3rd week - recording 50's track

This week on my silver arts award my next task was to record myself playing the organ in a band doing a cover of Elvis hound dog.  they would have usually scratched their music to records in the 50s however we were limited to what equipment we had so we used tape this was not easy as we had to arrange the studio and mic's to certain positions to get the right levels eventually we managed to get the levels done which took at least 40 min's to get the right sound quality yet again technology strikes  as we were only able to use at least two or three mic's  a 50s studio didn't have a lot of mics that were available for usage so we did the best of what we had.  learning from this experience helped me to clearly understand what the 50s were really like. it was a fun and enjoyable and i would a recommend trying the 50s if your practicing music it was a laugh! And i don't think i could have done it with out the good old help from my mentor who played the drums and the studio owner who played the bass so thumbs up to yer both! we eventually managed over the course of two hours to complete the piece of music however one thing still remains the vocals im hoping they'll go well also im thinking of maybe doing some backing vocals as well as some clicks and claps. i think things went according to plan i had had expected that me and the rest of the team would have to do some sort studio arrangement with the mics and other things such as studio sound barriers and stands, amps anything a 50s sound studio would have needed.  the day was very busy the the vibe was great there was ideas going around left right and center but we focused on the main target ahead the completion of the music for the song. it took at least three takes because some of us weren't ether ready or we got out of time or just played some wrong notes but we decided on a take and eventually we completed it.

2nd Week

2nd Week Review on my silver arts award and what i have learned from it:

Ok so this week to start the music through the ages project. I started concentrating on the 50s and i will progress through the four decades in a six week period where i shall accomplish my set criteria’s i.e. planning, researching, practising, recording and then eventually editing in the restriction of my eras. This week i chose a track performed by Elvis Presley track named “hound dog”. During this week Me and my silver arts award music tutor who i would say is fairly experienced in a wide variety of musical instruments, took a look at the piece of music that we are doing a cover version for my arts award and structured it on to a A2 sized note pad so we would have a clear idea of how perform it. With a little persuasion and help from the studio owner who is also experienced in a range of music quality’s we asked if he would play the bass for us in the project as my tutor will be playing the drums and me the groovy church organ a good mix of blues and Rock en roll.

One of my tasks of the week of researching the 50s was to find out about the music in the 50s and the history of it! So this is some info i found:
     

1949 The first demonstration of the transistor by Shockley, Britain and Bardeen caused a revolution in recording equipment design and performance parameters, and was to have the same effect on domestic equipment. With the release by RCA of the first 7 inch diameter, 45 rpm microgroove discs, a short lived and good tempered battle to establish a new standard, 10 inch (or 12 inch) diameter records at 33.33 rpm or 7 inch (or larger) diameter records at 45rpm, commenced. In the event, both existed happily side by side each serving a particular purpose.

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1952 Cinerama presented multi sound track replay to the public for the first time. This stimulated public interest in the possibility of stereo recordings and research was stepped up.

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1950 The record companies generally adopted the new standards with the vast improvements in sound quality. Production of the 78rpm shellac disc began to be discontinued.

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1954 The companies began to provide the equipment for stereo recording in major studios. The possibility of recording right hand and left hand signals simultaneously on separate tracks on quarter inch magnetic tape had already been demonstrated and some of the major problems inherent in transferring both signals to one groove of a disc had been solved by Baumann in 1930.

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1956 Stereo LPs became available and new releases were issued in both mono (monaural) and stereo (stereophonic) versions. The Philips original cast recordings of My Fair Lady was one of the first million seller LPs together with Van Cliburn playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto.

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I have chosen music to be one of my educational courses because i enjoy listening and practising it and i would love to learn more while being accredited and recognized for it so this is something i will surely continue to pursue for sometime in the near future aswell as now.

I would say if i was going to describe my positive skills in music it would be to listen and respect other people’s views in music genres and ideas and to be patient and work open minded alongside different musicians.

My negative skills in music i would say is that i try to rush and combine things which i am not familiarised with first and so i end up jumbling my music during playthroughs. I need to practice with a few combined notes to do with around the information provided in a track to make a good rhythm. Then hopefully i should be ok?     

Photo's of Freddy in the studio - recording his 50's track 'Houndog'

Here are some photo's taken of Freddy whilst he prepares to record his 50's track, in one take! straight to tape! Unfortunately there are none of us playing as I was drumming at the time and it's quite tricky to drum and take photo's at the same time.....Simon Arts Award Mentor.

our plan for Arts award

Music through the Ages  Initial plan written on the 8^th September 2010

Aim: To research and create different pieces of music from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s using (within practical limits) the technology of that era.

Progress to be written and reflected on in Freddys online blog

Username : Freddyssilveraward@gmail.com

Password :  iluvmusic

Blog address

http://freddyssilveraward.blogspot.com/

Our rough plan is to spend 4 weeks on each decade, researching, practising and recording.

This will take 16 weeks.

This takes us up to November/Dec

We aim to do our gig review in November

And to start planning our sharing sessions (possibly a radio broadcast?) in December.

Music planning week by week

50s	Studio	Homework	Outcome
Week 1 8/9/10	Planning, Arts award,  Timetabled	Look into music of the 50s, Online blog	Blog set up
Week 2	Record 50s piece	On line Blog	Successfully recorded/stressful! But eventually done.
Week 3	overdubs	On line Blog
Week 4	Mix – chooses next piece	On line Blog

60s	Studio	Homework	Outcome
Week 1	Taken a look At the sixtys	Online blogger	Chose a song By the animals
Week 2	practice	Online blogger Research Practice at home to ready the piece	Learnt the structure of the song to play confidently
Week 3	record	Blog
Week 4	mix	Blog

70s	Studio	Homework
Week 1	Plan	Blog
Week 2	practice	Blog
Week 3	record	Blog
Week 4	mix	Blog

80s	Studio	Homework
Week 1	Start thinking about radio show to share our project.	Blog
Week 2	practice	Blog
Week 3	Record	Blog
Week 4	Mix	Blog

  

1st week

Hi there your probably wondering why your reading my blog this week ive been planning my silver arts award project named Music through the ages. my aim is To research and create different pieces of music from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s using (within practical limits) the technology of that era.


I've thought about what I want to achieve in my Arts Award challenge and this is the title I have come up with.


"I want to Improve my knowledge and skills in studio production and music history (and playing skills) ie piano, through the creation of 4 tracks from different decades. To do this I will need to research the limitations imposed by technology and the recording process and use those limitations in creating my tracks."


This will include being able to use deeper aspects of the recording software Reaper that I use at the studio