Role evaluation

My responsibility was to handle the merchandise store and sell to customers. I also had to keep an eye on the merchandise stall. I learnt how to successfully keep tabs on a merch stall which involved being informative and organised. I think I managed my role really well as nothing went missing and we made a large profit. Nothing went wrong that night. However, the manager thought £50 was lost but that was his own fault. I needed help with setting up which is what my friend did. The next time I worked the merch stall it was just more natural and everything went well as I knew the ins and out of selling merchandise. Also, I was able to give advice instead of just being the recipient.  As an individual the responsibilities I carried out, such as being prompt and professional when it came to serving customers, ultimately makes the live event seem more professional and those helping with it outstanding. By effectively selling a lot of merch, could prompt another up coming event as they have more funding. Therefore, I was contributing to their overall performing success as by making them money buy selling their merch - They can use the funds to update or benefit their stage presence or any thing they desire.
The assistance I gave, the next time I worked the merch stall, was near to professional expectation as I already had a slight idea on how to run the merch stall as I had previous experience. I knew that the products should be on show to show their quality. Also, things should be neat and tidy to attract customers as if they are not, many people will not be interested as things do not look professional. This would ultimately discourage the customers from buying anything. Therefore, I showed of the merchandise by laying out CDs and Vinyl where people can see and have access to. Also, by hanging up t-shirts and posters to show whose merchandise it is will stop people from thinking that they are blindly buying things. I was however instructed to put up a list of the merch and prices which, in my opinion, would encourage customers to buy produce as they know what is there and have easily accessed information about them. Overall, from my first time selling merch at the Lexington I have learn a lot. The extra knowledge I have gained mostly revolves around interacting with customers. I have learn that eye contact is key to making sales as they entice people and can dominate more than words as good eye contact can make people feel comfortable - and when they are comfortable they feel subdued to give something back.

Project plan

SOLO EP PLAN:

I would like to produce my own EP (unit 31) 

This EP will consist of 7 tracks that stem from different genres. They will all have been produced and recorded by myself.


I am a producer, musician and an artist who produces for themselves. I write my own songs both acoustically and for a backing track. The genres I like to use are very wide and range from ballads, rock, hip hop, drum and bass, house etc. Therefore my EP will consist of a lot of different tastes and styles. However predominantly, the main genres will be acoustic and rap. This will be the main content of my EP as this is what I stand for as an artist and will showcase my talent the best. I might plan to work with a few session players in order to give my EP a more professional touch. I am hoping to get in a Co-producer with me at times to help me get the best levels. This will also make my studio time more efficient as things can and will be done faster.

BUDGET: £10,000

Equipment list:
Drum Kit - I want to have live recorded drums instead of sampling -cut and pasting them. This will give more authenticity in the way they sound as the recording will have bleed and the drummers rhythm.
Jam Hub (headphone mixer) - This is essential in a big studio - where the live room and mixing room are separate - as it will enable a feed to be sent to the musicians. It will highly increase the performance of play as the musician can hear any other musicians and/or a backing track; and if need be, a metronome to keep them in time.
Rode NT1000 - This is an outstanding min, in my opinion. I believe that condenser mics offer the best sound as they are much more fragile and respond well to softer tones. This mic has a cardioid polar pattern which makes it really good for recording vocals and anything that is upfront.
Shure58 - This dynamic microphone is very universal - like most dynamic mics. I have used this to record my drum kick and snare in my productions as it can handle a high spl. The quality of this mic is also relatively nice as things sound very crisp and clear.
Audix D6 - This dynamic mic - gives recordings that sound quite soft and low in tone. I used this mic to record a guitar part and it sounded very distant and isolated - whereas I was in a very large room and the base recording of the guitar sounded very resonant. I purposely wanted this sound as I wanted to do something creative with stereo imaging in one of my tracks which is going well.
C414 - This is my favourite mic. It is a condenser mic with more than one polar pattern so its uses are therefore sparse. It quality is fairly simple however the takes are always loud and clear and detailed.
NT1a - I had only used this once and the vocal takes I got were tremendous. They were loud and very atmospheric and gave a nice warm tone to my voice. This is a condenser mic so it is built with vocals in mind.
Electric acoustic Guitar - This is imperative, as my songs are mostly acoustic. However, by having an electric acoustic guitar - would give me the advantage of being able to run the recording out through an amp using a passive di and re recording/recording.
Electric guitar - I want to create different tones in my music so to have an electric guitar alongside an acoustic would do so dramatically.
Mic stands (5-7) - This will enable me to set up mic'ing the drums to a decent standard.
Headphones - For the same reason as the jam hub - The recording artist will need to hear themselves or others.
AKG Pop Filter - This will stop loud sibilance in recordings and also get the vocalist to keep a bit further away from the mic.
SE reflector - This will help with reverb in vocal recordings and natural resonance.
Upright Piano - In one of my tracks which I did using midi - there was piano, so for a live version I wanted a real piano as the acoustics cannot be recreated, nor can the tone.
Bass guitar - I want a live bass it has more edge and power, especially if recorded through a DI.

Theoretical budget (average) :

Studio time:
My budget at blackfrogstudios would be:

www.blackfrogstudios.co.uk - This Studio would allow me to book their studio for £10 an hour. Therefore, to produce my Solo and Group EP there would roughly cost £270 over 9 weeks, for 3 hours a week. I believe that 3 hours a week isnt enough but it fits into my budget. However, this comes with equipment similar to that listed below. On the other hand, it does not offer as much in terms of equipment - therefore I would have to buy some and/or bring mine in which could come up to £3-400. I would also have to hire session players which can range from £100 pound an hour (£2,800 for 3 hours a week, over 9 weeks). However, I do know people who are musicians - so in effect, that could cut out that expenditure completely. Although, hiring musicians may not be a bad idea as they would be more commited as they are getting paid - which would give my recordings a higher standard.

Overall, to get the same grade of recording I could get in my college - if I had to pay - it would cost around £310 an hour for a single session player and the studio. However, in college it is free considering I have friends who are musicians and the college has no commision for using the studio. If I wanted a decent recording - considering the mic's in blackfrogstudios studio are dynamic - I would have to buy a condensor mic such as the Audix D6 for £145. I would also have to buy a drum kit - which would cost £200. Therefore, in total, for a relatively decent EP at this studio - I would have to pay £3415 for the 7 tracks. Which is nothing considering I have a £10,000 budget. In retrospect, I could just buy all of the equiptment I need and set up my own studio - which in the long run would save me a lot of money, time and effort.

Equipment:
Drum Kit - £100 - £300 (£200)
Jam Hub (headphone mixer) - £250 - £650 (£450)
Jam Hub Solemix remote - £60 - £70 (£65)
Rode NT1000 - £200 - £250 (£225)
Shure58 - £100 (£100)
Audix D6 - £120 - £170 (£145)
C414 - £250 - £635 (£392.50)
NT1a - £110 - £140 (£125)
Electric acoustic Guitar - £60 - £300 (£180)
Electric guitar - £50 - £700 (£375)
Mic stands (5-7) - £12 - £30 (< qty 1 >) (£21); Average for 7 (£147)
Headphones - £20 - £150 (£65)
AKG Pop Filter - £50 (£50)
Reflexion Filter Pro Design - £70 - £90 (£80)
Grand Piano - £2,000 - £10,000 (£6,000)
Bass guitar - £80 - £600 (£340)
XLR cables - £5 - £20 (£12.50)
Jack Leads - £5 - 10 (£7.50)

Average total of equipment in college: £8980


If I didn't have the college studio to use - I would have to pay out a lot of money to record. Theoretically, if I did pay to use the college studio I believe I would have to pay a lot over my initial budget. However, if I then bought 100 blank CDs, for roughly £150, to burn my Ep onto and sold them for £5 each I would only make back 1/20 of the money I spent to record. So to speak, using blackfrog studio for my first ep - would be a the best way to start my music career as I would have over £6000 to market my product. Therefore, by having a free studio to use and continuing the idea of selling my EP I would make a £500 profit.

If I were to have used black frog studios the best way to make my money back would be if I sold cds and put on events showcasing my music. However, even then I may still have to pay out money for all of that to be up and running. Therefore, using blackfrog studios would only be beneficial if I were starting out in the music industry and needed a quick fix to get my music recorded to get myself, as an artist, up and running.

WEEK 1 (2/12/13) - 8 : I have booked 

Studio 1 is booked on Friday from 10:30 - 1

During this time I plan to continue and finish recording: A live instrument version of my song 90 which i have already tracked a bass line, drums and the piano myself. However, I decided that I needed help with the piano and engineering so I got in an engineer and piano player. During this week I also plan to make a few new tracks to add to my EP - whether using midi or just writing lyrics (acoustic or for a beat).

9 - 15:

I plan to book the recording studio on monday, wednesday and friday as usual. I will also produce tracks to record on in the meantime. I will hopefully do this same regiment every week if I can, alongside with writing new material. 

