ENHANCING its Music Production and Sound Design program, iACADEMY recently formed a partnership with audio and sound giants Avid and Dolby.
Gerard Elviña, professor at iACADEMY and also an audio expert, pointed out the importance of the program to the future careers of the students: “The program was designed to nurture the creative talents of the students, [and to familiarize them with the latest digital technologies] needed to become a successful professional in their preferred area of specialization.”
According to iACADEMY, the Bachelor of Arts in Music Production and Sound Design program will provide an outline of the basic principles of music and sound alongside industry-standard tools and training for its students.
In the launch event, iACADEMY underscored the program’s significance in the industry that can provide career opportunities for future students. They may aspire to be producers, sound designers, systems engineers, field recordists, foley artists, musical directors, audio auditors, and sound consultants. Gathered from the latest data on indeed.com, there are close to 4,000 available jobs and careers in music production.
Founded in 1987, Avid Technologies specializes in audio and video, as well as nonlinear editing systems. It will provide iACADEMY with its Pro Tools—the industry standard for audio production and curriculum, as well as certifications. The former has worked closely with Dolby for years to provide an immersive experience with audio production.
“[Our Pro Tools can be used in such a wide variety of projects. Knowing how to use such] can give a student an edge when job-hunting—especially on proving…skills to a future employer,” said Avid Learning Partner Manager for Asia Pacific Alex Brooke.
London, United Kingdom-based Dolby is well-known as the pioneering experts in noise-reduction systems, as well as audio encoding and compression. With the creation of Dolby Atmos, the company has changed the way audiences experience content.
“Dolby Atmos is an immersive audio solution for the next generation, which you can learn in iACADEMY.” noted Geoffrey Low, content engineer for Dolby, on powering iACADEMY’s newest program.
Elvina said iACADEMY’s program holds an advantage over the other programs offered by the other schools: “We are the first to be accredited by [the Commission on Higher Education] to blend music and sound into one. We are also being supported by Avid and Dolby with tools to be used in learning. [Proud to say,] we have a 1:1 ratio for students per computer onsite for learning Pro Tools.”
For its part, Dolby will be providing iACADEMY with curriculum review and integration, visiting instructors, and access to various Dolby Atmos tools for both students and faculty. On the other hand, Avid will soon be providing iACADEMY with access to Pro Tools 101 and Pro Tools 110 (100 series) curriculum and certification exams. It will also train iACADEMY faculty to be certified Avid instructors.
iACADEMY said the collaboration not only powers its audio-production programs, but also gives others like multimedia arts, animation, game development, film & VFX courses a taste of using the aforementioned Avid and Dolby Atmos learning tools. The school will start offering these starting this August.