We're Here For You

        Some of you may remember during August I spent some time in Langley doing some recording.  We recorded two songs written by one of the guys who attends Jam Night, Mark MacMillan.  Looking back after all I have learned so far in school I see the multitude of things I did wrong during the recording process. This was just because I had no idea about all the theory and stuff behind miking instruments.  There is this thing when using multiple microphones to record a single instrument, which we did on every instrument, called phase cancellation.  Phase cancellation happens when the sound pressure cause by the instrument reaches the microphones at different times.  This results in the signals interfering with each other when combined and affecting the sound in a negative way.  It can sound like the instrument has lost all it's bass frequencies or even almost cancel the sound out entirely depending on how far 'out of phase' the microphones are.  In other words...microphone placement can make or destroy your sound, it is of utmost importance.  Amazingly after learning of this important theory and checking our recordings I found that they were mostly 'in phase'.  There was hardly any phase cancellation at all and the sound we managed to capture is surprisingly good.  I'd say we were incredibly lucky...but I don't believe in luck.

       Anyways here is a very rough mix of one of the songs we recorded entitled 'We're Here For You'.  I've had precious little time to work on the songs over the past few months but they are coming along slowly.  This one has been fully edited and had a basic level and panning mix done to it, with almost no effects or equalization or compression...it is far from finished.  It is accompanied by some pictures of some gear we're using at school for your viewing pleasure.  Lead vocals and main acoustic guitar is Mark, background vocals and piano are Andrea (my cousin), second acoustic guitar is done by me, bass is done by Chris, drums are done by Jason, electric guitar is done by Luke, and violin is done by Jonathan.

Mid-Term...Two Months Till My Return

        So this past week I got all of my mid-term exams back and although I did not get the grades I aimed for I still did quite well.  My later exams I did not do as well on due to my brain getting burnt out halfway through 'hell week', I'll have to change up my study techniques for finals so it doesn't happen again.  My worst grade was 75% in Audio for Pictures which was disappointing.  After that I got 82% in Pro Tools, 88% in MIDI, 88% in Live Sound, 89% in Sound Design, 92% in Music Theory, 94% in Computers, 96% in Recording Technology, 98% in Digital Theory, 100% in Math (I know, crazy right?), and 102% in Acoustics.  That's all for an average of 91%, my goal was 95%, close.  However, all those marks don't mean squat unless I can apply them in projects and practical exams the rest of the semester, which I feel confident I can do well.  I'm not currently the top grade in my class...that'll change.

       Speaking of projects, we've started some big ones this past week that are pretty exciting for me.  One is recreating the sound for a scene from the movie Wishmaster 3 (it's a terrible B movie, if you're into those kinds of movies...Corey...you can check it out if you want, I warn you though, it is really terrible).  We edited the dialogue this past week, fixing mistakes and unwanted sounds recorded on set.  We also added in background noise/dialogue (referred to as Walla) for a classroom setting.  Over the next few weeks we'll be creating all the sound effects, footsteps, prop handling, etc... using foley recording (which is us physically creating and recording the sounds and adding them in).  Another project we've started is doing all the sound for a trailer for the game Limbo.  This one is pretty cool, we have to use the sound effects from the Disney sound effects library in order to create all the sound effects we need.  We also have to pick a song that will fit with the feel of the trailer and put it in at the appropriate time in the trailer.  Unfortunately due to copy write stuff I cannot post either of these on the internet so you'll all have to wait till I come home for Christmas to see them.  We'll be starting projects for Production and other courses as well in the coming weeks, that stuff I'll be able to post on here.

        So Production is a new course that's just started, taking the place of MIDI and Digital Theory.  It's being taught by a guy name Dean Nelson, and it's kind of ridiculous that this is the kind of guy I'm learning from.  Dean has worked at Ocean Studios in LA, Chalice Studios in Hollywood, and Ocean Way Studios on Sunset Boulevard.  He's worked on albums for the likes of Fallout Boy, Jimmy Eat World, Evanescence, Mary J. Blige, Panic at the Disco, Eric Clapton, Dashboard Confessional, and U2.  Most recently he was the personal engineer for Beck for several years.  He moved up here and started teaching once he had a kid with his wife and decided it was time to settle down a bit.  He still does recording for artists and often tells us in class what he did on the weekend, recently he's been recording for Buck 65.

        So that's pretty much all that's going on with me currently, I could go on and on about all the awesome stuff I'm learning...but I won't.  Miss you all and I'm looking forward to seeing you at Christmas!