Development document

1
Included is a CD demonstrating my work from 5 different projects
Track1 – 76 Knots - Runnin’
Track2 – 76 Knots – Advice to You
Track3 – Anti Racism Project
Track4 – Beatles Mash Project
Track5 – City In Surveillance – Come Out Tonight
Track6 – City In Surveillance – The Fame
www.facebook.com/studioskinetic
Here you can find contact details and information about me and my facilities

2
3 importance of copyright
4 contract and itselements
5 importance of health&safety
6 intellectual property
7 professional bodiescategorisationwithreferences
8 BPIdetailedresearch
9 organisationsandmemberbenefits
10 fundingorganisationsresearch
12 musicbusinessexploration
13 projectdiaries
22 acousticanalysis
23 microphones
25 logbooks
28 references

3
Here I have explained the importance of copyright and copyright protection using a
case example and relating it to work I may do.
(Famous Copyright Infringement Plagiarism Cases In Music 2012) mentions the famous
case example in regards to the importance of copyright protection would be George
Harrisons plagiarism of a song by the Chiffons. In 1971 George Harrison
Released the song ‘’My Sweet Lord’’, which had great chart success in the states and the
UK. It had chart presence for a total of 27 weeks. Back in 1962 the Chiffons released a song
titled ‘’He’s so fine’’, which had success in the states although not so much in the UK. The
plagiarism case relates to this material. Less than a few weeks after the release of ‘’My
Sweet Lord’’, the Chiffon’s record company filed a lawsuit against George Harrison and his
Companies. An out of court settlement including $148000 was offered but rejected as it
seemed they thought more could be gained and they wanted the complete hand over of the
copyright to George Harrisons release. In the 5 year waiting of the case, George Harrison’s
attorneys continued trying to settle out of court. They tried to prove the difference between
the two songs but weren’t successful. It went to court and the judge believed that George
Harrison did not deliberately plagiarise the song but because they were so alike and only
conveyed slight differences to note and chord structure, George Harrison was found guilty of
‘subconscious plagiarism’. This was concluded in 1981 and George Harrison had to pay the
amount of $587000!
By this case example you can see how important the issue of copyright protection is and the
law power it ensues. Because the chiffons had the appropriate copyright protection in place
they were able to pursue the alleged plagiarism of their material and reach a legal settlement
at the end of it, even though it took 10 years! This would be satisfying due to their original
material being ripped off. They could act on their intellectual property being taken from them.
This relates to the copyright protection I can uphold as a producer although it is a little
different, as the copyright protection relates to the rights of the recording. If I were to record
a band and produce a mix of them I would have to be careful in ensuring the appropriate
copyright protection was in place for me and my material. If I did not then my material may
be released with me having no rights to it at all.

4
The five elements of a contract are offer, acceptance, consideration, intention &
capacity. Below I have incorporated these into a draft contract for session work with
my friend’s band.
I, Ross Kinder hereby offer my services of recording and mixing to 76 Knots. Day long
sessions can be arranged and will include the hours of 9am to 5pm. Once a day session is
booked it can be cancelled, but only with more than 2 weeks notice, if this is not adhered to
then full payment will still be required. I am happy to record as many tracks as possible in a
day session at a satisfactory quality of course. The equipment needed for recording such as
software, microphones and cabling etc will provided but the instruments and everything
needed to create the music/sound you want to achieve in the first instance of the recording
will need to be provided by you. I will offer my mixing services at a rate of 2 tracks per day. I
will provide a finished mix down of up to 5 tracks within a week of the recording session if
required. More than 5 tracks would be a further week and so on.
Rates
Day’s Recording Session - £200
Mix downs (per track) - £50
Signing of this contract by both parties (me & you) declares that we have gone over and
accept the terms of the contract and agree to be legally bound by it. Signing also declares
we have the ability to do so and are in a mentally fit state at the time.
Ross Kinder
Sign _________________________ Date ________________
76 Knots
Sign _________________________ Date ________________

5
I have now explained the importance of health and safety with example from
experience in the course.
Health and safety is about protecting the health of everyone in the working and learning
environment and anticipating what may harm their welfare in such activities, taking safety
into consideration. Health and safety then matters because our safety is important and a
student being harmed in the college would not be good for the student as they may be in
pain and the college could also be legally responsible.
Last year, we were faced with the task of recording a choir for part of an anti racism song.
We set up an area using partition dividers and set up microphones around this area. We
were going to have 40 plus people in this area so had to make sure cables and stands were
set up neatly. Wires from the microphones were trailing across the front of the floor but were
bunched together neatly and pointed out to everyone so they could take care stepping over
them. Microphones were placed overhead on stands but were pointed out so people were
aware of them and should not knock them or bang their heads. The sound production also
needed to move partition dividers over to this area and care had to be taken in doing so.