(2 week break) - I will use these two weeks to continue producing and hopefully recording new material. Group Production work: I will use this time to write a track that will be recorded for my group production work.

WEEK 3 (6/01/14) - 12

Monday - Tuesday: I will spend my days of either in the music studio in college or at home or at my friends studio recording and producing.

Wednesday- I will continue writing material - getting it to the best quality before recording it. I will also consider the instruments to use and principles of how to record them.

Thursday- I will most likely practice the songs or tracks I have written for in order to get them to be best performed for recording. This will also give me new ideas on how to perform them and possibly a new sound overall.

Friday- I hopefully have the studio booked in college for me to continue recording my tracks.

Saturday - Sunday : I will spend my time practicing and touching up material.


12 - 19:

Monday - Tuesday: As per usual, I will spend these two days either in the music studio in college or at home or at my friends studio recording and producing.

Wednesday- Hopefully I can book a production room and/or the studio in order to continue recording my work and/or mix.

Thursday- I will most likely continue mixing or mastering the final tracks. 

Friday- I may or may not need to book the main studio to continue recording or a production room in order mix.

Saturday - Sunday : I will have bounced all of the tracks and put them as a mix on sound cloud or elsewhere so I can listen to the final sound of all of them and make sure that the levels are coherent with each other.

TARGETS:

By the end of each week I plan to have the instrumental of 1-2 tracks ready for vocals. This includes having the mixing done.

The people who I may get to help me will be an engineer as it will make the recording of my tracks easier with someone in the mixing room, checking levels etc. I may also get in a session player to track either piano, drums, bass or guitar - if needed. This would be beneficial if I want a really well played piece, which I can't do myself. Other than this, that is all the help i will need. I plan to mix and master my EP myself. However, I may or may not have people featuring on some of my tracks in order to  give my EP more depth in terms of performances. 

GROUP PRODUCTION WORK PLAN:


Production teams
You will need to work with your classmates. Identify different roles in the studio and who could
potentially fill them. ((Refer to roles in studio/industry: EG engineer, songwriter, technician)

I plan to work with 4 other individuals. However, the type of group production will consist of us, as a group, producing as a team but for each other. In my opinion this will get the best out of recordings as we will all be very hands on. Also, by alternating roles it will enable different ideas to come through in the recordings. We will most likely do this by knowledge of the specific genre being recorded.

Therefore, the roles in this group will be:
Producer -  Main person behind the mixer who will manage the overall track
Engineer - The person who will make sure that the levels are right and all that can be done to boost levels have
Artist - The artist will be the person we a re recording
Musician - This may or may not be just 1 person.
Technician - The technician will set up the mic's, instruments etc.

Over the allotted time which may be 4 - 5 weeks, I plan to have 1 track recorded (hopefully mixed and mastered) each week. Therefore, everyone in the group will have a track finished by this time. Depending on the tracks, will depend on the equipment used.

We may use:
Drum Kit
Bass Guitar
Mashine
Amp
Mics (condensor and dynamic)
Acoustic guitar
Electric guitar

Beginners guide to sythesis

Synthesis is the combination of elements such as ; LFOs, oscillators, envelopes, filters, modulation and more. All of these components together can create a different sound. When creating a synthesised sound you would start by choosing your oscillators - in terms of synths, waveform. A wave form is a tone or set of tones (frequencies); a sine wave however, always consists of one. In music, frequency can often describe the pitch of the sound. Therefore; low frequencies sound bass, high frequencies sound treble, mid range frequency sound mid. On a synthesiser such as the ES2 on Logic, there is a choice between 3. By using a sort of digital mixer you can blend the different sounds. The types of waveforms you can use are practically endless; however the main 5 are sine, saw, triangle, square and noise. Depending on which kind of sound you want would vary your choise in wave. For example, a bass line in dubstep would normally consist of a sine wave because its more easily manipluated; where as a harmony of chords in a house track would be a sine and triangle - which gives off a warm tiny sound.

By using the filters (LP,HP and BP) you can cut out certain frequencies. The LP lets the lower frequencies through - the high pass lets the high frequencies through. The band pass allows all of the frequencies through however with a slight oscillation between them. By using the cut these filters, and anything routed to the cut, can be modulated through routing. This is when the source is linked to a modulator - meaning whatever you want to change can be modulated through a different envelope. This is prominently how most sounds are made - therefore inducing more originality into music.

Effects can then be added such as your normal effects (reverb, flanger, overdrive). However you can use modulations by routing an aspect through an LFO or Envelope. For example one can change the pitch by routing it to the envelope and then using the ADSR (which changes the sound over time) to change when the pitch starts to change (attack) - when it stops (decay) - how long/fast it lasts for (sustain) and the tail of the sound (release).

The main types of synthesis consist of additive, subtractive, modular and sampling.

Additive synthesis is when one combines frequencies. This is the most common type of synthesis as when mixing oscillators together, as they all have different frequencies, one is creating something much larger. However, additive synthesis is done by choosing singular sine waves and layering them to create a more original sound. By understanding the mathematics of synthesis you can create a very harmonic sound as all frequencies link together in a certain way. This explains why the 1st and 2nd note of a scale cannot combine harmonically in a chord. A good example of an additive synthesiser would be the Combinator on Reason or Harmor on Fl. Additive synthesis can be used to create synth string ensembles in, prominently, house or funk. An arpeggiator sound can be formed from using additive synthesis as the sine waves can be layered on over time.

In contrast, subtractive synthesis takes away frequencies in order to leave one with the fundamental tone. One would start of with a rich waveform that consists of a lot of different sine waves at different intervals (possibly a saw wave) and you would use tools to subtract them, either at once or over time. This can be done using a filter/ envelope or LFO. A hardware subtractive synth would be the Roland Juno 1. This could possibly sound good in electro music - maybe as an introduction like the song "Do The Robot". This type of synthesis may sound best in techno music - as it can mimic the minimalistic rhythmic patterns used.

Sampling synthesis can be done using the EXS24 sampler. Firstly you would have to find a sample to use, then by pressing edit in the top left corner it opens a piano roll. On this page all you have to do is drag and drop in the sample and assign it to wherever you want on the keyboard. This sampler can be use to create a personalised drum rack by putting different one shots on each note. On the other hand, you can use the sampler to use your chosen sample as a sound instead of the piano, for instance. However, some samples are tuned different so opening a tuner on the plug ins section on logic may be required to make your sample coincide with your current work. Like with all of the other synths, your sample can be shaped accordingly; by using the cut, ADSR, filters, fx and adding gain. It is advised that one adds effects to the sample and exporting it again - before using the sampler in order to get a better quality sample. Mashine or MPC 2500 are good hardware samplers which can be used to perform live in stead of using a keyboard. They are mostly used to play drums as you hit them more rhythmically. Also, instead of having keys which correspond to different tones it is all the same therefore playing melodies would be harder to play, however still just as achievable with a lot of practice.

Modular synthesis is the hardware of all that goes through a synthesiser in logic - one of the first of its kind was the Moog - however now - hardware synths now are made by yamaha, roland and work by using samples. All of the routing and fx, on modular synths, must be done manually. This is done by using cables to patch together the different modules ring modulator, envelope, LFOs and noise sources. These can all be manually modulated by turning knobs and re-patching cables to route the source and modulator differently to create different sounds. However, by using the ring modulator - a lot of different sounds can be made by patching two different VCO's (waves) where you can also control the ADSR to the x and y ports of the ring modulator. This can be used live to demonstrate the art of synthesis and how it fully functions, more physically. Not many people use original modular synthesisers as they are very costly considering all of the components need to be bought seperately.

FM synthesis stands for frequency modulation. This inferers nore timbre - whether harmonic of inharmonic. The structure of FM synthesis is done by using two osciallators - one of which being modulated through, usually, amplitude. In my opinion this creates a more gritty tone. The fundamental process of FM modulation is when one tone is put through another and due to the different frequencies - they either cancel each other out, or it amplifies a frequency. The frequency used to modulate the overall wave has to be in the audio range (meaning in the range of the fundamental tone). 

Notes of what I am doing.

Yesterday I was working at my friends studio. Currently we are in a producers collective and are summing up a number of tracks which will then be on our sound cloud. Together, we produce tracks for ourselves to perform on.

We also make instrumental tracks which help us improve our producing skills. This compromises of drum and bass and other genres.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been booking the studio in college so I can record my own tracks for my EP. I plan to use some of the tracks I produce with my friend, on my EP, as they have a s,all vocal booth where I can record vocals.

Overall, I spend most of my time producing tracks for me to use on my EP.

Today I am going to continue producing midi tracks to lay down an idea of what I want to produce in the studio, live.

Over my christmas break I have continued working closely with my co-producer. I have also done as I have planned, which was to write new acoustic material in preparation for recording on my ep. I have decided to start work on a seperate EP with my co-producer which ultimately means that my EP for college will be solely live music recordings. This enables me to precisely seperate my ideas and roles and make an ep instead of a mixtape.

