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Included is a CD demonstrating my work from 5 different projects

Track1 – 76 Knots - Runnin’

Track2 – 76 Knots – Advice to You

Track3 – Anti Racism Project

Track4 – Beatles Mash Project

Track5 – City In Surveillance – Come Out Tonight

Track6 – City In Surveillance – The Fame

www.facebook.com/studioskinetic

Here you can find contact details and information about me and my facilities

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3 importance of copyright

4 contract and its elements

5 importance of health & safety

6 intellectual property

7 professional bodies categorisation with references

8 BPI detailed research

9 organisations and member benefits

10 funding organisations research

12 music business exploration

13 project diaries

22 acoustic analysis

23 microphones

25 logbooks

28 references

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Here I have explained the importance of copyright and copyright protection using a case example and relating it to work I may do.

(Famous Copyright Infringement Plagiarism Cases In Music 2012) mentions the famous case example in regards to the importance of copyright protection would be George Harrisons plagiarism of a song by the Chiffons. In 1971 George Harrison

Released the song ‘’My Sweet Lord’’, which had great chart success in the states and the UK. It had chart presence for a total of 27 weeks. Back in 1962 the Chiffons released a song titled ‘’He’s so fine’’, which had success in the states although not so much in the UK. The plagiarism case relates to this material. Less than a few weeks after the release of ‘’My Sweet Lord’’, the Chiffon’s record company filed a lawsuit against George Harrison and his Companies. An out of court settlement including $148000 was offered but rejected as it seemed they thought more could be gained and they wanted the complete hand over of the copyright to George Harrisons release. In the 5 year waiting of the case, George Harrison’s attorneys continued trying to settle out of court. They tried to prove the difference between the two songs but weren’t successful. It went to court and the judge believed that George Harrison did not deliberately plagiarise the song but because they were so alike and only conveyed slight differences to note and chord structure, George Harrison was found guilty of ‘subconscious plagiarism’. This was concluded in 1981 and George Harrison had to pay the amount of $587000!

By this case example you can see how important the issue of copyright protection is and the law power it ensues. Because the chiffons had the appropriate copyright protection in place they were able to pursue the alleged plagiarism of their material and reach a legal settlement at the end of it, even though it took 10 years! This would be satisfying due to their original material being ripped off. They could act on their intellectual property being taken from them. This relates to the copyright protection I can uphold as a producer although it is a little different, as the copyright protection relates to the rights of the recording. If I were to record a band and produce a mix of them I would have to be careful in ensuring the appropriate copyright protection was in place for me and my material. If I did not then my material may be released with me having no rights to it at all.

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The five elements of a contract are offer, acceptance, consideration, intention & capacity. Below I have incorporated these into a draft contract for session work with my friend’s band.

I, Ross Kinder hereby offer my services of recording and mixing to 76 Knots. Day long sessions can be arranged and will include the hours of 9am to 5pm. Once a day session is booked it can be cancelled, but only with more than 2 weeks notice, if this is not adhered to then full payment will still be required. I am happy to record as many tracks as possible in a day session at a satisfactory quality of course. The equipment needed for recording such as software, microphones and cabling etc will provided but the instruments and everything needed to create the music/sound you want to achieve in the first instance of the recording will need to be provided by you. I will offer my mixing services at a rate of 2 tracks per day. I will provide a finished mix down of up to 5 tracks within a week of the recording session if required. More than 5 tracks would be a further week and so on.

Rates

Day’s Recording Session - £200

Mix downs (per track) - £50

Signing of this contract by both parties (me & you) declares that we have gone over and accept the terms of the contract and agree to be legally bound by it. Signing also declares we have the ability to do so and are in a mentally fit state at the time.

Ross Kinder

Sign _________________________ Date ________________

76 Knots

Sign _________________________ Date ________________

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I have now explained the importance of health and safety with example from experience in the course.

Health and safety is about protecting the health of everyone in the working and learning environment and anticipating what may harm their welfare in such activities, taking safety into consideration. Health and safety then matters because our safety is important and a student being harmed in the college would not be good for the student as they may be in pain and the college could also be legally responsible.

