philsimmonds Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 im about to start a degree in popular music and performance at basstech (guitar-x) in london (acton) in september... just wondered if anyone else has expeirianced the schools?? or has an opinion? Peace x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geilerbass Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I went there about 7 years ago to do the 1 year diploma, when it was still fused with the Guitar Institute. It was a really fun experience and I would probably do it again, but there were some negatives. The facilities were crap and there seemed to be some ropey organisation in the office. Considering the facilities that the ACM was offering at the time, it was quite shocking how archaeic the Institue/Drumtech's facilites were. It was also very expensive - though you possibly have funding? There were some really good teachers at the time (John Currie, Terry Gregory for example) but I'm not sure if they're still there as a lot of them left with the Guitar Institute when it moved to Kilburn. I think Andy McKinley (or whatever his second name is) is still there and he was a very nice chap and new his stuff. It should definitely be a great experience, at least for the opportunity to play with loads of other musicians and hopefully the current owners have bothered to pump some money into sprucing the place up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philsimmonds Posted August 19, 2008 Author Share Posted August 19, 2008 ahh cool stuff, the facilities now are pretty good, i have the ocasional bass lesson with andrew mckiney, very on the ball! he does his articles with bass guitar mag atm aswell i think... good stuff tho cant wait! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhsteel Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 I just finished this degree in June. It definitely has good and bad points. Andrew McKinney is a great teacher and very nice bloke. He was my dissertation supervisor and really knows his stuff. Hoping to get some more lessons with him soon. First year was the best in my opinion because you do the most bass playing of the whole course. In 2nd year you'll have to do production and management stuff and in 3rd year there is more production and promotional stuff. I found that as the course went on I did less and less playing. It feels a bit like they have tried to cram a lot of different aspects of the music industry into the 3 years. I've finished the course a better bassist but the biggest improvement was in my recording and production skills. Suppose it depends what you really want to achieve. Hope that helps. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 [quote name='geilerbass' post='265942' date='Aug 19 2008, 10:42 PM']I went there about 7 years ago to do the 1 year diploma, when it was still fused with the Guitar Institute. It was a really fun experience and I would probably do it again, but there were some negatives. The facilities were crap and there seemed to be some ropey organisation in the office. Considering the facilities that the ACM was offering at the time, it was quite shocking how archaeic the Institue/Drumtech's facilites were. It was also very expensive - though you possibly have funding? There were some really good teachers at the time (John Currie, Terry Gregory for example) but I'm not sure if they're still there as a lot of them left with the Guitar Institute when it moved to Kilburn. I think Andy McKinley (or whatever his second name is) is still there and he was a very nice chap and new his stuff. It should definitely be a great experience, at least for the opportunity to play with loads of other musicians and hopefully the current owners have bothered to pump some money into sprucing the place up![/quote] I was there in the early 90's. Terry is now head of bass studies at ICMP in Kilburn. He's a great player /teacher despite playing upside down and back to front, he's a good mate of mine, I still see him pretty regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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