December gigs

Evaluation of my technical input:
I couldn't have set up the event by my self. However, this is only regarding setting up the PA system and using auxillaries. I knew how to link the DI box with the instruments and the mixer. I personally think I set a good gain structure using the mixer. However, there were times where the sound would clip. I wasn't always checking the metering for the sound which would have helped prevent clipping. Regarding the performances, I should have spoken to the performers before and asked them roughly how they wanted to sound. Also, I could have told them to do a quick sound check before they started which would have helped with the overall sound. I should have turned up the Amp fully before I started to put up the gain structure on the mixer in order to get the loudest sound. On the other hand, the general layout for the event, in my opinion, was reasonable - considering there were not many instruments that needed to be set up there was enough space. The direction of the speakers enabled a large crowd directly in front of the performers. The loose cables was an issue at a point. This could have led to a bad accident. The fact that the piano and mic was in close proximity to one of the PA's could have lead to more feedback. I left the built in speakers on the electric piano on to replicate a ridge for the pianist/singer. This was a good idea as it would have been jarring just hearing the vocals from behind with the instrument you're playing below it.

Target

My main project - which links to unit 17 - is to build myself an epk (portfolio) - in order to successfully showcase my work.

social media - sound cloud,youtube,Facebook - make all of these and upload my tracks.
photos - get a friend to take professional pictures of myself.
audio - upload recorded tracks
biography - write a biography stating how i got into music my genres ext
videos - make a music video and put it up on my blog / youtube
fb page - https://www.facebook.com/GreenEnvyProduction

youtube page - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnd6ZHKmKfvHiErSKXzHnLg

soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/green-envy-london

Save this as a pdf with the links so i can send it out to companies ect.

From now 20th November until the 31st December i'm going to put up instrumental tracks that I make. I will also put up photos of myself to market myself better an look professional. I will regularly update my fb page with pictures of what i am doing ect.

Basically, the kit should introduce yourself and your music in an engaging, concise way while also piquing the intended audience’s interest so they want to learn more about you as an artist. By combining video, audio and photography, you can create a high-impact impression of who you are and what your music is all about.

My epk should have : 
Photographs
Website links to my social media
A bio (either written or recorded on camera)
Live performances
Audio tracks ( my ep)

My second target is to have an 8 track EP starting from: 27th november - 27th January 
Over 2 months I plan to have all 8 tracks recorded, mixed and mastered and strung together as a mix on my sound cloud where people can listen for free. If I have enough funding i would like to then get this EP onto a CD for release and to possibly hand out to record labels. 

History of electronic music

Loop pedal:

The idea of the loop pedal stemed from the idea of tape loops. These tape loops would record and replay sound in order to give more tone - or through effects - a new sound. However the main effect was phasing which would alter the frequencies (filter). By doing so - a solo artist who has a relatively monotone sound can add their own harmonics. Considering live looping machines were invented in the 90s - a great era for acoustic/electric bands; ultimately, solo acoustic or electric sets would not be as harmonic and live performance is key to success. Having a live looper would create the presence of other musicians where as it is one person solely creating a larger piece. Not only does this show more of their creativity but it enables a solo artist to have more girth in their music. This is ironic as electronic music, which had already been invented provides that. Therefore, solo acoustic artists could put on shows that stretched out musically and were ultimately more interesting.

The idea of the loop pedal, properly started in the early 1950s; by a man named Terry Riley. This figures as he was one of the key figures of minimalism. The musical art of adding/subtracting/diminishing a piece of music through layers of the same thing - however with slight changes. The first use of tape looping came from ideas from musique concrete - where they would record sounds such as trains ect - to make music. Terry riley, however, would use the tape loop to create long delays in his music. Most likely by keeping the same recording playing over and over by taping it together. He would then perform over the top of this. Loop pedals are great for acoistic artists as it allows them to do more than 1 or two things and add more natural harmonies. It also gives more scope to performances as a lot more can be added - even if one were in a band.

An example of a product that would give a lot more to a performance would be the Digitech JamMan Stereo as it can hold up to 35minutes of CD-quality loops in 99 internal memories. Also, with an SD memory card an additional 16hours in an extra 99 slots. Therefore, one may not even need to use an instrument live but simply mess around with the order of the loops.

In my opinion, the art of the loop pedal has stemed onto more creative sample instruments - for example maschine. The idea of a loop was then transferring i to the idea of samples which were just pre recorded things that were used now and again for emphasis. The main genres that started to use these were dub, hip hop, drum and bass ect. However, samples can be strung together more easily now through music softwares such as logic and abelton as to copy and drag is very simple. Where as on a tape loop you would have to have the measurement exactly right for it to play over in time. And on tape - when using analogue equiptment - one would have to do a lot of cutting - as trial and error would be a cause for concern as it would take a long time to get things perfectly in time. Hence the fact that samples used in the 70s were not often occurring.


This is a video link to a loop 'tutorial' with Ed Sheeran.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX2eJsj9MiQ

In this modern era in music he is one of the most well known for using a Loop pedal in live performance. As he is a solo artist and guitar player - all can be achieved to give a full sound in terms of musical and rhythmic ideas. He puts all of this together without the help of any other band members. Although a Loop pedal can enable one to have more dynamic music - one must be virtuosic with this piece of equipment by understanding harmonies and different forms of composition; possibly minimalism. In this video - the Loop pedal is used at its finest. Firstly he starts making the main body of the song by recording the main chord progression. He then records the snare sound by muting the guitar and strumming. He loops this idea over through a kind of minimalist rhythm by having the 4/4 then kind of scatting a slightly syncopated version after. After this he records a layer of melodies - the first being 2 notes playing rhythmically. He then harmonises with this by playing two different notes which are also a bit syncopated which emphasises them. He then records the final rhythmic element being the kicks and a snare (reproduced by smacking the strings) while the strings are muted. He doubles this over to make them ultimately sound louder. One could almost say this is mixing - however this just goes to show his virtuosity with the machine he is using as obviously he cannot alter the levels of his recording whilst playing. This technique is also used when recording in studios.

This is a video which shows the use of the BOSS RC-30 Loop station
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K06DVyZ9rQ8

Other than making the whole piece from scratch - one can upload pre recorded samples to the record over. This is what fundamentally started loop use in the 50's. In this video the man playing uses a pre recorded drum sample which gives more clarity to the track - instead of recreating the drums himself. However, in my opinion both are good ideas. The same principles are applied to his recording however much more detail goes in. The better the musician the more one can gain from using a loop pedal.

Loop Station Tutorial
This loop station tutorial states that one can practically mix their audio. This is done, instead of faders but knobs which control the recorded and sampled drum tracks. This is possibly why in Ed Sheeran's performance he doubled the drum beat over as he could not physically make it louder. You then have a knob where you can select the phrase (recorded riff). There is also the mode knob which changes the mode of what you want to do. For example, if you put it on auto you are in a recording mode and need to press the pedal to begin and to stop. If you choose the musical note - that means to play the selected phrase.

In terms of art forms I guess you could use a loop station when performing spoken word. This can give the performance more of a musical element by having an important word or phrase on loop whilst the speaker is still talking. This would be an easy way to add effects and depth to the work.

Defining events

You can define a music event by the type of audience in contrast to the music. Therefore, if people who like metal turn up to an orchestral recital the chances are that they are not going to come back or buy their CD's or merch. Therefore, it is important to invite the right people in order to get the best out the event in terms of; atmosphere and money being made through ticket and merchandise sales. If one does not promote the event properly, on the night they would have lost out on ticket sales. They would have also left the performers with too much merch stock which then goes unsold. An events success is also determine by how many people turn up. Therefore it is imperative to make sure that there will be a lot of people. One can make sure of this by inviting the right people, possibly making sure that the venue and/or band is well know. If one does not have a lot of people come to their event - this will cause problems with the venue owner as you will be in their bad books and may not be able to book there again as you have lost them money depending on where they get their income off of your event (you or the bar). Also, you could have lost a lot of money and/or effort. However, at the event that I went to, there were a lot of people who had turned up and the bar seemed pretty full which would have satisfied the venue owner as this is where their profit comes from. It was clear that this was not the first time the event had been put on as the space that was booked was able to hold a large capacity - of which there were. I believe that the promoter prevented the event being empty by having a large line up. This would accumulate a large crowd as each band has their own fan base. I am certain that the promoter made sure that each band did as a lot of people turned up and the venue was the perfect size to hold all of them. The fact that the venue was very large prevented over crowding - which can lead to a lot accidents and a bad event.If the promoter doesn't get the date and time correct there will be a lot of confusion which will lead to people not turning up. In addition, if they do not get the set times right - they could lead a band to pull out of the line up. Therefore, a contract between the promoter and artists/musicians should state when they will be needed to play and any changes will come at the promoters expense - as not only will they have to pay the band/artist but they will be on bad terms with the venue owner as the event may possibly go downhill. I personally believe that this was the case as all of the bands were present and on time. The event line up went as planned and there were no known reports of complaints regarding this matter. If an event is badly managed and promoted - people will suspect that the actual performances will be just as bad and wont waste their money on what seems to be a makeshift event. The promoter should always make sure that the venue has a prs and ppl license - so that all musicians will get paid fairly after they perform. I believe that the promotion of this event was done successfully as that was the 8th time it had been hosted at the same place.