6
Intellectual propertyexplained.
Creativity is an element of the creative industries which is the process in which a person
creates an idea in the mind which is new, original, unique to that person and of some kind of
value. This can become intellectual property which means it is a definable idea, clearly the
persons. It refers to an exclusive type of creation in the mind to which laws can apply to.
Therefore the next process would normally be protecting it. Creativity in music could relate to
the idea for a new song which is original and unique to the singer/song writer. When this
becomes intellectual property obviously the singer/song writer would not want someone else
to steal their idea so the process of patenting/copyrighting their material should probably be
completed before the commercialisation of their song. Hypothetically this is a pop music
song so they would need to think what is popular, relevant and appealing to current music
listeners so as to make it saleable and hopefully profitable. In the end an example of the
goods provided would be mass produced CD singles and services provided may be a free
gig ahead of its release to promote the new music and singer/song writer.

7
Here I have researched different professional bodies and categorised them with
references.
Sources of Information Sources of funding
BPI
DCMS
Creative Export
UK Trade and Investment
Scottish Enterprise
Business Link
AIM
MU
MMF
RIAA
Creative Scotland
Princes Trust
National Lottery
Scottish Enterprise
Creative Scotland
Princes Trust
National Lottery

8
I have now researched the BPI in detail.
Name of company BPI
Who owns the company?
(Government or Privately owned)
Privately owned
Who is their service for?
People who work in the major record label
industry, also up & coming artists.
What is their unique selling point (USP)
They offer sponsored trade trips to Japan &
America. They heavily fund the BRIT school
through their charitable arm, the BRIT trust.
The BRIT school is a free entry performing
arts school for 14-19 year olds. It has had a
notable alumni with past students such as
Katy B.
What are the advantages of this
organisation? They offer direct training, education &
information seminars to their members.
There are generous registration discounts
and travel grants for attendance at
international trade fairs.
What are the disadvantages?
If you were an independent producer or
smaller record label you would be at an
immediate disadvantage as the BPI is more
for larger companies and has a £500 joining
fee.

9
Here I have identified a selection of organisations and what they do for their
members.
MU – The Musicians Union help negotiate on behalf of musicians with all their main
employers in the industry. They have specialist full-time officials available to tackle issues
raised by their musicians in the arena, studio or when writing/composing.
MMF – The MMF helps to unlock investment and they educate, inform and represent UK
managers and their artists. Joining also offers a network through which managers can share
experiences, opportunities and information.
BPI – British Phonographic Industry offers an anti-piracy team, certified awards, legal
support, promotion of your material and research resources.
AIM – The Association of Independent Musicians represents near to 1000 member
companies, from the largest and the most known and respected labels in the world down to
the smallest start ups and individual artists releasing their own music for the first time. They
offer expert advice on all areas of running a label, A network of contacts is provided opening
business partner opportunities, legal affairs guidance and discounts on industry events.
APRS – The Association of Professional Recording Services represents members such as
recording studios, post-production houses, Providers of education, record producers and
audio engineers. Their aim is to develop and maintain excellence at all levels within the UK's
audio industry. They hold discussion workshops offering ideas and advice. They also have a
telephone helpline offering a wide variety of information that its members can use free of
charge.
BASCA – The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors offers political
campaigning, regular communications, events, legal services, professional advise/resources
and a tax helpline to there members.

