In Industry Last updated 13 December
Meet the RBC leadership team - Simon Hall
Get to know who is driving BCU's Associate Faculty, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, in this weekly feature, Meet the RBC leadership team.
Head of Music Technology Simon Hall co-runs one of the longest running cross-faculty degrees in the University’s history – BSc Music Technology, which is run in collaboration with the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (CEBE). Simon enjoys the contrasting cultures of the Conservatoire and CEBE and has great colleagues to overcome any hurdles.
What are the core skills or areas of expertise that you bring to RBC?
I come from a diverse background in professional music-making, spanning performing, composing, producing, engineering and teaching across a whole bunch of genres. I like to think of myself as the musical equivalent of the blank square in Scrabble! I aim to bring that breadth of experience into my teaching and research to hopefully benefit my students.
What have been your highlights since you started at BCU?
I’ve been at BCU since 2001, so there’ve been a lot of individual events over the years – from hosting great composers and performers to making countless records with my exceedingly talented colleagues. It always comes back to the students, though, and I love to see our graduates doing well, and maintaining contact with us throughout the various stages of their careers. I’m proud to say that many of our alumni are now industry leaders that are shaping the music and professional audio sectors. It’s always fun taking students to big-name studios to make records, too. Trips to Abbey Road and Real World have been particularly good fun.
What have been the most challenging issues that you’ve had to discuss and take a view on so far?
I co-run one of the longest running cross-faculty degrees in the University’s history – the BSc Music Technology programme that is a collaboration between the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment (CEBE) and RBC. There is always a tension between the contrasting cultures of a conservatoire and a science-based faculty. But this can be a very interesting place to exist, and I’m lucky in that I’ve got great colleagues that work together to overcome any hurdles.
What are your ambitions for the Faculty?
We need more collaboration. Working in Music Technology, I’ve been involved in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) since way before it was a thing. And it’s a really exciting intersection of disciplines. Apple Founder Steve Jobs always used to say that some of the best people he had working in engineering at Apple were also poets and musicians. This creativity and problem-solving attitude is key to solving the challenges of the future.
What do you to outside of the role when you are not working?
Outside of RBC, I’m still active as a practitioner, although I do a lot less than I used to. Beyond that, it’s kind of the usual domestic bliss of home and family. I love to cook too, particularly food with a bit of spice – and can rustle up a pretty fabulous curry banquet. And even though I work at Birmingham City University, I’m afraid I support Aston Villa!