BBC Radio Theme Tune Composition

BBC Ouch! Work Based Learning

I read an article describing a very lucrative gap in the market where instead of traditional songs or long pieces of music, short, catchy songs can be composed very cheaply. Apparently, there is a surprisingly large market for writing this kind of music, and this avenue I have already explored.

I had already contacted the BBC in the final year of my National Award. I noticed an opportunity where the theme for their radio show, called The Ouch! Talk Show, was a little dated and had the wrong lyrics in it.

Disabled journalists present the show, and features issues and information primarily of interest to the disabled community and their carers. I felt this would be a good opportunity for myself, being disabled, to show that people with disabilities can be as valid in the workplace and successful as anybody else.

I had the idea after listening to the show. I noticed they had changed the name of the broadcast from ‘Podcast’ to ‘Talk Show’, but still used a song with the lyric ‘Podcast’ in the signature tune. I decided to write in to the producer, who was very interested in listening to a jingle that I had written with better fitting lyrics, called the Ouch! Talk Show.

The URL for the show is here, where you can also download older episodes of the show, in which I was featured, in October 2009.

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/

 I gave some information about myself, where I was studying and that this music project would help further my course. I was pleased to hear in their next broadcast that they spent a few minutes on an item featuring my song. They wrote to me, stating they would not be able to use the theme at this time, because they had already commissioned someone else to do a song before I managed to get my jingle to them. It took me many weeks to write produce and record the song.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, that last month (October 2010), they closed their show with my jingle once again, and so I wrote in to them a second time, because I am going to re-record the song in higher quality and with slightly amended words. This is because they are changing the program format from once monthly, to twice monthly, and the words need to reflect this.  I am now hoping that when I submit this new song, they will use it on a regular basis. I have already told them that I will not charge a fee for this song and they are very happy with this. I have constructed a package of the song, with shorter, and instrumental versions of the tune, for inserting during the show as well, for voice over purposes.

 I have learned that in order to gain a start in any profession, there is a need to give away some of your work, in order to secure a position in which you can make a living, in the long term this pays off.

Blue Jewel Live Band Recording

Band Recording

Blue Jewel Live Band Recording

Aims:

Working with other musicians and P.A. staff recording a live gig.

Setting up a recording session.

Completing the placement in a professional manner.

Objectives:

Research live recording techniques both online, and asking questions to the tutors with experience of this.

Participate in a live computer based recording session, setting up equipment to do so.

Be responsible for making sure the recording is completed.

Record audio to hard disk for archiving and for submitting to Steve Banks.

Mixing a live recording of multi-tracks with acoustic and electronic instruments, using a variety of microphones and recording / mixing vocals.

Troubleshoot any problems quickly and in a professional manner

Diary Journal

On Saturday, 25 June, 2011 I agreed to attend the gig at around 3 PM, this was to set up my equipment and make sure I had a feed from the instruments going into the audio interface, which was then connected with FireWire to my Mac Computer. The recording software was Logic Studio and the gig lasted two hours.

We had managed to get everything up and running at around 6 PM and we worked with the PA supervisor and the tutor / drummer Simon Gregg to get our setup suitable for live music recording. I took some photos of the band and they are included with this blog to show the setup. I connected an audio interface from the desk to my Mac computer, and recorded the audio to hard disk.

The band consisted of:

Bass guitar

Violin 

Guitars

Drums

Keyboards

This was the first time I had recorded any live band and felt I needed this experience to learn if I want to do this again in the future. The audience seemed to enjoy the gig, with some 90 people attending which was a very good turn out for a Saturday night in Stoke Gabriel.

End of Placement Evaluation

I was surprised how easy it was to install and run the audio interface software without any technical issues at the time. Unfortunately the record level of the instruments was surprisingly low, however, they were enough get a good level in mixing.

Sadly, there was a technical issue which none of us spotted at the time, and the tutor was not aware of either. Because there was a lot of audio being recorded simultaneously, my hard disk and processor was not able to keep up with the amount of data coming through the FireWire input. I was unaware of this so cold not correct the fault at the time.

I should have rehearsed setting up the equipment beforehand, then I could have ironed-out any technical issues should they occur. Although I did ask the tutors in the recording studio if they thought my equipment was up to the task. They told me it was, and they dont' know why I have these problems. I did suggest a rehearsal setup but this was decided against as the tutors said it would be fine.

I chose this WBL task because I want experience in working with live bands, as recording live is a valuable asset to have, especially if it can be done with little cost. I did not get much recognition for my work that night, and it would have been nice to have been mentioned at the end of the night! I feel that student volunteering is of great value to performing arts, and should be valued just as much as people who are being paid for their services. I think I would be prepared to volunteer again, because the experience value is a priority over recognition and financial gain.

If my future work placements require me to do the same type of tasks again, i will have the knowledge to rehearse and look more deeply at the technical aspects of recording to eliminate problems.

The experience gained will help me decide if I would like to make a career in live recording. This type of placement is valid because I can make important contacts in the live music area, speaking and meeting like minded individuals, and perhaps be asked to record at another opportunity.This work placement would look good on my CV, showing I have the aptitude for recording a live gig.

I wanted to understand the responsibilities of a live recording engineer and learn about becoming a live recording engineer.

44 Gun - String Band Recording

Session - Monday 7th February 2011

Today we had the visit of a string band called 44 gun.

We were recording tracks for their new CD. This string band is a four piece outfit with instruments comprising double bass, banjo and guitar, violin & vocals. We set up a range of dynamic and condenser microphones for the instruments and also dynamic vocal microphones. We made sure the instrumentalists were comfortable, warm and happy in their surroundings so they could play in a relaxed manner.

What went well with this session?

We were able to set up and get recording in motion within half an hour or so and used a wide variety of microphones and placements using knowledge already gained from previous recording sessions

What didn’t go well?

The floor had no carpeting as we thought the sound might be better for recording purposes. This proved a problem with the instrumentalists needing to feet tap and acoustics weren’t great, so we put mats down and had to rewire some microphones so that cables were out of the way.

What did I learn from this session?

I learnt about various types of microphone and techniques for setting up acoustic instrument microphones and their positioning.

What did I ultimately get out of this session?

This will be a valuable lesson and session because our assignment brief indicates we must get many different microphone recordings, from different instruments and situations in order to get a good grade at the end of the year.

I believe this session has taught me a lot about acoustic instrument set up and how to use the digital recording equipment in various different setups depending on instrument setup, as usually we have a lot of MIDI instruments and digital sound sources which are entirely different in setup procedure.