A/V - The Interactions Between Live Sound and Visuals - Part 1, VJing

A/V - The Interactions Between Live Sound and Visuals

Part 1 - VJing

A key component of live music performance is not only what we hear, but also what we see. While my studies mainly focus on sound, I find the interactions between the sonic and visual elements of live music events to be interesting and enjoyable. During my time at The Forum Hertfordshire I have had heavy involvement with the visual elements involved in live performance and events - mainly through lighting and LED screens. It certainly took some time to develop a proficiency with both these elements to the point where I could quickly respond to sonic or visual cues so that all systems work together in an organic fashion.

VJing is the process of mixing still images and moving videos together with sound in a live context, utilising effects and techniques to synchronise the video and in interesting ways. I'd been taught at The Forum how to use VJ software Resolume Arena 5, which works well as a VJ tool for me. One of the main things I like about Resolume is the ability to map and use MIDI control surfaces, which I have incorporated through an Akai APC 20 and my own personal control map and button functions.

As a general rule, I consider it important to have awareness of other industry standards and their uses and benefits. I asked my managers of alternative softwares, who pointed me in the direction of VJ softwares MadMapper and VDMX. These work in similar fashion, although they are less common and operate under different interfaces.

After a while, I found my VJ elements to be a little static and bland, and begun looking into ways of making it more involved. While I was taught the basic operation of Resolume, I have developed a habit of reading through manuals to learn about new possibilities, as well as to solve problems that I come across. I decided to downloaded the trial version of Resolume to try out things on my own under my own time and control of not being in front of an audience.

I was aware that The University of Hertfordshire Audio Technician, Richard Newby, has a strong background in live visuals and Resolume Arena. I asked him if he'd had any tips, and he told me about the Audio FFT function to control parameters. I took an auxiliary copy send of the DJ mix from the Yamaha M7CL desk and plugged it into the mic input of the computer. I then set the logo image opacity parameter control to Audio FFT. From here, I filtered the input values to correspond to the bass frequencies of the kick drum, so the logo pulsed in brightness in beat with the music. I used this technique during the live performances of Katy B, DJ EZ and DJ Lord (Public Enemy), which was met with positive response.

Learning how to understand and utilise Resolume's features was really a series of trial and error, which was guided by using manuals, speaking to other VJ's and observing other VJ work at concerts and online videos.

The Recordings of the Beatles

The Recordings of The Beatles

I, amongst many others, have found huge inspiration through listening to the Beatles. I first remember hearing Revolver in my dads car when he would take my brother to football practise. Years later I decided to listen through the Beatles discography and it all came flooding back and I still remembered the way the songs after all those years, which was part of the influence for my 'nostalgia' source analysis task.

The rich production George Martin brought to The Beatles completed the equation, forming the sonic quality that remains hugely popular to this day - as the recent release of The Beatles discography onto streaming services shows. I believe listeners respect and appreciate the art that music producers, (both modern and older) create, and want to know about the influences and production methods that went into the process. This is part of the reason I wish to incorporate, or at least convincingly emulate, some of the production techniques that were employed by Martin and the team at Abbey Road studios over the 60's. I've found Mark Lewisohn's 'The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions' to be a great resource in detailing the specific equipment, ideas and methodology involved with the Beatles recording sessions. One of Martins quotes' which resonates with me is "creativity exists through limitation". I find I work well to a given brief, where I have to be resourceful to overcome the limitations given to me.

Bibliogaphy

Lewisohn, M. (2013) 'The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions' London: Octopus Publishing.

The Guardian (2015) Here, There and Everywhere: Beatles Songs to be Streamed for First Time [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/23/beatles-back-catalogue-music-streaming-spotify-apple-music [Accessed on 23/12/2015]

Live Sound - UH Staff Party Part 2 - The Delivery

Live Sound Part 2 - The Delivery

On the day of the UH Staff Party at the Forum, I arrived a few hours early to prepare the stage and desk to ensure a smooth soundcheck for artists. I set the channels according to the list I'd been given and made some notes on how I'd set certain parameters to make things easier for me.

