Acoustic design in school music & media departments

Schools and colleges have been upgrading their music department with podcasting and recording studios as well as radio and theatre spaces. When you construct creative spaces for curricular and extra-curricular activities, you open up your students to become collaborators, creative thinkers and strong communicators.

When combined with the opportunity for working with audio and video technology, you advance your student’s ability to think about a career in those industries. But we know that when developing media spaces, acoustic treatment is crucial.

This year, the government’s Department for Education announced a package of funding for sixth-form colleges, voluntary-aided schools, and academies to improve and upgrade the facilities and schools’ buildings across the country. The package of funding topped £560 million.

On top of this, there has also been announced funding for music provision and lessons in schools. Over £80 million has been pledged to provide opportunities for students to learn instruments, perform in a band or choir, and enjoy improved music lessons.

This investment is the latest in a continued wave of support for schools from primary to sixth-form level, in order to transform the music and media spaces for students in the UK.

Having a podcast studio or radio station in your school or college can be a perfect opportunity for students to unleash their creative juices and develop their digital skills.

How do creative media studios improve schools?

We all know the benefits that creative outlets in the curriculum can have for pupil’s learning, attainment, wellbeing and attendance. From this we have also seen a rise of school’s adopting the latest and greatest in media and creative technology for schools, especially in the music department.

Recording and podcast studios, as well as music studios and radio spaces give schools the ability to be more creative with how they deliver the curriculum.

Storytelling and writing can be done through podcasts, while the radio station can be used for students to improve their communication skills through interviewing each other.

There is also the key benefit of the opportunity that technology enriched spaces like these have for students’ emotional and mental wellbeing. These spaces supply an outlet for creativity and a place to develop skills they can use outside of the classroom.

They also have the opportunity to inject their personality into their work, as well as spark their imagination. They get to work with a medium that’s fun, different and stimulating.

For students with emotional or learning difficulties, these spaces can give them a safe place where their energy can be refocussed on something else e.g. song writing or radio production.

This picture shows podcast studio we made at Facebook’s HQ to help their team produce higher quality podcasts. Since the space was not set up as a recording area, no acoustic treatment had been applied to any of the external surfaces within the room. The main aim for Sound Zero was to improve reverberation by retrofitting acoustic treatment to a large wall surface.

Why is acoustic design important in school podcast and recording spaces?

At Sound Zero, we specialise in creating bespoke music studios, production rooms, and recording spaces, so we know a few things about recording studios. In schools, we know how much effort and investment goes into creating these spaces in budget friendly forms.

That’s why integrating acoustic treatment into these settings is so important.

Regardless of how advanced the sound system and technology are, if the room it’s in is not up to scratch, the effort will be wasted. Soundproofing and acoustic treatment will amplify the capabilities of the technology whether a recording studio or radio room.

Even more important, if the music spaces in your school are not protected against noise transmission to neighbouring rooms, you will be impacting the learning of pupils in their classrooms.

Conclusion: acoustic solutions for school music and media departments

At Sound Zero we are dedicated to providing attractive but effective acoustic solutions so you can keep your school looking and sounding amazing.

We know that not all schools building were built with acoustics in mind, but there is still a vast array of options for you to upgrade your learning and music environments.

Our team is available to discuss your school acoustics needs to ensure you select the right product from our line. We have a range of products that include moss walls, cork panels, insulation foam, acoustic foam, and wall panel pro. All of these acoustic panel options can be completely customised to your colour, size, fabric, and other product requests.

Whether you need maximum noise reduction or slight adjustments to your classroom acoustics, we can help. We have helped countless schools and organisations improve their school acoustics over the years. Please do not hesitate to contact us today to go over our unique acoustic panels for schools that can help your students achieve better concentration.