobricks VO booth, and has been very pleased with the results.  "I am absolutely delighted with the booth." says Sarah.

"As an audiobook narrator, I need a great acoustic and a comfortable environment to work in - Studiobricks provides both of those things."

The sound-isolation performance of the booth was a crucial factor for Sarah, and the booth has not let her down: "There is literally no sound bleed coming from the building site behind my house!"

Sarah has been as impressed by the customer service as by the quality of the Studiobricks booth: "I would absolutely recommend this product and the service provided by Black Cat was first class."

About the Studiobricks VO Edition

The STUDIOBRICKS sound-isolation cabin is designed to be incredibly fast and easy to install, without compromising the booth’s excellent sound-isolating properties.

Superb sound isolation is achieved from the high performance acoustic materials in the patented panels which simply slot together. The modular, interlocking panel design makes virtually any size of room possible.

The Studiobricks VO Edition combines the benefits of the Studiobricks booth with professional VO equipment – making it ideal for voiceover artists and podcasters who need to record studio-standard material at home.

Further information and contacts:

Studiobricks UK - brought to you by Black Cat Music
Tel: 01892 619719

Wenger has introduced an exciting new product to its range.

The Wenger multi-use shield is a portable, clear, polycarbonate divider that adds a physical barrier between students in your rehearsal room – or anywhere you need it.

Wenger’s new multipurpose, freestanding, transparent shield is designed on the base of our most popular music stand, and can be adjusted in height and angle to create a barrier between students. Its lightweight construction makes it easy to use anywhere you need it.

Like all Wenger products, the multi-use shield is extremely sturdy, wobble-free, user-friendly and comes with a full 5 year warranty.

When distancing measures are no longer required, the Multi-Use Stand converts to a Wenger Preface or Classic 50 Music Stand with the purchase of a new desk.

Click here to order online.