Unit 12 – Research

For my research I was looking at different vocal microphones and their pros and cons to see what one I will use to record my artist with.

Rode NT 2000

VS

AKG C414

After reviewing both microphones I feel as though when it comes to quality the AKG is better and has a smoother frequency response, however the Rode has an adjustable polar pattern feature, this means that I can change how much sound the microphone picks up and from what direction. Another difference is that the AKG has a Bass cut filter to cut out deeper sounds where as the Rode comes with a low cut filter that also takes out the low frequencies.

On the topic of vocals, I also researched techniques that I could use on some vocals such as tape delay and plate reverb.

Tape Delay

Plate Reverb

Both of these techniques make vocals sound better in their own different way, with tape delay you can make the vocals sound as if it’s been projected from a tape player. Plate reverb is also good for vocals because it imitates the sound of someone singing with a plate behind the Mic, this was a technique used before there were plugins to get a nice echoing sound. Both of these approaches actually can be used together and actually work very well together.

Other things that I researched where techniques that may be useful where such things as Room mic placement and snare placement and many other techniques involving placement of microphones.

Room Mic

A room Mic is great because it can be used to record many things such as drums or even a group of guitars. It will give you all the sounds from the room and you will also get natural reverb. If I was going to use a room mic it would definitely be when I’m recording drums as it give body to all the other channels when mixed in properly.

Snare Mic

With a good snare mic position you can manipulate how you want the snare to sound like, you would do this by positioning your snare, examples of positions could be me placing the mic pointing to the middle of the snare with would gain a fuller sound however if I had the mic on the bottom of the snare I would get a bigger rattling sound as it would be closer to the wire.

Overhead

When researching different techniques for an overhead mic placement I found an useful video that presented to me 5 different styles of mic placement, these were, XY, Recorderman, Spaceman, JJM Special and back to back. After watching this video I decided that I would do some primary research and tested what type of techniques I liked and get the best sound from, personally I preferred the Spaced pair and the XY positions as I felt it got the best sound.

 

 

 

 

Unit 12 – Bibliography

Unit 12 – Evaluation And Reflection

Unit 12 – Practical Skills

Unit 12 – Planning and Production

Week 1

Within my first week I will begin to work on my track, in going to begin with my first layers so preferably the drums or maybe a bass, I’m going to do this by using a drum machine for the drums as I know I am not that great at putting my own drums in, and if I was going to use a bass id play around on the midi for a while till I found a sound I liked.

Then I may begin to play in the melody with an instrument such as maybe a guitar or piano I’m not so sure yet, then once that is done I may add other thing into the track such as counter melodies however by the first week I plan to have the first track complete.

Week 2

For my second week I plan on having a similar week to my first with grinding out these tracks and I will have a similar approach to them all so id probably start with drums or bass then proceed to gain a melody with maybe not a piano but a lighter sound, for this id maybe use some wood wind instruments.

I aim to have the second track completed at the end of the second week, then just have the third track to do.

Week 3

in my 3rd week of my Ep I aim to have the last track to begin and complete by the end of the week. I cannot see my approach changing when making these tracks so I will be following my usual routine but obviously changing the sound of each track.

This should be the final week of me actually producing these 3 tracks, once I have done this I will aim to Mix and master all of my tracks so they sound professional.

Week 4

For this week I shall be mixing and mastering my first tracks I did, when I’m mixing and mastering I expect to make my track sound professional. To accomplish this I will be adjusting levels of my tracks and applying the appropriate effects.

Important examples of effects I will be using would be things such as compressors so my music wouldn’t clip. other effects that would be useful is stuff like reverb because it will make my music sound as if it was recorded in a room and I would have control how big or small the room is, I could also make it sound as if it was recorded with a tape with the tape delay effect.

Week 5

This will be the second week of me mixing and mastering I will go through the same procedure for the mixing and mastering so I get a nice good mix. There won’t be much difference in methods for the mixing and mastering techniques if I’m going to be honest.

Week 6

Last week of mixing and mastering and i’ll be doing the final track. The process will be the same as the two weeks before because there isn’t much else to say other that I will be using the same process in my mixing and mastering.

Week 7

This week I will be planning on going to go over all of the tracks I have made and see if there is anything I don’t like or If i feel like there is anything to add. This would be a wise thing to do because if I don’t like something I could then potentially improve my work and have a better track and overall EP.

