Technical Theory

Using my experience and knowledge of mics I have previously used, I would use a set of Rode NT5's, one for the neck and one for the sound hole. This microphone is a cardioid condenser microphone mainly used for acoustic instruments. Because even the lowest notes on an acoustic guitar are fairly high frequency, so the total range of a guitar when it comes to frequency would be mid to high range. Its frequency range is 20 Hz - 20 kHz. A reason why a condenser mic would be better than a dynamic mic is because it can pick up more sensitive sounds that a guitar can produce. Loads of this does depend on what style is being played. For example a condenser mic is highly recommended for a clean but soft sense of playing. The sound that comes from the guitar is mainly in one place which is the sound hole. This is why this mic is good because it has a cardioid polar pattern which is great for picking up sound mainly from the front. Though the sounds made on the the neck of the the guitar aren't that loud, the Rode NT5 will still be able to capture the more subtle sound like slides. 

Monitor speakers vary in models, makes, size and shapes. They also vary in frequency and field specifications. For example there are 3 different field ranges, near-field, mid-field and full range. When it comes near-field monitors, they are preferred to be used for more low sounding tones which is basically any bass guitars or lower octave synths or notes. An example of a near field monitor are the Yamaha HS80M monitors. With mid field monitors, they cover the more mid to higher ends or treble. An example of a mid field monitor are the KRK ROKIT Powered 10-3. With full range monitors, it covers all low to high frequencies. An example of a full range monitor are the BEHRITONE C50A monitors. If a comparison was to be involved, ideally you would have one set of full range monitores or one pair of near fields next to one pair of mid fields.  

A mixer is essentially a master controller for the studio. They have several separate channels with the same effects on each one. There are faders that control the volume of each channels individually as well as a master output fader. This is used to determine how loud you want the out put a channel to be. There are panning effects. Panning directs to sound to either the left or right speaker. This would be used in songs to help give a sense of space with in the song. There are gain knobs for each individual channels as well as the master gain which determines how sound is let through into the channels. Gains on individual channels are used to balance out the sound input which should be at 0. There is a cue button which allows the producer or who ever is behind the desk, to communicate with the artists or musicians that are being recorded. There are also knobs that add EQ. Also, a mixer can also be used as a controller for music software such as logic. 

Unit 16

Budget:

21/05/13
10 full price tickets @ £6
17 advance tickets @ £5
13 guest list @ free
0 students @ free
33 beer/wine @ £1.50

-£100 band fees (£60/40)
Ice, fruit -£7
£1.50 x 33 = £49.5
£6 x 10 = £60
£5 x 17 = £85

£194.5 - £107 = £87.5 profit

22/05/13
No tickets sold as it was a free show
14 beer/wine @ £1 (lower price as customers were mainly students)

No expenses
£1 x 14 = £14 profit

23/05/13
36 full price tickets @ £6
7 advance tickets @ £5
8 guest list @ free
2 students @ free
36 beer/wine @ £1.50
9 juice @ £1
£6 x 36 = £216
£5 x 7 = £35
£1.50 x 36 = £54
£1 x 9 = £9

band fees -£160 (£80 per band)
extra bar stock -£64.49

£314 - £224.49 = £89.51 profit

In the first performance the profit was quite good. The only proper expenses taken into account was the band fee. Even though the fruit was also an expenses, it was a minor one. A few ways I could think of possibly increasing is making ice at home and bringing it in or buy fruit at a market that could potentially be cheaper. For example at a market you can buy a bowl of mixed fruits for a pound. Also the the acts that are peforming can pay a charge for performing at the venue or can make the band fee's cheaper.In the second performance, just a profit it was turned.

For the final performance roughly the same profit was made. But in this case the expenses were significanlty more thant the first performance with the band fees being higher. Also the expenses extra refreshments were way higher than the first performance. This happened because we ran out of stock when it came to refreshments but this was unexpected. A way this could of been tackled in the future is by noticing how much the band fees were. Determining the out come form these profits and breack down of the money, logic dictates that the higher the band fee is, the more popular they are and the bigger the audience will be. This in turn will mean that the tickets sold will be higher and the same goes for refreshments. If we would of noticed this, we could have been prepared by buying a larger stock than usual assuming that this was going to happen. There for there wouldn't of been an extra bar stock need or if there was one needed, it would of been a lot less.