During the first soundcheck (melodeon, violin and vox), I was told by the melodeon player that a common mix technique is to cut some of the frequencies around 400 Hz to remove the 'plastic-y' rattle sound the buttons make as he plays. As I removed this effect, I immediately noticed a difference in quality and clarity of the instrument, which changed my thought process and approach on mixing in favour of the idea of:

Cut problem frequencies to correct issues -> Boost frequencies which bring out good qualities

The rest of soundchecks ran smoothly bar the acoustic guitar in one of the acts. I was receiving very low signal from one of the guitars, so changed an XLR and DI box over to determine if they were the problem. I asked the guitarist wether the volume was all the way up his end, which he told me it was. We left it at that and I cranked up the gain quite high my end, which was a bad move as later in their performance the guitarist went to mute the guitar and a loud, unpleasant feedback screech occurred. It turned out he hadn't turned the volume up his end, but turned it all the way up at the end of their performance. The lesson I learned there was to trust my gut instinct when something goes wrong.

There was also a couple of times where a light feedback rung out from where I'd sent the monitor mix too loud. I see these mistakes as steps towards success, with the knowledge that I've learnt from what went wrong and how to correct it in the future.

Overall, I believe the night was a success and a personal achievement for me - a time where experience met preparation. I look forward to doing similar work in the future.

Live Sound - UH Staff Party Part 1 - Preperation

Live Sound
UH Staff Party Part 1 - Preperation

My responsibilities have increased over my time as venue technician at The Forum. In terms of live sound, our club nights and guest PA's usually consist of the same technical specification - a stereo DJ mix and up to 4 wireless microphones. This changed a little this year however, as we made a contract with a church based in St Albans to host their Sunday mass at our venue with full worship band. This has proved to be more involved on the sound desk, which is an Allen and Heath QU-32. For the worship band, I now provide the musicians with separate monitor mixes and, although we run from a pre-mixed band mix preset, I make slight changes to the mix depending on songs, instrumentation etc. While this has been a great opportunity to learn and develop my live sound proficiency, I felt I lacked experience in mixing a band from scratch.

I was delighted to be given the responsibility of being the sound engineer for The University of Hertfordshire staff party, during which I was presented with the opportunity to setup, sound check and mix 3 acoustic jazz ensembles in a professional context. I felt some pressure in this environment to ensure this a smooth and professional a process as possible for everyone involved, so took it upon myself to research and plan exactly how I was going to complete this.

I was sent over the above technical specification sheet (above), which details the expected instrumentation, channel listing and suggested microphones. Besides vocals and guitars, I've not had experience mic'ing any of the other instruments before. I was told in advance that the melodeon and violin players would be bringing their own clip-on microphones, so I decided to spend my time researching how I was going to mic up the flute and double bass.

I found an article on live acoustic microphone approaches to be very helpful in providing microphone positioning advice with solid reasoning. I also found some very helpful video tutorials detailing microphone choices and explanations. Between these two sources, I decided that I would use an SM58 just above the flute blowhole and an SM58 pointed at the front left of the double bass body.

Bibliography

Pro Sound Web (2015) A Beautiful Sonic Treat - Microphone Approaches for Acoustic Performances [Online] Available 

at: http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/a_beautiful_sonic_treat_microphone_approaches_for_acoustic_performances/studyhall/P1/ [Accessed on 12/12/2015]

Lynda (2012) Audio recording tutorial: Miking an acoustic bass technique 1 [Online] Available at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSqbIqk6E_g [Accessed on 12/12/2015]

Klee D. (2013) How to Mic a Flute for Live Performance [Online] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RpOTO2WMwg [Accessed on 12/12/2015]

Function Bands & Research

Function Bands & Research

Over the years I've been involved with many original bands and artists as a bass guitarist. This has involved me composing whole tracks, or solely bass parts, which I've performed often for free or for little money. While composing, recording and performing our own material around clubs, venues, and even at one point - an arena, has been great fun, the truth is we never really saw much payment for it, and as I've moved into territory where rent and bills stack, these gigs become a bit of a labor of love. Jams with musicians have turned into "will you play with my band at a pub next weekend, it's unpaid but good exposure!", and I've sadly had to turn down a few, with my thoughts geared more towards performing and being able to pay the bills.

A good friend of mine, Chris Cant was offered a paid wedding gig performing covers. Seeing a close friend do this inspired me to look into the possibility of starting my own function band.