10
I have gone on to research organisations that provide funding.
Creative Scotland
Role – Creative Scotland is Scotland’s leader for the arts, screen and creative industries.
They invest in talent, exciting ideas, artistic production, the cultural economy and any places
that may help contribute to a creative Scotland. They also help Scotland’s creativity shine
worldwide.
Rules to Applying for Funding – examples of these may be:-
If you are an organisation you must be constituted formally
If you are an individual, you should draw up a statement of aim and objectives of your project
Once funding has taken place, regular progress reports should be given
The investment offered may only be used for work set out in the agreement
Advantages – The main and obvious advantage is hopefully receiving the investment from
creative Scotland.
Disadvantages – The disadvantages associated with creative Scotland would be the
amount of work that has to be carried out to receive an investment never mind just applying,
for example, Having to draw up a detailed outline of what you aim to do with the investment.
Hi Arts
Role – hi arts which stands for highlands and islands arts provides various support services
for those working in the arts and heritage across the highlands and islands and also other
areas of Scotland. They can also provide investments to companies or individuals on behalf
of creative Scotland.
Rules to Applying for Funding – other than having to state if you have received funding
from creative Scotland in the last year, as long as what you aim to do with your investment
complies with the scheme offered.
Advantages – HI arts does not seem as hard to apply for and you are supported much more
locally with their Inverness based headquarters, that is if you live around this area. And they
can give grants on behalf of creative Scotland.
Disadvantages – Although HI arts is more upfront and personal this is due to its much
smaller scale and you are very unlikely to receive a grant of more than £500!

11
The Princes Trust
Role – The Princes Trust gives practical and financial support to young people that need it
the most. They help develop these peoples key skills, confidence and build their motivation.
This is all to hopefully enable these young individuals to move into work, education or
training.
Rules to Applying for Funding – The most common conditions to comply with for the
princes trust funding are being between 16 and 25 and not in education, training or working
less than 16 hours a week. You can be between 14 and 16 but not expecting to achieve five
GCSEs. Although your application for a development fund which seems to be the most
common, cannot be for university course fees, gap year funding, grants for organisations or
alleviation of hardship.
Advantages – Well I checked out one of the application forms and funding does seem fairly
easy to apply for. They can also help you out of Unemployment and into work or education
through developing your skills and motivation which is a very beneficial advantage of this
organisation due to unemployment being a large and widespread problem amongst young
people in the current economic depression of the country.
Disadvantages – Unfortunately the princes trust is not for everyone, so if you are a student,
in full time employment or are in training then you cannot apply for help, support or funding.
Business Angels
Role – Business Angels is an organisation that brings together clients and angels. The client
being and individual or group/company with an idea(s) or a business venture. And the angels
being experienced in business skills and wishing to invest their capital into new and
developing enterprises.
Rules to Applying for funding – There are no particular rules in this organisation as it may
depend on the person you are approaching or working with but things that may help are
becoming a registered company, securing a domain name, setting up a business bank
account, securing your trademark, a financial forecast, a business plan and a shareholder
agreement.
Advantages – One may be having access to investors with very large amounts of money
and dealing directly with that investor rather than through a team of different departmental
staff.
Disadvantages – some investors requirements can be rather demanding such as needing a
solid history of sales or being more established in the industry you work in.

12
Below I have explored music businesses with size, function, product and creativity
information.
Name of Business – The Ironworks
Size – The Ironworks is a moderately sizable venue with a 1000 standing and 350 seated
capacity
Function – to provide a venue for live music and conferencing. To nurture local talent and
help it thrive
Product – tickets for the various events they host. They also have a bar which on a busy
night will provide a large source of income. Their overpriced drinks will definitely boost profit
What creativityis being exploited?...
There are a variety of acts that perform at the Ironworks which include singers, bands, DJs,
Comedians, Musicians, Magicians and live show tours. It is their creativity and intellectual
property that is being exploited. The Ironworks provides a venue, promotion, state of the art
sound system and lighting with professional staff to operate them. They then sell tickets for
the performer(s) to gain profit and also take income from the bar and cloakroom on the night.
Name of Business – Rockness
Size – Rockness is definitely on a nation wide scale with 30000+ attending each year
Function – to provide a space where artists can come and exploit their talent and festival
goers can camp, get inebriated, see famous acts and listen to loud music
Product – A wide range of products are provided from tickets to burgers on site. A variety of
merchandise like t-shirts and programmes are provided and alcoholic beverages are
provided in various bars inside the festival.
What Creativityis being Exploited?...
An extremely large amount of creativity and intellectual property is being exploited in a short
space of time at rockness. Each day there are multiple stages and tents with singer/song
writers, bands and DJs performing throughout the day. In promoting these acts - many of
which are very famous – not far off a year in advance they sell thousands of tickets to make
profit and continue it annually.

