Atlantic's WBL Diary

Reflective Learning Diary

Introduction

The aim of this Reflective Learning Diary is for the following:

· Keep a record of the work I undertake on my placements

· Note any existing skills I develop, or new skills I learn

· Identify areas that I would like to improve upon

Work Placement: Recording session Atlantics at The Music Mill Studio, Newton Abbot

Date:
Hours worked:	8 hours (9am-5pm)
Tasks completed:	· Setting up a recording session · Making the musicians feel comfortable in their environment · Create a rough mix of the recorded session · Overdubs and additional track overlays were necessary
Reflection:	Being my first time within a recording environment I was quite nervous of what was to be expected of me, I felt it gave me a very good insight to how a recording of a professional band should be done and done in a professional manner. I also learnt that there are a lot of social skills required to ensure that the recording was to be successful and done in a relaxed environment.

End of placement evaluation

The achievement of which I am proudest is:	Helping on the tape operating functions, I felt that I was able to put into place some of the skills that I had learnt form my classes in college with a good amount of knowledge and confidence.
The thing I found most surprising was:	The speed in which everything was done, being only use to recording amateur’s within the college such as, how many times it would take to get a clean vocal recording there would be a element of time wasting when trying to record students in the college, but this was not the case with the band here, they were very organised and structured.
The area I found most challenging was:	Understanding the mixing console and watching Digby work his way around the mixer, trying to absorb his actions and what he was doing at any given time I found to be very challenging and understanding what he was doing also.
The area I would like to improve is:	Gaining a better understanding of instrument placement within a stereo mix when recording a band, I would like to improve on this as when watching Digby using the pan methods to given each instrument its own place within a mix I learned it is something that I must improve on with my future and personal mixes.
An example of when I worked in a team was:	Setting up the musician’s equipment within the live room and ensuring that the microphone placements were to a standard that was usable within the control room and not any hindrance to the band members this was done with communication from the live room and with the control room.
An example of when I used my knowledge was:	Setting up volume levels into the mixer I was able to do this with great understanding from the skills and knowledge I had attained from the course so far, elements such as overloading the console and making sure 48 volt phantom power was supplied to condenser microphones.
An example of when I solved a problem was:	When we were getting bad signal flow to the desk from a certain microphone I followed a procedure of checking for faults with the leads, mixer, connections and eventually found the problem to be a faulty microphone.
An example of when I was given responsibility was:	I was asked by the producer of the session (Digby) to operate the tape recorder and to ensure that I had tracks enabled and ready when the band were ready to record
Other comments:	Before the placement, I had worked out that I could fit the time commitment into my academic timetable, but I hadn’t realised that it would be emotionally tiring as well as physically tiring. I have been able to apply some of the things I have learnt in classes, which I have really enjoyed, and I my self-confidence has improved.