Last year, we were faced with the task of recording a choir for part of an anti racism song. We set up an area using partition dividers and set up microphones around this area. We were going to have 40 plus people in this area so had to make sure cables and stands were set up neatly. Wires from the microphones were trailing across the front of the floor but were bunched together neatly and pointed out to everyone so they could take care stepping over them. Microphones were placed overhead on stands but were pointed out so people were aware of them and should not knock them or bang their heads. The sound production also needed to move partition dividers over to this area and care had to be taken in doing so.

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Intellectual property explained.

Creativity is an element of the creative industries which is the process in which a person creates an idea in the mind which is new, original, unique to that person and of some kind of value. This can become intellectual property which means it is a definable idea, clearly the persons. It refers to an exclusive type of creation in the mind to which laws can apply to. Therefore the next process would normally be protecting it. Creativity in music could relate to the idea for a new song which is original and unique to the singer/song writer. When this becomes intellectual property obviously the singer/song writer would not want someone else to steal their idea so the process of patenting/copyrighting their material should probably be completed before the commercialisation of their song. Hypothetically this is a pop music song so they would need to think what is popular, relevant and appealing to current music listeners so as to make it saleable and hopefully profitable. In the end an example of the goods provided would be mass produced CD singles and services provided may be a free gig ahead of its release to promote the new music and singer/song writer.

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Here I have researched different professional bodies and categorised them with references.

Sources of Information Sources of fundingBPIDCMSCreative ExportUK Trade and InvestmentScottish EnterpriseBusiness LinkAIMMUMMFRIAACreative ScotlandPrinces TrustNational Lottery

Scottish EnterpriseCreative ScotlandPrinces TrustNational Lottery

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I have now researched the BPI in detail.

Name of company BPIWho owns the company?(Government or Privately owned)

Privately owned

Who is their service for?People who work in the major record label industry, also up & coming artists.

What is their unique selling point (USP)They offer sponsored trade trips to Japan & America. They heavily fund the BRIT school through their charitable arm, the BRIT trust. The BRIT school is a free entry performing arts school for 14-19 year olds. It has had a notable alumni with past students such as Katy B.

What are the advantages of this organisation? They offer direct training, education &

information seminars to their members. There are generous registration discounts and travel grants for attendance at international trade fairs.

What are the disadvantages?If you were an independent producer or smaller record label you would be at an immediate disadvantage as the BPI is more for larger companies and has a £500 joining fee.

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Here I have identified a selection of organisations and what they do for their members.

MU – The Musicians Union help negotiate on behalf of musicians with all their main employers in the industry. They have specialist full-time officials available to tackle issues raised by their musicians in the arena, studio or when writing/composing.

MMF – The MMF helps to unlock investment and they educate, inform and represent UK managers and their artists. Joining also offers a network through which managers can share experiences, opportunities and information.

BPI – British Phonographic Industry offers an anti-piracy team, certified awards, legal support, promotion of your material and research resources.

AIM – The Association of Independent Musicians represents near to 1000 member companies, from the largest and the most known and respected labels in the world down to the smallest start ups and individual artists releasing their own music for the first time. They offer expert advice on all areas of running a label, A network of contacts is provided opening business partner opportunities, legal affairs guidance and discounts on industry events.

APRS – The Association of Professional Recording Services represents members such as recording studios, post-production houses, Providers of education, record producers and audio engineers. Their aim is to develop and maintain excellence at all levels within the UK's audio industry. They hold discussion workshops offering ideas and advice. They also have a telephone helpline offering a wide variety of information that its members can use free of charge.

BASCA – The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors offers political campaigning, regular communications, events, legal services, professional advise/resources and a tax helpline to there members.

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I have gone on to research organisations that provide funding.

Creative Scotland

Role – Creative Scotland is Scotland’s leader for the arts, screen and creative industries. They invest in talent, exciting ideas, artistic production, the cultural economy and any places that may help contribute to a creative Scotland. They also help Scotland’s creativity shine worldwide.

Rules to Applying for Funding – examples of these may be:-

If you are an organisation you must be constituted formally

If you are an individual, you should draw up a statement of aim and objectives of your project

Once funding has taken place, regular progress reports should be given

The investment offered may only be used for work set out in the agreement

Advantages – The main and obvious advantage is hopefully receiving the investment from creative Scotland.

Disadvantages – The disadvantages associated with creative Scotland would be the amount of work that has to be carried out to receive an investment never mind just applying, for example, Having to draw up a detailed outline of what you aim to do with the investment.

