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Tony Platt is visiting the Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries ATRiuM on Tuesday, 4th December.
Tony Platt: Tony is a leading member of the British Music Producer's Guild
Engineer for Bob Marley & The Wailers “Catch A Fire”, Boomtown Rats “Fine Art of Surfacing”, AC/DC “Back In Black”
Producer for Iron Maiden “Phanton of The Opera, AC/DC “Flick of the Switch”, Buddy Guy “Damn Right I got The Blues”, Soweto Kinch "Conversations with The Unseen", and many, many more, including film and TV (http://www.platinumtones.com/discography.htm)
Tony Platt is visiting ATRiuM on Tuesday, 4th December!!!
Tony will be providing useful careers orientated presentations. These are particularly for Music and Sound students, who should attend as follows:
1.00 – 2.00 pm CB4 2nd Year Music and Sound
2.00 – 3.00 pm CB4 1st Year Music and Sound
3.00 – 4.00 pm CB4 3rd Year Music and Sound
Other students and staff are welcome to attend as they are able.
Submitted to AIM ATRiuM Intelligent Media Blog by:
James E Barrett Principal Lecturer Department: CCI - Drama & Music
[Pictured above: Tony Platt]
Tony Platt’s career in the music business started at Trident Studios in London but he made his name as an engineer at the now legendary Island Studios.
Working his way from assistant engineer to engineer on sessions with the likes of Free, Traffic, The Who, Rolling Stones, Sutherland Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Jess Roden and Mott the Hoople to he came to engineer albums for a hitherto unknown Jamaican artist, Bob Marley, which would launch reggae music into the mainstream for good.
This association led him to complete ”Funky Kingston” for Toots and the Maytals and work with several other notable Jamaican artists such as ZapPow, Lorna Bennet, Harry J’s All Stars, Aswad and The Cimarons.
However, although Tony Platt’s reputation is principally based on his work in the world of rock, at Island he gained other more eclectic experience working on the numerous orchestral, commercial and pop sessions that came through the studio and some fairly eccentric projects including a 30 piece avant garde jazz band and an album consisting entirely of Tibetan bells !
After working with the various spin off projects from the recently disbanded Free - Sharks, Toby, Peace and Kossoff, Kirke,Tetsu and Rabbit and as engineer for Muff Winwood on the debut Sparks album Kimono in my House he finally left Island and turned freelance.
Having recorded demos that prefaced deals for Thin Lizzy and the Stranglers he became engineer for Mutt Lange.
With Mutt, Tony worked on the AC/DC albums Highway to Hell and Back in Black, Foreigner - 4, Boomtown Rats - Fine Art of Surfacing and Broken Home and AC/DC asked him to mix the soundtrack on their documentary film and then to work with them on Flick of the Switch.
When he joined the Zomba producer roster in 1980 Tony enjoyed immediate success producing and engineering the work of artists such as Samson (with Bruce Dickenson singing) & Iron Maiden, Krokus, Motorhead, Gary Moore, Cheap Trick, The Cult, Marillion , the list goes on.
For additional info please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk
The Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations Announces the next upcoming Cardiff Academic ATRiuM Event . . .
The Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries has moved from the University's Treforest campus to our new ATRiuM home in Cardiff city centre.
With ‘state of the art’ facilities this will offer exciting opportunities for joint work with new partners.
Public Lecture on Small-Nation Filmmaking by Professor Mette Hjort, 5.30pm Weds 28th November 2007
Distinguished academic Professor Mette Hjort will be speaking at ATRiuM on Wednesday 28th November. In her only public appearance in Wales, Professor Hjort will deliver a lecture on The ‘Advance Party’ Initiative: Scottish/Danish Solutions to the Problems of Small-Nation Filmmaking.
‘Advance Party’ is a Scottish Dogme project which sets out to do for Scotland what director Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 had done for Denmark. Professor Hjort will examine how this unique model of transnational filmmaking helps to provide solutions to the problems of small-nation filmmaking.
Distinguished academic Professor Mette Hjort will be speaking at ATRiuM at 5.30pm Weds 28th November. In her only public talk in Wales, Professor Hjort will deliver a lecture on The 'Advance Party' Initiative: Scottish/Danish Solutions to the Problems of Small-Nation Filmmaking.
'Advance Party' is a Scottish Dogme project which sets out to do for Scotland what director Lars von Trier's Dogme 95 had done for Denmark. Professor Hjort will examine how this unique model of transnational filmmaking helps to provide solutions to the problems of small-nation filmmaking.
Professor Hjort is the Leverhulme Visiting Professor of Film Studies at St Andrews in Scotland and Professor of Visual Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She has published Small Nations, Global Cinema, and co-edited volumes including The Cinema of Small Nations, Cinema and Nation, The Postnational Self and Purity and Provocation: Dogme 95.
About one of the newest books by Professor Mette, The Cinema of Small Nations:
Synopsis: Within cinema studies there has emerged a significant body of scholarship on the idea of 'National Cinema' but there has been a tendency to focus on the major national cinemas.
Less developed within this field is the analysis of what we might term minor or small national cinemas, despite the increasing significance of these small entities with the international domain of moving image production, distribution and consumption.
"The Cinema of Small Nations" is the first major analysis of small national cinemas, comprising twelve case studies of small national - and sub national - cinemas from around the world, including Ireland, Denmark, Iceland, Scotland, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and New Zealand.
Written by an array of distinguished and emerging scholars, each of the case studies provides a detailed analysis of the particular cinema in question, with an emphasis on the last decade, considering both institutional and textual issues relevant to the national dimension of each cinema.
While each chapter contains an in-depth analysis of the particular cinema in question, the book as a whole provides the basis for a broader and more properly comparative understanding of small or minor national cinemas, particularly with regard to structural constraints and possibilities, the impact of globalization and internationalisation, and the role played by economic and cultural factors in small-nation contexts.
This book includes the first major study of a range of small national cinemas. It provides detailed and informative studies of particular small national cinemas from around the globe.
It features an implicit comparative element that reveals major similarities and differences across the case studies.
It also features a strong line up of international contributors including a number of major internationally recognised experts in the field.
It is written in an accessible style to appeal to students, academics and the general reader alike.
Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries / ATRiuM The University of Glamorgan Adam Street Cardiff CF24 2XF
The best of Welsh culture will be on show at a major Washington D.C festival held during Independence Day celebrations in 2009.
The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival will see over 100 Welsh artists, performers and cultural scholars cross the Atlantic to take part.
The Festival is a complex production, over the years drawing on the research and presentational skills of more than 1,000 folklorists, cultural anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, and numerous other academic and lay scholars.
Its production involves the expertise of hundreds of technical staff, the efforts of volunteers, and the backing of sponsors and supporters.
Some observers have noted that the involvement of the Welsh Assembly Government, the numerous Welsh scholars and perfomers, the travel and hospitality, event planning and marketing programmes and staff, and the expected operating budget budgets related to this project imply MILLIONS of DOLLARS in necessary expenses along with the potential of MILLIONS of POUNDS in long-term tourism and economic benefit to Wales after the event.
Understandably the news of this event is travelling quickly, and many folks in Wales are beginning to wonder how they can contribute to or benefit from this project.
Members of the Welsh-North American Expatriate, 'Diaspora' and Welsh-descended organisations and scholarly groups are said to be hoping to participate and benefit as well.
[Pictured above Answers.com map of persons in the U.S. with Welsh ancestry -- 'Welsh ancestry' Dark red and brown colours indicate a higher density.]
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an international exposition of living cultural heritage annually produced outdoors on the National Mall of the United States in Washington, D.C., by the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
The Festival takes place for two weeks every summer overlapping the Fourth of July holiday.
It is an educational presentation that features community-based cultural exemplars.
Free to the public, like other Smithsonian museums, each Festival typically draws more than one million visitors.
Initiated in 1967, the Festival has become a national and international model of a research-based presentation of contemporary living cultural traditions.
Over the years, it has brought more than 23,000 musicians, artists, performers, craftspeople, workers, cooks, storytellers, and others to the National Mall to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and aesthetics that embody the creative vitality of community-based traditions.
Wales has been chosen as the featured nation for the 10-day event, which regularly attracts over one million visitors.
But this clearly understates the potential benefit of a newly 'energized' American 'connection' with Wales. For example, the Smithsonian Folklife Centre reports that:
"As the largest annual cultural event in the U.S. capital, the Festival receives considerable publicity, typically reaching 40 million readers and viewers through print and electronic media."
"In the past, the Festival was named the Top Event in the U.S. by the American Bus Association as a result of a survey of regional tourist bureaus—thus joining previous winners that include the Olympics and the World Expo."
"The Festival has also been the subject of numerous books, documentary films, scholarly articles, and debate."
Some skeptical observers have been asking in blogs and discussions, "Is Wales going to be ready for this event, or will a golden, once-in-a-century opportunity be missed for the nation of Wales?"
The Smithsonian has written about the festival's impact upon foreign domestic markets, that:
"The Festival has strong impacts on policies, scholarship, and folks "back home."
"Many states and several nations have remounted Festival programs locally and used them to generate laws, institutions, educational programs, books, documentary films, recordings, museum and traveling exhibitions."
"In many cases, the Festival has energized local and regional tradition bearers and their communities, and thus helped to conserve and create cultural resources."
On November 5th, 2007 the Assembly spokeman reported in a news release that:
"Representatives from the Smithsonian Institution will be in Cardiff today [ 5 November] to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Assembly Government to confirm the Welsh presence at the 2009 Festival."
[Pictured above: Welsh National Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan]
"They will also meet First Minister Rhodri Morgan to discuss plans for the event. . ."
The event celebrates the cultural traditions of communities across the United States and around the world. It showcases the best of community-based arts and highlights the importance of heritage to communities.
The Welsh Assembly Government will lead the development of in building of the programme for Wales, which will demonstrate the wealth of cultural history and traditions in Wales. As well as the cultural activities, the Welsh Assembly Government will use this festival to target its international audience to maximise economic opportunities for Wales.
The Welsh Assembly Government will be working closely with partners throughout Wales to build a dynamic programme of performance, demonstration, and discussion events.
The participation of the Welsh Assembly Governemt in this Smithsonian initiative seems to complement and support the 'Assembly Government’s vision for Wales as a confident, diverse, creative and physically fit nation.'
[Pictured above: The Smithsonian's first building, popularly known as the Castle, houses the Institution’s administrative offices and the Smithsonian Information Center, located at 1000 Jefferson Drive SW in Washington, D.C. Completed in 1855, the original Smithsonian Institution Building was designed by architect James Renwick Jr., whose other works include St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C. This Washington landmark is constructed of red sandstone from Seneca Creek, Maryland, in the Norman style (a 12th-century combination of late Romanesque and early Gothic motifs).]
The Welsh Assembly Goverment has published related statements declaring 'our intention is to raise the profile of Wales and stamp our unique identity on the world stage'.
In a related story, on Wednesday 14th November, a diverse group of arts and cultural practitioners and academics met at the new University of Glamorgan, Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries complex called the ATRiuM on Adam Street in the Cardiff City Centre to address the symposium theme through a series of focused conversations and group exercises.
These discussions were set within the context of what is now a key economic sector, the creative and cultural industries.
Presenting at this event was the ATRiuM / Smithsonian Institution Visiting Fellow, Folklorist Dr Betty Belanus.
Dr. Belanus is Curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and has joined the Centre as a Visiting Research Fellow and is undertaking preparatory work for the Smithsonian Festival's focus on Wales in 2009.
2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington, DC
Since arriving, Dr Belanus has been engaged in an active period of fieldwork which has also involved consultative planning visits around Wales.
[Pictured above: The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.]
The ATRiuM has been fortunate to have Dr Betty Belanus, Curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, as a participant at this symposium.
Dr Belanus is currently a Visiting Research Fellow with the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations.
Key Players from the Welsh Higher Education, Welsh Tourism, National Gallery and National Museums, and Arts and Media sectors attended this crucial and timely ATRiuM symposium and participated in the discussions.
Keen interest was show toward all the presentations, although the events related to the upcoming Smithsonian 2009 event attracted animated and intense questions and comment.
Concerns were raised that Wales carefully considers and plans the nation's participation in this upcoming event in 2009, so that the broadest variety of sector in Welsh society and the Welsh economy benfit from this project, both before, during and after the event.
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is a research and educational unit of the Smithsonian Institution promoting the understanding and continuity of diverse, contemporary grassroots cultures in the United States and around the world.
The Center produces the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Smithsonian Global Sound, exhibitions, documentary films and videos, symposia, publications, and educational materials.
The Center conducts ethnographic and cultural heritage policy oriented research, maintains the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, and provides educational and research opportunities through fellowships, internships, and training programs.
The Center also produces major national cultural events consistent with its mission.
In 2004 these included the National World War II Reunion and the First Americans Festival for the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian.
The Center's activities are funded by federal appropriations, Smithsonian trust funds, contracts and agreements with national, state, and local governments, foundation grants, gifts from individuals and corporations, income from the Festival, and Folkways product sales.
The Center's experienced staff is culturally diverse and extremely productive, combining interdisciplinary scholars with technical specialists. The Center has distinguished advisors and cooperates with numerous international, state, local, and professional organizations.
For additional info about the articles discussed above please contact Dr. Mark Leslie Woods at mwoods[at]glam.ac.uk
