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.

Freelance - Self Employed

Define Self-Employed (Freelance Work)

Self-Employed work means that you work for yourself and earn your living by running your own business or doing work for someone to get payed for your services instead of getting a certain wage by the company or business that has employed you. People who are self-employed earn their income by either doing a service, to then be payed directly, or by running a business. Being self-employed also means that you have to declare your income revenue to the government, paying tax on it and paying for your national insurance by yourself. If you are self employed you have no boss and you pick how many hours you work so if you're not putting in many work hours, you won't make much money.

Define Specific Income

As an example let's say I am a music producer and technician. I can produce music tracks, beats and I also have considerable piano skills. To earn an income I could provide services such as helping with setting up equipment in a studio, producing tracks for other people, producing beats or doing session plays. With these services I could charge different amounts of money for each of them. If I do a small gig and earn £300 from cash in hand, legally, I'd have to declare it but a lot of the time people don't because they don't have to pay tax on it.

If I come in to do a session recording I could have a certain amount per hour or an already arranged amount for the session.
There are a lot of ways in which you could potentially earn money from in the music industry but, more often then not, they don't earn too much which means you have to end up doing a lot more work.

Assess Income Tax Considerations

At the end of each tax year you have to declare your income and pay tax on it.
The tax rates are as follows:

Rate	2012 to 2013 tax year	2013 to 2014 tax year
Basic rate 20%	£0 to £34,370	£0 to £32,010
Higher rate 40%	£34,371 to £150,000	£32,011 to £150,000
Additional rate 50% (45% from 6 April 2013)	Over £150,000	Over £150,000

(Source: https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/how-much-national-insurance-you-pay )

Let's say I've earned £34,642 this tax year. I have to pay 20% tax on everything up to £32,010 and then pay higher rate 40% tax on the rest of it from £32,011 to £150,000.
However, there is also a personal allowance that I am allowed to have that is tax free meaning I get to keep a certain amount without having it taxed. The personal allowance for this tax year is £9,440.

Without Tax Deductible

Basic Rate 20% Tax

32,010 - £9,440 (Personal allowance)
= £22,570 = How much I need to tax.

22,570 x 0.2 (20%)
= £4,514  (20% Tax) How much tax I need to pay.

22,570 - 4,514
= £18,056  My earnings after doing basic rate tax.

Higher Rate 40% Tax

34,642 - 32,010 (Already taxed amount)
= £2,632 How much I need to tax.

2,632 x 0.4 (40%)
= £1,052.80 (40% Tax) How much tax I need to pay.

2632 - 1052.80
= £1,579.20 My income after doing higher rate tax.

Total Tax =  £5,566
Total Income = £19,635.20

With Tax Deductible

When calculating tax there are certain things that you can count as tax deductible that reduce your profit meaning you pay less tax. This means that you get to buy certain things that count towards your work or business which reduces your initial profit but you get to use the services and the products. If you don't use tax deductibles then you're earning a bit more but you still buy those products and pay tax on top of them again meaning you lose more money later. These are the things that can count towards being tax deductible: cost of stock, payroll costs, premises costs, repairs, motor and travel expenses, finance costs, administration costs, professional fees.

Basic Rate 20% Tax

32,010 - 12,958 (£9,440 Personal allowance + £3,518 Tax deductible)
= £19,052 How much I need to tax.

19,052 x 0.2 (20%)
= 3,810.4 (20% Tax)  How much tax I need to pay.

19,052 - 3,810.4
= £15,241.6 My income after doing basic rate tax.

Higher Rate 40% Tax

34,642 - 32,010 (Already taxed amount)
= £2,632 How much I need to tax.

2632 x 0.4 (40%)
= £1,052.80 (40% Tax) How much tax I need to pay.

2632 - 1052.80
= £1,579.20 My income after doing higher rate tax.

Total Tax = £4863.20
Total Income = £16,820.8

Profit - Before tax
Income - After tax

National Insurance

Everyone who is self employed has to pay their own national insurance. If you are employed your national insurance gets done for you. Its £2.70 a week for national insurance.

£2.70 x 52 = £140.40 per year.

34,642 - 7,755
= £26,887 x 0.09 (9%) = £2419.83 National Insurance

This chart shows how much national insurance you need to pay depending on how much you earn. Because I go under the £7,755 - £41,450 band I only pay 9% of my profits as national insurance.

Annual profits	Class 2	Class 4
Up to £5,725	£0 but only if you get an exception	£0
£5,725 - £7,755	£2.70 a week	£0
£7,755 - £41,450	£2.70 a week	9% of profits
More than £41,450	£2.70 a week	9% of profits up to £41,450 and 2% over that amount

An example of an invoice

An invoice is a receipt for a service. An invoice is used to show proof of a transaction and as a request of money for a service. If I use someones studio for 4 hours at the rate of £100 per hour I would ask for them to invoice me so I can pay them.

On an invoice you'd have: the service that you've used or provided, what kind of service it was (e.g. Studio Work, Musical Performance), the units for it to show how many hours you've done or used, rate (per hour, per day), total, dates, contacts and bank details.
Here is an example of very simple invoice. 
There is a small problem with this invoice because it doesn't contain contact information other than the address which could cause issues if there was any sort of problem with the payment.

Professionalism

Being professional in the industry is a very important thing.
You need to present yourself well and make sure you keep good relations and contacts with people that have skills in different parts of the industry. If you keep a nice relation with the people that you've worked with they might come back again and you'll get more money for it.  If you are late, don't mean your deadlines and don't do the work  then people would remember you as a non-professional worker. You need to make sure your invoices contain the correct information for others and that you pay them in time too. You need to present yourself as a professional when working with people by just following completely basic things that make you appear as a nice person to work with. It is very valuable to have friendly and close contacts in the industry because both people will benefit from the work that is being put in. If you don't have trust worthy, friendly or close contacts in the music industry then you won't get very far because your choices would be limited.

If I am earning most of my profit from DJing in 5 years time then I need to make sure I maintain a certain standard of professionalism. If I don't then I won't get hired for clubs because who needs a lazy, always late or rude worker? If I want to have food on the table I need to make sure to get my invoices on time, my sets are done to a professional standard that is worth the pay that I'm getting and that my simple manners are up to scratch. This would increase my chance of getting future events at a certain venue or club and possibly get me to know people that I could rely on or could rely on me for future work. If you get to know people well enough you could eventually work for, or with, them with favours because you don't always have the cash in hand to do the job.
Sometimes problems happen that you can't control. If you get sick and aren't physically able to get to your event, club or venue then instead of just phoning in to say that you're unable to do the job you might happen to know someone who knows the set that you're playing or can do the same job that you do. This makes you seem more professional, brings your friend more work and most importantly your customer gets what they needed. If you just say you're ill and are unable to do anything about it then you won't get recommended by that venue, club or people who wanted you to be there meaning you lose out on work.

Another important part of being professional is taking care of your finances appropriately.
You won't always get a lot of money every year. Sometimes you might have not had enough work and therefore haven't earned as much. What do you do? If you haven't saved anything where do you go? You might end up in debt to someone for a while which could stop you from getting work done and put pressure on you that could have been avoided.
If after every gig, event and club performance you do you put 20% of it into an extra saving account you will always have a good ammount of spare money that you could use in an emergency sittuation. Invoice the people that you've done work for and make them pay you in time otherwise if you ask in a months time they would have either forgoten it or simply refused to do so.