Events company Continental Drifts were commissioned to deliver a Technical Production masterclass as part of the Roundhouse Rising festival.

A group of 10 young people are given a project for them to work towards putting on their own events during festival in February 2017. Each week they have an industry expert deliver a masterclass about different areas of putting on events.

As some of the events planned were band concerts it was appropriate for Cortex Training to send one of our Technical Production experts to the Roundhouse and help the group understand the technology needed to advance their event. It also gave them an insight into the necessary considerations for a larger scale event.

Dave Skelcey held a talk and Q&A session on ’Technical Production and Advancing for Live Music Events’ to the young Event Production students at the Roundhouse Studios. Dave says “It was an intense introduction to the world of advancing and procurement and covered topics such as specifying a sound system and the information required to get quotes, a brief introduction to power requirements, a brief overview of lighting and video, understanding riders, things to look out for with bands travelling from abroad, an explanation of backline and tips on how to learn more about it, and how to book a generic band backline and DJ setup for a show.

The students enjoyed it and took a lot of notes. I also squeezed in a couple of good anecdotes based on my 25 years of experience, and current roles in senior technical management at festivals such as Glastonbury (Shangri-La area) and Boomtown Fair.”