Depending on the event it would be suitable that the venue has a premises license so that music and alcohol can be served past a certain hour. The venue most likely had one as it was a pub and bar. For the benefit of the event it would not be wise for the promoter to put one on a sunday as the venue may close earlier and not many people may be willing to go. The event was on a Saturday which - according to the amount of people there - is a good day for a music event.


In terms of health and safety, I do not know if the band members, engineer or even the venue had public liability insurance - which would cover injuries to the public. It would be in order that these people had this insurance as if they did do something wrong to their audience (public) they could be sued. Law suits would be especially aimed at the venue owner if they did not have public liablity insurance as it is in there duristiction. PAT testing should be done on all equipment and electronics in the event to prevent such things happening. If a band or engineer knows that the building has not been PAT tested then they may think twice about working there. Also, if the public know this - they will not go there which would result in the venue losing money, and if not dealing with it, going out of business. However, there weren't any loose wires or cables or electrocutions so Im sure that all of the equipment was fine.

On the other hand, all of the bands came with their own gear so i am sure that not all of this was PAT tested. However, the fact that bands came well equipped to the event, as they all brought their own instruments, took away the risk factor of not being able to perform as if a guitar got broken they could most likely use another one. Also, it would give a better quality performance as the performers are used to their own instruments. This clearly worked as every band attracted large crowds and the atmosphere was electric.

However, if there is a bad sound engineer - no matter how amazing the band are - they will sound terrible. Therefore, investing in a good Front of house sound engineer would be beneficial as it will entice people to come back just as much as the band. In my opinion, the live sound was really good and there were not any issues with change overs either - therefore the venue or bands must have invested in a good sound engineer.

Not every band or artist that performs can judge their success by the profit they made. However, their success can be determined by getting new fans - in my opinion this can be just as good than getting paid as the next time you have a day of selling merch and CDs there will be more sales. At the gig I went to, the band I wanted to see performing - after that one night - got more likes on their band page. Therefore,  their publicity went up and if they want to perform at a different event - this will be what they are judged by, so they will have a foot in the door as they have a lot more followers. In addition, the venue will be more willing to continue the same event and make it more of an official night which happens often (for example, every week or month). Also, a lot more followers means more sales (merch, tickets), and more sales means more money.

Overall, the promotion of an event, in my opinion is the best success factor as it benefits the performers, venue and the promoter themselves. I came to this conclusion as no matter what the music is - as long as a lot of people turn up, there will 100% be a profit. However, if the band - along with sound engineers or venue do not live up to expectation - it will be a lucky one off.

Music performance techniques

My primary instrument is the Guitar. My current practice routine is roughly half an hour a day. I dont usually practice on a particular piece, however sometime i do scales. I mainly play rhythm guitar - so when i do play i aim to get a set of chords in order to compose a peice of my own. My warm up consists of me playing a few random chords to get my strumming patterns right. I then like to improvise riffs. Playing with other people makes me better as I have to make sure i get the right key. i also have to make sure my rhythm compliments theirs. By having these skills - it will make me a more virtuosic artist. 

The skills i specifically want to improve is scales and reading music so i will be able to get better at lead guitar. This would also help me in music production as i will then be able to reflect this knowledge onto other instruments using midi or in general (real life playing). This would ultimately make me a better musician overall. I will also be able to interpret different melodies and chord progressions - thus enabling me to improvise better with other musicians which will make me more versatile.

An effective practice strategy to improve my reading skills and learning scales, would be to start reading music. This will get me more acquainted with music theory; i will be able to understand it more over time. From this, i would then be able to learn how scales work in music and I can start to write my own scores which could help me start a new profession, or better yet, improve my own. I can then reflect this into deepening my knowledge of harmonies in music as i would know the relative minors, majors so that I can harmonise more harmonically and melodically. This would ultimately add more tone to my music and make it sound better and more intriguing.

All of these skills combined will culminate to me becoming a better lead guitarist.

Photo References for Roxanne

 

Understanding Technology

Q1: What is equalisation, and how has it changed the working process since the early days of studio recording and mixing?

Equalisation is also known as EQ. It can cut out frequencies whether that be mid, high or sub.  It has changed the working process in studios as one can use relatively any microphone and adjust the sound of the recording after by using eq instead of having specific mics for different sounds.

Q2:  What is the polar pattern called that the U47 used for recording vocals? What is the polar
pattern of the other microphone that was used previously? Why do you think the directional ability of the U47 helped in the recording process in this particular case?

The U47 micprohone had a pattern switch which enabled the mic to change between omnidirectional and cardiod polar patterns. The polar pattern of the other microphone which was used before (RCA 44 ribbon mic) is bidirectional. I think the directional ability of the U47 mic helped in the recording process as it can pick up more sound as one of the polar patterns is omni-directional. Also the cardiod pattern focuses specifically on one persons voice. However, the RCA 44 polar pattern if more suited for a duo. Also, the reason why it gave a mellow sounding recording could be because it doesn't pick up any of the studios atmosphere, due to the polar pattern, which can ultimately brighten the sound of the overall recording.

Q3: What is meant by the term 24/48? Why do you think, in this case, using 96k was not suitable?

The term 24/48 is a 24 bit, 48khz smaple which determines the overall file size and quailty. I think in this case 96khz is not suitable as AD converters then worked a lot slower rate and were not as advanced. Therefore when converting files - using a higher bit rate would slow down the process and would take up valuable time. Also, in my opinion the difference would not be worth the wait as the recording would not be put on the internet or sold as an mp3 therefore the file size should not matter as much as it would in modern times.

Q4: What is the job of the ‘converters’? How important are these in a modern studio?

Converters convert analogue data into digital data by using sample rates to capture the analogue data in order to change it into digital. This data is then converted into binary code which can be read by computers. The job of converts is to enable recorded analogue signals to be used and hear on a computer in order for the producer to mix / master and edit. These are very important in a modern studio as most of the work done to achieve high quality sounding recordings is done using a computer.

Q5: What other benefits do using DI boxes give an engineer in the studio?

The other benefits that come with using a DI box is that one can manipulate the signal levels. Therefore if a recording is too low and the engineer wants to make the velocity higher they can use a DI box and change the signal level to Line as this provides the best gain for recordings as it is one of the strongest signals.

Q6:
I would suggest either moving the speakers to a location further away from the mics on the drums where everyone can still hear them. On the other hand you could turn down the pa system and use the two condensor mics to pick up the vocals,guitar and bass as they are more sensitive and could pick up the different instruments at a good quality even when they are played low. And the use 4 of the dynamic drum mics for the drums as they will hopefully not pick up the speakers and the recordings will sound more focused on the drums. This should give the best output in terms of quality therefore EQ may not even have to be used that much to alter the sound.

Recording : grant

Firstly my group set up the studio by; putting up microphone stands around the amp for the electric guitar, one for the acoustic guitar (which wasnt used after and just picked up the sound of the guitar being recorded elsewhere in the room in order to provide an extra guitar layer without having to physically record twice) and setting up the drum kit for recording. We then used a variety of microphones - for the vocals and high hats/ride/crash cymbal we used the rode nt1-a. However for the electric guitar and bass drum we used a dynamic mic as these are more suitable as they can take a lot higher spl.

Secondly we started recording. As we did not have a lot of people (danilo, elliot and myself) we recorded things seperately in order to make things more accurate. We recorded elliot on the drums first as this would provide a rhythm for the guitar. Therefore, we recorded my guitar chord progression after and after that i did an improvisation using the blues scale for a bassline. This too had a second recording elsewhere in the roon in order to make it sound thicker and give it natural acoustics. We then recorded danilo freestyle singing - however it was more melodic so we decided to make an actual song - so i recorded myself rapping on top.

When i got the original file i listened to all of the tracks individually and then started to fit them together. I firstly worked on the ending as i cut of but kept going. I used undestructive editing by using the scicssor tool to cut off the last chord in the track and copy and pasted it and looped it over to make a rhythm that accompanied my accapela rap at the end. I also copy and pasted the kicks over in order to mix with the guitar and make a sort of breakbeat. I then went through danilos vocals and chopped up the bits i liked the most. I then re arranged the chopped up regions to fit the track and provide vocal melodies at points to make a climax. I also manipulated the melodies originally created by putting random chopped up audio regions next to one another. I cut off some of the begginning of the song as it had recorded the metronome and elliot saying when to start. Instead there is an 8 bar intro which is me screaming and it got recorded after elliot was playing the drums. He then chopped up the stem and looped it over in order to sound like a reoccuring note.