Hi Arts

Role – hi arts which stands for highlands and islands arts provides various support services for those working in the arts and heritage across the highlands and islands and also other areas of Scotland. They can also provide investments to companies or individuals on behalf of creative Scotland.

Rules to Applying for Funding – other than having to state if you have received funding from creative Scotland in the last year, as long as what you aim to do with your investment complies with the scheme offered.

Advantages – HI arts does not seem as hard to apply for and you are supported much more locally with their Inverness based headquarters, that is if you live around this area. And they can give grants on behalf of creative Scotland.

Disadvantages – Although HI arts is more upfront and personal this is due to its much smaller scale and you are very unlikely to receive a grant of more than £500!

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The Princes Trust

Role – The Princes Trust gives practical and financial support to young people that need it the most. They help develop these peoples key skills, confidence and build their motivation. This is all to hopefully enable these young individuals to move into work, education or training.

Rules to Applying for Funding – The most common conditions to comply with for the princes trust funding are being between 16 and 25 and not in education, training or working less than 16 hours a week. You can be between 14 and 16 but not expecting to achieve five GCSEs. Although your application for a development fund which seems to be the most common, cannot be for university course fees, gap year funding, grants for organisations or alleviation of hardship.

Advantages – Well I checked out one of the application forms and funding does seem fairly easy to apply for. They can also help you out of Unemployment and into work or education through developing your skills and motivation which is a very beneficial advantage of this organisation due to unemployment being a large and widespread problem amongst young people in the current economic depression of the country.

Disadvantages – Unfortunately the princes trust is not for everyone, so if you are a student, in full time employment or are in training then you cannot apply for help, support or funding.

Business Angels

Role – Business Angels is an organisation that brings together clients and angels. The client being and individual or group/company with an idea(s) or a business venture. And the angels being experienced in business skills and wishing to invest their capital into new and developing enterprises.

Rules to Applying for funding – There are no particular rules in this organisation as it may depend on the person you are approaching or working with but things that may help are becoming a registered company, securing a domain name, setting up a business bank account, securing your trademark, a financial forecast, a business plan and a shareholder agreement.

Advantages – One may be having access to investors with very large amounts of money and dealing directly with that investor rather than through a team of different departmental staff.

Disadvantages – some investors requirements can be rather demanding such as needing a solid history of sales or being more established in the industry you work in.

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Below I have explored music businesses with size, function, product and creativity information.

Name of Business – The Ironworks

Size – The Ironworks is a moderately sizable venue with a 1000 standing and 350 seated capacity

Function – to provide a venue for live music and conferencing. To nurture local talent and help it thrive

Product – tickets for the various events they host. They also have a bar which on a busy night will provide a large source of income. Their overpriced drinks will definitely boost profit

What creativity is being exploited?...

There are a variety of acts that perform at the Ironworks which include singers, bands, DJs, Comedians, Musicians, Magicians and live show tours. It is their creativity and intellectual property that is being exploited. The Ironworks provides a venue, promotion, state of the art sound system and lighting with professional staff to operate them. They then sell tickets for the performer(s) to gain profit and also take income from the bar and cloakroom on the night.

Name of Business – Rockness

Size – Rockness is definitely on a nation wide scale with 30000+ attending each year

Function – to provide a space where artists can come and exploit their talent and festival goers can camp, get inebriated, see famous acts and listen to loud music

Product – A wide range of products are provided from tickets to burgers on site. A variety of merchandise like t-shirts and programmes are provided and alcoholic beverages are provided in various bars inside the festival.

What Creativity is being Exploited?...

An extremely large amount of creativity and intellectual property is being exploited in a short space of time at rockness. Each day there are multiple stages and tents with singer/song writers, bands and DJs performing throughout the day. In promoting these acts - many of which are very famous – not far off a year in advance they sell thousands of tickets to make profit and continue it annually.

