Darren Lynch

Click to Enlarge

The Languages Faculty of the British School of Paris has recently installed an AcoustiCabin Express sound-isolation cabin for use in one of their language classrooms. Dr. Batters, Head of the Senior School enthusiastically welcomed the new AcoustiCabin Express saying. “ We are delighted that we now have such a fantastic facility in the Languages department, this will undoubtedly give us more options to adapt and enhance our language teaching.”

The new cabin has already been pressed into service for some of the school’s oral public examinations. The AcoustiCabin Express sound-isolation cabin is designed to be self-installed but without compromising the booth’s excellent sound-isolating properties. Impressive sound isolation is achieved thanks to the use of high performance acoustic materials in the slot-together patented panels. The modular, interlocking panel design permits considerable flexibility in size and footprint.

Commenting on the early success of the AcoustiCabin Express which was only launched at Music Education Expo earlier this year, marketing manager, Alice Dagger said, ”Although our company heritage is in music, we are excited by the other applications customers are finding for the product. Apart from other educational uses such as language laboratories, we have commercial installations where privacy is important, quiet working space in noisy industrial locations and as recording suites.”

Click to Enlarge

 

 

 

 

Click to Enlarge

A package offer from Black Cat Music that proved so popular before, is back for July. As a special promotion, 20 x Classic 50 Music Stands plus a large size Move & Store Cart are offered with a saving of 10% by Black Cat Music, for July only.

The package normally priced at £1,393.60 is on offer throughout the month at just £1,252.24 plus VAT and delivery. Schools and colleges looking to equip with new music stands designed for robust and regular handling can take advantage of this great offer as the summer break approaches.

Already a top seller, the popular Classic 50 Music Stand doesn’t compromise on a design that is tough enough to handle the hardships of regular classroom use thanks to a formula of advanced polymers offering inherent tensile strength that will not bend or dent like metal stands - a design that also makes it quiet and rattle-free during performances. And the scratch resistant desk surface also incorporates a unique recess for keeping pencils in place. When the performance, rehearsal or class is over, stands can be stacked on the easy to load Move & Store Cart for transport and convenient, compact storage.

Full details on the July offer can be found here: https://www.blackcatmusic.co.uk/music-stands-and-accessories/music-stands/move-and-store-cart-large-with-20-classic-50-music-stands.html

When Britain's largest military band, The Band of the Life Guards based at Combermere Barracks, Windsor, relocated to the Army Reserve Centre, the new location was not acoustically suited for music rehearsal, so Black Cat Acoustics was called in for advice.

Although the ARC provided more space for the band, currently with 68 musicians, the structure of the drill hall and the gymnasium that formerly occupied the building had very reflective walls and ceiling giving rise to noise and echo problems that without acoustic treatment rendered the space unsuited for the musicians' rehearsals. Black Cat Acoustics recommended a series of special treatments to create an ambience and acoustic quality that dealth with the noise problems and allowed the band to take advantage of the alrger space that they required, but now in an acoustically friendly environment.

The work, which was completed on time and within budget, included the addition of acoustic panels, both wall mounted and suspended from ceiling, that reduced the Reverberation time (RT) to approximately 1.5 seconds from 4.5 seconds. In addition acoustic dampening walls were installed between the band rehearsal room and two other military secure areas. Four acoustic door sets separate the band rehearsal room from the social club, office corridor, stores area and museum corridor. An acoustic barrier and absorption curtain over a roller shutter door helps muffle sound travelling through the shutter door and also assists in the internal acoustics of the rehearsal room.

Additionally the contract included a large Wenger StageTek staging system 14.6m x 4.8m (48ft wide by 16ft deep) comprising two tiers at 0.3m and 0.6m (12" and 24" heights). This staging is also designed to be re-configurable in various layouts to suit the different band requirements. The move and store carts allow all the staging components once disassembled to be transported and deployed off-site when the band(s) play external functions.

For June only, Black Cat Music is offering a massive 15% discount on their best selling Classic 50 music stands in a special Summer promotion. Quantity discount breaks allow purchase prices as low as £38.56 when purchased in quantities of 50 or more. Schools and colleges looking to equip with new music stands designed for robust and regular handling can take advantage of this great offer throughout the month.

The ever popular Classic 50 Music Stand is tough enough to handle the hardships of regular classroom use thanks to a formulation of advanced polymers offering inherent tensile strength that will not bend or dent like metal stands. Its elegant design makes it quiet and rattle-free during performances. And the scratch resistant desk surface also incorporates a unique recess for keeping pencils in place. The patented one-hand height adjustment of the music desk is simplicity itself, requiring no screw or locking collar adjustments. To learn more watch the Classic 50 put through its paces at YouTube.com:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivRM-h6FW28

Full details of the June offer can be found on the Black Cat Music web site.

- Ends -

Back from two important conferences - ISBA and MMA - the Black Cat Music team reflect on a successful and busy May. Talking about the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association Annual Conference at Celtic Manor, Technical Sales Executive Martin Loft said, “As usual, the ISBA conference was extremely well organised and it was a great opportunity to speak to school bursars, both about their music departments, and about ways to solve noise problems in their schools.” Brigitte Downs, Sales Executive, added: “We were able to take our sound-isolating AcoustiCabin to display at the ISBA conference this year, and this met with a great deal of interest from independent school bursars.”