On my vocals i put a compressor on them and added some eq as they were too low and sat below most of the instruments and danilos backing vocals. I put the gain down to 3dB and changed the ratio to 1:2  in order for it to not cut off too much and just make it clearer and slightly louder. I used eq in order to cut out the low frequencies in order to make vocals much clearer. The gain on danilos vocals were turned up using the ensemble plug in. I changed the sound of his vocals by adding averb and ensemble in order to make them seem thicker.

On the drums i just added reverb (averb) in order to make the texture of them a bit thicker. I also used the sub bass plug in on the kicks in order to make them more effective (punchy) and low. On the mixer i turned up the kicks to +2.0dB to make them more punchy. I then doubled them in order to make the texture thicker. I used eq on them as they were clipping a bit as it had too much sub bass so i cut some of it out. On the overhead (snare,hats ect) i put eq on them to make them sound more lively by cutting out the bass. I did this so the drums had more dynamics as they sounded as if they were at the same pitch and they sounded dull.

On the dry rhythm guitar i only added reverb in order to make it sound live. This also contrased the bassline as it sounded much more spread out unlike the choppy a quick notes used in the bassline. On the room recording i used the fuzz wah plug in order to make it sound like two guitars are playing. It also added a nice background sound which the fuzz wah provides as it filters away certain frequencies in order to allow others stand out.

On the room bass recording i used chorus in order to modulate the sound and spread it out a bit. I left the original bass recording the same as its pitch, velocity was fine and by putting chorus on the other recording it altered the sound a lot already.

Using the mixer i turned down the dry bass and guitar in order to lower the instrumental of the track a bit. I also turned up both of the vocals in the track. However i turned up danilos backing vocals more as they are much lower than mine. I then used panning to add dynamics to final product. I then put up the gain on my whole track by using the limiter plug in on my output channel. I put the the gain up to +10.5dB and put the output level down to -1.1db.

Overall, this is all i did to mix my track.

Studio design

1.   +4dBu and -10dBV are two commonly found measurement units of signal level. One uses balanced cabling and connections, the other unbalanced; which is which? and what are some of the differences between using these standards?

 

+4dBu is the signal level for balanced cabling and -10dBV is for unbalanced. This is because +4dBu is a stronger  signal than -10dBV, by roughly 11dB. Therefore, +4dBu needs to be balanced in order to cancel out noise signals from passing currents that get picked up when the analogue data goes to the A/D converter. The difference between using these standards is that +4dBu is more professional and modern as the sound quality is that of a higher velocity than -10dBV. 

 

2. What kind of connections/cable would you need to plug a portable mp3 player (iPod etc.) into a) a DJ style mixer, and b) a professional studio console?

 

The cable you would need to plug an mp3 player into a dj style mixer would be a usb cable. To plug it into a professional studio console you would need a jack cable or possibly a usb cable depending on the device.

 

3. Given the specifications of the following two microphones, which would be the most suitable, technically, to use when recording a classical guitar recital?   Mic A (Frequency Range: 40Hz - 18kHz, Signal to Noise Ratio : 73 dB SPL(A), Max SPL:142dB ), or Mic B (Frequency Range: 20Hz-20kHz, Signal to Noise Ratio: 81dBSPL(A), Max SPL: 135dB). Explain your choice.

 

Mic B would be most suitable to record a classical guitar as the frequency range is mid which resembles that of a classical guitar. Also the spl is lower than mic A - which is fine as a classical guitars velocity range is relatively low as its acoustics come from inside its body and not electronically.

 

4. Which microphone (from the above) would be more suitable for recording amplified electric guitar?

 

Mic A would be more suitable for this instrument as the velocity of it is much higher - therefore the mic would need a higher spl level to be able to record without distortion as the instrument is amplified electronically and can also be very loud.

 

5. A digital recorder has the following recording settings: 16, 20 or 24bit wordlength; and 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96kHz sampling rate. Which combination of these two settings would you use if the recording will ultimately end up on CD?

 

The combination of settings one would need to use would be 24bit wordlength and a 48khz sampling rate in order to get a CD quality bounce of a track.

 

6. When compiling a list of studio equipment, which area (microphones, audio interface, monitoring etc.) should you spend the most money on? Which piece of equipment is the most important? And should these two answers be the same?

 

In my opinion people should spend at least £300 on the audio interface as this determines some of the quality of the sound. Also, how effectively one can record as the better the interface the more inputs and outputs and soundcard. However i believe that monitoring is one of the most important parts of the studio as this enables one to mix the track well as the output of the track is better quality if played through good speakers.

 

7. Monitor speakers are an essential (and very possibly expensive) part of a recording studio. What should an engineer be aware of to prevent short and long term damage to them?

 

Firstly, an engineer should not turn up the volume of tracks playing to a level that causes the monitors to vibrate. Secondly, they should also not use them for long periods of time as this can cause them to overheat. Also, if they do overheat allow them to cool down before continuing to use them.

 

8.   If you were asked to work in a studio that you had never been to before, what kinds of things would you check even before turning anything on?

 

The gain knobs on the mixer/amps because if theyre up it will make a loud noise. Also, check what equiptment i will need and set it all up. I will also need to make sure that phantom power is not on.

 

9. Supply a list of all equipment, with explanations, pricing and wiring configuration (block diagram), that you would recommend for the following situations:

A ‘bedroom’ demo studio. The client already has an up to date computer with USB ports, running ‘Logic’ DAW. He/she needs to input MIDI information via a keyboard and be able to record a vocal and/or a guitar whilst monitoring on headphones. They also require small, but accurate monitoring for mixing. Space is a real issue. The budget is £600. 2) A project studio. The client has just moved into a purpose built, but empty, recording studio complex comprising of a live area and a control room linked by a 16x8 multicore loom. The studio needs to be able to record a wide variety of sources but will initially concentrate on local solo vocalists and small bands as well as mixing other projects. The client has no preferences for equipment except that it must be of high quality and that they already use ‘Logic Studio’ on a Mac Pro as their main recording platform. The budget is £10,000.

 

1) The client will need a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Audio Interface which can be bought for £119. This allows 2 in puts and 2 outputs therefore the client can hook up a midi keyboard and guitar/microphone. They can also put the headphones in one of the output sockets in order to monitor what theyre recording. For monitors they can buy a pair of Fame RPM 5 Active Studio Monitors for £150. Each speakers measurements are 280mm height x 190mm depth x 224mm width which is pretty compact and should be fine if one does not have a lot of space.
Sony MDRZX100B Headphones - £10
M-Audio keystation - £39.99
Shure sv100 dynamic microphone ( comes with 6.35 mm jack plug on 4.5 m XLR lead) The XLR cable can be used to plug it into the audio interface  - £29.99
 

 

2) Genelec 8040A Active Studio Monitors, Matt Black - £1,398

Genelec 8040-408 Stand Plate for 8040/8240 IsoPod - £39.99 x 2 - £79.98

Genelec 8000-409B Adjustable Floor Stand x 2 - £90.09 each £180.18 for two.
All of this will provide one of the best monitoring systems. Having stands will make sure that the monitors are away from any wires and cables that can interfere with the sound. Also, the positioning of the monitors ensures a better and clearer sound which will be beneficial in the mixing stages. 

Zoom R16 Digital Recorder, USB Audio Interface and DAW Controller - £279 (8 track simultaneous recording). This will enable the client to record a full band at once instead of single recordings as they will have multiple xlr cable to link to the microphones and record more than one person at a time as the audio interface have multiple inputs. This is good so the band can play together in order to get a good performance as they will be more in time with eachother. It will also save a lot of editing time.

Neumann KMS 104 BLACK Condenser Vocal Microphone x 2 - £798. This microphone will ensure that vocals which are recorded are recorded with quality.

Audix OM-7 Dynamic Vocal Microphone x 4 - £177 each £708 for four. This microphone picks up analogue signals with a high gain before the feedback stage on the mixer.
Adam Hall 3meter xlr cable - £4.22 x 10 - £42.20
Advanced Acoustics silent space isolation vocal booth 1.2m by 3m - £6,279

Total : £9764.36




 

 

Production diary

Equiptment:
I used the Rode Nt1-a for both of my productions. I used this mic as it is a good condensor and picks up my voice well as it is softer and lower. I also used a pop filter and a se reflection filter to enclose my sound and get a better quality recording. I used a midi keyboard to record my melodies. I also used krk monitors in order to mix and produce my music to a high quality. I also used headphones when mixing after the whole piece was done to see how it would sound through headphones aswell. Before recording i would setup the mic with headphones so i can hear the feedback. Without this it would be hard to have a good take as i would not be able to hear myself. When setting up the mic this would consist of me plugging in the xlr cable provided into the audio interface which is linked to the computer. In logic the input would always be input 1 and i would have to tick 'enable record'. I would also adjust the stand and se reflection filter to a position which was comfortable (height of the stand for me, and distance away from the computer so there would be enough space to record and not pick up me hitting the stand ect). The Midi keyboard was already connected to the mac through a usb cable.

