Monthly Archives: November 2017

Production Post 6

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LO5: Imagery

To promote my music, I need some imagery to accompany it. I’ve had a few concepts for cover arts so far, each of which use the same font as that used in my last EP. I want to use the VHS tape-style font as it is the most prominent Vin McLo iconography I have so far.

covers

I think idea 1 is the most stylish. However, there’s very little meaning to it. It’s just an interesting looking mash-up of colours.

With my EP being focussed around Sutton-in-Ashfield, I thought it would be a good idea to include some Sutton iconography in my art. And so, idea 2 contains the star-like pattern seen underneath Sutton’s iconic sundial (the largest sundial in Europe). Idea 3 contains the sundial itself and is a lot more minimalistic. Since I’m going to be releasing an EP with a small number of tracks, I though a minimalistic cover art could be quite fitting.

I digitally recreated images of the star and sundial myself. However, I fear that I might one day be faced with some copyright implications if I use these images with for my EP. I read that pictures of sculptures that are permanently situated in public areas are exempt from copyright laws (CJAM, 2016). However, just to be safe, I’ve sent an email to the Ashfield District Council to find out more information on the subject. Hopefully they’ll get back to me soon. If not then I’ll either have to get more information from another source or just not use images of the Sutton sundial at all. If I do get a response soon then I’ll be sure to ask them about ideas on further promoting my music.

As well as designing cover are, I have two EP title ideas: Odyssey (since this is a musical journey through ideas of Sutton) and Sun_Sutt (a SMS-language title derived from the nickname ‘Sunny Sutton’).

 

References

CJAM (2016) Copyright and Taking Pictures of Sculptures. Available from: http://cjam.info/en/copyright-and-taking-pictures-of-sculptures-2/

Production Post 5

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LO3: Developing Track 2

The Demo for Track 2 only consisted of a short intro and chorus idea – I needed to create some ideas for verses. In the song ‘Fantasy’ by Mystery Skulls, the verses can be distinguished from the choruses as the higher frequencies are reduced on everything other than the vocals. I wanted to create a similar effect. However, I wanted to achieve this via a change in instrumentation rather than by lowering the higher frequencies with an EQ effect. As a result, I wrote some drum and bass parts.

With fewer instruments playing in the verse, the reverb on the drums was a lot more. It also prevented the parts from flowing into each other. I tried altering the ‘wet’ level, EQ and room size but the reverb effect just couldn’t stand out far enough without ruining the rest of the mix. To get around this, I decided to take some inspiration from the ‘Chariots of Fire‘ theme song and use a delay effect instead.

The intro in the demo needed improving as well. Although I want the song to begin with a sense of minimalism, the lone synth seemed too bland. As an improvement, I added a synth in the background. It was the same as the synth used in the chorus, however, its MIDI chords were shortened and the reverb was turn far up, resulting in a pad-like sound, adding harmony and atmosphere. Similar harmonies were also added to the verse section

The track so far can be heard HERE.

 

References

‘Chariots of Fire‘ theme song.

‘Fantasy‘ by Mystery Skulls.

Guest lecture 6

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Today’s lecture was presented by Helen McCarron, a careers and employability adviser, and Claire Butler, a student enterprise co-ordinator.

They taught us about freelance and self-employment, and the ways in which the university can help graduates begin such careers. A report from the Creative Skillset Workforce stated that 30% of people working in the creative media industry were freelance.

One of the most important points given within this lecture was on the subject of taxes. As a freelance worker, it’s important to register with HCMR as a ‘sole trader’ within three months of earning money/starting your business. Tax should be paid every 3st of January and 31st of July. Sales records should also be kept for at least 5 years in case they’re ever needed to be reviewed. Tax will only need to be paid if you meet an annual threshold which is £11,500.

Pros of freelance work:

  • Be your own boss.
  • Set your own work schedule.
  • You can work on a variety of projects – portfolio working.

Cons of freelance work

  • Income is uncertain.
  • No security (sickness, maternity/paternity, holiday, etc.)
  • Start-up costs can be difficult to acquire.

The university offers a few workshops to help manage businesses. Some of which can teach you how to do accounting and book-keeping. It’ll be wise of me to learn such skills in case my ‘Vin McLo’ project ever becomes more than just a hobby.

Tutorial 9

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During this tutorial, I got some feedback on the work I’ve recently carried out on Track 1. I was given some good ideas on how to improve it. I need to add some more variation to the drums as the loops get a tad repetitive at parts. I should also do something about the bass to either make it sound more like a synth or less like a synth as it is stuck in a confusing limbo at the moment. Some note bends and automation in dynamics might fix it up.

Guest Lecture 5

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The Lecture

Lucy Mitchell is a freelance sound editor and pre-recorder mixer. She makes sound for television and has worked on shows including Eastenders, Top Gear and The Voice UK. She stated that working in the audio industry relies on two things: good technical knowledge and communication skills.

She discussed some useful skills that she regularly applies to her work. firstly, she talked about editing voiceovers. It’s important to have dialogue synced perfectly to the visuals. Every syllable must match the lip-movements of any characters seen on the screen. It’s also important to remove breaths and lipsmacks, and to smooth over any clicks. Next, she talked about music. It’s important to cut music to shot changes within films. Crossfades/transitions between music and musical parts can be hidden behind other sound effects.

She also talked about sound effects. Sound editors must make reasonable decisions on when certain effects should be mono or stereo. most often, distant objects would be best suited in stereo (or at least their reverb would). If you render an effect, always keep the original unedited audio file as well in case any alterations have to be made. In some scenes, it might be best to use as few sound effects as possible – less is more. It all depends on what the scene is and what kind of a mood you’re trying to portray.

How might this lecture apply to my audio project?

I’ve learned some good skills on cleaning vocal tracks. These will certainly help me edit my vocal recordings.