Personal Development Plan 3

And now for the third and final entry of this academic year in my Personal Development Plan series. I'll be following the the same template as last time, so here goes...


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))
• Small amount of experience with analogue mixing desks (Neve Series 51)
• Worked with artists across a wide range of genres (acoustic, jazz, indie rock, alternative rock, grunge, surf rock, folk, ambient, hip-hop)
• Usage of different recording techniques (Glyn Johns, X-Y, Spaced Pair, Blumlein Pair, Mid-Side, Tchad Blake)
• Confident proficiency in playing both acoustic and electric drums.
• Confident proficiency in programming drums (especially through recording on electric drums).
• Competent proficiency in playing the keyboards.
• Competent proficiency in playing the bass guitar.
• Competent proficiency in playing the electric guitar
• Small amount of experience in live sound.
• Growing number of connections with local musicians.

Weaknesses

• Unemployed.
• Lack of a recording interface at home.
• Lack of monitor speakers.

My desired state

Still to achieve the BA (Hons) degree in Music Production; it's been a tough first year, but I'm done, and now to look forward to September, when it all happens again. Still want to put together my own home recording studio, and a high-end acoustic drum kit is still on the mind, although not as much now, as I recently bought myself an Alesis DM10 Studio e-kit. It cost quite a bit, but it came with all the drum heads upgraded to mesh heads, so it'll hopefully withstand my antics. I've also bought myself a Sonor double bass pedal for the kit, so that I can learn to play double bass properly and then widen my musical skills. Still working on my guitar and bass skills as well; Rocksmith has done so much more for me the space of seven months than three years of online lessons and self-teaching. And still looking at the dream studio to work in. And something not really music-related; I'm hoping to get my full driving license during this summer, so I've got a little short-term goal to work towards. No plans for a car of my own yet though. I can't afford one, and even if I could buy one of my own, I wouldn't be able to afford the extortionate insurance. More importantly, I'm waiting for the prices of current electric cars to go down, as that'd be much cheaper to run than an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car.


How to get it

Well, the first year of the degree is out of the way now. Actually, slight correction: it will be when I get my marks back from the last four assignments. For now though, I can relax until September. Apart from the driving tests, that is. Anyway, just two academic years to go now. As for everything else (drums, home studio, etc.), it all still requires loadsamoney. During the summer, I'll also be on the hunt for jobs. The uni assignments kept me so preoccupied that I wasn't able to continuously search, but now I can for the next few months. Obviously, to keep a potential job getting in the way of my next year in the degree, it'll have to be a part-time job, so I'll search purely for that from the get-go. Another thing I'll need to get all this is luck. Let's hope Lady Luck smiles on me this year...