Another opportunity not to be missed!

Things have been busy this week as my contact list has borne fruit! On Thursday 5th April I will be off to Cornwall to the studios of Sawmills. The studio is only accessed by boat and is housed in an old water mill.

My contact, Ruth Taylor, will be meeting me at Par station and taking me for a day in the studio to see how things work. There is a band recording on that day, although I don’t know who! Looking at their website you will be able to see how many famous bands have used the studios since its opening in 1974. I have my notebook and camera at the ready and I am really looking forward to the experience.

I’ll blog more next week.

Checkout their website here

Filming Opportunities

After Easter I have the opportunity to do some filming with Peter Scott. Peter is a musician who runs a project called ‘The Hothouse.’

The hothouse is a family run project and delivers ‘innovative and inspirational music services.’
(quote from website).

Peter has designed and developed a set of beatboards for particular use in schools. They are designed to develop skills in rhythm. They can be used from any age and from beginner to more competent musician level.

Peter has recently set up on his website a ‘beatbank’. This is a resource for teachers which shows how the beatboards can be used in the classroom. Peter wants to add more to his website by filming in a local school. The filming will include footage of reception and year one children (ages 5-6 years) developing rhythm and rhyme games. This resource can then be used by teachers as part of the English curriculum, and in particular phonics which helps the children in their first steps with reading.

More about Peter and his beatboards can be seen on his website. I will be filming the pupils and then editing the footage for use on his website.

Watch this space for more details!

Check out The Hot House here

Process of making my personal project video

Intro
As I was creating a music video I drew a lot of inspiration from listening to my finished track. The music formed ideas, feelings, colours and scenes in my head for me to draw inspiration from.

Story Board
I set out some boxes on A3 paper and drew down what I thought fitted with the music. I find A3 paper or larger more comfortable to use for the expression of ideas. Physiologically it makes it easier to feel free when I use a large work area to capture drawn graphics.
Before I sat down to do the initial storyboards I would doodle. This allows my mind open up creating new avenues of inspirational ideas.

Audience
All types of art are subjective to opinion. I have set out to create something that is suitable for all ages. Because the music is also unusual this could mean it appeals generally to the younger adults (16 – 25).
Initial ideas
Initial ideas were that it would be totally shot at night. The track utilised a lot of echoed instruments and small vocal pieces, giving it a fragmented distant feel. I therefore first thought of night time to support the track elements. Purples, light blues, dark greens and other earthy tones would reflect this prominence of the echoing elements in the track. Empty garages, car parks, warehouses, large expanses of flat land were my initial thoughts. I also had thoughts of comparing city based landscapes with rural ones when the song develops into its different parts. This would have worked as a background idea to support other main storylines or focus points. I decided against this idea as it wasn’t original and didn’t support the vocals in the track. I came up with the name energize from the vocal I used. Much like a pop song the last few words of the chorus would determine the name of the track. I applied this way of thinking to my track so that it was straight forward for the listeners/viewers to remember the music and video.


Cuttings
When I read magazine and newspapers I like to cut out pictures or photographs that interest me. I may cut out various things depending on my interests at the time but generally new colours, patterns and original design ideas I haven’t seen before would be taken for inspiration for new projects. I feel it is very important to keep close to what you think looks good and what interests you at certain times. Looking back over time I’m sure I will notice patterns in my cuttings that can help inform me of my previous thoughts and feelings so I can keep creating new and original ways of thinking in the future.

Documenting Diabetes - Magazine Research (Adam Fine)

During my downtime from work I have been reading quite a lot. Every month I get my Balance magazine which tells me about the latest thoughts on Diabetes. In the February edition there was a little article about independent producer Adam Fine, who is looking for volunteers with diabetes to feature in a documentary about ‘how people deal with diabetes both psychologically and physically during different life stages. The documentary will also look at the impact of recent developments in diabetes care and technology.’

A few years ago I made a film about my experiences with diabetes, filming my consultant, Dr H. Baumer. You can catch my two part film on Youtube.

Living with Diabetes Part 1
Living with Diabetes Part 2

I look at lot younger in my film and my filming technique has improved since then, but the film was used by the diabetic nurse team at Derriford hospital to show teenagers with type 1 diabetes how we sometimes feel with this condition.
I thought that I might e mail Adam to find out a bit more about his project.

I have not yet seen any of the trilogy but am excited to get my hands on them as soon as they are released (and when I have a job to buy them! )

Check out his website here

A Day spent with Music Producer - Kam

February 21st 2012

I made contact with this music producer through a close friend. This producer has created his own record label and works as a freelancer. He works out of his own studio in Slough.

I was interested in meeting him as I am driven to raise the standard of my music production to a professional standard. I really wanted to know about developing sound quality and use of different frequencies.

I travelled to slough and met with Kam, professionally known as Romay, in his home TDK approved studio. He there introduced me to his equipment and music. I am in the process of developing a track with a friend which Kam agreed to listen to and give me some feedback. After comparing our track to the drum and bass giants releasing music today, I was taken aback by what I was hearing. The intricacies of each sound mixed so delicately with another amazed me. What I didn't really appreciate before I went to see Kam is how precise you have to be when mixing your sounds and not only what your chosen sounds are. I knew that certain choice frequencies had to be assigned predominantly to each different sound element, but I wasn't aware of how the further processing of each sound such as limiting, cutoffs for basses, adding reverb etc is important when it comes to making the music stomp out the speakers. I also learnt that by using as many tools available in the software as I could appropriately, it would give the track the right amount of space for each sound being heard in the final mix.

Spacing, amoung other things, was a feature that Kam was serious about in production and I found this very interesting. Mixing the track which is what is required before mastering, gives each sound element room to breathe within the whole mix. Spectrum analysers are also important in aiding me as a producer, to see what sounds are hitting each frequency. As I am new to the whole technical side of producing music, he stated the importance in viewing other similar genres and styles of music through the spectrum analyser, for producing the right sounds in each frequency. By referencing the newest and best electronic music out, we can then use it to see how it looks within the analyser.

Choosing the right sounds in the first place when making a track is just as important as mixing them properly. For example, using a snappy sounding snare and eq-ing it at 220Hz (which is at the top end of lower frequencies) is going to make the sound a lot flatter than an already beefy, round sounding snare sample that is inherently hitting the lower end of the spectrum already. Technically, drum and bass is the most challenging genre to make. As there is so much going on in the mix at one time that you have to constantly fight for space within the mix. That is why panning, processing, limiting, cut offs and a whole load of other effects are so important if you want that punchy, full sound when listening to the high energy music.



Notably, RAM RECORDS have been relishing in the artists that pay close attention to their production. With the likes of artists such as Sub Focus, Cyantific, Delta Heavy, Hamilton, DC Breaks and Wilkinson its hard to find something that, listened to on the right equipment, can't amaze. There is such clarity amongst a cluttered frequency environment within the Drum and Bass tradition. I find Ram Records artists work both complex, exciting and admirable as they master their technical allowances to the full, pushing sound as far as it can go and striving to be the best engineers of music production.

Check out Ram Records Here\
Check out Romay Here