'Success'!

Northampton College contacted me to see if I was interested in appearing in an article on their website, as I have been successful throughout my education. I was happy to be involved and wanted to give their current music technology students an incentive to continue their higher education like I did. It was great to go back and see all the improvements they've made to the college, and meet up with my old teachers and let them know how I was getting on at University.

Here is the link to see the article:
http://m.northamptoncollege.ac.uk/Courses/full-time/146/musicsuccess.aspx

Showreel

I've finished my first attempt at a professional showreel. I'm pleased with how I've put it all together and think the music and imagery tie in well with each other. It's just a taster of film I'm pleased with so far, accompanied by a song that I mastered.  

Here it is!...

(Or alternatively, the Showreel can be viewed here.) 

To listen to other music I have recorded, produced and mastered please click here.

Soundcloud and Showreel

Over the past few months, I've been accumulating pieces that I have produced or worked on. This is a selection that I am most proud of and hope to show to prospective employers. 


Here is the link to listen http://soundcloud.com/emilyparish


I am also currently putting the finishing touches to my Showreel and Portfolio and hope to post examples of these ASAP.

Interactive DVD and ADR

This is a small extract taken from an Interactive DVD I created. The DVD was an instructional piece aimed at college A level students hoping to begin a career in the recording industry. 

I filmed the DVD, appeared as a presenter, recorded the ADR using ADR Studio and edited it all in to the footage. I also created the packaging for the DVD. I'm not entirely happy with the quality of this video, as it was taken from the DVD itself and needed to be converted, resulting in some compression. However, this is something I will know how to avoid in the future!

It's official...

Degree Show

The degree show was brilliant, to see what everybody in the faculty of technology had been producing was lovely! I was proud to be a part of it all and to have the chance to display everything I had been working so hard on for the past year. It was an important part of the graduation process for me, and I put a lot of care into the presentation of my product. 

It wasn't just a celebration of finishing my studies, but a chance to gain experience at networking with other people from the industry and talking at length about products I have created. During the show, someone bought one of my EP's, which I wasn't expecting, so that was a lovely surprise! I also met some great people that I have kept in touch with and will hopefully work with in the future. 

Recording Finished!

Finally the recordings are all finished and now I have plenty of time to mix before I have to press the CDs! The last recording session went better than all of the others, we managed to get one great take after one great take and I came home feeling very positive about the end result.


This meant that I had a final track list to give to Milli, the graphic designer, to work with ready for the CD stencils. Today, I have also ordered the CD sleeves ready for the designs to go on - can't wait!


CD Sleeves Website

 

During more research today I found this artist, Karizma, who has individually designed and printed each of his 500 vinyl covers. This has inspired me to continue on with my idea of unique packaging at the perfect time (as I had begun to have a few doubts about how realistic the idea was). I particularly love the part where he talks about how each individual cover is a little piece of him, and I believe that's what it should all be about as the music is so personal in itself. Well done Karizma! :) 

Also today.. I found these eco-friendly colourful sleeves - How exciting!

Sneak Preview...

Today was really eventful. I got a lot of footage filmed that I definitely want to use in my music video, and met with the graphic designer I am working with for the EP. I was concerned that my idea to spray paint individual CD's was too unrealistic due to the intricate nature of parts of the design, such as the font on the track list. Milli informed me that this would be easy to create in stencil form, which was a huge relief and now I can't wait to get making them on Wednesday night!

I've also been looking into CD pressing today, and I think the most realistic direction for me to go is to do it independently myself using the facilities in Uni. In the Institute of Creative Technologies (DMU) there is a Rimage CD/DVD printer that I can duplicate and print 50 CD's on, which is perfect for a project of this size because online, I have only been able to find large duplication packages of a 100 minimum. 

Also, today, a uni course mate promoted the Cub Facebook page through his label which has a large following of thousands and I had some interest from the States and even got a message of an artist who is interested in collaborating for my next EP - exciting stuff!

