TO BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER
The purpose of this portfolio is to showcase my employability as live engineer using work that I have gathered over the past 3 years of college education. This will involve creating a written record of my work, including recordings, examples and descriptions of previous live work and excerpts from submissions from all the core units of the course. This will also result in a presentation that is designed to work like a job interview, where I will present my work and answer questions from a panel.
First thing to do is assess my strengths and weaknesses, as can be seen in this SWOT Analysis.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths Effective problem solver Forward Thinker Good at working with people Can articulate ideas in an easy to understand manner Good knowledge of how sound systems work, able to adapt
Weaknesses Lack of experience Can lose focus Struggle to put myself "out there" Can panic under extreme stress Struggle with motivation
Opportunities Come from college with a strong name Strong local music scene to find work in Booming creative industries Contacts with current touring engineers Many places offer shadowing opportunities
Threats Graduating with others with the same qualifications Many places work only with friends, struggle to break in Extreme oversaturation of the market with engineers Technology makes the job easier, less qualified people can fill jobs
As you can see from the above analysis, I have many of the abilities that really benefit those who work in the live sound industry. However as with all people. The analysis also shows the weaknesses that I feel I have, these are things I am working on eliminating and I develop more experience in the field. There is also several things that I believe are opportunities to help me get work, as well some issues I feel might a threat to my ability to find work.
I aim to set the following targets:
Meet and develop relationships within the industry Learn to control my focus and stay on task, don't get distracted. Get more industry experience Build a portfolio to showcase my understand of sound
Using these I have created the following action plan.
ACTION PLAN
Objective 1 Meet a new industry professional and shadow them
Completed by - End of March
Objective 2 Record a band using a live setup
Completed by - End of March
These two objectives, I feel, will help my chances of succeeding and flourishing within the industry.
In order to create and utilise this online portfolio, I will be drawing on many sources of information available to me, these will include the following:
- College Lectures and Notes
- Personal conversations with Lecturers
- Industry Contacts
- Online resources (i.e soundonsound,livesoundint,youtube resources)
- Books (beginner live sound, the ultimate live sound operators handbook)
Time Scales The following is a timescale for the project.
If all goes well, this plan will allow me to satisfactorily carry out my development stage and presentation, and hopefully help me forge my way into the industry.
EQUIPMENT LIST
Room 1/23
• Izocorp Radar 24 Hard Disk Recording System
• Langley Big 24 Channel analogue mixing console
• Quad power amp/Tannoy full range monitoring system
• Yamaha NS10m nearfield monitors
• Apple iMac/ Digidesign 003 DAW system running Pro Tools 10 and
Logic Pro 9
• (2) TLA valve compressors/limiters
• Numerous Drawmer & DBX (dual & quad) gates and compressors (8
in total)
• Lexicon, TC Electronic and Yamaha Multi FX units
• Tascam DA-10 DAT machine
• Boss Gt-Pro rack amp simulator
• MOTU 2408 Audio Interface/Router
• HHB Burn-it CD Recorder
• Extensive Balanced and un-balanced jack patchbays
• Fender Champ 300 (x2)
• Ashdown 515
• Bandit 112
• Tama ‘Superstar’ Kit
• Sabian XS Ride/Crash/Hi-Hat
• Various Mics (Shure/AKG/Audio Technica/Rode/etc.)
Room 1/24
• MIDAS VERONA 24-8-2 Analogue Mixing Console
• SPIRIT LX7 DESK 24 Channel Analogue Mixing Console
• ROLAND M-380 Digital Mixing Console
• ROLAND S-4000H Digital Snake
• ROLAND S-4000-SP Digital Snake
• ROLAND S1608 Stage Snake
• PEAVEY 24/6 Analogue Snake
• TANNOY VQ60 HI-BIN x 2
• TANNOY VQ218DR LO-BIN x 2
• PEAVEY 115 XT BASS BIN x 2
• PEAVEY 115 XT HI-TOP x 2
• YAMAHA P5000s Power Amp
• C-AUDIO GB402 Power Amp
• MXF 200 Power Amp
• ROLAND VS-1680 Digital Studio Workstation
1/24 MIC KIT;
• SM58 x2
• SM57 x4
• PG81 x2
• EV N/D257B
BACKLINE
• TKO 65 Guitar Amp
• FENDER CHAMPION 300 Guitar Amp
• PEAVEY BANDIT 65 Guitar Amp
• ROLAND KC-150 Keyboard Amp
• CARLSBORO COLT45 Bass Amp
• ASHDOWN 515 Bass Amp
• ROLAND TD-9 Electronic Drum Kit
• ROLAND PM-30 Drum Monitor
OUTBOARD
• ALESIS MEQ 230 Graphic EQ
• Peavey QF 215 FLS Graphic EQ
• ZOOM 9120 Multi Fx Unit
• ZOOM 1202 Multi Fx Unit
• TC ELEC. M-ONE Multi Fx Unit
• TC ELEC. D-TWO Multi Fx Unit
• DRAWMER MX30 Compressor Limiter
• BEHRINGER XR2400 Quad Gate
• BEHRINGER MDX4400 Quad Compressor
• ROLAND RD-300GX Keyboard
• STRAND 200 Lighting Console
• PEAVEY VSX Active Crossover Unit
• KLARK TEKNIK SQUARE ONE Gate/Comp
• KLARK TEKNIK SQUARE ONE Gate/Comp
• KLARK TEKNIK SQUARE ONE Graphic EQ
• BEHRINGER ULTRACURVE DSP-8000