Exclusive access to our industry standard kit
There are many reasons why BIMM is the perfect choice for anyone looking to kick-start a career within the music industry. And one of the main benefits of studying with us is gaining access to our world-class facilities. Expert tuition is supplemented by essential hands-on experience with the kind of industry-standard equipment, software and surroundings music industry professionals will encounter in the real world.
Whichever BIMM campus you select, you can rest assured that you’ll be gaining access to a wealth of impressive facilities. Music Production students will be able to hone their skills with dedicated Mac editing suites, 5.1 surround sound mixing rooms and professional level in-house and satellite recording studios with extensive software/hardware selections.
Performance students will have a multitude of assets at their disposal from fully-kitted performance stages to dedicated practice rooms and rehearsal space.
Music Journalism, Music Business and Event Management students have access to a range of communal computer facilities at their disposal including our state-of-the-art Mac suites, plus dedicated access to research and networking spaces on campus, plus a range of associated live events spaces within their chosen city with which to implement their various modules and personal projects.
What do our staff think?
With their years of expertise and experience, our staff are the people who have helped influence and shape the facilities available to our students. Here’s what some of them have to say about the facilities in their respective campuses.
Lzi Hayes, Head of Estates & Facilities – BIMM London
“There’s an incredible 25 teaching rooms here, all kitted-out with equipment from the world’s leading musical instrument manufacturers. Guitars from Gibson, Fender and Ernie Ball, drums and keyboards by Yamaha and Gretsch, amps from Marshall, Fender, Aguilar, Orange, Mesa Boogie and Peavey and mics from Shure, AKG, Sontronics, Rode and many more.
There are six Mac suites too, complete with industry software favourites Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Ableton Live, plus mixing rooms and post-production suites, for students pursuing a more technical route into the music profession.”
Matt Hodson, Music Production – BIMM Brighton
“The dedicated Mac Labs, the SSL Mix Suite and the access to Brighton Electric recording studios makes all of the production requirements of our students a reality. With the most up to date plugin collection along with the powerful computers, students can demo, craft and edit without any problems and help them to see their work become a reality.
Brighton Electric allows you to travel to a time and place where you are immersed in amazing quality microphone choice, varied acoustic rooms and vintage recording outboard where you can really craft the sonics of your productions. Moving into the SSL Mix suite, again gives you access to a vast array of equipment and pushes your mixes into a very high-quality output. They all work together to provide the students with everything they need to go further than ever before and therefore that’s why I see it as a whole.”
Benjamin Shillabeer, Facilities Manager – BIMM Bristol
“We’ve moved away from having towering stacks of guitar amp cabinets to having smaller but more nuanced combo amplifiers that take pedals well and can offer a broader range of sounds to suit all styles; we now have some lovely gear from Fender, Marshall, Vox, Roland, Orange and Ampeg. Our recording studios are kitted out with some superb equipment with lovely outboard gear from Neve and Focusrite and an extensive microphone collection, as well as an in-house collection of studio-only instruments. Our main live room is continually being improved and we are looking to install a new PA having recently updated the lighting, backline and performing area.”
Antony Greaves, Principal – BIMM Birmingham
“Our whole facility is brand new and therefore state-of-the-art, including our 120 capacity Live performance room and Roland drum studio. Perhaps the most impressive is our Mac Suite which features 20 of the latest iMac computers, all the major software packages and plugins, plus keyboard and Abelton Push controllers, which give Production students an opportunity to access thousands of pounds worth of technology both in their lectures and in their free time.”
Becky Jones, Head Of Songwriting – BIMM London
“It’s a difficult one because the building is full to bursting with excellent equipment, but I have to say, being a graduate myself, that the community fostered by the college is actually the best thing about it. You find yourself in a building 7 days a week full of fellow musos, music managers, future label heads, journalists, performers, producers, writers, promoters, etc. It’s a buzzing hive of collaboration and activity.”
Colm Querney, Head of Songwriting – BIMM Dublin
“Instruments, computers with music software, and music equipment. I’ve noticed that quite a number of students do not have access to these things because of their financial situations. By providing these opportunities we can allow students to up-skill and see the value in purchasing these resources for themselves, over time.”
Bruce Carter, Head of Songwriting – BIMM Manchester
“We have a fantastic professional standard recording studio (which you can see in this video) that has produced some great results for both Diploma and Degree students. I often get involved with a Diploma album at the end of the year and the songs and production have been great. It’s something special that the Diploma students get to keep at the end of the course. There are great opportunities for all students on a range of courses to record in the facilities and production students are often looking for artists to record.”
Christian Huant, Music Production course leader – BIMM London
“Most music these days will involve some sort of synthesiser work, obviously in all the EDM genres but also in Pop, Hip Hop, some Rock music and in many film, TV soundtrack and scores. Hardware tends to cost more than software and many students starting out on their music production journey may not be able to afford many of these units. This is why BIMM London, in response to student requests at the start of 2017, invested in some hardware toys to supplement our existing comprehensive offering of software tools. Here are just some of our new analogue hardware synthesisers:
The Moog Mother 32: The Moog synthesiser sound has a unique appeal, partly down to the design of its filter, which Moog (the company) has preserved to this day in all its synths
The Korg MS20 mini: A classic synth of the 1970s, used by everybody from Jean-Michel Jarre to Daft Punk, Aphex Twin and Portishead.
Along with this, we also have the entry-price (but oh so cool) little Korg Volca units, including the Bass, Keys and FM units.
The Doepfer A-100 modular system: geek-tastic! Fully patchable with no fixed signal flow, it is the ultimate flexible tool for creative work and happy accidents. Sample that!”
These recommendations are the tip of the iceberg with regard to the kind of equipment and facilities available to all our students across BIMM’s campuses.
