Moving on to A2 level...

[Frag_Me]

Thanks for all your input, it has all been very useful in making my decision. If I get my predicted grades for this year then I'll be dropping either Media or Geography. I still can't see how maths will help skill-wise (I got an A* at GCSE and everything mentioned has been covered this year) but I appreciate that proving my ability to do advanced maths will show me in a good light (ho ho!).

 

Now, time for a thread hijack!

 

Glamorgan or Derby?

 

I've visited Glamorgan and I thought it was top notch. All the staff I met there were the kind of people I like to work with and the facilities I have been shown have been up to scratch.

 

I've heard people saying that they consider Derby to be a better course however, and from what I saw at Glamorgan they would have to be producing some top banana courses to achieve that.

 

Considering that the "technology" side of the course appeals to me a lot above certain other courses, what are people's opinions? Is the course at Derby particularly focused on lighting or does it roam more frequently into other areas?

 

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it all,

 

Leo

[Tomo]

As a lighting designer, or even a technician, I fail to see how pure maths and advanced statistics (which is what the A2 syllabus mostly consists of) would help with your career prospects.

Statistics? Who said anything about maths stats?

Maths Mechanics is what you need lots of - you want a grounding in Statistics, and a good knowledge of Mechanics.

 

IIRC the basics are that you have to do at least one Stats module, one Mechanics, Two Pure and one more, either Mechanics or Stats.

Even if that's changed a bit, you definately don't have to do loads of Stats if you do Mechanics instead.

 

And to answer your question - Maths shows that you can think accurately and logically.

Even if you never use the particular techniques ever again, the practice at careful, logical thinking will stay with you, and make you a much better technician.

[Cougar]

When I did maths at A level my school did not give options in what we did that was 3 pure modules, 2 stats and a decision module. Personnel I feel decision maths is not helpful at all but is fairly easy which I guess is why they teach it. Stats though I really see no point in as it is no easier than mechanics (from what I know of those modules not having done them) and mechanics is a much more transferable skill from my point of view (especially for those also doing Physics).

[TomM]

A year ago, I finished Further Maths A-level. This meant I did 12 of the 15 modules in the syllabus we were on. Decision Maths appears to serve no purpose, other than to gain marks - a very important exercise at A-level!!! I now do a maths degree and obviously therefore everything is useful to an extent. However, even doing this the mechanics in an A-level course is so far removed from reality to be of little more use than stats, unless your time is spent pushing buggies down ramps with no air resistance (or if you do the most advanced modules, a poor model). I do tech stuff as a volunteer alongside my degree here at Bath, so my recomendation based on that if you have a choice of units is to do the "pure" maths modules as they are most applicable to anything else, with stats coming second.

 

In terms of doing a course in any sort of scientific field, based on the experiences of my housemates who didn't do maths post-GCSE, A-level is very useful, if only for the transferable ideas, like how to approach a problem, as well as the increased happiness in just dealing with numbers.

 

Just an opinion, feel free to ignore and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about!

 

Tom

[Ken Coker]

Glamorgan or Derby?

 

I've visited Glamorgan and I thought it was top notch. All the staff I met there were the kind of people I like to work with and the facilities I have been shown have been up to scratch.

 

I've heard people saying that they consider Derby to be a better course however, and from what I saw at Glamorgan they would have to be producing some top banana courses to achieve that.

 

Considering that the "technology" side of the course appeals to me a lot above certain other courses, what are people's opinions? Is the course at Derby particularly focused on lighting or does it roam more frequently into other areas?

Leo

 

Er..........I thought I might have addressed that in a previous post........umm, there used to be a very handy .pdf that explained what we did and what the modules were...however someone appears to have redesigned our website. I'm sure that the ever helpful Mr. Lewis (see posts passim) will email you one.

 

Do we do lighting design? Well, a bit if I can be bothered.....mostly I do a lot of shouting and throwing things at students, but with the occasional bit of arson on student work that fails to come up to the mark. I would suggest that you might want to talk to Tom R about the nature of our course - the bandages should be coming off soon and the doctors are optimistic of a full recovery; whether he will be able to bowl his outswinger again is, sadly, something only time will tell.

 

Hope that helps; do contact Simon or I if you want more details of the course.

 

Ken

[Simon Lewis]

Ken's inimitable humour aside, please pm either Ken or myself for further details!

[Tom R]

If you would like any info on the course I would be happy to help just send a PM. Not sure how many Glamorgan students are on blue room I have never really heard any voice an opinion?! There are quite a few of us on here who would happily voice their opinion of Derby, and some, including myself, who visited Glamorgan last year but thats not something we should discuss in this thread (mostly because I get in trouble :))

 

Bandages are off next week - never trust the spellcheck, especially when spelling luminaire!

 

Also...did you do Integration and Differentiation, Complex Numbers, Partial fractions for GCSE ;-)

 

Tom

[Chris_R]

I too am a student on the SLLET course at Derby so if you have any questions just ask!

There have been a few posts about Derby and Glamorgan already which showed up when I did a seach here.

Hope this helps,

Good luck!

Chris

[Dan Appleby]

Glamorgan or Derby?

 

I've visited Glamorgan and I thought it was top notch. All the staff I met there were the kind of people I like to work with and the facilities I have been shown have been up to scratch.

 

I've heard people saying that they consider Derby to be a better course however, and from what I saw at Glamorgan they would have to be producing some top banana courses to achieve that.

 

Considering that the "technology" side of the course appeals to me a lot above certain other courses, what are people's opinions? Is the course at Derby particularly focused on lighting or does it roam more frequently into other areas?

 

I've just finished the Sound, Light and Live Event Technology course at derby, just thought I'd add my input.

 

Firstly, definitely do maths at A-level - it will help you no end, especially in the first and second years. I did the course straight from doing a HND in Music Tech, therefore not really having a background in maths and/or electronics, and I found alot of the electronics and maths based modules in the first year really difficult, and struggled to pass them (even though I managed it). If you can do physics or electronics at a-level, they would be worth considering maybe. Geography, media or drama I can't really see helping you out much, but an a-level's an a-level - they all get you the same amount of entry points, so from that point of view it doesn't really matter which ones you do - but some will help you in the long run more than others.

 

Obviously I can't really speak for the Glamorgan course, but I can say that course at Derby is excellent. It covers a wide range of other subjects related to live events including electronics, event design, auditoria design, CAD, music business as well as the obvious lighting and sound stuff - to name just a few, so it's real mix of stuff. As Ken has already mentioned, the course isn't a lighting design course, and neither is it a course for live sound engineers, but that's not to say that you won't necessarily become an LD or a noise boy. In the LPSA module in the final year there is a string of lectures on lighting design, but that's about as far as it goes. Also in year 3, you get to do alot of 'hands on' scenario based work, and there will be scope for you to work on lighting design there too.

 

One of the guys also just about to finish the 3rd year came to the course pretty much wanting to do just lighting, and although he has had to take part in some audio related modules, he has specialised in lighting areas and has gone on to get a job in the lighting department of PRG, and I'm fairly certain will go on to make a really good LD. I'm kind of the opposite, I came to the course having a background in audio, and therefore have become more engaged in the audio based modules, and will probably end up doing more audio based stuff in my job at SFL - the fact that I also now have experience in lighting is an added bonus.

 

 

 

Plus the lecturers are really nice... (I'll pick up tenner soon simon and ken :blink: arf arf) Well, most of the time anyway!!

 

If you'd like anymore info, e-mail or PM me.

 

Cheers,

Dan

[Ken Coker]

Dear Dan

 

As well as currently taking action short of a strike, I'm also taking action short of reaching for my wallet..........obviously, as soon as the dispute is settled I'll be happy to pay the ten pounds over the next three years....

 

Ken