RP's sonic arts course sounds like a winner
He had his eyes set on Republic Polytechnic's (RP) sonic arts course ever since he was in Secondary 2 as he wanted to pursue a singing career.
But through the course, Mr Muhammad Arshad, 19, a Year 2 student in RP's School of Technology for the Arts, discovered his passion for live sound engineering.
He told The New Paper: "I thought it would be difficult to earn a living in the audio industry, but I found out that the industry is actually big. There are many career choices for us.
"I thought (the course) was only on music, but I realised I like doing mixing for live performances."
Graduates of the course, which is unique to RP, can become audio post-production editors, live sound engineers, audio designers and more.
Mr Arshad has shared his experience in the course at the RP open house event.
"We do all sorts of things to get the sound effects we want. For example, for a galaxy door opening scene, we layered toilet-flushing sounds," he said.
"In Year 1, as part of the sonic art studio module, I made a track for an album that is now being played at 9th Avenue (RP's training restaurant and kitchen). I used a musical instrument digital interface to compose the musical notes in Protools (an audio software)."
The sonic art studio module teaches students to author their own works.
In December, RP completed the building of their Foley studio, where students can record sounds in synchronisation with moving pictures.
Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to films in post-production to enhance audio quality.
The state-of-the-art studio was built with six pits filled with material such as sand, gravel, asphalt, marble and creaky wood to simulate sounds such as footsteps on these materials.
SKILL SETS
Mr Andrew Wong, programme chair of the diploma in sonic arts, said the course equips students with the necessary skill sets for the audio industry.
He said: "The course covers everything from location sound recording to the fundamentals of studio recording to audio post-production."
Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung was at RP's open house yesterday and he visited the various booths.
Speaking to TNP, he said: "At a secondary school level, we are trying to help students uncover their strengths and passions, and how to leverage on that.
"We see many courses that are unique to RP like sonic arts, sports coaching, and arts and theatre management.
"In a poly, there are a wide array of options for young people to explore, understand themselves and pursue their interests. That's an important direction we are going towards for higher learning."
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