THE SCHOOL OF SOUND began in 1998 as a single, four-day event aimed at exploring the creative use of sound in the arts and media, with a special emphasis on film and screen productions. It was responding to the limited opportunities to study sound, particularly for film. Our first event attracted over 200 people from 25 countries. The programme featured Walter Murch, Michel Chion, Piers Plowright, Mike Figgis, Laura Mulvey, Peter Kubelka and the Quay Brothers.
Since then, the School of Sound has expanded its programme to include weekend seminars, intensive practical workshops, lectures, ‘listening’ events, consultancies for professional practitioners and, of course, the international symposium held every two years.
We have published one book of transcripts from our first four meetings, Soundscape: The School of Sound Lectures 1998-2001 and have started to place on our website recordings of presentations made at the symposia. These can be found in the LISTEN section.
We work with festivals, film schools, universities, production companies, studios, galleries and arts organisations. Our partners have included Dolby, the British Film Institute, National Film and Television School, Arts Council of England, Napier University, ifs Köln, Falmouth University, Scottish Screen and the BBC. From 2011-2015 we were part of the consortium that created EPAS – the European Postgraduate in Arts in Sound, whose graduates are now practitioners working in both the arts and commercial creative industries. And for 12 years we have been closely associated with the The Soundtrack and The New Soundtrack journals, edited by Stephen Deutsch, Dominic Power and Larry Sider.
The School of Sound is produced and directed by Larry Sider and Diane Freeman Sider. We’ve been fortunate to have had the creative and technical assistance of a large, ever-expanding crew including Jerry Sider, Kirsty Malcolm, Mark Underwood, Tamara Van Strijthem, Alison Dale, Dan Rogers and Adam Clitheroe.
Loïc Levêque and Edith Allison created this website.
Larry Sider is a film editor and sound designer who has worked extensively in animation and documentary. His credits include Street of Crocodiles and Institute Benjamenta by the Brothers Quay, London by Patrick Keiller, and Mirrormask by Dave McKean. He was Co-editor of The New Soundtrack journal and was Head of Post-Production at the National Film and Television School (Beaconsfield, UK) from 2002-2006. He is currently the Head of the MA Sound Recording, Post-Production and Design at Goldsmiths (University of London). He lectures in the UK and abroad.
Diane Freeman Sider is a former television producer and was formerly Deputy Chief Executive of PACT (Producers’ Alliance for Cinema and Television). She is a qualified trainer and member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She also teaches disability equality to leading UK companies www.sider.co.uk.