Experience, Rocrding and Video

Its been a very long time since I last wrote on this, that is partly due to a lack of inspiration and motivation to write, but mostly down to having a busy second year at Solent. However, now I have the time to write, and no excuse not to!
Live Sound
So now I am starting to lay groundwork for life in the music industry, and I am looking to explore as many avenues as possible. One of the main things that I have been focused on in the last few weeks is live sound engineering, I have always been interested in live sound ever since we took a unit in it back in college, and I have often felt that I could make a living using a combination of performance and production. So in order to gain experience in live sound and production, I have been going to the Talking Heads (live music venue) a few times a week for the last few months to watch/assist the in house sound engineer there, who just happens to be a lecturer at Solent. Having been there, I have gained practice at rigging stages and operating equipment such as the sound desk, in addition to those things I have also learnt more about how the live industry works. As a sound engineer, not only do you need to be clued up on all the equipment your using, but you also need to be a stage manager when your working in smaller venues. You need to have great people skills and be able to deal with incompetent/unprofessional/self-important musicians alike (most musicians aren't like that, but I have met quite a few like this in my time at the Heads). I really have enjoyed my time at the Talking Heads, and I intend to continue to go there, however, I can't help feeling that it may all be in-vain, as I don't have any official live sound qualifications, and so I may not be able to find work anyway. A scary thought, the last thing I want is to be forced to fall into 9-5 and not be able to work in the music industry.

Recordings
I still have high hopes of being a performer, and I've spent along time developing my performance to bring it to a higher standard, I'm certainly not pro level yet, but I like to think I'm heading in the right direction! That is of course up for debate!. I'm trying to gain extra studio experience and at the same time showcase myself by recording drum covers in the studios at Solent, and videoing them. This allows me to post my recordings on youtube, where about 6 people may be interested in watching, but still, any exposure is good exposure I feel. I have already recorded a cover of the Doobie Brothers song “Long Train Running” which was great fun, although you wouldn't know it looking at my face on the video! Today I am heading into the studio again, hoping to record some Linkin Park covers today.

I realise that my writing hasn't been an interesting read today, a lot of “I did this” and “then I did that”, I promise I will try and make them more interesting in the future!