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I have several detailed project diaries from recording/mixing projects we have undergone during this years course

Anti – Racism Song Project

NAME: Ross Kinder DATE: 07/11/11

The Project started with all the music and care students being put together and split into groups. The ideas started from the topic of anti-racism and all the best products from the groups such as lyrics, vocals and melodies were taken forth and amalgamated to help create what we are doing now. So last Monday we set up the drum kit which Leslie and Tom played. We used 2 dynamic and 2 condenser microphones, one for the kick, one for the snare/hi-hat and a coincidental pair above and facing the drum kit. We made several recordings of different drum beats so we could put our own loops together in the mixdown. We then set up the piano for recording and had Lewis play some chords to use in the editing process on protools. We used to large condenser microphones as stereo pair at each side of the front panel. We then set up another large condenser microphone in the live room and had Nicki, Emily, Dion and peter record four different sections of vocals for the final mix down and to use for when we organised a choir on Wednesday involving the performance and care students. Come Wednesday we cleared a suitable square area and set up two condensers as a spaced pair at the rear, the same as an overhead parallel at the front with c1000s and a coincidental pair with small condensers front and centre. Health & Safety issues to be noted were the amount of people compacted into a small place where there were wires trailing the floor everywhere but they were pointed out and people were careful around them. Another was moving some partition screens to stand in front of the window to improve sound although once again we were careful in doing so. Today we started off by recording tommy playing a verse and chorus section. We used a behringer c100 up close to the guitar and a behringer b-1 spaced from the guitar which gave a good effect. We also had it DI’d aswell but personally I thought the sound from this was awful as it was very harsh and unnatural. So after we recorded the parts we needed the sections that were best conforming to the 100bpm click track were identified and cut up for loops. Later in the day peter led us into the digital audio workstations room to show us how to equalise the different tracks in the project. So we all took turns in EQing the different parts such as different performers vocals, drum kit and piano. You had to insert them as plug ins on each individual channel and open them up to find a four band wave controller for the frequency spectrum. I personally learnt good tips about finding certain unwanted or wanted frequencies in your mix and pulling them out or enhancing them. After this we bounced each individual part as a stereo interleaved WAV file to a named folder on the desktop for convenience and to use in our final mix down of the project. I started my mix down of the song by focussing on the piano part first and adding some midi drums. I bring in the solo vocal part after a bar or two followed by the acoustic guitar which I had to pitch shift to harmonise with the piano.

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Earlier peter gave us a Michael Jackson track called will you be there. We had to take two techniques used in the mixing of that track and use them in our mixdown. A piano part is heavily focussed on in Michaels song, which I did in mine. My second technique taken from will you be there was alternating between the solo vocals and a choir part which I successfully achieved in my mix.

We were faced with the task of recording a choir for part of the anti racism song. We set up an area using partition dividers and set up microphones around this area. We going to have 40 plus people in this area so had to make sure cables and stands were set up neatly. The choir were not familiar with the lyrics so we had to tape large print outs of them to the wall in front of the area. Due to there being so many people we had to use an amp in front of the choir for the click / guide track which unfortunately bled through into the microphones but we overcame slightly in the eqing process.

Number of songs to be recorded1

Arrangement of songs to be recorded & /or band lineupAmmalgamation of care, music and sound students

Tempos & key of song(s) to be recorded100bpm

Recording Tracks required6

Responsibilities of members of the recording team and the bandRoss (Protools editor)

Joe & Lewis (mic & Cabling)

Ross,Ben & Leslie (Stand, Recording etc)

Choice of microphonesBehringer B1 & C1000s, SE3s

Health & Safety Issues:

Several people in confined space with cables and stands. Care was taken

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City In Surveillance Recording Session

NAME: Ross Kinder DATE: 16/01/12

On Monday the 16th of January one of the nc bands, city in surveillance who have really hit it off, having a few gigs and writing a hand full of songs etc are coming into the college for us to record them. The sound production students had previously met up to discuss what was going to happen and formulate a plan. I was actually put in charge of this project so I drew up a rough sheet of roles, mics and channel list etc.

Lewis – Record song 2, setup / connect cablesRoss E – Record song 1, setup / connect cablesLeslie – setup mics / stands / clipsJoseph – Record song 3, setup / connect headphones / monitorKinder – Record song 4, setup mics / stands / clipsBen – setup protools at start (protools operator)

All equipment and random stuff that is not needed in the live room should be removed at the start before setup!

