Fourth Edition
Quad-A Group | Bayimba Foundation
Certificate in Audio Production & Post-Production
CAPP 2026 | Uganda | Powered by the Mastercard Foundation
Raising East Africa’s Audio Standard – One Cohort at a Time
Opportunity: Sound Can Travel
Across Uganda and East Africa, creative talent is not in short supply. Musicians, filmmakers, storytellers, and content creators fill every city, town, and district. What limits how far that talent travels is often not passion; it is sound quality. Poor dialogue clarity, uncontrolled noise, weak mixing, and inconsistent loudness reduce the professional value of otherwise powerful stories and music.
Quad-A Academy, through Bayimba Foundation and in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is directly addressing this gap. In 2026, Quad-A is delivering the Certificate in Audio Production & Post-Production (CAPP), a fully structured, industry-aligned training programme based in Mbale, Uganda, designed to equip grassroots young people with professional audio skills that meet international broadcast and production standards.
“CAPP is not a theory-heavy academic course. It is a skills-first professional training. By the end of the programme, learners are expected to do the work, not just talk about it.”
About the Programme
The Certificate in Audio Production & Post-Production is a three-month intensive training programme running from March to August 2026, with graduation in September 2026. The programme trains learners across six sequential cohorts, Monday through Saturday, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm each day.
It carries 20 Credit Units spread across five core modules, totalling more than 290 required contact hours. The structure mirrors how real audio production work unfolds — beginning with field-based listening and sound theory, moving through digital audio editing, Foley and sound design, mixing, mastering, and ending with a full integrated final project and professional practice module.
The programme is delivered from Quad-A Academy in Mbale, with site visits, field recording excursions, and studio simulation sessions woven throughout the timetable. Weeks alternate between onsite instruction, online learning periods, and practical labs to give learners both structured guidance and increasing independence.
Who Is This Programme For?
CAPP is built for young people aged 18 to 35 who have a passion for sound, music, film, or storytelling — but who have never had access to formal technical training. The programme is specifically designed for grassroots learners with no prior audio production experience and no minimum academic requirement.
The only admission requirement is a two-minute audio sample, recorded on any device available to the applicant — even a phone. The sample is not a test of technical skill. It simply confirms that the learner has an interest in and engagement with sound. This design reflects a core principle: talent in audio and storytelling is not limited to those with formal education.
Priority is given to financially disadvantaged young women from marginalised communities, including persons with disabilities (PWDs) and refugees. The Mastercard Foundation partnership targets regions across Uganda where unemployment, limited creative infrastructure, and barriers to formal training are most acute — including Mbale and surrounding districts in Eastern Uganda.
What Will Learners Study?
The programme is divided into five core modules, each building on the skills developed in the one before it:
CAPP-101: Foundations of Audio & Sound Theory (3 Credit Units)
Learners begin with the physics of sound — frequency, amplitude, the decibel scale, and psychoacoustics. Week one is entirely field-based: no laptops, no screens. Learners listen, observe, and document how sound behaves in real spaces. This builds the foundational ear that all later technical work depends on.
CAPP-102: Audio Editing & Post-Production Techniques (4 Credit Units)
Using Avid Pro Tools as the primary digital audio workstation (DAW), learners develop skills in dialogue editing, noise reduction, ADR synchronisation, Foley performance, and sound design for visual media. Sessions include studio simulation exercises based on real production scenarios.
CAPP-103: Field Recording & Sound for Picture (3 Credit Units)
This module moves the training out of the studio and into real-world recording environments. Learners practise boom operation, lavalier microphone placement, room treatment, and capturing clean audio in uncontrolled locations. The focus is on building discipline, consistency, and problem-solving in live production settings.
CAPP-104: Mixing, Mastering & Music Integration (4 Credit Units)
Learners study the full mixing chain — from gain staging, EQ, compression, and spatial placement through to loudness compliance and delivery-ready mastering. The module covers platform loudness targets including EBU R128 (–23 LUFS), Netflix, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and cinema DCP specifications. The final day assembles a complete film scene mix from scratch, integrating dialogue, Foley, atmospheres, and music.
