EMP – Evaluation
So overall I am tremendously happy with the final outcome of this project, and am more than happy with the final experience I have created. I love the track itself, and although there are still a few minor tweaks I would like to iron out it is finished to a standard I would be happy for it to be released with. Obviously this won’t ever be released as such, but I shall send it off to a few people within the industry to get some feedback, like a few record labels and producers that fit the same kind of style. Even if they get back to me and say ‘like the arrangement but engineering needs work’, I would still know I was on the right course, as at the end of the day it takes years to get up to a professional standard as far as engineering is concerned and that’s with tuition, so for me to be teaching myself is a huge step in the right direction, as it shows I have the hunger to learn. It’s not impossible to teach yourself but it requires dedication and commitment. I plan to carry on with the process, and am about to start work on another new track. The idea is that every new track uses new techniques and should theoretically progress on in terms of production value every time. And even then the art will not be perfected for a couple of years at least.
As for the light show I created, I certainly feel it was a professional looking, aesthetically pleasing show that helped build atmosphere on top of the music. It was all about fitting the mood of the music to the transition in lighting, quicker, more energetic flashes of light as the tune hits the main body of the tune and then calmer, sweeping, ambient light as the track calms in preparation for the next drop. To achieve this I needed the use of controllers for the lighting, which in the case of the strobe and the laser was a simple kill switch that meant I didn’t have to turn off the power at the plug, which meant I would have had to have waited for the machine to load back up to activate again. With the use of the kill switch I could turn on and off instantly at the touch of a button. The beams had a slightly more complex control system, using 4 different settings for variation. It could be dimmed, set to strobe, sound to light and a smooth function. These all had their uses, and the beams certainly made the mood inside the experience, whilst the lasers act as the main body, the interaction and the main central point. As I had discovered from my testing, people liked the lasers, as they were almost an object, something to play with inside the room, so they were an essential part of the experience.
I felt as far as my set up was concerned I hit the nail on the head, sourcing the best equipment available to me leaving me with a professional looking presentation. From my experiments I quickly realised that too much light, or not a dark enough space, left an almost school disco feel, which was certainly not what I wanted. So proper, industry equipment was pivotal in giving me a good experience. The only thing I would have liked was a bigger space, somewhere I could span the lights out a little further playing with the arrangement a little more. Because of the space I had it left me a little limited as to what equipment I could fit in there and where it would be positioned. I knew the laser needed to be central unless there was more than one, which would have been overkill in the space I had. Because of this the beams needed to create the width and depth, as if all my light sources were coming from one angle it would have been too busy and not balanced, so I spread them into the corners of the room channelling in to draw the audiences eye into the middle, which is where the focal point was.
The only thing I would do differently is properly sorting out the space I would use to present in, by choosing a larger venue with no windows and no light sources, that way I wouldn’t have to worry about blacking out windows. I would also control the smoke a little better, as by the end it was just too smokey to properly enjoy the experience. This was due to my smoke controller sticking on continuous, letting out a little bit every minute for the duration I was there. But still, extremely happy overall, and feel there was not much more I could have done.
In terms of my brief, I feel I pretty much did exactly what I set out to do, creating and experience that promotes individual feelings of euphoria generated by the immersion of sound and light. The real idea was to build a platform for music production for when I leave university, which I have achieved splendidly, and to learn the basics of light and camera operation, to give me a few extra valuable skills within the industry field. At the end of the day, I’m already a DJ, if I am producing music, organising lightshows and have the experience of filming events then I have a complete package in place ready for the industry, showcasing a wide and valuable set of skills, especially as I also have an interest in motion graphics which can be applied to VJ’ing and a portfolio with promotional material advertising music events. So I have the skills and experience now to go off and do a selection of jobs depending on which route I chose to persist, I could be a DJ and producer or go off and start my own events management company that arranges everything from the promotional material to documenting the event and everything in between.
I feel for the time being I am going to pursue the producer role, as that is what I have been concentrating on in my final year it would be detrimental not to continue with this at the moment, as the longer I leave it the less chance I will be able to progress like I am now or get back into the swing of it. It really is one of these things that once you start you will only achieve what you want with hard work and commitment, as it is such a competitive industry that depends largely on how good music you are producing and who you know, which is why building up a list of contacts is essential in developing any young music producer.
So overall I am extremely happy with the outcome of the project and learning experience I have had throughout, it is certainly one of the most challenging yet satisfying projects I have ever worked on, providing me with some of my best work to date, which I feel is evident throughout the project showing my continued learning curve and development. I hope for many good things to in the future, Hospital records here I come!