Channel ListNo. Name Microphone Stand 1 Kick D 112 Small2 Snare Top Shure SM 57 Small3 Snare Bottom Shure SM 57 Small4 Hi Tom Samson Tom Clip On5 Lo Tom Samson Tom Clip On6 Over Head Left Se 3 Large7 Over Head Right Se 3 Large8 Bass Mic / Amp D 112 Small9 Bass D I Behringer D I Box10 Guitar Mikey Shure SM 57 Medium11 Guitar Ali Shure SM 57 Medium12 Vocals Behringer B1 Large13 Room Ambiance Se 4400 A Large

Microphones Needed for set up:-D 112 x 2

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Shure SM 57 x 4Samson Toms x 2Se 3 x 2Behringer B1 x 1Se 4400 A x 1

Stands Needed for set up:-Small x 4Medium x 2Large x 4

Cables etc Needed for set up:-Jack to XLR Cable x 1XLR Cable x 12Headphones x 5Headphone Cable ExtensionBehringer DI Box

We decided to record everything live, at the same time with everything being miked in the same room. We spent some time getting the balance of levels between everything whilst the band was practicing so we could hopefully achieve some separation meaning we could manipulate each instrument to a satisfactory degree in the mix. This was tricky considering the way we were recording the band but we achieved it well. During the recording the over head mics began to clip to which we did not know why so we turned the gains down slightly and got on ok. It turned out the cymbals had hit off the stands so next time we do a recording with drums we will make sure the over head stands are placed where the cymbals will most definitely not hit the stands.

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Number of songs to be recorded

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Arrangement of songs to be recorded & /or band lineupSongs Band

The Feeling Rhys – Lead Vocals

The Fame Mikey – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals

One Kiss Love Johnathon – Bass Guitar

Come Out Tonight Ali – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals

Leslie - Drums

Tempos & key of song(s) to be recordedG, B & Others – 190 BPM, 160 BPM & Others

Recording Tracks required15 Tracks on protools

Responsibilities of members of the recording team and the bandLewis – Record song 2, setup / connect cablesRoss E – Record song 1, setup / connect cablesLeslie – setup mics / stands / clipsJoseph – Record song 3, setup / connect headphones / monitorKinder – Record song 4, setup mics / stands / clipsBen – setup protools at start (protools operator)

Choice of microphonesD 112 x 2Shure SM 57 x 4Samson Toms x 2Se 3 x 2Behringer B1 x 1Se 4400 A x 1

DI instrumentsBass Guitar

Health & Safety Issues: There was lots of equipment, stands, cables etc in the live room with the band so care was taken. The noise levels in the live room were also consistently very loud. A lot to do with guitarists and there amps!

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76 Knots Recording Session (December)

NAME: Ross Kinder DATE: 19/12/11

On Monday 19th december the course will have my friend, bens’ band come into the college to carry out a recording session with us. They are called 76 Knots and they have 3 original songs ready to perform. Their main influence is the band Alkaline trio and the band comprises of drums, guitar, bass and vocals. We will record the drums, bass and guitar together first having the 3 band members in the live room together with the drums and bass being miked in the same room and the guitar amp being in one of the off shoot rooms for separation, this is so we can hopefully be able to do a lot with and manipulate the sound of the guitar.

Channel list

1 kick – D112

2 snare bottom – shure sm57

3 snare top – shure sm57

4 hi-hats – se3

5 hi tom – Samson tom

6 lo tom – Samson tom

7 overhead left – behringer c1000

8 overhead right – behringer c1000

9 bass amp – D112

10 bass di

11 guitar amp – shure sm57

12 guitar room – akg c3000

13 vocals – behringer b1

The plan is that we have their 3 songs recorded by the end of the college day with no clipping and all of the bands equipment such as drum kit parts, amps and guitars to be out of the college before it closes

Achievable:-

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The recording equipment, mics, cables etc are all available for us and we know how to use them. The band know how to get here and I am friends with them so it should run smoothly

Realistic:-

The project as a whole including the ideas we’ve laid out are realistic, such as isolation with the guitar amp. There is a separate booth with small soundproof holes connecting to the live room for cables to be fed through

Timebound:-

The college opens at 9 in the morning when the band will be arriving and the then shuts at 5 when the recording will be finished and all the bands equipment will have to be out by