13
I have several detailed project diaries fromrecording/mixing projects we have
undergone during this years course
Anti – Racism Song Project
NAME: Ross Kinder DATE: 07/11/11
The Project started with all the music and care students being put together and split into
groups. The ideas started from the topic of anti-racism and all the best products from the
groups such as lyrics, vocals and melodies were taken forth and amalgamated to help create
what we are doing now. So last Monday we set up the drum kit which Leslie and Tom
played. We used 2 dynamic and 2 condenser microphones, one for the kick, one for the
snare/hi-hat and a coincidental pair above and facing the drum kit. We made several
recordings of different drum beats so we could put our own loops together in the mixdown.
We then set up the piano for recording and had Lewis play some chords to use in the editing
process on protools. We used to large condenser microphones as stereo pair at each side of
the front panel. We then set up another large condenser microphone in the live room and
had Nicki, Emily, Dion and peter record four different sections of vocals for the final mix
down and to use for when we organised a choir on Wednesday involving the performance
and care students. Come Wednesday we cleared a suitable square area and set up two
condensers as a spaced pair at the rear, the same as an overhead parallel at the front with
c1000s and a coincidental pair with small condensers front and centre. Health & Safety
issues to be noted were the amount of people compacted into a small place where there
were wires trailing the floor everywhere but they were pointed out and people were careful
around them. Another was moving some partition screens to stand in front of the window to
improve sound although once again we were careful in doing so. Today we started off by
recording tommy playing a verse and chorus section. We used a behringer c100 up close to
the guitar and a behringer b-1 spaced from the guitar which gave a good effect. We also had
it DI’d aswell but personally I thought the sound from this was awful as it was very harsh and
unnatural. So after we recorded the parts we needed the sections that were best conforming
to the 100bpm click track were identified and cut up for loops. Later in the day peter led us
into the digital audio workstations room to show us how to equalise the different tracks in the
project. So we all took turns in EQing the different parts such as different performers vocals,
drum kit and piano. You had to insert them as plug ins on each individual channel and open
them up to find a four band wave controller for the frequency spectrum. I personally learnt
good tips about finding certain unwanted or wanted frequencies in your mix and pulling them
out or enhancing them. After this we bounced each individual part as a stereo interleaved
WAV file to a named folder on the desktop for convenience and to use in our final mix down
of the project. I started my mix down of the song by focussing on the piano part first and
adding some midi drums. I bring in the solo vocal part after a bar or two followed by the
acoustic guitar which I had to pitch shift to harmonise with the piano.

14
Earlier peter gave us a Michael Jackson track called will you be there. We had to take two
techniques used in the mixing of that track and use them in our mixdown. A piano part is
heavily focussed on in Michaels song, which I did in mine. My second technique taken from
will you be there was alternating between the solo vocals and a choir part which I
successfully achieved in my mix.
We were faced with the task of recording a choir for part of the anti racism song. We set up
an area using partition dividers and set up microphones around this area. We going to have
40 plus people in this area so had to make sure cables and stands were set up neatly. The
choir were not familiar with the lyrics so we had to tape large print outs of them to the wall in
front of the area. Due to there being so many people we had to use an amp in front of the
choir for the click / guide track which unfortunately bled through into the microphones but we
overcame slightly in the eqing process.
 Number of songs to be recorded
1
 Arrangement of songs to be recorded & /or band lineup
Ammalgamation of care, music and sound students
 Tempos & key of song(s) to be recorded
100bpm
 Recording Tracks required
6
 Responsibilities of members of the recording team and the band
Ross (Protools editor)
Joe & Lewis (mic & Cabling)
Ross,Ben & Leslie (Stand, Recording etc)
 Choice of microphones
Behringer B1 & C1000s, SE3s
Health & Safety Issues:
Several people in confined space with cables and stands. Care was taken

15
City In Surveillance Recording Session
On Monday the 16th
of January one of the nc bands, city in surveillance who have really hit it
off, having a few gigs and writing a hand full of songs etc are coming into the college for us
to record them. The sound production students had previously met up to discuss what was
going to happen and formulate a plan. I was actually put in charge of this project so I drew
up a rough sheet of roles, mics and channel list etc.
Lewis – Record song 2, setup / connect cables
Ross E – Record song 1, setup / connect cables
Leslie – setup mics / stands / clips
Joseph – Record song 3, setup / connect headphones / monitor
Kinder – Record song 4, setup mics / stands / clips
Ben – setup protools at start (protools operator)
All equipment and random stuff that is not needed in the live room should be removed at the
start before setup!
Channel List
No. Name Microphone Stand
1 Kick D 112 Small
2 Snare Top Shure SM 57 Small
3 Snare Bottom Shure SM 57 Small
4 Hi Tom Samson Tom Clip On
5 Lo Tom Samson Tom Clip On
6 Over Head Left Se 3 Large
7 Over Head Right Se 3 Large
8 Bass Mic / Amp D 112 Small
9 Bass D I Behringer D I Box
10 Guitar Mikey Shure SM 57 Medium
11 Guitar Ali Shure SM 57 Medium
12 Vocals Behringer B1 Large
13 Room Ambiance Se 4400 A Large