CAPP-105: Final Project & Employability Skills (6 Credit Units)
The capstone module requires each learner to produce a complete, portfolio-ready audio project independently. Alongside this, Steadman Global Consulting delivers dedicated sessions in digital literacy, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship — equipping graduates with business skills needed to sustain and grow careers in Uganda’s creative economy.
How Learning Happens
CAPP uses a competency-based training model. Learners progress by demonstrating skill, not by passing theory examinations alone. Assessment is built around what learners can actually produce and deliver: recorded sessions, edited dialogue, mixed stems, and a curated portfolio of finished work.
Teaching methods combine trainer demonstration, peer collaboration, guided studio sessions, field assignments, and independent practice. Each day runs from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm and follows a consistent structure: session blocks, vocabulary building, hands-on practice, an exit assessment, and a preview of the following day’s learning.
All instruction uses plain, accessible language with everyday analogies suited to learners with no prior audio experience. Technical vocabulary is introduced gradually and is always anchored to practical tasks that reinforce meaning.
The CAPP programme exists to raise the technical standard of African audio production by building confident, competent, and employable audio practitioners.
Certification Requirements
To receive the Certificate in Audio Production & Post-Production, learners must meet the following requirements:
- Attend at least 80% of all programme sessions
- Complete all assessments — weekly tasks, a mid-course test, a portfolio, and the final project
- Achieve an overall score of 60% or above across all modules
- Submit a curated portfolio demonstrating competence across the production workflow
- Demonstrate acceptable professional conduct, ethics, and teamwork throughout the programme
The certificate is jointly issued by Quad-A Group and represents a graduate’s readiness to work in professional studios, post-production houses, and freelance settings.
Career Pathways After CAPP
Graduates of the CAPP programme leave with a portfolio, a practical skill set, and a professional network. High-performing graduates are recommended for internship placements and industry attachments coordinated through Bayimba Foundation and NextCom, with placement partners including DW, VOA, Swangz Avenue, MCI, Bakash Media, Victoria University, and Makerere University.
For those choosing to freelance, CAPP provides foundational business literacy to help graduates manage client work, price their services fairly, and build a sustainable professional reputation. The programme tracks graduate outcomes through follow-up surveys at three and six months post-graduation, measuring employment, freelance activity, and community contribution.
The long-term goal of the programme is simple: every graduate should be working in the industry, improving East Africa’s production quality from the ground up.
The Training Team
CAPP is delivered by a team of practising Ugandan audio professionals, each leading the module that reflects their primary area of expertise:
- Andrew Ahuurra — Academic Director & Foundations Lead (CAPP-101)
- Adnan Ssenkumba — Post-Production Lead (CAPP-102)
- Ssemujju Isima — Professional Practice Lead (CAPP-105)
- Paul Kazibwe — Creative & Field Recording Lead (CAPP-103)
- Isaiah Mucunguzi — Music Integration Lead (CAPP-104)
- Amulen Rebecca — Field Recording Support, Boom & Lavalier Specialist
- Isiko Abubaker — Foley & Dialogue Support
- Kyle Simbwa — Studio IT & DAW Technical Support
- Barnabas / Joses Arins Emanzi — Music Integration Support
Digital skilling and financial literacy sessions are delivered exclusively by Steadman Global Consulting every Friday throughout the programme.
Our Partners
This programme is made possible through a partnership between Quad-A Group Limited (the curriculum and delivery lead), Bayimba Cultural Foundation (the implementing partner and sub-contractor), and the Mastercard Foundation (the principal funder). Together, this partnership is part of a larger initiative to advance gender-inclusive skills development, financial inclusion, and entrepreneurial growth in Uganda’s creative economy.
The Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy underpins the programme’s commitment to creating dignified, fulfilling work for financially disadvantaged young people, particularly women, across Uganda and East Africa.
Be Part of This
The Certificate in Audio Production & Post-Production is not just a training programme. It is a deliberate investment in a generation of East African creators who deserve the technical tools to make their stories heard, clearly, professionally, and at broadcast quality.
CAPP 2026 is underway. Graduation is in September 2026.
For more information about the programme, to follow our learners’ journeys, or to explore partnership and placement opportunities, visit Quad-A Academy at quadaacademy.com or follow us on our social media channels.
— Quad-A Academy | Bayimba Foundation | Mastercard Foundation | Uganda 2026 —