 

Recording/production:
Both of my tracks melodic/rhythmic and harmonic structure is created through the midi keyboard. Only the vocals are audio. By using the midi keyboard i was able to manipulate the notes and velocity afterwards much easier than if it was audio. Also, there are a wider range of instruments i can use freely as i can change the instrument on logic and when i record using the keyboard it would have the sound i have chosen. I could also edit the score in the piano roll which i did to adjust my pieces slightly. I can also quantise my work to get it on time and sound professional. However, in fire i used the piano roll to slightly adjust an improvisation i recorded. Where as, if using audio i would have to be pitch perfect otherwise the audio clip cannot be used. Considering the fact that "grime pills" is mostly synth based i can get away with just using midi as synths are electronic. When i was producing grime pills i started with the rhymic section as this is fundamental for a rap/grime song.
However, for "fire" the basis of the song are the melodies and harmonics. I started with an intro melodic line which would emerge into something bigger and develop. I then added a simple drum pattern to complete it as a rap song. By recording chords comping along with the song it gave more texture.

 

Mixing:
When mixing grime pills i struggled to get the vocals to sound professional. So the original vocals for both the chorus and verse - i just added a compressor and a verb in order for them to be clear and stand out from the backing vocals. By using a verb it gave my vocals more acoustics. I had two layers of backing vocals which gave my song more dynamics in terms of vocals. I therefore added similar but different effects to them in order to create a new sound and mix together nicely. This is especially evident in the chorus. I used effects such as echo, bitcrusher, goldverb, tape delay and fuzz-wah in order to completely change the sound of my backing vocals as if they were too similar to the original they would just give the vocals more depth and not a different sound and make them interesting. Panning helped me seperate my vocals. The main vocals were central and the others were panned left and right. The other tracks were also panned appropriatly (main melody was central, bass drums). The other melodic lines were close however on either side. I also changed the gain structure in order to sepearate the tracks so the song as a whole is clear.
For "fire" i originally mixed the vocals wrong as the gain on them on the compressor was way too high at 23dB which lost some of the quality of the recording. I then put them down to 12dB so they were sitting just above the music and spaced out the track more. I used a compressor on all of my tracks except the bigbeat remix kit where i used a limiter instead to control the gain as i wanted the kicks to be more punchy. I did this by putting up the gain. On the glam bass i used chan eq in order to cut off the high frequencies so it was more sub. On the the new surf electric guitar i used tape delay so it sounded more live as if someone strummed the guitar very quickly as it sounds like a stutter. I also used the guitar amp pro effect in order to manipulate the sound of the guitar. This was for borh the intro melody and the chords that follow. On my vocals i used the same technique as in grime pills and only added a compressor and averb in order to keep them sounding natural and be able to mix them above the instrumental.

 

Mastering:
On grime pills, to stop my track from clipping i put two compressors on the stereo out in the mixer ( silvercompressor and compressor). This stopped the track clipping and sounding distorted. The main channel that was clipping were the drums. Therefore that is the reason why i didnt just get the gain of them down as the rhythmic section for me is the most important in a rap instrumental and should stand out the most. I watched the the output meter and changed the settings of my compressors accordingly by putting up the threshold and putting down the gain which cut off a few dB in order to stop the track from clipping. Also, by putting the ratio up aswell as the gain down - my tracks velocity levels came under control.
However for "fire" i did not master it as i personally thought the levels achieved through mixing were fine. Through the use of panning on the mixer in logic i was able to space out the different instruments in order to produce a track of good quality as they were more spaced out and made the track sound professional. You can also hear all of the different motifs easily.

Buisness plan

My budget to produce an event is £500.

The service i will be providing is a gig at a small venue. My target audience are adults as they are more reliable to turn up and i would not want to lose profit by not being able to sell my tickets because people cannot come. Also, venues that host gigs usually want adults as there will usually be a bar and this is where they can make their income of my event. If all is successful i will have a good record with them and be able to book there regularly.

I will start planning my event 6 months prior to the open day. This will give me enough time to; find a venue, rehearse my material, promote my event, sell the tickets.

Firstly i will find a venue - therefore i can secure a date and time. When finding a venue it would be beneficial for them to have equiptment already there - which they most likely will. However, if they do not this will be an expense i will have to pay for. Hiring equiptment (lighting, instruments) should not be a problem as i would find a venue which already has them. For example the camden roundhouse as they specialising in holding and hosting events. Their main space can host up to 1,200. However, they do have smaller rooms which i can book which could hold up to at least 200 people - as when i went to a gig there there were roughly this amount of people.

Secondly, i will start producing flyers and thinking of marketing ideas. A good route to go down would be guerilla marketing in order to make sure people remember my event - as this will make it more likely that they attend. I could also use viral marketing and put up an event page on a social networking site such as facebook. This is an even better idea as people can invite their friends who i dont know and the page can be shared between a lot more people. A good guerilla marketing idea would be to do a small gig on the street in order to attract people from all places and there will i hand out flyers. This is good in two ways - music attracts a crowd and who would want to go to a gig where they have never heard the artist before. In this case, they will be able to see what they would be paying for and hopefully the performance entices them to spend their money on a ticket to see more. However, to produce such an event would be risky as i would need a licence to perform outside. Therefore, i could go around to areas with lots of people (oxford street, marble arch, notting hill, high street kensington) and hand out flyers. The cost of producing flyers could be costly depending on how much i print. Making these through a company (for 200) could come up to £60 according to http://www.fullphatprint.co.uk/store/p59-digital-print/digital-flyers/a5-digitally-printed-flyers/200-A5-Flyers.cfm . However if i did it myself i could be a lot cheaper and i could make more depending on the art scale of the flyers. As i am targeting adults i wont need to go into a lot of detail on the flyers in terms of colour and art which will save me money. If i handed out flyers i would not necessarily need posters however i could make around 10 to put up around the area of my venue which will draw in a crowd as people will have probably heard of or seen the venue.

When all of this is done - and it comes to the day, i could just get people to pay at the door instead of producing tickets which would cost more money.

Overall, the money that is needed to be spent in order to organise an event would be up to £400. If i sold 100 tickets for a low price of £5 i would be making £100 pound profit. However, due to the size of the venue i would definitely make a profit of more than £100. Which in my opinion is fine as the gig will be only myself i will not have to pay out money to other acts. Although - if there were other acts i could have hired a larger venue and they have their own fan bases which means more people, and more people means more money.

Term 3 - Finding Faults

The Beatles - Yer Blues track faults, were mostly in the mixdown. The vocals - in comparison to the other instruments were too low. For a professional track - especially a rock track, they should be at the frontline. However, the vocals have been panned more to the right and are mixed pretty low - but you can hear them. The panning structure was off putting as the drums and bass were fully panned to the left whilst the rest of the instruments (vocals, guitars) were at the right. The vocals were central sounding in the bridge as the reverb effect used on them was modulating. At 2:35 when the accentuated snare comes in it is too loud and interupts the melodies as it is panned to the side that they are one (left). Overall, the panning should be more spaced out to make the song sound more prfessional and structured. The guitar riff that entered in the beginning was slightly out of time. The reverb used on the main vocals at 1:15 should be louder. At 3:17 the transition back to the original tempo was out of time and caused the song to go a bit off track as every other musical component of the song was on track. The vocals at the end are extremely low - whether that is because the song is coming to an end or not it is not professional as it is not a proper fade out in the song.

The second track, Love - you set the scene - had mainly musical faults with slight mixing ones. The vocals in the track were low and should be louder in order to bring them above the gain structure of the instruments and therefore make them more apparent. The drums and bass have been mixed to sound like the main focus of the song which was unusual as it was a song (folk sounding) and not a drum and bass track. The instruments that are panned to the left sound louder than those on the right at times and vice versa. The riff on the electric guitar at the beginning should be louder as the bassline and drums overpowers it. At 1:55 the change in texture (from thick to thin) was out of time. At 2:12 the change of velocity as the idea of the song changed could be worked on in order to make it sound like the same song as there are a lot of changes. At 2:17 the instrument used for the new melodic line (brass sounding) were too loud and should be mixed to a lower level. At 2:33 the trumpet used was slightly out of time when it was playing rhymically. The whole song in my opinion could be structured a lot better as the theme and genre changes a lot throughout the track which makes it hard to pinpoint what direction the artists/producers want the track to go in. The vocals at 3:26 could have been re-recorded in order to flow more smoothly into the small instrumental. Also, the mixing that is done afterwards could be better as the track suddenly becomes louder and there isnt a major difference in the texture of the instrumental. at 5:16 the transition through the vocals again was off as the effect slightly distorted - whether that was meant to happen in order to sound like the guitar that enters - it still could be improved and decay in time. at 6:45 the ending could have been better structured as i believe the bassline and trumpet melody should have ended together. Also, the end of the track was silent for a good while - this should be cut off.