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Microphones Needed for set up:-
D 112 x 2
Shure SM 57 x 4
Samson Toms x 2
Se 3 x 2
Behringer B1 x 1
Se 4400 A x 1
Stands Needed for set up:-
Small x 4
Medium x 2
Large x 4
Cables etc Needed for set up:-
Jack to XLR Cable x 1
XLR Cable x 12
Headphones x 5
Headphone Cable Extension
Behringer DI Box
We decided to record everything live, at the same time with everything being miked in the
same room. We spent some time getting the balance of levels between everything whilst the
band was practicing so we could hopefully achieve some separation meaning we could
manipulate each instrument to a satisfactory degree in the mix. This was tricky considering
the way we were recording the band but we achieved it well. During the recording the over
head mics began to clip to which we did not know why so we turned the gains down slightly
and got on ok. It turned out the cymbals had hit off the stands so next time we do a recording
with drums we will make sure the over head stands are placed where the cymbals will most
definitely not hit the stands.
:

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4
Songs Band
The Feeling Rhys – Lead Vocals
The Fame Mikey – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
One Kiss Love Johnathon – Bass Guitar
Come Out Tonight Ali – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Leslie - Drums
G, B & Others – 190 BPM, 160 BPM & Others
15 Tracks on protools
Lewis – Record song 2, setup / connect cables
Ross E – Record song 1, setup / connect cables
Leslie – setup mics / stands / clips
Joseph – Record song 3, setup / connect headphones / monitor
Kinder – Record song 4, setup mics / stands / clips
Ben – setup protools at start (protools operator)
D 112 x 2
Shure SM 57 x 4
Samson Toms x 2
Se 3 x 2
Behringer B1 x 1
Se 4400 A x 1
 DI instruments
Bass Guitar
Health & Safety Issues: There was lots of equipment, stands, cables etc in the live room with
the band so care was taken. The noise levels in the live room were also consistently very
loud. A lot to do with guitarists and there amps!

18
76 Knots Recording Session (December)
On Monday 19th december the course will have my friend, bens’ band come into the college
to carry out a recording session with us. They are called 76 Knots and they have 3 original
songs ready to perform. Their main influence is the band Alkaline trio and the band
comprises of drums, guitar, bass and vocals. We will record the drums, bass and guitar
together first having the 3 band members in the live room together with the drums and bass
being miked in the same room and the guitar amp being in one of the off shoot rooms for
separation, this is so we can hopefully be able to do a lot with and manipulate the sound of
the guitar.
Channel list
1 kick – D112
2 snare bottom – shure sm57
3 snare top – shure sm57
4 hi-hats – se3
5 hi tom – Samson tom
6 lo tom – Samson tom
7 overhead left – behringer c1000
8 overhead right – behringer c1000
9 bass amp – D112
10 bass di
11 guitar amp – shure sm57
12 guitar room – akg c3000
13 vocals – behringer b1
The plan is that we have their 3 songs recorded by the end of the college day with no
clipping and all of the bands equipment such as drum kit parts, amps and guitars to be out of
the college before it closes

19
Achievable:-
The recording equipment, mics, cables etc are all available for us and we know how to use
them. The band know how to get here and I am friends with them so it should run smoothly
Realistic:-
The project as a whole including the ideas we’ve laid out are realistic, such as isolation with
the guitar amp. There is a separate booth with small soundproof holes connecting to the live
room for cables to be fed through
Timebound:-
The college opens at 9 in the morning when the band will be arriving and the then shuts at 5
when the recording will be finished and all the bands equipment will have to be out by
One of the techniques used were putting the guitar amp in a separate room for separation
and in that room we placed a large diaphragm condenser microphone as a room pick up but
unfortunately sounded awful we think due to the amount of distortion on the guitar so it
couldn’t be used effectively in the mix due to this. When recording the vocals at the end of
the session we used the behringer b1 large diaphragm condenser microphone which we set
up in the live room for flange and andy to sing into. This all went fine but when we started to
mix the tracks we realised the vocals sounded awfully strange and hard to EQ and get a
good sound out of. There was no presence in the vocals at all and they weren’t cutting
through in the mix of the tracks effectively. We have come to the conclusion that we
unfortunately placed the microphone the wrong way round! I rectified this problem by coming
back to the college soon after with flange to record the vocals again with the microphone set
up the correct way round. Health & safety issues to be noted were the band being in the live
room with a lot of equipment and cables trailing on the floor and also the level of their
monitor headphones which could have been harmful to their hearing considering the length
of exposure.
:

20
3
Swallowed & Abandoned
Deceased Lover
Advice To You
Zander (Flange) – Guitar, Vocals
Andy – Bass, Backing Vocals
Ben - Drums
Various, not aware of song keys which means we cannot
Add midi or do certain things in the final mix due to this
15
Joe, Ben & Leslie in charge with:-
Kinder – Communications Officer
Lewis – Microphone Placement
Ross – Hardware Management
D 112
Shure SM 57
Samson CO 2
Samson Tom Clip On
Behringer C1000
Behringer C3000
Behringer B1
 DI instruments
Bass Guitar

21
76 Knots – 29/2/12 – Recording Session – Description in Logs
Channel list
1 – Kick – AKG D112
2 – Snare Top – Shure SM57 (phase reversed)
3 – Snare Bottom – Shure SM57
4 – Hi Hats – AKG C1000
5 – Hi Tom – Samson Tom
6 – Lo Tom – Samson Tom
7 – Overhead Left – SE3 Pencil Condenser
8 – Overhead Right – SE3 Pencil Condenser
9 – Bass Mic – AKG D112
10 – Bass DI
11 – Guitar Amp – Shure SM57
12 – Room – SE4400a
13 – Vocals – AKG C1000
14 – Backing Ben – AKG C1000
15 – Backing Andy – AKG C1000
16 – Rhys Shouting – SE4400a
17 – Collective Shouting – SE4400a
Roles
Kinder & Leslie – Recording heads / band communication
Lewis – mic placement
Ben – protools setup
Ross – Cabblage
James & Joe – assistants

22
Acoustic Analysis
I often use different acoustic spaces for recording or mixing/mastering. Before I go to do this,
there are some things I take into consideration. One of the first acoustic problems I may be
pro active about is flutter echo. To try and prevent this I will make sure the area is as tidy
possible and that un needed equipment is removed. One of the biggest problems in a control
room especially are standing waves, these need to be strongly avoided so what you are
hearing isn’t ‘coloured’ at all. Ways to avoid this are by installing diffusers or materials that
act as such like drapes and carpet. This problem is eliminated in the control rooms we have
in the college which are also soundproof. The floor is carpeted and every wall is zigzagged
to prevent standing waves. Another notable property of an acoustic space is reverberation. A
short reverb time is desirable in a recording/studio environment. For the wanted clarity, less
than a second of reverb time should be in play. Taking live sound into consideration, such as
an auditorium for music, reverb time of a couple of seconds is desired for a rich sound and to
help with problems such as bass loss for people further away from the sound source. Too
much reverb should not be desired as a certain element of clarity is still needed for music but
this can be treated by diffusing materials such as drapes and people in a crowd act as the
same. Standing waves obviously want to be avoided in a live environment also, you don’t
really want one person hearing the same frequencies much louder than the person standing
next to them. To treat this problem, parallel walls should be avoided. So walls at angles to
each other are good. You may notice random walls that are at an angle in places such as
nightclubs. This is the reason.
Recording Area – Flutter Echo – Remove unwanted objects/equipment
Control Room – Standing waves – Use diffusing materials or angle walls
Reverb Time
R Nave
2012

