Nick Sargent (Subject Leader: Creative Music Technology)

Personal Statement

Personal Statement

Subject Leader: Creative Music Technology. School of Music and Performing Arts.

BA(Hons) [Norwich School of Art], PGCE [Reading University]

Personal Statement:

My principal responsibilities beyond teaching are leading the Creative Music Technology undergraduate programme in developing the fullest opportunities for students and staff.
I have been involved with the Creative Music Technology programme at Bath Spa University from its initiation in 1998 - and am proud to have contributed to developing this distinctive course and continue to manage its evolution. My deep interest in both creative and pedagogic issues continues to drive my appetite for leading the programme forward. My contribution to the subject area in HE at a national level is firmly rooted in learning and teaching issues and I am committed, through delivering papers and conference panel membership, to extending the range and depth of the emerging 'questions' in a subject that has a relatively short academic history. My teaching experience spans a 25 year period. My transition from Fine Art to Music was against the background of my own creative practice - I became self-employed, as a composer, in 1984.
I enjoyed a rich variety of commissioned and personal projects. Early success grew from recording and publishing through the 'production music' libraries of Warner/Chappell and Carlin Music. These continue to have worldwide use in broadcast media. I was fortunate to be able to include full orchestral recordings of my compositions within this portfolio of work. I was able to secure a wide range of individual commissions in the thriving (and then over-funded) areas of advertising, corporate film and conference.
I moved to Bristol in 1990 and extended my composition to include a wider range of work - theatre and dance projects, and a series of collaborative radio pieces with poets. This work extended the range and use of technology as a primary creative tool.

Professional Qualifications:

Digidesign ProTools Operator Level Certified Instructor Oct 2002

Membership of Professional Bodies/Subject Associations:

Writer member Performing Rights Society

Teaching Specialism:

Game Audio. Broadcast Media Composition.
Professional development.

Key Publications/Exhibitions/Performances:

Chap AV004 CD
Chap AV127 CD
Carlin 124 CD
Compositions on above Cd's enjoy extensive worldwide broadcast use

Bath International Music Festival - June 2009: "Two Tides" - Film devised to accompany performance of Harrison Birtwitle's "Chronometer"

Current Scholarship:

'Audio Technology - Regional Use and Training.' Labour Market Intelligence Report: (BSUC), 2000.

'Creative Music Technology within the Wessex Consortium - Five Years On', 'Further Education in Higher Education' QAA Conference: (Nottingham University), 2003

PALATINE 'Taming the Beast' . ' Identification, capture and development of academic frameworks for technology based composition'. (De Montfort University, Leicester), 2004

PALATINE panel member: 'Sound - Image - Space' Learning and Teaching in Music Technology. (Leeds International Music Technology Conference) . 2004

PALATINE speaker Creative Enterprise In Higher Education Conference: 'How the Tiger got its Trunk', November 2005

Speaker HERDA - SW Conference 'Collaboration through Creativity': 'Entrepreneurial Learning for the Creative Industries'. Torquay Nov 2006

External Examiners:

University of Hull - BA(Hons) Performing Arts 2007
Swansea Institute of Higher Education - BSc Music Technology 2007 - present

Other External Roles:

BAFTA Videogame Awards - Jury member - Music in games, Sept 2006 - current

External Validation panel member: University of Essex, April 2006

External validation panel member: University of Luton , Oct 2004

Sound Design Development Award referee: Palatine, Oct 2004

BBC/the Hub - Grant Awards assessor, July 2004, June 2005, Sept 2005, June 2006, Sept 2006

Member of Creative Arts Advisory Board, Weston College, 2003 - 2009

Focal Press: specialist reviewer of proposed music technology publications

Recent Professional Updating:

Wessex Consortium 09/02, 01/03, 09/03, 02/04 leading CMT staff development workshops
International Digital Arts Conference, Doncaster 2003
Sonic Arts Network Conference, Leicester June 2004
Arts into Employment Conference, Chester May 2005
HEA Conference CETL University of Gloucester, Jan 2006

HEA Conference -Open Space Learning, Warwick University, July 2011