Popstar Party at the Music Mill

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: Popstars Party at Music Mill, Newton Abbott

Date:	10th October 2009
Hours worked:	4 hrs
Tasks completed:	· Setting up of a session within a commercial studio · successfully troubleshooting problems within the session and resolving them · producing 4 tracks mixed and mastered onto a CD for the customer
Reflection:	The placement was to record 4 tracks within a commercial studio for a child's birthday party and record, mix, master a CD for the customer to take home with them. Myself and Michael Walton had been approached by Rick Edwards (co-owner of the music mill) who offered us the opportunity to run a session for a Pop-stars party for a group of 10 children, this is an event which is done on a weekend and gives children the opportunity to emulate their idols within a studio environment. Mine and Michaels role was to run the session and provide the customer with a CD of the songs that the children had sung which we did successfully and with very little problems except problems that did pass our way would be resolved with better understanding of the mixer console and routing at the Music Mill

End of placement evaluation

The achievement of which I am proudest is:	Being able to setup a session and route the signal for a microphone from the live room patch bay to the mixing desk correctly first time with no issues.
The thing I found most surprising was:	How surprisingly easy it was to record 10 children in the live room without any issues and being surprised how well behaved they were!
The area I found most challenging was:	Trying my best to understand the logic behind the routing system on the mixer at the music mill is very challenging.
The area I would like to improve is:	As above the area I think I would improve most would be to gain a better knowledge of the recording console, to achieve this I feel I need to invest more time learning the mixing desk.
An example of when I worked in a team was:	Setting up the microphones and communicating back to Michael to ensure we had a signal going from the live room to the control room.
An example of when I used my knowledge was:	Having children myself I felt I could implement the experience with kids to good effect to get the best possible results out of them regarding their singing and to make sure that they have a good time.
An example of when I solved a problem was:	There was issues when a microphone was clipping and causing distortion which I identified as one of the children kicking the bottom of the microphone stand, this was rectified by moving the stand further away from the child in question
An example of when I was given responsibility was:	Operation of ensuring the mixed files from the mixer was recorded onto CD I had to ensure that none of the mixed recordings was overloading the audio within the computer which would have resulted in distortion being present on the CD.
Other comments:	I really didn't know how I was going to react to this kind of placement but my first initial thoughts was that the party was going to be an absolute nightmare from start to finish, but instead the whole session was quite a pleasant experience which ran quite smoothly and I would welcome the opportunity to repeat such a session.

Stoke Gabriel Orchestra Recording Reflective 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: Record a String quartet at Stoke Gabriel village hall

Date:	9th October 2009
Hours worked:	8 ½ Hours
Tasks completed:	· Research and assess surroundings for recording a string quartet · implemented researched methods successfully · trouble shoot any problems quickly and in a professional manner · record a string quartet to a professional standard
Reflection:	The task given was to record a string quartet at Stoke Gabriel village hall, we was given a brief on the location and the layout of the village hall. With the information gathered myself, Michael, Matthew and Jess researched and successfully recorded the string quartet and any problems that crossed our paths we dealt with accordingly and in a professional manner with skills learnt from lessons taught.

End of placement evaluation

The achievement of which I am proudest is:	Using the skills learnt from the course to successfully set-up a researched technique called the 'Decca Tree' which places microphones around the quartet at precise dimensions to capture the best possible recording, having no experience at capturing this form of music I was extremely happy with final results.
The thing I found most surprising was:	How quickly we set-up the session was quite amazing given the allotted time was only 2 hours whilst the quartet rehearsed, so there was no room for error.
The area I found most challenging was:	We came across a few issues with faulty microphone cables which caused interference in the signal chain to the computer in which we were recording into, identifying the problem quickly and resolving it proved to be one of the most challenging areas.
The area I would like to improve is:	Keeping the cabling tidy as my efforts of making sure that cables were secured and not infringing any of the audience could have been better
An example of when I worked in a team was:	When a problem with the stage microphones caused clips and interference to the mixer we all worked together to identify the problem within the signal chain and I felt I contributed equally to rectifying the problem.
An example of when I used my knowledge was:	Setting up the session with the recording console, I felt I did this with great understand and confidence and all of the above was demonstrated from skills learnt from lessons previously taught.
An example of when I solved a problem was:	Certain microphones were too loud and resulted in clipping within the mixer, I isolated each individual microphone and identified the culprit microphone that was overloading the mixer and adjusted the input to the console accordingly.
An example of when I was given responsibility was:	The concert was split into two 1 hour performances I was given the responsibility of ensuring the first half of the show was recorded successfully and any problems (which thankfully never occurred) were addressed and dealt with in a swift professional manner.
Other comments:	Overall the whole experience was extremely positive, I felt the research done beforehand helped to make the whole event a success and that each member of the team had a good knowledge of what was expected of them. The only negative side I could express was the person organising the event Mr Banks upon handing out 'thanks' at the end of the night failed to acknowledge the recording crew and could have shown a little more appreciation for the team recording the event as spending 8 ½ hours setting up and recording a concert till 10pm at night deserved a little credit for the people involved doing this free of charge and more so when Mr Banks was advertising the fact that the concert was recorded and would be on sale in the form of a CD of which we had no knowledge of beforehand and have yet to edit, mix and master. This aside the event was a success and the next phase is to edit the recording and present the finished recordings to Mr Banks.