Week 8

With my final week I will be uploading my music onto Youtube, I feel like this platform would be ideal because it has a massive place and also it is very easy to upload onto. I will also be promoting my music on platforms such as instagram, twitter and snapchat to gain a verity of listeners/ streamers.

Unit 12 – Problem Solving

While working in a studio there are bound to be things that go wrong, some of them we can help and some of them not so much. However it is more important how we deal with these things because if we don’t then we can’t progress forward.

When it comes to things such as microphone not working it is best to find out what the issue is, firstly I’d make sure that the track was armed and that all the gain levels were turned up. Then I would be changing the XLR so see if it was a faulty cable, then if it was still not working I’d have to resort to changing mic.

Other problems I may encounter could be the desk not working, this has happened before, indications for the desk not working could be outputs being produced in the channel however no sound being permitted. Firstly what I would do is I’d make sure all of the gains were up just in case there was not an actual desk problem, next I would make sure all the gains were down and I’d then have to turn the desk off and on again in hope it restarted it. But if that still didn’t work I’d have to figure out how I’m going to get another whole desk.

COVID-19, due to this I have had to change my whole concept from working in a recording studio to producing my own 3 track EP.

Things that can go wrong with this would be me not being able to gather ideas for my Ep as I do find this a challenge, however I can solve this by listening to similar style songs or I can do some research on my inspiration and look into how they made their track layer by layer.

Other problems I could encounter would be me not being able to find the sound that I’m looking for, for example if I wanted to look for a distorted piano sound and there wasn’t ant I liked, I could either look up a step by step guide on how to get the sound or I can watch an in-depth video on how to use a distortion effect in the piano to mimic the sound I would like.

Promotion is great for getting your music out there however it does come with its own problems, for example when promoting my music if I over promote it, it may irritate some people and make them not want to listen to my music. This would be ineffective and it’s the complete opposite to what I intend.

Different problems that could occur could be things such as not being able to upload my EP onto the platform I want to put it on, this could be a minot issue as to fix it all I would have to dit is change my uploading platform, however the other platform may not be as good or may not have a bigger verity of people on it, therefore it would affect my listens and plays.

 

 

 

 

Unit 12 – Context

During my time at collage I’ve acquired many skills varying from plugin uses on logic to microphone placements in live sound and studio. I had 5 main lessons in my first year, they were, learning how to operate a studio, how to set up live sound, learning chord progressions, music business and also learning logic.

In my opinion the most effective lesson I had was definitely how to operate a studio and how to setup a live stage, this is because they both relate to each other when it comes to using equipment. The least effective lesson for me would have had to have been learning Chord progressions as I didn’t find It relevant to me at the time.

In my second year of the course I had 4 main lessons, these lessons were the same as last year apart from live sound however I found that this year the most effective lessons for me were Music business and working in a studio because I began to take an interest within the business side and started to brainstorm ideas as how I was going to take this further. My original plan was to be self employed and manage an artists and one day have my own label, but as I progressed I figured this wasn’t the right path for me.

Moving forward I think that I could potentially going becoming a studio engineer as I really enjoy working with artists in a studio setting. if I was to choose a preferred job role in a studio it would be a producer, this is because id like to work with the artist and help them improve their song if need be or just be apart of their team in producing the track.

Other paths I could explore would be becoming an agent for an artist because I’ve always wanted to be on the business side of things within the industry and also I’ve highly motivated about something I’m passionate about, this is why I would thrive in the industry.

When it came down to coming to do music at colchester the main thing that drove me to pursue this as a real world career was my school, as I had the option to take Music Technology as a option and while doing it at school and I really enjoyed it and when the year began to come to an end I asked my teacher weather I should pursue this at collage and he told me that if I enjoyed doing it at school why not try and take it further, so from there I took the option of coming here.

Other things that contributed to me to pursue a career In music was myself just listening to music constantly then kind of interested myself from my early life but I never learnt an instrument as I never wanted to play anything and go into that type of industry.

The concept of my project is to record 2 artists with at least 3 tracks each then mix and master all 6 tracks for the artists, fortunately I have worked with one of the artists therefore already feel comfortable.

With this concept a bonus will be me becoming more familiar and confident within the studio environment, I feel this is necessary to success as a studio engineer as it would build confidence with working with artists and it would also build contacts within the industry for me to then work with more people therefore gaining more revenue.

The aim of my project is to give me a better feel of what working in a studio within a professional environment so I can take this experience into the real world. For example if I went to own my own studio or I hired out one, I would have a good idea of how to take charge and run one and not only that it would give me confidence working with artists in the studio professionally. After my project I hope to achieve high within the industry and work hard be successful with my own recording studio.