I think the ticket prices were fair but if anything, they could of been slightly higher because adults were the majority of the audience. As for students attending , I think advertisements around the college could have been increased even though it was during exam times thats why numbers were low. Overall it a profit was generated on both the main nights which was the main point of charging and the bar was needed because it effected income by quite a bit

Major Music Project

When it comes to organising a live event or performance, there are crucial roles that exist to pull of the event or show successfully. These roles are:

• Sound Engineer - is a person that is in charge of the total output and quality of the sound. They also mic up the equipment such as amps, drum kit etc. They goal is to effect all the sounds so they all level, and there's no feed back. For a live performance this role is very important. An amazing musical act can be ruined by terrible sound engineering by putting too much reverb on vocals or making an instrument over powering. If this was done was done where it was a showcase to record labels, opportunity to be signed or get session work is most likely lost. 

• Artists or Musicians/Performers - are the people or person playing on the night of the event. If it weren't for the performers or artist then basically there is no show or entertainment, ultimately not needing the rest of the staff. 

• Stage Managers - are the people or person that organises what is placed and where it is placed on the stage. This role can help make the show smoother and less complicated and also look nicer. Though this role isn't as important as others, it does add extra to the show.

• Visual and Lighting Engineers - are the people or person to that add extra effects and provide light for the performers. As well as practical use, they are also have a decorative use. They help make the performance a "show" and add a professional element to the event. This role is fairly important. They can show images that relate to the songs being performed to help get a message across that are embedded in the lyrics or can display colours that help set the mood to a certain genre of music being played E.g. vibrant colours for upbeat happy sounding music or softer colours for a more relaxed type of music.

• Box Office Staff - are the staff that work at the box office. Though this role doesn't seem as big as others like sound engineer, it is important because this involves things like budget and profits. The staff sell tickets at a set a price and count how many are sold. From this, the profits are counted. This can also be the foundation for the budget where the money made from tickets can be used for things like resupplying refreshments for the bartender to sell.

• Bartender - is the person that works at the bar. They sell or hand out refreshments that have been asked for such as alcohol or snacks. This role also helps turn a profit which can add to the foundation of the budget.

When it came to the our final performance, "Signed", us as a class individuals were given such roles simular to the roles that were previously explained. My role, which was also assigned to Bea as my co-worker in this, was that I was in charge or promotion. This being the generation where social networks are taking over, I decided to start by making a facebook event a few weeks before the actual event. This was updated ever few days to see who accepted the invite etc. John was in charge of the poster which turned out well due to it looking very appropriate and relevant to the theme of the event. Sinai and Christina where in charge of the of the visual effects changing the lighting to colours that suited the song which helped set the mood. On top of my role as promoter, I was also a performer and bartender. During my time as the bartender, I had to make sure customers where giving me tickets that were bought at the box office instead of taking cash up front. Also I had to keep notifying superiors when we were low in stock of refreshments.


Overall I was pleased on how the performance turned out. The sound engineering was good, the set up and staging was very clever and nicely set out. There was a main stage for the live bands and some acoustic acts and there was an totally separate acoustic stage  This worked very well with the set list because it allowed band members to prepare while an acoustic act was playing. The lighting was consistenly appropriate through out the show. There were a few faults that occurred in the first show, like as a drummer,I could not hear the bass coming out of my personal monitor, but after the kinks were all worked out in the first show, the other shows we very smooth and executed nicely. Everything gelled together nicely and evenly which helped form our set list. We started with a nice upbeat live song which was "Locked out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars which basically welcomed the audience with a positive vibe. Acoustic songs were put in the middle of the set list to help the audiences ears rest a bit from the live performances. Then we ended it with another upbeat song because we wanted to end with a bang. On one performance it was "Work It Out" by Beyonce, then on another day it was "Erase Me" by Shevelle Anderson.  In my opinion, "Erase Me" was the best song to end with because it had everyone playing to there comfortable strengths and was the best received when it came to the audience's reaction. This reaction was a extremely positive and had the audience dancing and enjoying themselves a lot, which mean we finished on good terms with all the audience that attended.

If I were to do anything differently it would be to prepare more. In the first set on wednesday at 2, the set list was too long. This ended up in having no interval with then led to me not having time to set up the drum kit I usually use in my preferable way. This also led to other problems with the drum kit like the bass drum peddle being jammed by the leg of the snare drum and the toms facing away enough that they were unable to be hit properly. To counteract this mistake in the future I would do a full set run to se how the transitions between bands, players and equipment goes.