One of the techniques used were putting the guitar amp in a separate room for separation and in that room we placed a large diaphragm condenser microphone as a room pick up but unfortunately sounded awful we think due to the amount of distortion on the guitar so it couldn’t be used effectively in the mix due to this. When recording the vocals at the end of the session we used the behringer b1 large diaphragm condenser microphone which we set up in the live room for flange and andy to sing into. This all went fine but when we started to mix the tracks we realised the vocals sounded awfully strange and hard to EQ and get a good sound out of. There was no presence in the vocals at all and they weren’t cutting through in the mix of the tracks effectively. We have come to the conclusion that we unfortunately placed the microphone the wrong way round! I rectified this problem by coming back to the college soon after with flange to record the vocals again with the microphone set up the correct way round. Health & safety issues to be noted were the band being in the live room with a lot of equipment and cables trailing on the floor and also the level of their monitor headphones which could have been harmful to their hearing considering the length of exposure.

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Number of songs to be recorded

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3

Arrangement of songs to be recorded & /or band lineupSwallowed & Abandoned

Deceased Lover

Advice To You

Zander (Flange) – Guitar, Vocals

Andy – Bass, Backing Vocals

Ben - Drums

Tempos & key of song(s) to be recordedVarious, not aware of song keys which means we cannot

Add midi or do certain things in the final mix due to this

Recording Tracks required15

Responsibilities of members of the recording team and the bandJoe, Ben & Leslie in charge with:-

Kinder – Communications Officer

Lewis – Microphone Placement

Ross – Hardware Management

Choice of microphonesD 112

Shure SM 57

Samson CO 2

Samson Tom Clip On

Behringer C1000

Behringer C3000

Behringer B1

DI instrumentsBass Guitar

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76 Knots – 29/2/12 – Recording Session – Description in Logs

Channel list

1 – Kick – AKG D112

2 – Snare Top – Shure SM57 (phase reversed)

3 – Snare Bottom – Shure SM57

4 – Hi Hats – AKG C1000

5 – Hi Tom – Samson Tom

6 – Lo Tom – Samson Tom

7 – Overhead Left – SE3 Pencil Condenser

8 – Overhead Right – SE3 Pencil Condenser

9 – Bass Mic – AKG D112

10 – Bass DI

11 – Guitar Amp – Shure SM57

12 – Room – SE4400a

13 – Vocals – AKG C1000

14 – Backing Ben – AKG C1000

15 – Backing Andy – AKG C1000

16 – Rhys Shouting – SE4400a

17 – Collective Shouting – SE4400a

Roles

Kinder & Leslie – Recording heads / band communication

Lewis – mic placement

Ben – protools setup

Ross – Cabblage

James & Joe – assistants

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Acoustic Analysis

I often use different acoustic spaces for recording or mixing/mastering. Before I go to do this, there are some things I take into consideration. One of the first acoustic problems I may be pro active about is flutter echo. To try and prevent this I will make sure the area is as tidy possible and that un needed equipment is removed. One of the biggest problems in a control room especially are standing waves, these need to be strongly avoided so what you are hearing isn’t ‘coloured’ at all. Ways to avoid this are by installing diffusers or materials that act as such like drapes and carpet. This problem is eliminated in the control rooms we have in the college which are also soundproof. The floor is carpeted and every wall is zigzagged to prevent standing waves. Another notable property of an acoustic space is reverberation. A short reverb time is desirable in a recording/studio environment. For the wanted clarity, less than a second of reverb time should be in play. Taking live sound into consideration, such as an auditorium for music, reverb time of a couple of seconds is desired for a rich sound and to help with problems such as bass loss for people further away from the sound source. Too much reverb should not be desired as a certain element of clarity is still needed for music but this can be treated by diffusing materials such as drapes and people in a crowd act as the same. Standing waves obviously want to be avoided in a live environment also, you don’t really want one person hearing the same frequencies much louder than the person standing next to them. To treat this problem, parallel walls should be avoided. So walls at angles to each other are good. You may notice random walls that are at an angle in places such as nightclubs. This is the reason.

Recording Area – Flutter Echo – Remove unwanted objects/equipment

Control Room – Standing waves – Use diffusing materials or angle walls

Reverb Time

R Nave

2012

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Microphones

Microphone Type Use / FeaturesAKG D112 Dynamic Usually used for bass instruments, most commonly the bass

drum on a kit as It has an extremely high sound pressure level capability. It is ideal for studio and live applications and can handle up to 160 db without any audible distortion. It is very robust and has a built in windscreen which will help with the likes of a bass drum application due to puffs of air.