On Wednesday my plan is to call the packaging company that I am interested in buying my casing from and meeting with Eric to show him where things are at the moment and ask him some questions regarding the copyright legalities involved with the EP etc.

Always workin'!

Facebook...

It's hard to find an organisation that isn't connected to facebook through one way or another, which is why I decided it would be beneficial to do a lot of the networking and promoting concerning the label through a 'Cub' Facebook page.

Already through Facebook, I have managed to promote the label through Kevin Russel, who owns and runs an extremely popular and successful company called Mud. This is a collection of musicians and artists who gather to create a space where creativity is encouraged. I am very excited to have Kev and the gang on board and hope to help Mud in any way I can.

I have also alerted very useful contacts to my label through Facebook and just today was contacted by a student that I know from studying Music Technology in college. His dissertation involves many music industry related legalities and he is very interested in displaying his skills by working the label and advising me about the legalities it will involve.

Click here to be directed to the Cub Records Facebook page.

Video ideas so far...

Here are just a couple of preliminary ideas for the music video. The first three are to show the kind of footage I have planned to capture based on the first recording session, and the second three are images I would like to include in the video based on the lyrics of the song.

Recording: Day 2

Today was also really successful but also really fun as we were both more relaxed and confident after recording had gone so well yesterday. We decided to record a cover of a song we both really loved and had influenced our previous improvisations. Here's a link to the song - The Cinematic Orchestra - To build a home (Youtube)


I moved the room mic as I had planned to yesterday, but in this process, we also decided to change the position of the piano and have it facing the wall but with a lot of space for the sound to develop but close enough to the wall that there were not too many reflections. I listened to how the piano sounded with the top opened, and there were far too many squeaks and clicks from the mechanisms inside the piano, as the mic was very sensitive, even after I tried taking out some of the high end, so we kept the top on and it sounded great!

You can see the overhead mic here, plus the back of Mike's head and some studio junk!


After I got the piano take I was happiest with, we recorded the vocals using the 414 and a pop shield with Mike facing the wall, singing in a special area of the room that had been deadened for vocal recordings.


Today was a great day for footage for the music video too - watch this space!

Recording: Day 1

So finally I found an artist who I loved to hear play and was reliable, but also experienced enough that he had his own studio and knew all of the equipment well enough. Mike Sole, can play what seems like every instrument well, and we decided to start with an upright piano.


We pulled the piano out from the wall and placed it in a space where there was enough room around it for the sound to develop into something that sounded rich. I used a spaced pair of condensers set to cardioid (AKG C414's) placed about 2 feet away from the back of the piano with all board removed so no sound was dampened or lost in the piano, I wanted to make sure all of the strings were exposed. Then I used another condenser mic placed behind Mike's back at a distance diagonally, but would like to change this to above the piano with the top open in today's session.


We had a really successful session, recording a variety of different genres, including a ragtime piano track that I loved and a complete blues improvisation from Mike that we were both really happy with. This made recording a treat because he was so able to sit down and just record brilliant takes one after another, improving with each try.

Already, in one day, I gained so much practical and hands on experience that has been invaluable. I also gained a confidence in my skills and my judgement when it came to what needed to be done technically to get the best sound possible, with regards to microphone placements, etc. This was the first time I had been solely in charge of a session and as time went on, I became confident in what I believed to be a good recording.

Music Video

Ideas so far:

Studio footage
Real video not Animation
Close up of faces
Houses being built
Girl standing in a doorway of a house
Footage from a social place, like a pub
Hair blowing in the wind
People holding each other/hands
Dust being blown away to reveal a word (Possible reversed footage)
Trees
Girl against window on a moving train
Girl dancing

Someone walking from behind
 
Lyrics to inspire me...

There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills...
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust...
This is a place where I don't feel alone
This is a place where I feel at home...

Cause, I built a home
for you
for me

Until it disappeared
from me
from you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust...

Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree as old as me
Branches were sewn by the color of green
Ground had arose and passed it's knees

By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me......

Cause, I built a home
for you
for me

Until it disappeared
from me
from you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust........