Samplephonics Sound Design Competition Winners Accounced

As a reminder there was a Shure PG27 microphone up for grabs to the winner of this competition.

Entrants had to make a piece of original music of no longer than 2 minutes in length using only 1 object! We’d like to send our congratulations to DiFracto, the winner of the competition who made this piece of music using only Cellotape. You can see the rest of the winners here.

We will be supporting this competition again in the future. If you’d like to enter this competition next time around sign up to the Samplephonics newsletter, or better still subscribe to the Shure UK Blog!

Xander & The Peace Pirates – Best Live Unsigned Band

We very proudly sponsored Play Music Magazines unsigned awards 2012 and decided to sponsor the category for Best Live Band. The winning band were the excellent Xander & The Peace Pirates. Before winning this award they managed to get themselves a gig warming up for Bon Jovi! You can see an excerpt from this performance here.

As part of their prize we offered the band the opportunity to come to our offices to try out some equipment and go home with £1500 worth of Shure products.  After a couple of hours with our technical team they decided on taking away 3 pairs of our excellent dual driver SE425 earphones, a Beta 52A kick drum microphone and a KSM137 which we are pleased to say have been put to good (and regular!) use.

After several gigs using their new Shure gear here is what they had to say:

Jake (Drummer) -  ”The Beta 52 is a brilliant bass drum mic! I have used it for both studio and live work, it is not only reliable but gives the kick drum so much clarity when amplified. I’ve also been using the KSM137 - This mic is an efficient piece of kit which is versatile for both recording acoustic instruments and using as a drum kit overhead. The mic is very easily transported and we have already started using it for demo recordings and live work”.

Chris (Keyboardist)  - “Great clarity – fantastic flat response and protective isolation that is both great for on-stage and studio monitoring. Every musician should save their eardrums and invest in Shure SE425′s”

KSM137 mic – “This mic is an efficient piece of equipment which is versatile for both recording acoustic instruments and using as a drum kit overhead. The mic is very easily transported and we have already started using it for demo recordings and live work”.

From the band – “It was amazing to win the Play Music unsigned band competition as Shure is one of the greatest amplification and microphone companies around, and to receive free equipment allow us  to enhance our sound both in the recording studio and during live gigs. We are also aiming to switch to in-ear monitoring soon so we used this opportunity to get some excellent dual driver earphones”.

We’d like to congratulate the band on their deserved win, and wish them all the best!

To see the full list of winners of this years Play Music Unsigned Awards click here

If you are interested in entering Play Music’s annual competition we advise you keep an eye on their website for more information

Anna Calvi announces winner of Shure Songwriting Competition

Shure & The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance are delighted to announce the winner of this year’s Shure Songwriting Award supported by BMI, as chosen by the Mercury Prize and Brit Award nominee Anna Calvi. This innovative scholarship competition for aspiring singer-songwriters saw a record number of applicants compete for a place on the Institute’s prestigious BA in Songwriting degree course, worth £5,750.

Ten finalists were chosen through a combination of public voting and a panel of experts from the Institute’s impressive songwriting faculty. All the finalists and their videos were then presented to Anna Calvi, who has been making a notable impact in the music industry with her self-titled debut album. Anna was so impressed by the high level of the entries that she chose a winner and two runner-ups to also take partial scholarships. The winner of this year’s Shure Songwriting Award goes to Mairead Furlong, taking a full scholarship at the Institute.

Mairead now has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to professionally develop her talent and skills on this fantastic course. As well as enjoying this great opportunity to learn, Mairead will also benefit from the many opportunities that arise at the Institute to write, collaborate and perform in live London showcase events in front of the Institute’s unparalleled network of key industry professionals.

The highly successful competition is now in its fourth year of issuing places on Institute Songwriting courses. Last year successful songwriting students included Elena Tonra and Igor Haefeli – aka Daughter who are now signed to 4AD records, the home of artists such as Bon Iver, Iron & Wine and The National. 2012 promises to be a big year for Daughter with a busy summer playing various festivals across the UK and Europe.

If you are interested in applying for this competition in the future, the Shure Songwriting Award 2013 will be launched later this year. For further information visit www.shuresongwritingaward.com or contact the Institute directly

Shure Songwriting Award 2011 Winners Announced

The Shure Songwriting Award 2011 in association with the ICMP has now come to an end.  8 Finalists were chosen by The Ivor Novello nominated band Everything Everything  who judged the competition along with a panel of experts and  public voting. 

The band were impressed by the high level of the entries and chose Two Winners: Bobby Evans for a full scholarship and Alex Losardo for the partial scholarship.

“We gave Bobby first place because we were really impressed with his simple and direct song. It has a great, hooky vocal melody, uses simple but really lovely harmony, and rhythmically his drumming on his guitar is really effective. Overall, a great song performed beautifully.” Quoted Everything Everything

 ”Alex’s song impressed because of his strong voice, creative use of quite jazzy harmony, and relaxed performance. The song takes some unexpected turns and keeps the listener on their toes in a really enjoyable way.” said Everything Everything

Bobby and Alex now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to professionally develop their talent and skills using the best Shure gear along with a free place on the Institute’s one-year Professional Diploma in Songwriting course.

Congratulations to Bobby and Alex from  Sebrina Bea and the Shure UK Team!

Mozart [Un]Rapped Competition

Your chance to Remix Mozart! – Introducing Mozart [Un]Rapped

If you or any of your friends are rappers, vocalists or even producers, then prove your versatility by entering a competition to urbanize Mozarts Music- trust me you won’t get an opportunity like this very often!

There are a bunch of samples available of the Aurora Orchestra playing Mozart for you to mix, mash-up and rap over…. The 3 best freestyles from the under and over 18′s will be chosen and announced on stage by a talented panel of judges at the Grand Finale 24th July 2011 held at  Kings Place.

Some top prizes are at stake including a half day at Shure UK HQ, where the winner can test a range of Shure microphones; then select their own prizes!

You have until 20th July 2011 to create and submit your track to enter the competition! This is not for the faint hearted. If you think you’ve got what it takes, get involved!

Click here for more information and to enter  http://www.kingsplace-unwrapped.co.uk/