Checking my smart targets and setting new ones.

Last November I have made myself some smart target goals.
I haven't been able to accomplish these goals but it helped me understand where my weak points were and what I had to do to change this. It was a struggle to remix my old song that because I ended up on the decision that it was already a good enough song and working on it further would just ruin it.

Instead of producing the 3 tracks, I've made 5 ideas for Olly's assignment meaning that I had created a bunch of ideas instead of tracks so that I have material to work with if I ever want to recreate a similar idea or use it as influence. I've also made my other ideas in my own time giving me a fair amount of things to work with.

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-Bound

My new targets for this term should keep me on track of my assignments because I've been struggling to keep up with the deadlines recently and it makes future assignments harder to do since I have to keep finishing older ones which becomes a burden on me.

1) I need to work outside of class more so my goal is to book more access time through out the month and record how much extra time I spend

2) I need to keep my assignments on the deadline so I think I should aim to make sure that I don't let any assignments slip past the due date next month.

3) I want to work more with other people for example Juan because we have similar music styles so my goal is to make one or two songs in collaboration with another student by the end of next month.

Employability Skills

Employability skills are very important in life and if you aren't developing them, then you need should make sure you do something at least once a week to improve or develop skills such as teamwork, communication, leadership and/or enthusiasm.

I think that my employability skill is communication because I always try to covey my point in a clear and understandable manner. I try to make sure that I have the persons attention and that if I have to give my opinion on something that I give a balanced reason and explanation of why I think so.

I think that communication is one of the top five most important skills in a work place because great communication improves understanding between colleagues, it means that everyone knows what they are doing and they can be motivated by someone else to do something.

An example of when I had to use my communication skills was when I applied for the music production course in college. I made sure I used non-verbal communication to show that I am interested and that I show respect. I used my communications skills to speak clearly and concisely to make sure that I get on the course and look like a good student to work with.

The History of DJ Equipment

Little Intro

The development of DJ equipment in the past century has been huge. From single deck DJing set-ups to as many as four or more decks at once. The advancements in technology allowed the turntables to develop to such an extent that DJ would be able to produce new and interesting music just by a few quick finger motions. New technology such as samplers and drum sequencers allowed DJs to easily manipulate their music to a really wide extent causing a massive

Pre-DJing (19th Century - 1930s)

A man in 1857, named Leon Scott, invented the phonautograph, the first device to be able to record sound. Soon after Thomas Edison invents the phonograph, which starts off the history of DJing because it is the first device to allow playback of recorded sounds. The first ever DJs soon appeared on audio radio broadcasts playing vinyl disks (now more widely known simply as records.) The first ever Disk Jockey was Ray Newby at the age of 16 in 1909. While being a student in college he regularly played records on a small spark transmitter. It was able of producing radio waves which could then be sent to a local radio station. The transmitters were not capable of creating strong enough to be carried very long distances so they were limited in range. Another thing about these transmitters is that the signal they produced could be easily disturbed by other radio frequencies and in rainy conditions transmissions were made impossible because of how weak the technology was then. DJ's would play songs and would then have to change records to play the next song most likely doing an announcement of the next song using a microphone before hand. Around the 1910s it became very common for radio announcers to be know as Disk Jockeys because of their role in the radio station but the first person to actually take on the the term DJ was a man an American radio commentator named Walter Winchell. At this point in time the equipment that DJ's used would be limited to a single deck and small, low range and easily disreputable transmitters.

Early DJing (1940s - 1950s)

A late 20th Century record turntable

In 1943, Jimmy Savile was the person to make the world's first DJ dance party and in 1947, he claimed to have become the first DJ to use twin turntables for continuous play of songs without stop. This is a rather big development in DJ set-up from the earlier single deck playing. If we look back at the earlier single deck set-up, the DJ would have to announce the next song by using a microphone and change the record after making the announcement. This makes is much slower than having two decks at once because if you have two going at the same time you can simply prepare the song beforehand and play it as soon as the other song finished. This is more time efficient

During this time radio DJ's would tend to not use a live drummer or other live players and would mainly play records of pre-recorded music.

Development

Some More DJing (1960s - 1970s)

So whats with all this turntable stuff..?

Turntables were the instruments of the DJs. They played them and used them to their highest possibilities and limits to try and create new and exciting music. The Art of Turntablism was just around the corner. The most popular turntable in the 70s was the Technic SL-1200. A direct-drive turntable that was perfects for DJ because it was more durable than a belt drive and had a faster response and start up than the belt drive turn tables. The belt drive would have a plate on a spindle and a belt that would be connected to a motor to cause the plate to move a bit like a bicycle chain but with the chain always going unless you stop. The belt drive turn tables had a bit of a delay when pressing play and would stop if you held on them for too long or too hard where as the direct drive turntables would keep spinning but you would just hold the record to prevent it from moving.