I live in a dream - Weird War:
The electric guitar is too loud and overpowers all of the other instruments including the vocals. The transitions between breakdowns are slightly out of time. The vocals need to be mixed louder in order for you understand what is being said as the instrumental smothers it.  The backing vocals should be lowered and possibly have an effect on them in order to not confuse them with the main vocals as they seemed to both be panned in the centre. The backing vocals could also be strengthing certain words instead of saying "ha, ha, haa". Also, the tone and pitch of the backing vocals could be changed in order to create dynamics in the song as they are the same notes and pitch as the electric guitar. The use of panning could be better as the instruments could be space out a lot more. Also in some parts - seperate takes should have been done on the main vocals as you can hear a lot breathing. Maybe a pop shield could have been used. The structure of the song could be better as it is hard to tell which part is the chorus / verse / bridge as the song doesnt change much dynamically. Therefore, the compositing could be improved.

Marketing yourself : Task B

greenenvylondon.blogspot.com

In my blog - i state to those reading what the blog is about by having the title as my stage name and explaining what i do. I have different sections which have links to suitable marketing materials. For example, when i give a synopsis of my producing band DEEP - I embedded two links which allows those who are interested to be sent to another site which can give them more information. The soundcloud link was targeted to those who may need a producer and want to hear what we do already - or for fans who want to keep updated. As i am an artist/producer/rapper it is important that i have somewhere where people can hear the music i make as not only is it good for publicity but it can also allow me to get the attention of the right people (record labels, promoters ect). I also had a link for our facebook which was highlighted in blue in order to resemble facebook and catch the eye of those who want to get in contact with us or find out more information. This is an important marketing material as the majority of people, who have a computer, have facebook and that means more sharing, better networking and a lot more followers. 

On my projects page : greenenvylodon.blogspot.co.uk/p/projects.html

In the comments section i posted DEEPs youtube page as it is new and is a project in itself and does not have enough content on to be highlighted.

In my biography section I could have developed my blog by creating an instagram to show people more about my everyday life in my profession. Bringing reality into marketing is a great way to capture an audience - as they feel more personal with the person/company. However, as i am not gigging and having mad sessions i didnt feel it was appropriate.

 

The most effective marketing materials are on social networking sites. For example; twitter, facebook, soundcloud, youtube, bandcamp ect. By using these websites networking and sharing material is a lot easier and it reaches a lot more people as on these sites sharing is simple. As an artist this is important for me as online is the best place to approach fans and to create a bigger fan base as online trends spread quick and far. One of the most effective types of marketing materials is twitter as people re-tweet and anything posted - follwers are constantly updated unlike facebook where you make a specific page for a band/ artist ect. On the other hand, marketing materials such as buisness cards are also useful as they can be handed out to everyone and provide a lot of information that promotes the person. This principle is the same for fliers, posters some even use stickers. In the music industry online marketing would be the most useful as this is where a lot where a lot of music found. As an artist - being of a young age, my audience would mostly be online as my target audience are also young - and statistically, the internet is ruled by teens and young adults. By having a youtube and soundcloud account - fans, promoters, a+r's and music labels can easily access my music. By sharing the material that i make so freely would build my fan base quicker as people wouldnt buy music from someone they have never heard. The more creative the marketing material the more effective - as no matter where it is it has to attract your audience.     

Royalties

Royalties, licences and copyright laws in the music industry are very important. They make sure that the right people get the right amount of credit and money for their contributions to work that they have participated in making. For one song, the songwriter in a band would usually get the biggest cut from royalties (ppl and prs) - the maximum being 50%  - depending on how many people are in the band and the relationship between them. However, if a band of 4 were all friends the cut would most likely be equal (25%). The importance of these licences stretch so far as to the venues that host the music. The companies who collect the money from venues who pay for a ppl and prs license in order to host music - use this money to distribute royalties for artists under ppl and prs.

 

Bbc have a blanket license that covers every single type of music usage (signature music for TV, musical works, music used to advertise the BBC) . This is useful as they are a large coorporation and play and use a lot of music over the tv and radio. Therefore, artists and musicians will be guaranteed their royalty fees as all music is tracked and covered. Without such a licence they would have to individually sign up for specific licences that cover the multiple type of music usage.

 

Persons under a Ppl licence get a royalty for performing. This royalty is for musicians who play on a recording or perform a song live. This is an important royalty to sign up to as if ones record is played numerous times (tv, radio,live) a lot of money can be accumilated from it. Without this licence venues would struggle to make customers as live music is what attracts them. Therefore, both the performers and venue are making profit out of each others investment in signing up for a ppl licence.    

 

Persons under a prs licence get a royalty if they are an artist, composer or music publisher. These individuals get a royalty every time their music is played. This licence is very similar to a ppl licence however does not benefit the musician. This licence also covers covers that a band may do - however only the individuals listed above gain from it and not the musicians as they did not write the song (music or lyrics). Therefore, no matter who performs the song the originial writer / composer gets a cut. Prs also collects royalties from overseas for their musicians. Without this group one could lose out on a lot of money - especially if their music is played around the world as they would not be able to keep track of it all and be able to collect their money so easily as this company tracks the music useage through databases.

 

Mcps is a licence that covers the copyright of a song. Every time a physical copy is reproduced the copyright holder - whether that be the artist, label or composer - gets a royalty. This includes the song being sold as an Mp3, CD. Also, if the music is in a game or film and that gets sold a royalty is given to the copyright holder. Without mcps licence fees would not be collected - therefore anyone could easily use a piece of copyrighted music for their own benefit and make a huge profit of it as they would not have paid to use it.

 

Copyright laws exist to the protect the works of artists/composers ect. There are two main types of music copyright and these are marked with two different symbols (P,C). Works marked with C is a traditional copyright which covers the score of the music, artwork for the album cover, composition and lyrics. Although other people may have been involved and made different parts of the product - they still have their individual copyright - however, the product as a whole has a seperate copyright.  The second copyright, P - covers the sound recording. Therefore if someone remixed a classical piece - the copyright of the original is gone but the new sound that has been formed can be copyrighted. This protects the new composer - as someone could easily steal the idea as it is not fully their work.

Mcps licences protect artists music as it ensures that there arent copyright infringements by keeping track of where and who is using it - and if there are they, deal with it (fines/prison). A ppl licence enables artists to perform covers at live events as the music they use will be licenced and the original artist/band will get their royalties. Prs allows venues to use copyrighted music at their event (cd, jukebox ect). All of these licences also credit their artists by distributing the money they make from the sale of these licences to the artists in the form of royalties. Without licences a lot of money would be lost by artists and music would be used freely. With copyright laws in place, aswell as licences, to be able to play,perform music stops this from happening so easily. 

 

Overall, without licensing and copyright musicians/artists/composers could lose out on a lot of work and money - alongside credit. Without these laws in the music industry works that one makes could be easily stolen and made money of. With these laws in place, anyone outside of the production of the music would have to obtain permission to use the music. By doing so, the copyright owners know who is using their music when and where.

 

Aural perception skills - DISTINCTION level assignment.

Song 1:
The chords from 1:00 to 1:45 are :
C major A minor x2
Fmaj Gmaj Cmaj Gmaj
Cmaj Fmaj Gmaj
Amin Fmaj
Gmaj Emin Amin

These chords convey the meaning of the song by stressing on the actual words and allowing Jeff Buckley to sing as if he were talking to a person - as the song is aimed at a woman.
The chord under the word composing - in my opinion is an imperfect cadence which allows the verse to lift 'major lift' before going back into the next verse on a high.


Song 2:
The 4 note motif at 3:56 is Bb, f, g, e.
The chord that these notes make is Gminor.
After a while the chord underneath changes to B flat.

Song 3:
The time signature of song 3 is 4/4.
The rhythm of the main theme is almost bounding as is very syncopated. It is also very choppy as it contains a lot of crotchet notes on the 1st beats of the bars which further creates a bounding feel.
The tune that next comes in is combined through the use of a short climax in order to change the key and bring in new ideas. The second idea can be heard faintly in the background of the crescendo. Also, after the climax - the first idea goes into piano and fades out into the new idea. By keeping the first idea in the background - as it is in a different key - provides harmony. The second idea is roughly half the speed of the first idea. 

Tonality:
The tonality of Talking heads - once in a lifetime is mainly major. This gives the chords used in the song an uplifting feel that a chorus should have. The modality of the song is relatively simple however the main guitar is of a different mode to that of the synth in the verse. It sounds like the 5th of the scale.

The tonality of Black ants in sound - dust is a mixture of minor and major. The different ostinatos that enter the song have different tonalities. The modality of the song is very varied as the different instruments used are in different keys and creates a sort of swarm of noise which represents the video with ants everywhere.

