Tuesday 19 February 2013

Personal Development Plan 2

Time for the second in the ongoing series that is my Personal Development Plan. The previous one I did was the first time I tried this, so it wasn't that good. I'll see if I can do a better job this time around following this template...


My current state

Strengths

  • Experience with various studio environments and control surfaces/mixing desks (Avid D-Command, Avid C24, KORG nanoKONTROL 2, Behringer Eurorack MX3242X, Behringer DDX3216, Allen & Heath ZED-R16))
  • Recorded artists across a wide range of genres (acoustic, jazz, indie rock, alternative rock, grunge, surf rock, folk)
  • Usage of different recording techniques (Glyn Johns, X-Y, Spaced Pair, Blumlein Pair, Mid-Side, Tchad Blake, etc.)
  • Fairly high proficiency in playing the drums.
  • Competent proficiency in programming drums.
  • Competent proficiency in playing the keyboards and bass guitar.
  • Small amount of experience in live sound.
  • Growing proficiency in playing the electric guitar, thanks to playing Rocksmith.


Weaknesses

  • Inexperience with analog studio recording environments.
  • Lack of connections with local musicians.
  • Lack of a competent home recording studio.
  • Unemployed.


My desired state

Pretty much the same as last time; achieve the BA (Hons) degree in Music Production, get my own professional-grade recording studio at home (in the garage), a high-end drum kit, but not an electric guitar of my own now; my dad seems to have forgotten about the guitar all together, so I've pretty much commandeered it. I'm getting better at playing it now, thanks to the game Rocksmith. It's also helping me with the bass too, but I'm obviously concentrating on the guitar, as that's where I most need improving. Still would love to work at a high-end studio too.


How to get it

No change with the degree; keep calm and carry on. I'm making it through the first year. Just need to hope the second year won't be much harder, otherwise I might be in trouble. Drums, still need money for those. And for the home studio. A lot of money. Getting a job will help there, as I'm planning to continue living with my parents for the foreseeable future. If I have enough saved up by the end of the third year of the course (which will be around June 2015), I might be able to move to another city and start making a name for myself in the studio.

Monday 4 February 2013

"And another one gone..."

I managed to help out a fellow student in my group today. Olly needed to record a drummer for one of our projects, and I was more than happy to oblige. He chose to cover "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen; a legendary song that is thankfully also easy to play on the drums, so it was well within my comfort zone. He'd already recorded the bass, so I played along to that and a click track. Nice and simple. And now to work on my song for the same project. I recorded another student in my group called Ben, playing one of his original songs. He's played acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass. I'll be doing the drums, and mixing it all together.