String and Tins Announce the 2023 'No Fixed Mix' Programme for Aspiring Female Sound Designers

NFM Class of 2022: Alice De Ville, Nikki Sheth, Amy Fitzgerald, Brigitte Hart (Laura Iredale attending remotely).

2023 feels like a fresh start. The world is simultaneously exactly the same and vastly different from how it was this time three years ago. The audio-post industry continues to craft traditional TV, cinema and online projects, whilst also exploring a myriad of new opportunities through the explosion in immersive sound mixing, Dolby Atmos, virtual reality experiences and installations. The way in which we work together as a team and communicate with clients is evolving and is still in flux. Balancing remote working, studio attendance and ever evolving technologies continues to be a challenge. All of this puts more pressure on people entering the industry to be more adaptable and flexible than ever before.

As women we are taught to be perfect, risk-averse. Entering into an elusive, insulated industry feels like a risk, even more so when it is changing so rapidly. What if you make mistakes? Well, here’s the big secret; mistakes are inevitable, for everyone. So what happens if you take the risk despite the voice in your head telling you to do what’s expected of you, to make the safest choice. It’s only when we embrace risk that we can create a reality more colourful than our brightest dreams. And you don’t have to do it alone, we’re here to help you take the first step. 

This year’s programme will cover a wide variety of topics including; an overview of the audio post industry, sound design insights, composing to picture and mixing for the big-screen. We are delighted to have BAFTA and AMPS awards winning Natasha Haycocks, Dubbing Mixer at Formosa Group giving this year’s guest lecture. Four workshops will take place on weekday evenings throughout April and May and assignments will be set to be completed between sessions. Sessions will be a mix of online and in-person at the Fitzrovia studio. 

Last year we welcomed five new faces back into the studio. After having previous year’s workshops take place over Zoom, it was a welcome change. We hosted curated lectures from our own engineers and were lucky enough to be joined by BAFTA nominated Kate Davis, head of sound at Directors Cut Films. Here are some thoughts from last year’s participants: 

Alice De Ville, "Each week I learned a great deal about the technical, creative and other aspects of the industry. Every session was insightful, fun and interesting. I particularly loved that we got the opportunity to work on projects after each session, and that we then received feedback on our work at the next one. The homework was well designed and it really helped me to build on my skills. I only wish it could have been longer!"

Amy FitzGerald, "I loved taking part in No Fixed Mix, the whole team at String and Tins were so friendly and welcoming. It was also a highlight to get to meet and become friends with the other women on the programme, especially as I find that I rarely get to meet other women who do the same work as me. We're still all in touch and keep each other updated on work or if we need advice which is lovely."

Laura Iredale, "The assignments were a great way to get real world feedback on ideas and sound design. Sharing and hearing about others takes on briefs in a supportive environment was also a really positive experience. I appreciated the effort that String and Tins made to let me attend remotely when I was unable to be there in person."

In order to apply for this year’s programme, interested female or non-binary applicants must be of at least 18 years of age and are required to email their single-page CV along with a single piece of sound work that they have created to the email, nfm@stringandtins.com. The work submitted can consist of audio only sound design, a collage of interesting field recordings, sound design to a picture, or a piece of music with unusual instrumentation that should last between 10 seconds to one minute in duration.

Eimear Ní Ghuaire & Olivia Endersby, String and Tins said, "Thanks to the generous support of HHB Communications, AVID, iZotope and NUGEN Audio, successful participants will be provided with a free 12-month subscription licence to Pro Tools Studio, the industry standard DAW (worth £299), Nugen’s LM-Correct+DynApt (worth £419), and RX 10 Standard (worth £390) from iZotope, so that they can continue to develop their audio post-production skills". 

The deadline for applications for No Fixed Mix is midnight on Sunday March 12th, we endeavour to respond to all applications the following week.