LSS Newsletter Issue #10 - a VERY LATE October 2007

LSS News

Lots of stuff to talk about:

First of all, the school has seen a few changes in the last month.
The Soundwave class has been refurbished with brand new iMac 20", M-Audio Axiom 25 midi controllers, M-Audio Fast Track Pro interfaces and Senheiser headphones for every workstation.

A new room has been created, equipped with iMacs, M-Audio Ozonic keyboards, guitars and other toys, to allow full-time students to practice as much as they like.

The main studio is now equipped with brand - spanking - new Quested S7 powered nearfield monitors (see a review here).

With all this upgrading and cleaning we have put some more equipment for sale, if you want to grab a bargain check the list on this page.

And last but most definitely not least, Sibelle has joined our office, taking care of pretty much everything in the day-to-day operations of the school. She takes over from Miriam, who couldn't resist any longer the call of the wild (read: freelance journalism) and is now already keeping herself extremely busy with all sort of things. We wish her succss, happiness, dogs & houses in the countryside, while secretly hoping she might one day change her mind and come back.

As if this wasn't enough to keep us busy, Logic Studio, Reason 4, Live 7, Pro Tools 7.4, and a few other exciting products, all decided to come out at the same time!
As you would expect all our courses include the latest versions of everything (we have been reading manuals in our sleep to get ready) so if you want to catch-up with the latest features of your favourite software give us a call to find out more.

To make a long story short, the new course books should have been ready for November but they are not. We can only assume that the authors were too busy playing with their iPhones to do their job, but what this means to us is that without the books there are no official exams, and without exams there is no Logic 101 and Logic 301 courses. We aim now to run the first official course on Logic 8 in January, but it will be a good idea to check our website often for last minute news. You will also find a Logic 8 FAQ which will be updated often to answer questions regarding certification, courses, differences between Pro and Express, etc.

In the meantime if you can't wait until January to learn all about Logic 8, and you don't care too much about the course being 'official', give us a call: we plan to have our own super-charged course one of these week-ends. And you can always take the Apple exam later when it's finally ready.

We can't say too much yet, but it's just awesome. Ableton has kindly provided us with a beta version and we can already demonstrate the new features in our existing classes. Here is an insider tip: Live 7 will sound better, do more and it will be even more fun to use, but it will also cost more. You have still a few weeks to get Live 6 at the old price and qualify for a free upgrade when 7 is released. You're welcome.

The Music Production 101 Essentials Certificate is due to start on 21 February, with a choice between full-time, part-time and evening part-time. Some places have been already assigned to those on a waiting list from September so if you want to enroll don't wait until the last minute. As usual there are only six places per class and no exceptions.

To arrange a studio visit or enquire about registering, please contact info@londonschoolofsound.co.uk.

Bits and pieces

In case you missed it (how could you), Control is the movie about Ian Curtis that everyone is raving about. It's absolutely beautiful and inspiring. And while the DVD won't be out until February you can already pre-order it here.

Read more about the movie, Ian Curtis and Joy Division: http://www.joydiv.org/these.htm

Having terminated their contract with Emi, Radiohead are now unsigned and selling their latest effort directly from their website. Good if you have a fan base as loyal and numerous as they have, I suppose. Speculations have it that they would have grossed approximately $6 Million so far, and considering that there is no record company taking almost all of it, that's a lot of money. Would this be the reason why the band has decided not to release any official figures? In any case the record is a masterpiece, so set aside your petty envy and order your limited edition discbox here.

Have a car, records to play and a real sense of how to entertain a crowd? Diskojuice is looking for Mobile DJs. Check their website or call 07933 686554.

Super Mario Bros mushroom candies, Your Beats Are Weak T-Shirt, Ibiza Ride Binary Watch, Nintendo Power Mints... This online store has all the essential gadgets for the electronic musician and laptop DJ.

In other news, musicthing reports on a story coming from the Italian newspaper 'la repubblica': a guy tried to smuggle 3Kg of cocaine hidden in the body of an imitation stratocaster guitar. What gave him away, according to the newspaper, was that the customs officer (being himself a guitar player) found the weight of the instrument 'unusual'. Once he started twiddling the controls of the guitar some white powder started filtering through. As it turns out this might have been, if only for a few hours, the most expensive guitar ever (approximately 2.5 millions of Euros).

p.s. We don't condone the slaughtering of innocent musical instruments for the purpose of trafficking: it's not even a clever idea and yet apparently a lot of people tries it and is regularly caught.

If you have a gig you want to promote, equipment for sale, or maybe you’re looking for collaborators, drop us a line at info@londonschoolofsound.co.uk and we’ll do our best to include your details in this newsletter and on our website.