Shure SM57 Dynamic This microphone is often used for instrument and amplifier miking due to it’s professional and clean frequency response and sound reproduction. Suitable for use in a studio or live environment. With its cardioid pickup pattern it isolates the main sound source without picking up noise in the background.

Shure SM58 Dynamic This is a legendary vocal microphone that is most commonly used live on stage. It has a cardioid pickup pattern which eliminates unwanted background noise, ideal for isolating the singers voice on stage from the likes of drums and guitar amps. It has a frequency response tailored to vocals and is designed very robustly to ensure it performs consistently even with rough handling.

AKG C1000 Condenser This is a very popular small diaphragm condenser microphone. It is effective for recording vocals, reproducing instrument sound like acoustic guitar and drum kit cymbals. I personally love the sound it reproduces when using it on hi hats. It achieves this by having an enhanced high frequency response. It has a patented capsule on inside the microphone head which can be removed to switch between cardioid and hypercardioid. I like to remove this when recording hi hats, making it more directional in a hypercardioid pattern. It also has the option of being battery powered if phantom power isn’t available. There is an indication light that lets you know when the battery power is low.

SE1a Condenser Small diaphragm, Cardioid, Pencil condenser microphone that is effective for recording the likes of stringed instruments and drum cymbals with its’ bright sound reproducing capabilities. Coming in a stereo pair package with a fixing bar for them both they can also be effective for capturing an ensemble or for being used as drum kit overheads in the studio or live. I particularly like to use them for drum kit over heads. I think they capture the frequencies really well and produce a great stereo image.

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SE4400a Condenser The SE Electronics SE4400a is a large and twin diaphragm condenser microphone. It has several switches on the front of its housing allowing you to switch between hyper cardioid, cardioid, figure of 8 and omni directional. It has 2 bass cuts at 60 and 120 Hz, also 2 pads at 10 and 20 db. It is suitable for many different applications such as recording vocals, different types of instruments and is also an effective room microphone as we found out when we used it as such in a live style recording.

Behringer B1 Condenser The Behringer B1 is a professional quality large diaphragm condenser microphone. It has a cardioid pick up pattern and is switchable between a low frequency roll off and a 10 db input attenuation cut. It has a 1” diaphragm with a built in wind screen. We have often used this microphone for recording vocals but it can also be used for instrument recording and other applications with its large pickup area and bright frequency response.

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Logbooks

Date – 8/2/12 My action plan point: planning

Today the graded unit topic was introduced to us by peter, he went through various sections of it and showed us where we could download files that we needed from the uhi and blackboard sites. He also told us that we had already done a lot of the work needed and that we just had to gather it together. There were 4 options we could choose to work towards and gather evidence to create a portfolio for such opportunities as a Broadcast engineer, PA Guy etc. I decided to work towards the studio engineer option. I downloaded the planning worksheet from the uhi site and began to outline the portfolio requirements from the graded unit handout, noting where they were in my previous work. Next to them I wrote there related skill. I have read through a large portion of the material this morning and although I found it rather daunting I believe I have some understanding of what needs to be done and have already contacted the members of my friends band ’76 Knots’ and set up a date where they will come in for a recording session. I will be mixing down the material produced from this session to go towards evidence for the graded unit.

Date – 29/2/12 My action plan point: planning

Unfortunately I did not realise how soon the planning stage had to be completed by so I had to try and rush getting some of my planning stage done before recording with 76 Knots. This was mainly due to me not grasping an understanding of the graded unit when it was first introduced and I missed one of the weeks too. I ended up staying behind until late at night this week to help get it finished. I used the blackboard graded unit section online to help with parts of it. I found the planning example especially helpful. I used the ‘How stuff works’ website to help in describing the role of a studio/audio engineer and I used previous work from creative industries infrastructure to help in forming a SMART objective for the project aims section of the planning stage.

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Date – 14/3/12 My action plan point: Working In/Creative Industries

After completing my planning stage and documenting everything I am going to do for my graded unit I took some time to gather all my materials from working in the creative industries and the creative industries infrastructure units. I used certain parts which I put in a document together with descriptors above each separate part to detail what they relate to. I have also used Microsoft word’s page number footer function to be used for a contents section in my completed portfolio.