Technic's SL-1200 Turntable. The most popular turntable that let the future happen.

The basic features of a turntable are a play button for obvious reasons, a pitch fader, usually a small slider on the right side of a turntable that would be used for beat matching song together for smooth transitions, a 33.3 rpm and 44 rpm setting for how fast the motor should spin depending on different records, a plate to put the record on and a tone arm with a stylus or needle.

The basic features of a mixer were a cross fader, a slider in the middle of the mixer that would allow the the DJ to change which deck is playing out of the speakers, High, mid and low EQ knobs to allow the DJ to cut out certain frequencies to create certain effects such as suspense or excitement. More modern mixers would allow for much more than just these simple features. Things such as sample loops, EQ effects such as delay or reverb and filters would be implemented into mixers to give DJs the ability to be more creative and for other DJs to be able to DJ more efficiently.

In 1973,DJ Kool Herc, widely regarded as the "father of hip-hop culture," performed at block parties in his Bronx neighbourhood and developed a technique of mixing back and forth between two identical records to extend the rhythmic instrumental sections also known as the 'break' This was a big and important development from other techniques such as simple beat matching because now song weren't just being mixed into each other with a cross fader. It became much more than just playing the songs that people like.
It became a friendly competition to see who could do really amazing techniques or tricks to then be proven wrong by someone else. It helped change the Bronx neighbourhood into a less gang violence filled place and more of a great big family united by the art of Turntabalism and DJing

In 1975, hip-hop DJ Grand Wizard Theodore claimed to have invented the scratching technique, by accident. It seems almost crazy that one of the most influential and most used technique in DJing, at the time, was invented by accident. He was at home practising on some decks like any normal DJ would. His mum came in the room because he was playing too loud and so while she was shouting at him he was 'scratching' the record back and forth by hold the recording. 'Scratching', the most used technique we know and love in this hip-hop era of DJing, was born. He experimented with it at home for a couple of months to perfect his technique to then show it to the rest of the world. His accidental invention would soon become one of the most important points in Turntabalism which is the art of using turntables not only to play music but to manipulate sound and songs to create original music and mixes.

CDs And More 1980s- 2000s

With technology going further and further each year, vinyl would soon start slightly dying out. A new way of storing music easily and more cheap was created. Compact Disks. Compact disks got on the market in 1982, a new, cheap and easy way to store over 60 minutes of music on a single little disc. At first CDs were only able of being burned only once but soon after rewritable disks and specifically designed discs for other purposes such as storing video, media and photos would be made to keep them at the top of the market. Heavily advanced technology would appear near the 2000s that would change the progression of music genres and create new ones at the same time. More possibilities, more music, more history for DJing being made.

So how did this affect the DJ world?

First of all, a new way of storing music meant people started wanting to be able to store their favourite vinyl records on a small, easily portable and easily storable disk. DJs could hold more music but having to carry less stuff. A new set up for DJing was created.
Using new decks that would allow the manipulation of mp3 files like using a turntable deck would become the next advance in DJing technology. This was a real advancement in technology because more music being stored meant DJing became more simple. Soon anyone would be able to learn the basic fundamentals of DJing. It was only a matter of time now. The first digital DJ system came out in 1998 it was called "Final Scratch"
"Traktor DJ Studio" coming out in 2000 and Serrato in 2004.

Traktor Pro 2, the latest version of Traktor right now.

Quick, easy to learn but difficult to master programs, became and industry standard incredibly fast. They countless possibilities to manipulate data using MIDI controllers became the future. Millions of songs easily accessed through the vast amount of music sharing websites and other sites to buy music from. Sometimes causing a fight between what "real" DJing was. With the huge change from analogue to digital some people were left confused. At first most DJs didn't embrace the change but as time past famous people such as David Rodigan who would originally play vinyl's embraced the change and got a whole new audience out of it. New interesting styles were born from all types of genres. Lots of

Conclusion

At the end of all of this, both analogue and digital set-up have the ups and downs. The analogue having a unique sound of the needle gently pressing on top of the vinyl and the rich and ambient sound that comes with it as well as being cheaper by a huge load at the current time. But analogue set-ups having less freedom and creativity in them.

Digital set up being more expensive, the sound quality being amazing but still not the same as the natural vinyl sound. But allowing the user to manipulate the music to unlimited ends. From simple EQ's to difficult special effects being made by the most masterful. Another problem with modern digital DJs sometimes is that they become lazy. They become used to the technology so much that if a sync button breaks they become lost of what to do.