My aspirations are to become a studio engineer/producer, Im achieving this by working with artists on their Ep’s by recording it for them, from there I hope to build a good relationship with the artists and make sure when they come to wanting to record another album they come to me, this would secure income and also it would generate some interest if the albums are good.

Unit 11 – Progression Skills

1.1 – When I started the course last year my ambition was to become this amazing producer and would create the coolest beats, however as the first year began I had to get realistic real fast as I learnt how long and hard you had to work, the hard work wasn’t an issue it was my ability to stay focused. Around midway through my first year my ambition to create beats slowly moved to one side as I discovered how much I enjoy being a studio engineer and how enjoyable it is to record artists. This ambition progressed onto this year, when I learned that to take this further uni was my best option, I looked at some uni’s such as BIMM however as I began to think deeply about if I really wanted to get into the music industry I found my passion for music just wasn’t there anymore, I do still enjoy doing it however it just wouldn’t be my future career.

From there I decided full time work would be best for me as I work hard and well with others in a team, then I began to look at apprenticeships and the idea of becoming invested in a sales team caught my eye and got me excited, I then decided to pursue this and now I am looking into apprenticeships with company’s such as an estate agency, ford, Land Rover and jaguar or working for a marketing company.

My easy way out would be to become a training manager at my workplace I’m at now however I would like to challenge myself and progress further as I believe I am destined to make people see what I can really do and how hard I can really work. My other option is to go and get a hardworking job that isn’t available to many however I will be the one to get that job as I am determined with anything I believe in.

2.1 – As I began my research on university’s I first looked at BIMM, however after looking at it I wasn’t very satisfied with their options for me to progress and didn’t feel as if I belonged in any of their paths.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjhy7HQ_e3nAhXKtO0KHfL0D3AYABAAGgJkZw&ohost=www.google.co.uk&cid=CAESQOD2OShDjtA_PQrFD-M8yRJmvs2KmFVKlLNNhjuWrJt9nt0Lwt381u7lqOvno8nbrsyiSWePZhSt-dDLBdHObXE&sig=AOD64_270pzl9xX0L_31SYmPjAiaED7lQg&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwjZ3qnQ_e3nAhVRe8AKHXprD10Q0Qx6BAgQEAE

Then once Uni was not an option I looked at some apprenticeships I saw advertised on websites such as the Ford and the Land Rover&Jaguar. These apprenticeships really appealed to me and once I begin to get towards the end of this year I shall apply. I mainly was interested in working for this company was because I enjoy making sales and also making people happy because nothing is more important that making a customer satisfied.

https://www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com/go/Advanced-Apprenticeship/4027601

Then I decided to look for more apprenticeships and found that estate agency may be useful as there I would also have to work in sales, so I looked upon total jobs website and found some interesting jobs that looked genuine and I could further see myself within the job role.

https://www.totaljobs.com/jobs/estate-agent-apprenticeships?gclid=Cj0KCQiAqNPyBRCjARIsAKA-WFwLSNmvhLZcgssVt_aKZViOGXtAl0b5rlq5vB6tie4mEsuP44RMFQ8aAjUYEALw_wcB&ef_id=Cj0KCQiAqNPyBRCjARIsAKA-WFwLSNmvhLZcgssVt_aKZViOGXtAl0b5rlq5vB6tie4mEsuP44RMFQ8aAjUYEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!7101!3!420691446228!e!!g!!estate%20agent%20apprenticeships&googlelocID=1006621&WT.mc_id=A_SE_Google_TJ-GEN-Contract-Exact_m_Estate-Agent-Apprenticeships_estate%20agent%20apprenticeships_420691446228_e_Duplicate%7CLocTest-ON%7C1006621

As I was on the government website for apprenticeships I found that there was an interesting choice and it was working for a company and to work with digital marketing, this was a complete different choice as it would involve making a marketing campaign with a marketing team rather than working by myself trying to sell someone something.

https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/1000005613

This would be the ideal option as it’s what I look for to do in sales, this is my first choice.

https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/-499890

3.1 – For me to pursue my career and to get the job I would like to have I would need to have a CV, this would include all previous job roles or current job roles, qualifications and it may also include a personal statement.

real CV

My CV allows me to progress through onto a greater job from the one I have now as I aim to progress into a high paying job. Job roles such as manager areas and higher paying jobs.

