PAST STUDENTS

Name: Alex Gregson 

School attended: Droylsden Academy

Course studied: BTEC Music Technology

Final grade: Distinction Star

Where you went next: SSR Manchester

Any qualifications gained after ashton: First Class Honours in BSc Sound Engineering & Design

What you do now thats music related: I operate a sole trader company named 344 Audio, we offer Audio Post Production, Sound Design and Music Composition for Films and Games as well as Mixing and Mastering for Music.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at ASFC on the Music Technology course, Luke helped guide me from a Stubborn Bedroom Producer Teenager, into a more Rounded Sound Engineer who understands the importance of learning new skills, and providing work that is of the high level expected from my current and future clients. Me and Luke still talk to this day, years later, and hopefully soon we will be working together as colleagues on a project. Luke and ASFC helped me build the confidence to pursue Sound and Music as a career, and I hope others will take the same journey.

If anyone has any questions about anything I've mentioned, including advice about career progression in the world of Film and Music, please check out my website (344audio.com) and fill out the contact form.

Name: Joshua French

Age: 20

School attended: Alder Community High School

College attended: Ashton Sixth Form College

Course: BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Music Production (still rolls off the tongue)

Final grade: Distinction*, Distinction*, Distinction

Qualifications gained after Ashton: NVQ Level 2 Certificate in Marketing

After graduating from Ashton Sixth Form College, I volunteered at a Stockport recording studio before applying for an Apprenticeship with Inner City Music, the company and registered charity who run Manchester music venue Band on the Wall. I spent 12 months with them as an apprenticeship, before becoming their full-time Digital Content Editor. I owe a lot to the guidance of my Ashton Sixth Form tutors, who imparted their music knowledge on me and made me aware of the types of professional opportunities available within music. The course has been key to me maintaining a level of creativity in my recreational time, in that it taught me how to produce music in a domestic setting and gave me the knowledge to troubleshoot any problems that come with it. 

Name: Luke McConnell

I originally attended Audenshaw High School, and did a BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Music Technology when I moved to Ashton College. I also did Popular Music, Media Studies and Photography.

With successful final grades in all other subjects I left Ashton Sixth Form in 2015 with a distinction in Music Tech which got me in to Huddersfield University to study Popular Music Production BA (Hons).

Along with my University course I have a found a passion for producing my own music DJing, and record collecting, all these skills I learnt on my course at Ashton. Luke Warren taught me how to use Digital audio workstations like Logic Pro which I now use for making Soulful House & Disco influenced music. I felt that he had taught me enough about the program and had given me enough advice that I could send my tracks to some Indie record labels in hope that they might be interested in what I was doing, and maybe try for a possible record release. I received a reply and positive feedback from a particular label who were very interested in my songs and want to release an EP with me on digital & vinyl release. If I hadn't been taught these things I probably wouldn't have the confidence to release my music to people.

Tom Caruana taught me the art of DJing and helped me develop an interest in DJing as a whole. After learning the basics on digital DJ controllers,it got me interested in classic and original DJing with real turntables and mixers. This skill goes hand in hand with my producing, as it has helped me develop a different way of playing music and my own music to people. I can now do this rather than just using a laptop or digital device, which is a more popular way of doing it.

Jon & the other arts technicians also helped me during my time on the course as they would not only assist us during tests and performance exams, but would actually teach me separate skills that weren't necessarily involved with the main course. for example, I was taught how to use both the sound desk and lighting desk during shows whilst partaking in them myself. Once they had taught me the main parts of the sound and lighting equipment they let me and others have ago at running that element of the show ourselves without any help. I now feel confident enough that I could comfortably help run this section of performance arts myself in the future.

The teachers and technicians all have lots of experience in the music industry as a whole so were always telling us truthfully what the subject is actually like in the real world.