Meyer Sound Reimagines & Expands Global Education Program

Meyer Sound has announced an aggressive rebooting of its industry-leading education program, with a full program of workshops and training sessions scheduled at the Berkeley headquarters as well as at other locations in the US and overseas, and the formation of partnerships with leading educational institutions. Many of the sessions will be led by two long-time fixtures in the company’s education program, Director of System Optimisation Bob McCarthy, and Senior Technical Seminar Instructor Mauricio ‘Magu’ Ramirez — with this duo now joined by another of the pro sound industry’s leading educators, Senior Technical Support and Education Specialist Merlijn Van Veen.

Meyer Sound also has announced new and extended renewal partnerships, most notably with Full Sail University in Florida, The University of California, Irvine (UCI) in California, and the University of Derby in England.

“We were forced to shift most of our focus to online platforms during the peak Covid months,” says Meyer Sound Training and Education Manager Robyn Bykofsky, “but in 2023 we will be back with a greatly expanded program of in-person training sessions, with most organised and presented by Meyer Sound but with others presented in collaboration with our partner schools or through industry and professional associations.”

The in-person program for 2023 kicks off January 17–19 with System Design and Optimisation training in Berkeley, with ‘Magu’ presiding, and continues February 14–16 with Bob McCarthy leading the same training in Florida at Full Sail University (registration not restricted to Full Sail students). Also in February, ‘Magu’ heads across the Atlantic with trainings to date planned for Spain, Lithuania, Germany, and Switzerland.

The schedule continues with CueSchool in Berkeley in the spring, and with more tentative events scheduled for New York City and Toronto. Also planned is a series of Spanish language trainings in Latin America led by Oscar Barrientos.

Bykofsky stresses the importance of forming institutional partnerships to extend both the reach and the depth of the program’s offerings. “The exact structure of the partnerships will differ from school to school,” she notes, “but in all cases, the goal is to ensure that the coming generation of sound professionals — as well as those already working in the industry — have the skills and knowledge they need to give audiences the best possible sonic experience, regardless of the products used.”

The University of California at Irvine’s UCI Sound program has extended its partnership with Meyer Sound under the leadership of Michael Hooker and Vincent Olivieri, both noted sound designers and composers as well as professors in the Drama Department.

“Meyer Sound has been an extraordinary partner with UCI Sound in fulfilling our education mission,” says Olivieri. “The relationship is attractive for prospective students considering graduate programs, and once enrolled the access to our Meyer Sound inventory — including our Meyer Sound-equipped recording and immersive sound design suite — becomes a pillar of their education. In addition, the workshops and trainings by Meyer Sound’s world-class designers and engineers enhance what our faculty teach on a regular basis. At UCI Sound we look forward to continuing this relationship well into the future.”

In England, a new partnership is underway at the University of Derby under the direction of Adam Hill and Jon Burton, who help supervise the undergraduate and graduate Entertainment Engineering programs. 

“My first ‘educational experience’ as a live sound engineer was 25 years ago with the legendary ‘Magu’, and now it’s a great feeling to be introducing my students to the educational team at Meyer Sound,” says Burton. “From our students’ perspective, having experts in the field coming to us — either online or in-person — to enthuse about the subject is always inspiring. Merlijn Van Veen’s recent presentation, delivered across groups from foundation to postgraduate, held everybody rapt with his breadth of knowledge and clarity of explanation. We are looking forward to building this relationship over the coming years for the benefit of all students who pass through our doors.”

Dave Dean, Department Chair of the Show Production degree program at Full Sail University, comments: “At Full Sail, we take pride in our innovative approach to educating and cultivating the next generation of audio industry professionals. We can look back at a multi-decade relationship with Meyer Sound in pursuing this goal, and we look forward to continuing our educational collaboration into the future.”

Meyer Sound also will continue to sponsor educational offerings in partnership with professional and industry associations, including USITT and AVIXA.

The expanded in-person offerings and institutional partnerships are supplemented by a wealth of online educational resources, including both short tutorials on specific products and applications as well as archived full-length seminars, many in Spanish, on acoustics, loudspeakers, audio networking, spatial sound, audio fundamentals and more. All are available in the Education section of the Meyer Sound website.