For me personally, I'd want to use and have both. To have the unique sounds of the vinyl's and the ability to improvise and manipulate freely just like an mp3 file.

Only the guys behind the scenes who are making the software and hardware that DJs use know what's to come in the next decade. I'm sure the next decade will be even more crazy.

Bibliography:

"Scratch" A Feature length Hip-Hop Documentary made in 2001 and Directed by Doug Pray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_SL-1200#Features
 
http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1909
by Jordan Rothlein Published onWednesday, 21 August 2013

http://www.djtechtools.com/2011/02/11/the-history-of-traktor/
http://www.discmakers.co.uk/history-of-the-compact-disc
http://www.dawsons.co.uk/blog/evolution-of-dj-technology
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/bein_k/history.html
http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/08/25/future-dj-a-brief-history/
http://audiojunkies.com/forum/blog/4483-turntable-basics-beginners-guide-turntables-vinyl-records.html 
The images used in this are not mine and are used for educational and research purposes only.

Hear and Identify

1) The whole song starts by half a beat early. This is probably a bouncing issue. When the track was being converted to mp3 the selection of what should be converted was set by half a beat late causing the track to not start at the correct time. This could have been prevented by simply double checking what part of the song is selected and that all of the necessary parts are selected before converting the track to an mp3.

2) Most instruments are panned too much to the right causing an uneven balance in audio. This is a recording, mixing or mastering issue because the tracks must have been panned far too much to the right on the mixer or the sequencing program it self. This could have been prevented by checking the panning is set it to a more balanced panning before converting the track or by checking and setting it to a better panning before the actual recording has been done. The uneven balance in audio makes the track strange to listen to and is slightly uncomfortable because one ear is listening to a lot more than the other. This also creates a strange feeling of there being a huge space between the instruments or creating a room effect.

3) Background noise and coughing from 0:02 to 0:04 creating a messy/dirty vocal track. This is a recording and performance issue because the recording could have been started later rather than having it on through out. This is also a performance issue because the person who is singing should be prepared to start singing his or her part before the initial recording.
The background noise could have been prevented by starting the recording at a later moment in the song instead of having the microphone turned on all the time and could have also been prevented by being more prepared for the recording, by clearing your throat before the recording has started and not moving anything around during the actual recording process.

4) "And with a degree of independence" 0:20 - The word "add" isn't part of the lyrics and the phrase isn't sung in time with the rhythm. This is mainly because of the strange change of rhythm in the guitar but there is also an extra word added and it doesn't go with the timing. This could have been prevented by double checking the lyrics and making sure all the instruments are being played in time for the recording. This could also be prevented by having a click playing in a pair of headphones during the recording so the person playing or singing could hear the correct tempo which in turn would potentially lead to a better recording.

5) Rhythm problem at 0:18 - 0 : 24. The guitar changes tempo and becomes too fast causing a mess up of rhythm. This affects the vocals that are sung during this stage making them not in time with each other and making the song out of time. This could have been prevented by playing a click through a set of headphones that the guitar player could listen to and time the part better. Another reason why it could have been sped up is that in the sequencing program the audio file could have been sped up by accident and wasn't checked properly. To prevent this from happening a back up of the original recording should always be made in case of any destructive editing being made to the audio file so if anything does go wrong it could be restored with the back up.

6) The vocal sounds really muffled at 0:53. This is a recording issue because the there was most likely something in the way of the microphone that caused this muffled recording or the person wasn't in a position where the microphone could easily pick up the sound waves. This could have been prevented by checking the microphones polar pattern to make sure the person singing is standing in a position where the microphone can easily pick up the sound. This muffled could also be caused if something is in the way of the microphone and then person singing so it would be important to make sure nothing gets in between the microphone and the persons face to make a clear sounding recording.

7) "I'm sorry" at 1:04 - 1:05. "I'm" is sung too quickly in the main vocal. "I'm" is meant to be more emphasised for a slightly bit longer. This is a performance issue because the person singing hasn't emphasised the words on the correct notes and sung them quicker instead. This should have been prevented by checking how the words are sung in a certain part and where the emphasis goes on certain notes and how long they are meant to be held for.

8) 1:08 to 1:13 "The way it is~" The word "is" is sung longer than should have. The backing vocals and the main vocal are meant to both finish the phrase at the same time. This is a performance issue because the person singing the main vocal line either came in late or the backing vocals came in too early. This problem could have been prevented by practising the certain part or making a signal or action to indicate when both vocal tracks should come in.

First Recording Assignment

In the first weeks session we decided what we were recording and decided on grand piano and drums together for the first recording.