Next up the MMA Conference at Wellington College, Berkshire. Alice Dagger, Marketing Manager, commented: “The MMA conference at Wellington College was well run and enjoyable, and it was an excellent opportunity to catch up with Directors of Music in the independent and the state sector. It was great to see lots of familiar faces, as well as meeting quite a few new faces in the world of music education.” Alice summed up: “The location and venue were superb.”

The AcoustiCabin Express sound-isolation cabin is designed for speedy and easy installation, without compromising the booth’s excellent sound-isolating properties. Impressive sound isolation is achieved thanks to the use of high performance acoustic materials in the slot-together patented panels. The modular, interlocking panel design permits considerable flexibility in size and footprint.

The ISBA's popular annual conference brings together many of the independent education sector's leading experts offering topical updates for schools plus networking opportunities and an exhibition of more than 100 professional advisers and companies dedicated to providing high quality services to the education sector. Held over two days, the event welcomes more than 400 bursars and senior management staff from independent schools every year. As the administrative managers of schools they are the key decision-makers in sourcing their school's services and supplies.

At the MMA conference, the choices of session are always comprehensive and include over 24 different speakers with tailored wisdom for all areas of a school music department from music administrators and instrumental teachers to heads of department. The Conference always includes all meals and refreshments including a black tie dinner with entertainment. The conference trade fair is always a lively hub of activity with some thirty corporate members giving in-depth advice and showcasing the latest instruments, products and scores. However, networking is one of the key reasons that members attend and the opportunity to share good practice and ideas with colleagues from a wide range of schools, organisations and corporates is invaluable.

-ENDS -

The Black Cat team has now returned to the UK following a successful Musikschulkongress 2015. Alice Dagger, UK Marketing Manager reported: “As usual, the conference was very well organised, and we enjoyed participating in the exhibition. It is always a pleasure to meet and chat to German music school teachers, whose passion for teaching and playing music is inspiring.” Dirk Rueter, Manager of the Berlin office, added: “We enjoyed Musikschulkongress and it was a pleasure to visit Münster. We look forward to attending Musikschulkongress 2017 in Stuttgart!” Black Cat Music displayed a selection of its range of high quality music equipment ranging from the world-renowned Wenger music stands, ergonomic music posture chairs and staging to sound-isolating music practice rooms and self-build sound-isolating AcoustiCabins.

What do you do when you are a trumpet player who needs to put in some practice but live in an apartment where your children need to sleep and the neighbours are banging on the walls? Well, you could take the approach that Vilhjálmur Ingi Sigurðarson - “Will” - did and get in touch with Black Cat Music about a sound-isolation cabin. The AcoustiCabin Express sound-isolation cabin is designed for speedy and easy installation, without compromising the booth’s excellent sound-isolating properties. Impressive sound isolation is achieved thanks to the use of high performance acoustic materials in the slot-together patented panels. The modular, interlocking panel design permits considerable flexibility in size and footprint. Will, who lives with his wife and family in Iceland and is a member of the Icelandic Philharmonic, contacted Black Cat Music’s Myke Millward when he realised the noise situation simply could not continue. The email communications developed into a plan that in due course saw Will flying to Gatwick Airport, complete with trumpet of course and testing out an AcoustiCabin Express sound-isolation cabin at Black Cat Music’s headquarters in Tonbridge, Kent. Here, Will really put the sound-isolation cabin through its paces. Myke’s colleague Martin Loft joined in the trial, playing an instrument within the sound-isolation cabin for Will to assess noise in various parts of the building, with Myke recording on an iPhone. All that could be heard was the whirring of office machinery outside the cabin! Three hours later and delighted with the results, Will was impressed with the effectiveness of the AcoustiCabin Express sound-isolation cabin. In a footnote to the story Will sent us pictures of the cabin being installed in his apartment and the message, “ The cabin works great… I´m very happy."

Close harmony singing chorus, Fascinating Rhythm, are celebrating their twentieth anniversary with a concert on 27th June at the Olympus Theatre, Stoke Gifford.

Alice Dagger, Marketing Manager of Black Cat Music, said, “We congratulate Fascinating Rhythm and wish them every success with the 20th anniversary celebration concert.”Wimbourne, South Gloucester based Fascinating Rhythm describe their style as an all female, close harmony singing chorus with a repertoire that includes pop, ballads, easy beat and traditional barbershop. 

Tickets for the concert can be purchased online.

It is the last Inspirational Monday before Christmas and we couldn't find anything more appropriate.

It's Kate Davis with Scott Bradlee, our new favourites, covering Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas.

We particularly enjoyed the drummer who is intent, not only on not missing a beat but also keeping his eye on the camera.

Keep your eye out also for the second bassist, emerging, incredibly casually from upstairs.

And duelling double basses, duelling double basses, what could be more Christmassy than that?

Of course we are wishing you a white and jolly Christmas and we will look forward to giving you some more inspiring stuff to celebrate New Year next week.