Unit 10 – Music For Media

Silent Films (1891)

Silent films were first made in and around 1891 during the Victorian Era, these were the first of its kind and this genre was quite popular until around 1927 when the first talkative film also known as “talkie” film was made.

Silent films would usually consist of either someone playing a vinyl or you would have a pianist playing a piano during the fils, however some larger cities such as London and Manchester would have a big orchestra at the ready to give that dramatic effect.

Jazz (1930)

During these Jazzy times the music was usually racially dividing as there were “white Jazz” and “black Jazz” this caused people in cinemas to only go and associate with the film that was aimed towards their race.

White Jazz usually involved strings or synthetic instruments, this usually represented fun, whereas Black Jazz would usually represent an immoral character or a shady character, this would be represented with trumpets and saxophones.

Musicals (1965)

Some say musicals where revived by films such as “sound of music” as it is well loved even till this day.

Musicals were literally films that had songs thought the film either expressing feelings or important landmark events, films that present these things today are films such as Aladdin and the remake of “Mary Poppins”.

Synths (1970)

During this time period synth music started to become popular and was used in one iconic move and that is “star wars”. From this point onwards in the industry music was changed forever as it showed how much a synth these tune can influence a film.

Heavy Bass (2014)

6 years ago trap and grime began to gain more attention and with these was heavy use of bass, weather it be a bass guitar or a computer generated sound. This rose because in America, gang music was big and the term ‘Trap’ came from the phrase ‘Trap House’.

2.1 – Trailer

Unit 9 – Developing Music Performance and Production Skills

1.1 – Planning

For this project I plan on creating a chilled out track using at least 3-4 samples from my sample pack. Some examples of chilled out songs that I have taken inspiration is Gotye-Somebody That I used To Know. I took inspiration as it has many strange sounds within the song. Another Track that is chilled out that I liked was Juice WRLD-Robbery even though it docent have many samples in its still a chilled out track that I enjoy.

I will acquire these samples by recording myself hitting two different items together, for example a pen and a door handle; from this sound I could use it as a high hat as its quite a high tinny sound. I will be recording all of my sounds on my iPhone using the Voice Memos App. There are some objects I plan on getting samples from, such as a table, a glass Bottle, Mouse clicking and me flicking a box.

To achieve a good sound from the samples I need to make sure there isn’t much or any background noise. However in the track I can make my noises sound good by using effects such as EQ and Reverb, These effects will make my Samples sound “good” as I can manipulate the sounds to my liking.

 

2.1 – Research

Creating instruments from found sound

Found sound song

Article on Found Sound

Magazine on found sound

 

3.1 – Composition

Found sound project 

4.1 – Feedback

For my feedback I asked a classmate to give me positive or negative feed back. after listening to my track they began talking about how it built up and how the orchestral theme was cool as its not easy to use orchestral sounds with found sound. Despite its difficulty I managed to make into a hip-hop inspired track.

When they listened to the track the main feedback I got back was the fact that it was rather plain and how there wasn’t much else going on, I understand their point however I unfortunately struggled to create a track in the first place as it is not my strong point.

4.1 – Reflection

My project as a whole wasn’t a bad turn out, however my plan of action in my head went straight out the window when I struggled to find sounds that I actually enjoyed so then from that point on I decided to focus on getting the track complete and even then it was challenging In itself.

As I began with my track I started with the drums, from there I used a basic drum beat and then aded in some shaker noises to give more life to the drums after that I added another drum beat to act as some form of counter beat. After that I put some violins in to have some form of stringed instrument as I thought it would help me decide what I wanted to do with the found sound, however this was not the case.

From there I added a piano melody with actually worked very well and then to keep with the orchestral theme I added some trumpets in some parts. I felt as if this was necessary to have some depth within the song as without it feels a bit bland.

Once I had my track I decided to use my found sound and put it in my track. For my first sound I hit a pillow then made it sound like a kick by using the EQ plug in to give it a deep kicking effect. My next sound I decided to use was me nocking my Toggle stick on an xbox controller backwards to give a snare effect, I was happy with the outcome of this sound as I actually think it sounds quite good.

Overall my track came out a lot better then I thought it would be, however in my opinion it wasn’t great. Nonetheless I also had trouble having ideas for my found sound some of my sounds were done at home and some were just coincidences where I heard a noise and recorded it.

If I were to recreate my track and do another one I would put a drop in to make it interesting, then at some point I would change the whole style and beat up while still using found sound.