Date – 29/2/12 My action plan point: Recording

Moving onto what I actually did with the band. After finishing planning material off in the morning I went down to meet the band and we set up equipment in the live room whilst removing unnecessary objects from the room to provide more room and as best and acoustic environment as possible. The boys wanted to record to a click whilst achieving separation also, so I thought I would try to do this in the quickest and easiest way possible to get as much out of the session as we could. I started by putting the guitar amp in the other small booth and left the bass amp in the live room but just DI’d it. So I had everyone in the room playing together for the live sound but with complete separation. We had some trouble with Ben playing drums to the click but got there in the end and achieved a good sound. I worked similarly with the second track but had to take some of these techniques away to get the third done in time.

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Date – 16/4/12 My action plan point: Mixing

I have started mixing the recording session that I underwent with my friend’s band, 76 Knots. As always I started with the drums, EQing and gating each individual channel, I’ve deterred from compressing everything and will focus more on the multiple band aspect of the mix as a whole in the mastering stage. I have achieved a good sound from the drums so far and moving onto the bass, I got rid of the microphone channel as I did not like the sound but already have good sound from the DI channel. I have achieved a percussive sound from the DI channel which I was aiming for so am satisfied with that. The guitar sound is overly distorted so I’m having slight trouble with that but getting there through EQ, filter and duplicating techniques. I plan to use some sort of reversing reverb technique for the opening to one of the tracks which I will later update on.

Update

I used the reverse reverb technique for the start of a track called runnin’. I took a small snippet of the guitar, reversed and put heavy reverb on it. I then exported it in mono, imported it, reversed it again and joined it back on to the start of the track. I think it sounds great and I am very pleased with the effect.

Date – 24/4/12 My action plan point: Development

I have started to gather the production logs / Project Diaries that I completed from earlier in the year into one document with the channel and roles list from the recent recording with 76 Knots incorporated. I also compiled a section on acoustic analysis as written in my short and medium term goals, detailing properties of acoustic spaces and what I may take into consideration before using them. I used a diagram given in one of the links that our acoustics teacher, Les Cowley uploaded to the learning resources part of the blackboard site. Finally I put together a microphones sheet mentioned as one of my graded unit tasks in the planning stage. I created a table with several different microphones listing their features and what they can be used for. I also mentioned what I like about them and the applications I like to use them for.

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References

Copyright case reference:-

associativecreative, 2012. Famous Copyright Infringement Plagiarism Cases In Music. [online] available at: <http://www.fairwagelawyers.com/most-famous-music-copyright-infringment.html> [Accessed 18/1/12].

References for categorising table:-

British Recorded Music Industry, 2009. About Us. [online] available at: <http://www.bpi.co.uk/category/about-us.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Crown Copyright, August 2011. About Us. [online] available at: <http://www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/default.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Crown Copyright, 2011. About Exporting. [online] available at: <http://www.ukti.gov.uk/export/exporting.html> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Crown Copyright, 2011. About UKTI. [online] available at: <http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/aboutukti.html> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Scottish Enterprise, 2008. What We Do. [online] available at: <http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/about-us/what-we-do.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Crown Copyright, 2011. About Business Link. [online] available at: <http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1087351667&page=AboutUs&type=CAMPAIGN> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Association of Independent Music, 2011. About AIM. [online] available at: <http://www.musicindie.com/about> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Musicians’ Union, 2010. Advice & Downloads. [online] available at: <http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/advice-downloads/> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Merton Music Foundation, 2008. About The MMF. [online] available at: <http://www.themmf.net/showscreen.php?site_id=55&screentype=folder&screenid=1441> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Recording Industry Association of America, 2011. Who We Are. [online] available at: <http://www.riaa.com/aboutus.php?content_selector=about-who-we-are-riaa> [Accessed 5/10/11]

Creative Scotland, 2010. About Overview. [online] available at: <http://www.creativescotland.com/about/about-overview> [Accessed 5/10/11]

The Princes Trust, 2011. What We Do. [online] available at: <http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/about_the_trust/what_we_do.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]

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Reference for BPI:-

Paul Lester, 2010. Katy B (No 828) [online] available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/19/new-band-katy-b> [Accessed 12/10/11]

Reference for acoustic analysis:-

R Nave, (2012), What is a desirable reverberation time? [ONLINE]. Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/acoustic/imgaco/rt2.gif [Accessed 25 April 12].