23
Microphones
Microphone Type Use / Features
AKG D112 Dynamic Usually used for bass instruments, most commonly the bass
drum on a kit as It has an extremely high sound pressure level
capability. It is ideal for studio and live applications and can
handle up to 160 db without any audible distortion. It is very
robust and has a built in windscreen which will help with the
likes of a bass drum application due to puffs of air.
Shure SM57 Dynamic This microphone is often used for instrument and amplifier
miking due to it’s professional and clean frequency response
and sound reproduction. Suitable for use in a studio or live
environment. With its cardioid pickup pattern it isolates the
main sound source without picking up noise in the
background.
Shure SM58 Dynamic This is a legendary vocal microphone that is most commonly
used live on stage. It has a cardioid pickup pattern which
eliminates unwanted background noise, ideal for isolating the
singers voice on stage from the likes of drums and guitar
amps. It has a frequency response tailored to vocals and is
designed very robustly to ensure it performs consistently even
with rough handling.
AKG C1000 Condenser This is a very popular small diaphragm condenser
microphone. It is effective for recording vocals, reproducing
instrument sound like acoustic guitar and drum kit cymbals. I
personally love the sound it reproduces when using it on hi
hats. It achieves this by having an enhanced high frequency
response. It has a patented capsule on inside the microphone
head which can be removed to switch between cardioid and
hypercardioid. I like to remove this when recording hi hats,
making it more directional in a hypercardioid pattern. It also
has the option of being battery powered if phantom power isn’t
available. There is an indication light that lets you know when
the battery power is low.
SE1a Condenser Small diaphragm, Cardioid, Pencil condenser microphone that
is effective for recording the likes of stringed instruments and
drum cymbals with its’ bright sound reproducing capabilities.
Coming in a stereo pair package with a fixing bar for them
both they can also be effective for capturing an ensemble or
for being used as drum kit overheads in the studio or live. I
particularly like to use them for drum kit over heads. I think
they capture the frequencies really well and produce a great
stereo image.

24
SE4400a Condenser The SE Electronics SE4400a is a large and twin diaphragm
condenser microphone. It has several switches on the front of
its housing allowing you to switch between hyper cardioid,
cardioid, figure of 8 and omni directional. It has 2 bass cuts at
60 and 120 Hz, also 2 pads at 10 and 20 db. It is suitable for
many different applications such as recording vocals, different
types of instruments and is also an effective room microphone
as we found out when we used it as such in a live style
recording.
Behringer B1 Condenser The Behringer B1 is a professional quality large diaphragm
condenser microphone. It has a cardioid pick up pattern and is
switchable between a low frequency roll off and a 10 db input
attenuation cut. It has a 1” diaphragm with a built in wind
screen. We have often used this microphone for recording
vocals but it can also be used for instrument recording and
other applications with its large pickup area and bright
frequency response.

25
Logbooks
Date – 8/2/12 My action plan point: planning
Today the graded unit topic was introduced to us by peter, he went through
various sections of it and showed us where we could download files that we
needed from the uhi and blackboard sites. He also told us that we had already
done a lot of the work needed and that we just had to gather it together. There
were 4 options we could choose to work towards and gather evidence to
create a portfolio for such opportunities as a Broadcast engineer, PA Guy etc.
I decided to work towards the studio engineer option. I downloaded the
planning worksheet from the uhi site and began to outline the portfolio
requirements from the graded unit handout, noting where they were in my
previous work. Next to them I wrote there related skill. I have read through a
large portion of the material this morning and although I found it rather
daunting I believe I have some understanding of what needs to be done and
have already contacted the members of my friends band ’76 Knots’ and set up
a date where they will come in for a recording session. I will be mixing down
the material produced from this session to go towards evidence for the graded
unit.
Date – 29/2/12 My action plan point: planning
Unfortunately I did not realise how soon the planning stage had to be
completed by so I had to try and rush getting some of my planning stage done
before recording with 76 Knots. This was mainly due to me not grasping an
understanding of the graded unit when it was first introduced and I missed one
of the weeks too. I ended up staying behind until late at night this week to help
get it finished. I used the blackboard graded unit section online to help with
parts of it. I found the planning example especially helpful. I used the ‘How
stuff works’ website to help in describing the role of a studio/audio engineer
and I used previous work from creative industries infrastructure to help in
forming a SMART objective for the project aims section of the planning stage.

26
Date – 14/3/12 My action plan point: Working In/Creative Industries
After completing my planning stage and documenting everything I am going to
do for my graded unit I took some time to gather all my materials from working
in the creative industries and the creative industries infrastructure units. I used
certain parts which I put in a document together with descriptors above each
separate part to detail what they relate to. I have also used Microsoft word’s
page number footer function to be used for a contents section in my
completed portfolio.
Date – 29/2/12 My action plan point: Recording
Moving onto what I actually did with the band. After finishing planning material
off in the morning I went down to meet the band and we set up equipment in
the live room whilst removing unnecessary objects from the room to provide
more room and as best and acoustic environment as possible. The boys
wanted to record to a click whilst achieving separation also, so I thought I
would try to do this in the quickest and easiest way possible to get as much
out of the session as we could. I started by putting the guitar amp in the other
small booth and left the bass amp in the live room but just DI’d it. So I had
everyone in the room playing together for the live sound but with complete
separation. We had some trouble with Ben playing drums to the click but got
there in the end and achieved a good sound. I worked similarly with the
second track but had to take some of these techniques away to get the third
done in time.