My idea is to combine my love for 60's/70's music with live performance, offering package deals with PA and lights for weddings and corporate events. I soon found that playing strictly 60's/70's music appears to be a setback, as observing successful party band setlists, I can see that they play a variety of material. I can however see this setup such as this working at some events, it appears that this would soon become a limiting factor as Ollie Thomas of successful function group The Zuzu Men explains:

"If you limit the styles you play then you're potentially limiting the number of gigs you're going to get"

I continued my research of function bands through observing the standard practises, and speaking in person to members of existing, established groups. I quickly discovered that starting a running a functioning band requires a lot of investment in both time and money. The bassist from a successful function group (which unfortunately I've forgotten the name of now!) which performed at the EasyJet 20th anniversary party informed me that the group had been running for roughly 25 years, and had seen several different members of it's time. Session bassist Samer Sharawi explained to me some of the different function group work from party bands, to cruise ship work and wedding bands. He explained that there is a lot of competition, though in his words "there are a lot of wedding bands...but there are a lot of weddings".

With these challenges in mind, I decided to make a rough plan detailing some of the costs I should expect along the way. Looking into logo design I found a cheap website Fiver.com, which I may use to have a logo designed.

With these risks in consideration, my plan is to take things a step at a time. Ideally I'd like to join an existing function band and learn as much and gain as many contacts as possible. Until then, I will begin to record cover material in my own time and set the wheels in motion for the launch my own group: Sunflower Safari.

Bibliography

Music Radar (2013)  How to Start a Function Band [Online] Available at: http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/guitars/how-to-start-a-function-band-606325 [Accessed on 12/11/2015]

Vintage Compressors

Vintage Compressors

I am a huge fan of Soul, Motown and Funk music of the 1960's and 1970's and have tried my best to emulate some of the sonic characteristics of these recordings in my own work. While researching methods of emulating these characteristics, the role of dynamic range compressors cropped up again and again as a large player in the 'vintage' aesthetic. Phil Spector's wall of sound technique is famously recognisable as a thick, lively sound crafted through the use of layering and analogue compression.

The Vulf Compressor

A band I follow and admire is funk-rhythm group Vulfpeck, of whom I'd been hugely impressed by how good their drums and bass timbres sound, particularly on tracks such as It Gets Funkier. I'd trawled through forums and interviews they'd done trying to find out how they'd achieved this sound. When I saw that Vulfpeck were releasing a software compression plug-in in late 2014, I was curious to get my hands on and analyse the effectiveness of it on my own mixes.

After receiving an assignment brief to write an essay on a piece of 'cutting-edge' technology I find interesting, I chose to use this opportunity to write about the Vulf Compressor; it's features, mechanics, inspirations and uses. I'd downloaded a free trial and compared it with other compressors, such as the Logic Pro Compressor (with Vintage Circuit emulation) and the outboard hardware compressor the Drawmer Mercenary 1968, drawing my own comparisons and conclusions. In the end, I found the Vulf Compressors approach to compression to be fairly intuitive, although applying it's own distinct colour to the sound. While this is useful as an extreme effect, I found the Vulf Compressor to lack in the subtlety of the alternative vintage compressors, working more effectively when used in consideration.

Bibliography

Vulfpeck (2011) It Gets Funkier [CD]. Vulf Records.

Stratton J. (2014) VULF COMPRESSOR /// DEMO 001 [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6D9WvwMNr8[Accessed on 1/12/2015]

The Recurrence of 60's/70's Influences in Top 10 Pop Chart Music

The Recurrence of 60's/70's Influences in Top 10 Pop Chart Music

One of the things I've reflected on when I've listened to the radio is the strong influence of music from other generations. As I've mentioned previously, I'm a big fan of music from the 60's and 70's, and it's been refreshing to see elements drawn from this era heard on music reaching the Top 10.

To name only a few recent examples;

• Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass [2014] (50's Rock 'n Roll instrumentation and guitar riffs)
• Pharrell Williams - Happy [2013] (Strong 60's Northern Soul influence)
• Bruno Mars - Treasure/Uptown Funk [2014] (Bass driven 70's Disco & Funk style)

I believe these influences come from a period where the majority of music is remembered in a positive, nostalgic light. Even artists which may once have been viewed in a less credible light - perhaps as one would view as a 'sell out' pop band, are now gaining integrity through respectable sonic referencing. It feels like emulating period/genre tropes and production aesthetics inspired by music from this era gains instant respect - even a track such as Pharell's Blurred Lines, with it's controversial subject matter and Motown inspired beat earned a hugely popular radio spot.

