Education News and Events
21st September 2009 - V-Studio to partner with SAE in Germany
Cakewalk’s powerful PC-based music production system provides new opportunities for students
Edirol Europe, distributor of V-Studio in Germany, and the SAE Institute have announced a new partnership that gives students at selected SAE colleges an opportunity to gain hands-on experience of Cakewalk’s V-Studio 700 music production system as part of their studies. V-Studio 700s will be installed with powerful workstations, provided by Hamburg-based Xi-Machines, in all seven SAE German campuses. Further plans are already in the pipeline to roll this out in the UK and other European centres in the near future.
Both Cakewalk and Edirol Europe are companies in the Roland Group. Roland originally pioneered the concept of combining hard-disk recording with an ergonomic control surface in its groundbreaking V-Studio and VS products. The Cakewalk-branded and newly developed VS-700, launched right at the start of this year, combines Roland’s world-renowned hardware expertise with the power and flexibility of Cakewalk’s SONAR Producer digital audio workstation software. The extensively featured music production system includes the V-Studio Console, the V-Studio I/O unit with an integrated Roland Fantom VS module synthesizer, SONAR 8 Producer Edition software and a full version of the award-winning Rapture soft synth. The V-Studio 700 also offers direct control of Edirol-branded video hardware, complete with V-Link support.
During its thirty-year history, SAE’s world-class training has focused on preparing students for a range of opportunities in the audio industry. In recent years, the organisation’s diversification into “new media” has opened up additional avenues in film making, animation, web design and games design via SAE’s Qantm College network and a series of new online courses.
SAE students are encouraged to work with a variety of industry-standard hardware and software products and the V-Studio offers an opportunity to explore the high-end capabilities of a PC-based music production system. Xi-Machines will provide SAE with a number of dedicated, highly spec’d audio workstations for use with the V-Studio systems. The company specializes in making powerful computers for the creative industries.
The V-Studio 700 will be installed in the SAE colleges’ Open Practice Areas, enabling plenty of hands-on access. Edirol Europe Managing Director Massimo Barbini is optimistic about the new partnership: “We are delighted to be working with SAE and introducing the new V-Studio to their students with such powerful workstations provided by Xi-Machines” he comments. “The system has so many different applications and it’s extremely versatile, so we’re looking forward to getting feedback from a range of student projects.”
Rudi Grieme, SAE Vice President and Director of Operations adds: “The new V-Studio partnership will be very exciting for us. It's important for our students to gain as much hands-on experience as possible during their time at SAE. The V-Studio 700 will be a perfect platform for different student projects and I’m sure it’s going to be very popular!”
Over the coming months, Edirol Europe and SAE aim to further develop the partnership through seminars and other special events.
12th February 2009 - New academic pricing for Cakewalk music software in the UK
Cakewalk's UK distributor, Edirol Europe, has just announced a new pricing structure for academic versions of Cakewalk software. Education customers can now purchase any number of Cakewalk software licences, using a tiered discount system, which makes planning, budgeting and purchasing easier for schools and colleges. Discounts start with the purchase of two or more licences, with maximum discounts available for thirty or more licences.
"Because of the increasing interest in SONAR from schools and colleges, it makes sense to have a uniform pricing structure across the range of programs" explains Edirol Europe's Managing Director Massimo Barbini. "We hope this new system will help education establishments in their purchase of multiple licences by offering more flexibility and competitive pricing".
Teachers and students can also purchase single copies of SONAR and other Cakewalk software at academic discounts. Academic licences of Cakewalk software are available through selected music education dealers.
Click here for further information
18th December 2008 - UK education preview at BETT 2009 for Cakewalk's new SONAR V-Studio 700
BETT exhibitor Edirol Europe has announced that it will present the first UK educational preview of the new Cakewalk-branded SONAR V-Studio 700 at BETT 2009, on Stand R56.
Both Cakewalk and Edirol are companies in the Roland Corporation group. Roland originally pioneered the concept of combining hard-disk recording with an ergonomic control surface in its groundbreaking V-Studio and VS products. This new integrated hardware and software solution combines Roland's world-renowned hardware expertise with the power and flexibility of Cakewalk's SONAR Producer software, providing an extensively featured music production system that also incorporates video and image hardware control functionality. Representing the first flagship product in the next generation V-Studio line of Cakewalk-branded hardware and software solutions, the SONAR V-Studio 700 offers new opportunities for both music professionals and further/higher education music technology and multimedia classes.
The SONAR V-Studio 700 includes:
- SONAR 8 Producer Edition software and a full version of the award-winning Rapture software synthesizer
- the VS-700C V-Studio Console
- the VS-700R V-Studio I/O
- an integrated Roland Fantom VS hardware synthesizer
- direct control of EDIROL video hardware, such as the DV-7 line of nonlinear video editors and other hardware with V-Link support
The V-Studio 700's launch coincides with the release of SONAR 8. An increasingly popular resource in UK school and college music departments, this latest version of the PC-based music production software adds a selection of tools, effects and instruments to both its flagship Producer and Studio Editions. Additional content including loops, samples and presets are designed to enhance student project work. For secondary Key Stage 3 needs, the academic editions of SONAR Producer and SONAR Studio continue to ship with SONAR Music Projects - an introductory resource including instant lesson materials.