The tonality of the oak and the ash is cleverly composed as the guitar plays a lot of minor chords and notes - however the vocals are predominantly major. The modality between the two, is however the same - but the singer sings in a different pitch which gives the piece a lot of scope to explore musically as a lot of different sounds can be made between the guitar and vocals.

Mix assignment

https://soundcloud.com/robyn-c-williams/mix-assignment

Songs for tempo / Dynamic worksheet

Track 2:
I used the tempo tapper to find out the tempo for track 2 - the tempo i got was 105. The tempo does change later in the piece. at 1:03 the tempo increases. I used the tempo tapper again and found that the new tempo was 122. The Italian tempo marking equivalent would be Lento in the beginning. Then at 1:03 the theoretical score could be marked as Vivace.

A reason for using Italian tempo markings would be for classical music such as string quartets/ operas ect. However, for new genres such as pop/rock there would be a bpm. This is due to the fact that older genres were founded by Italians as most of the composers were Italian - therefore articulation was in Italian. However, new genres of music are spread around the world - therefore there needs to be tempo markings lots of people can understand.

Its very common to see phrase marks in music for strings as the layout of the instruments usually entails phrase marks - as the way one plays the instrument. For example - violins use bows and play across numerous strings. The same principle goes for guitarists - however they use a plectrum.  

Roles and contracts

Roles in the live performance industry.
CONTRACTS:
How flexible is the contract?
What if I want to get out of it?
Will it protect me?
What guarantees will it offer?
How will I be paid? Pros/Cons etc

Artist :

The artist, depending on whether they are signed to a label of not, have varying hours. If the artist is freelance they may be working a day job in order to bring in extra income.&nbsp;However, in their breaks they would most likely be practising and writting new material. Their working environment would usually be inside - for example practising at home, in a studio or performing at a gig. Also, an artist may be collaborating with their manager to schedule out their daily duties - ranging from photo shoots to tours.

Being an artist, in my opinion, provides great satisfaction as they are involved in a lot of the work needed to be done in producing a song. They write the lyrics, usually compose the music and perform the songs they make. Therefore, they get the most credit for the work that is produced under their name.

The skills and education that may be required from an artist could be; experience performing live, vocal and instrumental lessons, dedication to their work and possibly gcse's in english or music. However. i believe that that would just be beneficial for the artist as it would better them as an artist.

An artist, during their career would end up signing a few contracts. One may be a publishing contract with a publisher. The publisher is assigned the copyright of the material produced by the artist and distributes it into the media (film, radio). The publisher also collects royalties (ppl) for the artist by tracking when the material is used commercially. In return, the publishing company get 50% of the songs earnings while the artist gets the other half. This is a big percentage out of the earnings made - therefore, as a freelance artist it may be a good idea to keep track of your own royalties. However, that is easier said than done as the business side of music is very complex. This contract, on average lasts for 10 years. Considering this, it is not a flexible contract. However, publishers do guarantee connections within the industry and promotion of an artists work, to the best of the publishers ability. Another contract an artist may have to sign is a 360 record deal with a record company. This deal means that the record company fund the artist in whatever way they see fit - recording studios, promotion, touring and marketing. However, in return the artist must give the record company a set percentage of all of their income (merchandise,ticket and record sales). The percentage of which can be negotiated between the artist and record label. Although the label is getting more out of their artist than a traditional record deal, i believe this deal is more secure as the label will be recouping the money they invested quicker and the chances of the artist going into debt are slimmer. Also, the record company take more of an interest in promoting their artist in order to increase their sales. Any publicity is good publicity - and as an artist, having a major label forwarding their name will benefit their career profoundly. This contract term varies - some may be signed from a couple of years to a couple of decades. It is in the labels interest to get the longest term as there is longer to recoupe the allowance and make a profit of of the artist. Record deals are one of most flexible as the agreements are negotiated between the label and artist. Although it is easy to terminate a contract - it comes with consequences - one being the rights of the artists music still being with label.
Both a Publishing and Record deal contracts protect the artist and their music as both companies own part of the rights. Therefore, they are more inclined to make sure nobody steals it. Also, the payment methods are simple and are calculated for the artist. 

Depending on the type of artist - there are different ways they are paid. An artist who is freelance would make their income from their record, merchandise and ticket sales. Depending on whether they have signed to a publisher or label, varies their method of payment. An artist signed to a label would firstly be living off their allowance (what ever they are signed for, eg 200,000). However, until they have paid the label back that money through sales of their material, they will not get any income of their sales.

Overall, i believe that being an artist is an exciting job as it is very creative and usually very flexible. It also allows a lot of travel. However, this job is very risky as it could take a long time to break into the industry and make an income of it. Also, the contracts that an artist sign during their career could lead them to losing their works and/or money.

Artist manager:

The artists manager would not get paid until the artist does. This could be the reason why some people do not write up a written contract. However, it is a good idea to, as along the lines either the artist or manager could forget what they require of eachother. A managers contract term is usually negotiated between the artist and manager - it is usually for a couple of years. However, another contract type could be a tester - in order for the artist to decide wether to hire the manager. This contract usually lasts for a couple of months and it has 1 or 2 goals the manager needs to do (eg book and plan an event). Manager contracts are very flexible as there arent many set agreements - the manager can alter the contract and compromise with the artist. However, there arent any main guarantees a manager can expect except for the artist to be on board and helpful. The managers salary is a percentage deducted from the artists gross income. The usual percentage that artist managers get from the artists income is from 10-20% , this percentage can be negotiated between the two. These terms, alongside; the duration of time the manger would be working for the artist, the manager and artist's obligations and the termination of the contract - are in a contract written up between the the artist and manager.

Managers working hours and environment would vary depending on the schedule of the artist.Overall, i believe managers are the most busy as they need to be constantly ahead of the artist in order to guide their career and be successful in their job. Managers would be at radio stations, studios, record companies, gigs, publishing companies and on the road with the artist if they were touring. The manager and artist are usually together most of the time.

The satisfaction that comes with this job, in my opinion, is vast. Managers spend a lot of their time meeting new people in order to promote their artist. Theyre working hours, like an artist - are usually flexible as they would be busy at different times of the day, every day. However, managers are usually not commercially recognised. On the other hand, in the industry, they play a big part as they are the ones who do most of the networking.

The skills needed to do be a successful producer would be negotiating, networking, planning and overall having a professional attitude. Although, the role of being a manager usually involves personal encounters (networking in order to promote the artist) - one needs to be able to set goals to achieve at the end of the meetings. A manager also needs to have a good temperment as they will be spending a lot of time, working closely, with the artist. Education that may be required would be a degree in buisness or law. This is proof, for the people who hire a manager, that they understand the law and would be of use to the artist when they are signing contracts. Also, when they are producing their material, as the manager can then advise them on copyright laws, and ensure that the artist wont lose rights to their music. 

The only major risk for an artist manager, is if the artist doesnt make an income. Therefore, neither does the manager. However, due to this fact, it would encourage the manager to work harder and make their artist successful.

Overall, i believe that being an artist manager is too much work for one person. Also, not only do they have to lookout for themselves - but they carry a lot of responsibility for the career of the artist. However, artist managers are always very busy and their working environment varies dramatically. 

A + R:

A + R's are found at live events, as this is where they scout for artists for the record company their work for. They also spend a lot of time working in a office. Therefore, their working hours are irregular as they would be in an office during the week and at gigs on the weekend.

Depending on where they are situated in the world, experience and company they work for - A + R's are paid different salaries. These salaries are usually paid yearly.

A + R's job include going to local shows to find under the radar talent. They also listen to bands demos and arrange auditions for those whos demos impressed them. A + R's also study artists - they check their websites to see their fanbase in order to determine whether they are worth representing to the label as if they do not make profit for the label, it is on their track record. Whilst working in their office, they may research artists who are near terminating contracts with other labels.

The skills needed to become a successfull A + R representative would be negotiation, business, networking and interpersonal communication skills. Some record labels would expect a bachelor's degree in music and communications. This would make the A + R rep more efficient at their job as; they would be able to judge music quality better and would also be able to communicate terms with artists and be able to represent their company well. Also, A + Rs need experience in the industry - therefore most start out as a runner.

The satisfaction of this job, in my opinion - is average. An A + R, like a manager has a lot of responsibility. However, unlike a manager - if the artist doesnt live up to their expectations they will ruin their track record, lose money and possibly lose their job as the artists success cannot be altered by them. On the other hand, this job enables one to meet a lot of people in the industry and further experience and enable one to move easily to another job in the industry. A + R reps get a lot of credit for the work they do. This is shown by the record company giving them bonuses if the artists they forward have a lot of success.

Overall, i believe being an A + R  is a very rewarding job - as even the preparation for becoming one could lead one into many areas of the industry. Also, it allows one to go to many live events and travel a lot. However, ones credibility could be lost through one bad decision to forward an artist that is unsuccessful.