music production blog

Friday, 12 October 2018

level 3 studio session

we have been given the task to create a radio friendly track.

when we got to the studio we was given a short time to come up with a track that was ready for the level 3s to record vocals on.

we had created the instrumental from scratch starting with simple piano melody then layered with drums and some guitar chords.

the level 3 students had no idea as to what type of track to expect and still recorded as much as they could on it.

the track its self gives you a dark feeling but harmonising and a soft guitar changed the whole aspect of it can makes it sound alot more soothing.

working under pressure (limited time/new clients) helps the work flow because you have to get it done.

the work flow when really good everyone knew what they needed to do and success come quickly

Thursday, 3 May 2018

risks of health and safety

in this post i will cover the basic considerations when it comes to a live event.

when managing health and safety you must take everything in to account, from minor things like falling over/drinks being spilled etc, to the extreme such as injuries/faulty equipment. you need to identify anything that may cause harm to people or or towards the venue. a risk assessments are in order to keep everything in check, they don have to be long essays but just so that it simply spots all the hazards out.

making sure everyone leaves the event happy and unharmed at an event sometimes won't be an easy job and not everyone will follow the rules and regulations. having counter procedures for there actions like if they were to go into certain areas that are off limits what would i do to prevent that happening and what would i do if someone manages to pass through?.
risk assessments are also placed for staff is have and emergency staff are also available just incase something bad happens or a staff member needs to leave.

how would you assess the workplace?
have each area searched?
start by having the venue is properly checked throughout so there are no hazards around, and be sure to check all facilities are working. depending on the size of the venue you have to consider if something bad was to happen, how would you ensure that everyone gets out calmly and safe. each venue has to have at least 1 escape route/exit per 60 people./ 2 exits for 600 people. size of the door is important you can't use just any old door, a 750mm door width in a normal fire risk premises has a capacity of 100 people and a 1050mm door can take 200.

there have been rare cases of people being suffocated from falling down during an event, loud music and hundreds of people dancing around and not notice you on the floor struggling for breath
artist profile; make sure that the artists performing are safe form from any dangours that they may face, making sure that there performance area is safe and and that no one can get in the way.
alcoholic events can be a problem if not controlled properly, drunk people can cause a lot of harm towards the event such as fighting/smashing things/ and vomiting.

duration and timing of event; venue evaluation; thing of the timing the the event should be and the weather,
whether alcohol is on sa
whether the audience is standing, seated or a mixture of both;
the movement of the audience between the entertainment and/or facilities; artistic nature of the event, single stage, multiple-arena complex, etc.

	Minor	moderate	Major
Frequent	People fighting	///	///
likely	Drunk being sick	Drugs/alcohol	Faulty equpiment
remote	hitting your toe	Spilling drinks	Building collapse

this table shows some of the faults that may happen within the live event. anything in the yellow or above i would take caution to and try figure a way out how to prevent it. people often get drunk when at events and that can lead to a number of things like fighting and other aggressive behaviour. security will be set to deal with those problems. having minor problems like someone stubbing there toe won't really be assessed because it isn't a huge problem and whats the odds on a seriously problem happening from that? theres no frequent hazards that are major, if there was the event would be cancelled.

Wednesday, 2 May 2018

mono v stereo mixing

when mixing you should be mixing in mono due to the fact that is something have been strongly panned Left or Right, when hearing it live you won't be able to hear the sound panned right if your on the left side of the venue.

having a guitarist on stage with am amp can be difficult to work with during the mix, having their own guitar amp on stage mean he can adjust the volume themselves. some guitarists will have there amp really close on some sort of stand

critical distance

critical distance is from the sound source where the direct and reverberant sounds clash and become equal. the more reverberant is the closer the critical distance is to the main sound source.

the critical distance will be different at all frequencies and venue.

critical distance should be as far away from the source of sound as posse;e and reverberant to a minimal keeping it even at all frequencies.

an easy way to figure out the critical distance is to play pop music through one speaker, and walk back and forth the room, this will be surprisingly easy to spot.

the more reverberant the room is the closer the critical distance
the more absorbent the room the further the critical distance
near field or direct field is inside the critical distance
far field or reverberant field is outside he critical distance

http://education.lenardaudio.com/en/04_acoustics_2.html

PA power requirements

i was given the task to calculate the the level requirements of the PA set up. the formula used in the table below was how i was able to work out the power level of each piece of equipment from Ws to amps.

F.O.H sub	300w x 1.4 = 420W	420W / 230 = 1.83Amps x 2 = 3.66 Amps	3.66
F.O.H main	300w x 1.4 = 420W	420W / 230 = 1.83Amps x 2 = 3.66Amps	3.66
Mixing desk	80w x 1.4 = 112W	112W / 230 = 0.49Amps	0.49
Mackie monitors	1050w x 1.4 = 1470W	1470W / 230 = 6.4Amps	6.4
Wedge monitor	300w x 1.4 = 420W	420W / 230 = 1.83Amps	1.83
Yamaha monitors(1xsmall/1x large)	320w + 300w = 620 x 1.4 =868W	868 / 230 = 3.78Amps	3.78
Guitar amp	300w x 1.4 = 420W	420W / 230 = 1.83Amps	1.83
Bass amp	73w x 1.4 =102w	102W / 230 = 0.45Amps	0.45
keyboard	8w x 1.4 = 12W	12W / 230 = 0.06Amps	0.06
Feedback destroyer	1A x 1.4 = 1.4A	1.4Amps	1.4
midiverb	0.78a + 0.85a = 1.63 x 1.4 = 2.3A	2.3Amps	2.3
		Total(rounded)	26Amps

this is the link i used to work out the results.

https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/power-electrical-safety-stage

monitor positioning

when using stage monitors its important that they are not towards the audience. these wedges are very directional and mainly placed next to the musican so that it is facing the ear of the musicians so they can hear the music with precise.its important on where the monitors will be because facing the audience can cause feedback to the performers mic. the best way for you to use there wedges would be to give each performer there own. but some artists might not stay in one spot so this mean they would have to use side fills but these should only be used when necessary.

Wednesday, 25 April 2018

unit 23 - INDEX