At BETT 2009, Edirol will join with Roland UK to exhibit a range of hardware and software products for use in secondary and further/higher education Music classrooms, labs, studios and performance spaces.
1st November 2008 - Conference marks launch of new Roland Music Academies
Roland UK recently announced the expansion of its music academy programme with the launch of eight new academies based at Boston College, Coleg Sir Gar, Carmarthenshire, Leicester College, Northampton College, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, Preston College, South Devon College and Worcester College of Technology. The occasion was marked by a two-day conference held at the Marriot St. Pierre in Chepstow, where delegates from the newly formed Roland academies group had an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas and discuss the development of future training programmes.
Guest speakers included Julien Tritsch from Edirol who previewed the new Cakewalk/Roland V-Studio 700 with SONAR 8, and Dr Simon Pitt, CEO of Rockschool, (awarding body for the Roland Certificate in Entrepreneurship) who gave an overview of the wider picture in education and developments in vocational training.
Roland's music academy programme was launched just over twelve months ago when Walsall College and Rotherham College of Arts and Technology became the first two UK institutions to expand their facilities and implement the new Roland Certificate in Entrepreneurship as part of their music technology programmes. April 2008 saw the launch of a third academy at the University of Glamorgan, which coincided with the award of an Honorary Professorship to Roland founder Ikutaro Kakehashi.
David Barnard, Roland's Head of Education commented: "We are delighted with the response from this first Roland Academies' conference. Over the last two days we have seen a real sense of comradeship developing, combined with an excellent understanding of the immense task ahead and a genuine desire to work with one another to make this project a success."
Rick Benton, Roland Music Academy Manager at Walsall College added: "The last twelve months have been incredibly positive as we've watched our students become engaged with both the new equipment and courses. They have also benefited from the expertise of visiting industry professionals as part of the Roland training package. The Academy is now exploring new links with local schools as we look to expand our work into the wider community."
7th March 2008
Roland Corporation Founder Receives Honorary Professorship
Ikutaro Kakehashi, founder of the Roland Corporation, is to be honoured in recognition of his legendary contribution to both the music industry and music education. During his forthcoming visit to the UK, Mr Kakehashi will receive an Honorary Professorship from the University of Glamorgan at a special ceremony held in Cardiff on 4th April. The ceremony includes Mr Kakehashi's inaugural lecture to an invited VIP audience and coincides with the official opening of the Roland Music Academy at the university's new multi-million pound ATRiuM facility.
Born in Osaka, Japan, in 1930, Ikutaro Kakehashi's story is remarkable. Orphaned at the age of 2 and nearly losing his own life to tuberculosis at 20, Kakehashi began his working life repairing watches and building radios before discovering his love of music and his true vocation in 1958.
"It was 1958. I was 28 years old, and I decided I would find a way to make electronic musical instruments my life's work." Ikutaro Kakehashi - I Believe in Music (2002).
This led to the development of products for the music industry, including organs, which Kakehashi sold through his own company before linking up with Hammond to form Hammond Japan. In 1972 Kakehashi founded the Roland Corporation. By this time, his impact on the music industry was already significant, but his most important contribution came in 1982 as he initiated discussions between electronic musical instrument manufacturers with a view to creating a standard method of communication. This resulted in the MIDI specification. Over the following decades, with Kakehashi at the helm, the Roland Corporation continued to flourish. Advances in research and development made it a market leader in the production of synthesizers, organs, pianos, electronic drums, samplers, music workstations, amplifiers, and guitar effects. The last 10 years saw further business expansion with the addition of video and visual performance products to the Roland Corporation portfolio.
At the same time, Roland's international profile developed with the establishment of its joint venture companies worldwide and its additional investment in companies such as Boss, Rodgers, Edirol, Cakewalk, RSS and Roland DG, who are all part of the Roland family.
"Mr Kakehashi's impact on the music industry has been colossal," says John Booth, Managing Director of Roland UK. "In addition to being the driving force in the design of cutting-edge music technology, he has also been influential in shaping the sound and style of music itself.
His achievements will influence generations of musicians for years to come. The award of an Honorary Professorship recognises his amazing contribution to the music industry and education."
Professor David Halton, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan commented, "It is with great pleasure that we honour Mr Kakehashi with an Honorary Professorship of the University of Glamorgan. ATRiuM will be home to the first university-based Roland Music Academy in the UK and we are delighted that Mr Kakehashi will visit the faculty in person to mark the launch of this forward-looking project."
Events 2009
Edirol is pleased to be supporting the following education events with Roland UK in 2009:
BETT Show 2009 - Olympia
14th-17th January
(Stand R56, Grand Hall Gallery)
Music Learning Live!
Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester
5th-6th March