This trend is one that I've found really interesting, and has inspired me to research further into, co-inciding well with my appointed coursework task of analysing 10 bibliographic sources. I've taken this opportunity to dig deeper, exploring this observation from a psychological, social and economical stance - ultimately concluding the idea of 'nostalgia' as the driving force behind the instant esteem of these records.

Locating sources for this task proved to be a bit of a challenge at first. Through trial and error of different keywords combinations using services such as Google Scholar and Athens, I was still not finding many texts which confronted the trend of older influences in the charts. At this point I decided to narrow my search down to the subject of nostalgia in music, which brought me to more texts, which addressed this idea from several stances at different levels of context and professionalism.

Bibliography

Trainor M. (2013) All About That Bass [CD]. Epic Records.

Williams P. (2014) IHappy [CD]. Back Lot Music Records/i Am Other Records/Capitol Records.

Mars B. (2014) Treasure [CD]. Atlantic Records.

Ronson M., Mars B. (2014) Uptown Funk [CD]. RCA Records.

Thicke R., Harris C. J., Williams P., Gaye M.,  (2013) Blurred Lines [CD]. Star Trak Records/Interscope Records.

The Potential of Social Media as a Freelance Musician.

The Potential of Social Media as a Freelance Musician.

Over the 10 years I have been learning to play the bass guitar, I have frequently used YouTube as a valuable educational resource. Where I began to develop as a freelance musician, I begun to see YouTube as a promotional resource and closely monitored the activities of other musicians who have achieved a successful reach through YouTube. Two examples are Miki Santamaria and Davie504. As their following grew, they both developed enormous influence in bass guitarist communities which is doubtlessly beneficial towards their reputation and integrity.

Since November 2014 I've been uploading YouTube videos of myself performing 'covers' and original tracks on the bass guitar. Around the same time I also organised a photo shoot and designed a logo in an effort to label myself as a kind of brand that helps me appeal as a 'product', which other artists and musical directors would want to work with. I'd seen a lot of musician job applications online which required footage of the applicant playing. By making these videos, I am able to show my appearance, ability and standard across a variety of genres. In addition, I also put together a portfolio showreel of videos uploaded by myself and other people in different environments and contexts, showing my versatility as a musician.

I aim to continue making videos where I have time, maintaining my quality improvement ethic. While my view count is not huge, I still find YouTube a valuable tool that crosses the the border between hobby and promotional device.

Bibliography

Santamaria, M. (2015) Miki Santamaria Bass Guitarist [Online] Available at: http://www.mikisantamaria.com/ [Accessed on 25/11/2015]

Davie 504 (2015) Davie504 Facebook Page [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/Davie504/ [Accessed on 25/11/2015]

My Links:
Facebook www.facebook.com/c.parkerbass
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPd3KlyW2mYzjgj6eloBWnA
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cparkerpark/
Twitter https://twitter.com/Cparkerpark

Designing an Effective Musician Portfolio

Designing an Effective Musician Portfolio

Back in February 2014 I made a portfolio of my bass playing credentials to share on my social media platforms as a promotional tool for anyone who looks through my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages. I also considered it important to have a portfolio ready in case any potential employer wants to see it, perhaps in a time sensitive case. A colleague recently got in touch with me about the manager of a function orchestral group he is in touch with, and asked me to send over a portfolio in the coming days. I decided this point is a good opportunity to update my portfolio.

Below is my original portfolio (Feb 2014)...

... and here is my updated portfolio (Nov 2015).

I imagine Musical Directors may look through a lot of potential application portfolios in a day, and I felt my previous portfolio to be too cluttered. I decided to simplify the information down into small chunks of text that describe myself and my credentials. I found it challenging locating relevant information on portfolio design in my context - I researched guides on musician portfolios, but found the information to be directed more towards those who are classically trained and attended music schools.

I found the greatest inspiration to be through other peoples portfolios, which is where I came across the QR code idea. I used an online service to create my QR code, which one can scan to take you to a showreel playlist of videos of my bass playing in different environments. I think this is a great idea, I imagine a person of interest would be more likely to view my work through this, as it is a little different from the norm. Most of my session bass work has been through word of mouth, but I believe it to be important to have an updated portfolio ready to send to persons of interest, as is commonplace in the industry.

The QR Code Link:

Chris Parker Bass Portfolio Showreel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5OMsnSfUUw&list=PL8joqBtMZjC6qHOwTOMO5FEHo6RxkgBvs