Military band rehearsal space gets acoustic upgrade

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 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 dealt with the noise problems and allowed the band to take advantage of the larger 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.

Big discounts on Classic 50 music stands – June only!

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Classic 50 - 15% off in June

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

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

MMA and ISBA Conferences proved successful for Black Cat Music

Alice & Myke sparkle at MMA Conference

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.