We started off  by miking the drums with an Audix D6 for the kick drum on a low stand and positioning it to be directly pointing at the kick drum as well as the Rode NT-5 on a high stand facing towards the middle of the drums for the top drums. We decided to use an Audix D6 because it's a kick drum microphone specifically designed to give a good low frequency pick up.  Because the Audix D6 is a dynamic microphone it can handle much more louder noises and give a good recording of the kick drum which made our recording more better.

We used a Rode NT-5 for the rest of the drum kit to pick up the more roomy or ambient sound. Another reason to use a Rode NT-5 is because if you place it slightly further from the sound source it can still give off a nice recording because condenser microphones are more sensitive. Because the Rode NT-5 is a condenser microphone we positioned it slightly further away from the drums to make sure we don't break it since condenser microphones are more fragile than dynamic microphones. We had to use phantom power on the Rode NT-5 because it's a condenser microphone that requires external power.

We then set up a Shure SM-57 microphone for the grand piano on a high stand. We opened the lid of the grand piano to pick up all the rich sounds and positioned the microphone at an angle for it to be slightly leaning into the frame of the grand piano to pick up the more vibrant sound. The Shure SM-57 is a dynamic microphone so it can handle the loud sound pressure levels and still give a nice recording

We recorded drums and grand piano at the same time so to get a better recording we decided to set up a headphone mix for both people that are playing to hear the click and hear each other. We had some difficulties during this stage because we hadn't set up the audio levels properly and lost some time. In the end we managed to set up both headphone mixes so both the drum player and the piano player could hear each other and the click. This meant we had a better recording because if the piano player can hear the drum kit and the click it is much easier for them to get the timing right and making a better recording.

In next weeks studio session we decided to record a synth brass. We set up a Shure SM-57 facing towards the amplifier on a high stand. We also set up another headphone mix so that the person playing the synth could hear the recordings and hear the people in the studio. We used the Shure SM-57 to record the amplifier because it is a dynamic microphone so it can pick up loud sounds without breaking where as the condenser microphone is more sensitive to loud sounds so it could potentially break.

Smart Targets

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-Bound

1) Ask Chloe if she could recommend me a book related to the music industry that I could read to improve my knowledge of the industry.

2) Produce 3 Tracks by the end of the year.

3) Remix the "Honey Haze" song I made by the end of January 2014.

4) Learn 3 new scales by the end of the year.

Microphones Assignment

1) Dynamic microphones do not require an external power source, are quite rugged and reliable because of their simple design. This would make a dynamic microphone quite useful during a live show because if a microphone falls off its stand or is accidentally dropped there is only a small chance of it breaking. Since the microphone does not require external power it could avoid any power problems that might happen if you used a microphone that had to use batteries or alternate power sources. Dynamic microphones are also the best at handling loud volumes which makes them useful in a live show because However because of the way they are built they have a low output level and don't have even frequency responses so this could affect the quality of the sound you are receiving during the show.

Condenser microphones are generally much more sensitive, meaning they have higher output levels, and also have a greater high frequency response so therefore in a studio environment you would be able to pick up the instrument or sound that your trying to record much more easily and accurately thanks to the better frequency response. However, they are quite delicate so you have to be much more careful with them, require an external power source and can be quite expensive.

Polar Patterns

2) Omnidirectional (Omni meaning all), Cardioid (heart shape) and bidirectional (figure of eight) are the three main polar patterns used for microphones.

Omnidirectional microphones capture sound from all directions equally. Omnidirectional microphones are generally used for such things as recording ambient noise, sounds coming from multiple locations at once or record moving sound while keeping the microphone placement the same.

This is a basic diagram of a omnidirectional microphone. It shows the position of the microphone and where it picks up sound the best.

Cardioid, or unidirectional, microphones capture sound from mainly one direction that the microphone is facing in but also capture some sound from the sides. Cardioid microphones are mainly used to capture a single, specific and focused sound with some natural ambiance or reverb. Cardioid microphones are usually the most common type of microphones because of the many ways you could use them.

This is a simple diagram of a cardioid microphone. The lines show from which direction the microphone picks up sound from. In this diagram we can see that this cardioid microphone picks up sound from mainly the front but also some side ambiance and reverb.

Bidirectional microphone capture sound from two sources and are generally used to capture a one to one interview or conversation.

This diagram shows how a bidirectional microphone picks up sound.

3) Dynamic microphones are generally built with a coil going around a magnetic rod covered by the diaphragm. When sound is picked up the coil vibrates with the magnet and makes an electrical current that carries the audio signal.
They are sturdy, reliable and least expensive. This makes this type of microphone most useful for general use such as simple vocal recordings or live sound performances since they last long and can take some accidental damage.