6MU017 "Career Prep" - Site work Day 9

Monday 29/6/2015
Site: Studio 21:05
Supervisor: JD Wong
Working hours: 7pm - 1am (6 hours)

Foreword: Consultations

Timeline:

7pm - Reported to work, briefed on today's consultation job

8pm - Went over to Paranormal Studios with supervisor to oversee set-up and recording of artist Narmi in new studio

8:30pm - Observed set-up and recording session, assisted in set-up and session prep

1am - Dismissed

Reflection: 

Today is an outlier in that my supervisor doesn't usually do consultations. I suppose it is my luck to be able to observe him working as a consultant to a relative new studio set-up, as I too get the benefit of learning the ground-works.

The session was in Logic X, which was more familiar to me as opposed to my supervisor, glad to say I managed to assist better today than I usually would back in the studio.

The artist today was Narmi and his band, we did a live recording in a medium sized room, surprisingly good room sound given that it wasn't fully treated yet.

Once again efficiency proved vital in sessions like these.

6MU017 "Career Prep" - Site work Day 8

Friday 26/6/2015
Site: Studio 21:05
Supervisor: JD Wong
Working hours: 4pm - 8am (4 hours)

Foreword: Observations

Timeline:
 

4pm - Reported to work, observe mixing session by supervisor

5pm - Observe mix review between band and supervisor

8pm - Dismiss

 

Reflection:

Straightforward day to be honest, mostly observational. If anything useful today, learnt a bit of tips and tricks on how to present a mix to a client, the nuances and in-betweens of etiquette and communicating.

6MU017 "Career Prep" - Site work Day 7

Tuesday 23/6/2015
Site: Studio 21:05
Supervisor: JD Wong
Working hours: 7pm - 12am (5 hours)

Foreword: String quartet in the studio yo!

Timeline:

7pm - Reported to work, began mix session prep work on upcoming Hari Raya song.

10pm - Set up mics and stands for recording session for string quartet

11pm - Tweaked studio set up to optimise for the players

12am - Dismiss

Reflection:

Today was pretty interesting, as I manage to observe some miking techniques used for string instruments. The process of setting up the studio for the quartet was a little more intensive than I expected, mic stands and cables were easily cluttered due to the not-so-big workspace.

Pity I didn't get to stay for the whole session, had to leave before the recording started, as I needed to go back and continue my college projects of which submissions are the following day.

6MU017 "Career Prep" - Site work Day 6

Friday 19/6/2015
Site: Studio 21:05
Supervisor: JD Wong
Working hours: 1pm - 8pm (7 hours)

Foreword: More mixing prep work

Timeline:

1pm - Reported to work, observe mixing session by supervisor, track by various artist.

3pm - Prep mix session from Lim Kok Wing students.

8pm - Dismiss

Reflection:
Did more prep work and observation today, manage to pick up a few new approaches to mixing for multiple vocal tracks from supervisor.

Also polished my editing speed today on Cubase.

6MU017 "Career Prep" - Site work Day 5

Thursday 18/6/2015
Site: Studio 21:05
Supervisor: JD Wong
Working hours: 1pm - 8pm (7 hours)

Foreword: Studio maintenance day.

Timeline:

1pm - Reported to work, briefing on maintenance work schedule for the day

1:30pm - Install new cable ties on studio XLR and 1/4" jack cables

2pm - Cleaned most of the studio cable contacts with contact cleaner

4pm - Re-patched all cables after drying

4:30pm - Dust away mix console

5pm - Observe mixing session by supervisor, song by artist "Aina"

8pm - Dismiss

Reflection:

The studio's annual maintenance day happened to be today, thus I got the opportunity to have a taste of the inner workings and patching of this studio, which I sorely needed as I failed to fully comprehend the full signal chain during the 1st briefing.

After cleaning through all the cable contact point, I had the challenge of recalling all the original patch work and restoring it.

Remainder of the day was spent on observing my supervisor running a mix session from the day before. Managed to pick up some new mix techniques, but also made me realise how inadequate my own techniques are.

6MU017 "Career Prep" - Site work Day 4

Tuesday 16/6/2015
Site: Studio 21:05
Supervisor: JD Wong
Working hours: 1pm - 12am (11 hours)

Foreword: First try on working hands on as a recording engineer during a session.

Timeline:

1pm - Reported to work, jumped straight into mixing prep work.

4pm - Assist drum recording session for local artist "Dafi"

7pm -Assist bass recording session for local artist "Dafi"

12am - Dismiss

Reflection:

First time working the full shift after approximately 2 weeks of hiatus (Due to supervisor being abroad). Was rather taxing on my studio knowledge and versatility, being asked by my supervisor to helm the session today without much prep prior to today, considering also the fact that I am still relatively new to the Cubase 8 DAW, meant that I had a rather interesting day having need to learn on the fly and also consult my supervisor several times (much to my embarrassment) halfway during recording.

But today I also realise an important part of the studio recording process between engineer, producer and sessionist. Communication, positive communication, is greatly needed, and considering that my supervisor's major client base is Malay, placed me in a spot where I get often tongue tied.

All in all, today I begin to understand the subtle nuances that makes or breaks a good engineer.

6MU013 - Graduation Portfolio Journal 1

Wednesday 11/6/2015
Site: Titiwangsa Sentral
Agenda: 1st discussion with Curry, Okay? core band members

Foreword: For my graduation portfolio, I will be producing an Extended Play (EP) for local band Curry, Okay? and will be writing down the ins and outs of the process from pre to post production

Reflection:


Began the discussion with core members Jo Wong, Sin Weng and Walter to define the roles they will be playing the production, mainly the individual job scopes they will be partaking in this project, namely song writing and arranging roles.

Moved on to create a tentative schedule for the duration of this 2 months on how to pace out the recording sessions. Decided to approach song writing in traditional jam session arrangements before finalising onto a sequenced demo before recording.

Wrapped up discussion with members sharing their ideas on what atmospheres and sound qualities they hope to go for by sharing their favourite tunes and/or albums that they wish to emulate or aspire to resonate with.

The challenge was to stay focused in discussion, in part due to my character failing to spearhead a discussion, ending up swaying towards any spontaneous non-related discussions. Note to self is to improve on focus and not let spontaneity take over.