Video Killed The Radio Star

Over the years tech has evolved in the music industry. First it started with the phonautograph, which was expanded on later by Thomas Edison to become Gramophone. This worked by etching groves with a stylus in cylinder shape made from lead, tin foil or wax. The recording of that track created was then played back through a tracing needle, which ended up producing vibrations. Though this essentially kicked of music production in terms of selling music and producing it, when it came to mass production, it wasn’t very efficient at all. After this was invented, electrical followed by magnetic recording. This eventually led to the cassette tape being made. Then came the Digital Audio Recording era. This was used on tapes for a while before CD’s were made, then nowadays everything is digitally done online with iTunes and downloading mp3 files etc.

This part of the subject affects both music makers and consumers simultaneously. Essentially when it comes to technology, business and industry, a cycle is applied. Besides the evolution on what music was recorded on and other aspects of music technology such music players and software’s used to make music have evolved too. The evolution of music technology also corresponds to the genres of music that have been made. As things have gotten more technical and advanced, more sounds have been made which in turn, ended up giving birth to genres like dubstep, house and electro. 

When it comes to music production technology such as soft wares, better quality songs have been produced because more technical aspects have been added and done more intricately giving songs a unique sound or feel. It has comes to terms where a genres can be separated by a few effects and sounds. If it weren’t for the evolution of music tech some genres that exist today, would not exist.  In general, besides the pioneers/inventors of music, music consumers are all potential music makers.

In my opinion the evolution of technology for music has quite literally labelled decades or eras. For example in the decade of the 80’s, there was a period of time where disco was dominating in the music world, which was called the disco era. If scenes behind the face of music can define a time period long enough to be called an era, then it has a substantial amount of power in terms of influence and consumption, because the music made does not just affect consumers by being heard, but affects other aspects such as fashion.

 

The business world can potentially make or break an artist. It has many sides to it. For example an artist can get a great record deal, become successful and live a celebrity life, or they can sign a record deal that wont be so great because it will ask the artist to do things that they are not comfortable with, which can vary from making music the artist doesn't particularly like to selling them selves for the sake of media.

 

The same is with endorsements. You can be endorsed by a company that won't ask for much and can also lead to big pay checks and free merchandise. This can be by a company you like and want to be endorsed by but there is another side. A company that you want to be endorsed by can also make an artist do things which they might not be comfortable with. For example a drinks company might want an artist to have the drink on stage with them while they play live on stage.

 

Another flip side to this is that an artist can also take charge of this business aspect by making they're own record label or making they're own brand of item. For example jay-z founded and made rockafeller records and now signs artists like Rihanna. Dr Dre is another example but of both record label and a brand of item. He made the record label Aftermath Entertainment and signed Eminem and 50 Cent and has recently signed Kendrick Lamar. Dr Dre is also CEO of his brand, Beats Electronics. Some of his artists represent Beats headphones or speakers but depending on the business aspects, the contract of being signed may or may not state that if you close the deal with Aftermath Entertainment, you have to represent for Beats Electronics. 

 
In my opinion, the business world is a multi-faceted one. But it is a compulsory part of the music life because this covers important terms like the artists income, production of songs, publicity, events and advertisements. As for effecting consumers, The signing contracts part doesn't do much where as the endorsement part does. For example, bringing up Dr Dre again, if someone is a fan of Eminem, 50 Cent or Kendrick Lamar and they all advertise Beats Electronics, a typical consumer mindset would think that I like that artist and they use Beats therefore I should buy Beats.

In this video there is an obvious showing of a new product which is clearly advertising it (2:43-2:50)





The business world has many intricate parts because there are many things that branch off excluding jobs involved with the industry which brings us on to our final part.

 

Industry roles are the parts withing the business world or as I refered to it before, the more intricate parts. This include parts like music producer, artist manager, events manager, PR etc. Overall, all these parts have to pull there weight and do a good job to help whoever they're working with become successfull. Otherwise it holds the group back slightly if one slacks. For Example if music producer does a good job help making songs and making them sound really good and the events manager books loads of gigs at great venues but the person in charge the PR department does a rubbish job then they cant spread the word of the artist even more at these gigs and it wont have the full blown impact to new consumers of that artist.

But when it comes to industry, it has changed a lot over the years. Back in the days, a traditional record label would depend alot on the artist. The record label would give the artist a sum of money, expect them to sell records, then what money they make from that, pay it back to the record label. Nowadays something called the "360 deals" exists where they take a cut from all sections of your deal to accumilate and get the money back E.g. they take a share of your merch, live performance income etc.

In my opinion, labels are dying out. Nowadays artists want to be mainly independent because they want to maximise profits that go to them individually. Because loads of things can be done themselves nowadays for cheap, artsist dont want to be signed as much as they did before.