Change of name? Perhaps not!

So tonight I was thinking I wasn't sure my company name for my major project accurately encapsulated the services it provides, 'Live Matters' certainly highlights the live recording, but not necessarily the DVD authoring, video and music composition. So I wondered if another name may be better. 'Music Matters' seemed to sound more ideal as it didn't narrow the sound company to only producing live recordings. However I googled the name and guess what I should find, but a company offering similar product services to mine with the name 'Music Matters'.

See here for more information:

http://www.musicmatters.com/faq.html

Still mixing WIT Festival live performances

Hey out there who may be following my blog...

The past few days have been spent listening to The Very Good Disco Band's live performance at WIT Festival 2011. I am currently just doing rough mixes as I said in a previous blog, to help me choose which tracks from the performances I want to mix and master professionally, for the WIT Live album.

Really enjoying mixing The Very Good Disco Band so much energy and fun to listen too.

You can listen to a rough edit of one of the tracks they played here:

http://soundcloud.com/sera_music/the-very-good-disco-band

This is not the final mix by far just a rough initial first draft if you like :) Hope you enjoy!

February Update

Well hello folks, its been a while since I had an opportunity to write anything on here. However work is still going on, somewhere behind the scenes! The past few days have been spent listening to my live unedited raw tracks of WIT Festival 2011. I recorded these tracks with my own make shift mobile studio:

The mobile studio included a:

• Mixing desk – 16 channel Sound Craft Spirit - with direct outputs
• Sound card – 14 channel Tascam US-2000
• Software – Cubase 4
• Laptop - Dual Core and 4GB RAM

I am pretty pleased with the outcome so far. What I have done is roughly edit each track for each artist and then export each set from each artist at 16bit and 44.1Khz producing a burnt live CD of each artists performance. I then listening to each live gig of the festival using my stereo to create a shortlist of the best tracks for each artist, what editing might be involved and how to improve the mix. My plan is then to mix and master one to two tracks of each artist that performed at WIT 2011 for a compilation album for WIT Festival. This can then be used to raise some money for the festival.

The first band I did a rough mix for was Garrison and you can listen to the track here:

http://soundcloud.com/sera_music/garrison-not-from-around-here

However, since listening to the entire set I have chosen different tracks to include on the final CD.

Bossa Dorado by Gypsy Jazz

Publicity of the Capoeira group DVD is for

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=224271540989165&id=216503681765951

Yay more ideas!!

OK. So I've had a pretty mental week so far, working  as a studio engineer at a translation company whilst still in uni can be somewhat challenging at times, especially when both have big projects with deadlines!

However, after a very long drive back from Warrington today in dangerous weather conditions, I try to get back into school mode and work on my presentation for my major project. The day is drawing very near now and the presentation was beginning to seem quite daunting. I started by procrastinating of course on facebook and reading emails before doing any actual work. I then started collating quotes of how the British music industry is changing. It was these quotes that gave me the original idea for a sound company. I wanted especially a quote I heard during my second year of David Bowie's opinion on the music industry and live performances. All I could remember was it gave me the opinion, that live music was going to be where its at. I found a quote on line with an intervew done by the New York Times and this is what he had to say on the matter.

“You'd better be prepared for doing a lot of touring because that's really the only unique situation that's going to be left.”

David Bowie, New York Times, 2002.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/09/arts/david-bowie-21st-century-entrepreneur.html?pagewanted=2

As I was reading this and adding to my project brief I realised that I had't focused at all on the live elements of my sound company, 'Live Matters' and only on its potential products. The sound company without realising is ensuring it has performers to do live sound for, an aspect of the project I hadn't considered covering at all! However if I did, it would add way more technical audio to it especially if I went into depth about the equipment I need to run a live recording rig.

With only 3 more days till my presentation a new idea to add to the project is a bit risky without any original work. However I really like it and think it would be good to focus on the set up I use to record live gigs as well as the products I have previously mentioned... Oh God why am I creating more work for myself!!

Presentation...

Ok so I have my first presentation next week of my major project and have to ensure I include:

Project brief
Research
Target Audience
Project plan/Gantt chart
Preliminary ideas

Started working the past couple of days compiling my stuff all together and organising my project into one cohesive presentation. This began with my project brief and now this evening I have finished writing a list of my tasks to create the first draft of my Gantt Chart, hopefully its suffcient!

Here is a list of all the tasks I can think of so far:

·        Start Blog and continue updating it

·        Establish project idea

·        Research the PC specs needed to run media software

·        Upgrade PC to run video editing software

·        Register for AV equipment through the University

·        Research ways to promote the sound companies services

·        Confirm funding to produce compilation CD for WIT

·        Mix and master live recordings of WIT festival 2011

·        Produce mastered live tracks for WIT 2011 for each artist

·        Contact festival goers of WIT requesting media footage of the festival

·        Confirm Capoeira group for DVD

·        Meet and discuss Capoeira DVD

·        Research other Capoeira videos for music

·        Research the instruments used by Capoeiristas

·        Organise a day to do the surround sound recording and shoot video

·        Record Capoeira group in BBC hall

·        Film Capoeira group on location fighting

·        Design a layout for the DVD and a story board

·        Mix the surround sound recordings in Uni campus

·        Compose and produce other musical parts for one of the surround sound recordings to be used in the intro to the DVD

·        Research ways to produce matrix like SFX for the intro

·        Record or collate legal samples to be used as SFX in surround sound recording

·        Master and mix Surround sound recording and add to video

·        Compile DVD

·        Organise recording dates for studio recording for Sam Gabriel

·        Record Sam in the studio in January

·        Arrange production techniques for Sam’s recording

·        Master and mix Sam’s EP

·        Report writing