27
Date – 16/4/12 My action plan point: Mixing
I have started mixing the recording session that I underwent with my friend’s
band, 76 Knots. As always I started with the drums, EQing and gating each
individual channel, I’ve deterred from compressing everything and will focus
more on the multiple band aspect of the mix as a whole in the mastering
stage. I have achieved a good sound from the drums so far and moving onto
the bass, I got rid of the microphone channel as I did not like the sound but
already have good sound from the DI channel. I have achieved a percussive
sound from the DI channel which I was aiming for so am satisfied with that.
The guitar sound is overly distorted so I’m having slight trouble with that but
getting there through EQ, filter and duplicating techniques. I plan to use some
sort of reversing reverb technique for the opening to one of the tracks which I
will later update on.
Update
I used the reverse reverb technique for the start of a track called runnin’. I took
a small snippet of the guitar, reversed and put heavy reverb on it. I then
exported it in mono, imported it, reversed it again and joined it back on to the
start of the track. I think it sounds great and I am very pleased with the effect.
Date – 24/4/12 My action plan point: Development
I have started to gather the production logs / Project Diaries that I completed
from earlier in the year into one document with the channel and roles list from
the recent recording with 76 Knots incorporated. I also compiled a section on
acoustic analysis as written in my short and medium term goals, detailing
properties of acoustic spaces and what I may take into consideration before
using them. I used a diagram given in one of the links that our acoustics
teacher, Les Cowley uploaded to the learning resources part of the blackboard
site. Finally I put together a microphones sheet mentioned as one of my
graded unit tasks in the planning stage. I created a table with several different
microphones listing their features and what they can be used for. I also
mentioned what I like about them and the applications I like to use them for.

28
References
Copyright case reference:-
associativecreative, 2012. Famous Copyright Infringement Plagiarism Cases In Music.
[online] available at: <http://www.fairwagelawyers.com/most-famous-music-copyright-
infringment.html> [Accessed 18/1/12].
References for categorising table:-
British Recorded Music Industry, 2009. About Us. [online] available at:
<http://www.bpi.co.uk/category/about-us.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Crown Copyright, August 2011. About Us. [online] available at:
<http://www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/default.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Crown Copyright, 2011. About Exporting. [online] available at:
<http://www.ukti.gov.uk/export/exporting.html> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Crown Copyright, 2011. About UKTI. [online] available at:
<http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/aboutukti.html> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Scottish Enterprise, 2008. What We Do. [online] available at: <http://www.scottish-
enterprise.com/about-us/what-we-do.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Crown Copyright, 2011. About Business Link. [online] available at:
<http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1087351667&page=AboutUs&ty
pe=CAMPAIGN> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Association of Independent Music, 2011. About AIM. [online] available at:
<http://www.musicindie.com/about> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Musicians’ Union, 2010. Advice & Downloads. [online] available at:
<http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/advice-downloads/> [Accessed 5/10/11]
Merton Music Foundation, 2008. About The MMF. [online] available at:
<http://www.themmf.net/showscreen.php?site_id=55&screentype=folder&screenid=1441>
[Accessed 5/10/11]
Recording Industry Association of America, 2011. Who We Are. [online] available at:
<http://www.riaa.com/aboutus.php?content_selector=about-who-we-are-riaa> [Accessed
5/10/11]
Creative Scotland, 2010. About Overview. [online] available at:
<http://www.creativescotland.com/about/about-overview> [Accessed 5/10/11]
The Princes Trust, 2011. What We Do. [online] available at: <http://www.princes-
trust.org.uk/about_the_trust/what_we_do.aspx> [Accessed 5/10/11]

29
Reference for BPI:-
Paul Lester, 2010. Katy B (No 828) [online] available at:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/19/new-band-katy-b> [Accessed 12/10/11]
Reference for acoustic analysis:-
R Nave, (2012), What is a desirable reverberation time? [ONLINE]. Available at:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/acoustic/imgaco/rt2.gif [Accessed 25 April 12].

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