Presentation week

This week's class we had presentations, unfortunately I did not calculate that I would need an adapter for the projector in order for my computer to hook up to the projector, so my partner and I didn't get to present ours this week. This fact kind of sucked because I had gotten myself all psyched up for it just to not present...oh well. Anyways, there were only four groups that were able to present, so at least my partner and I won't be the only ones going up on Monday.  The only real thing I think I am worried about, is the fact that we have a lot of media in ours and most of the groups that presented, so far, haven't had much media in theirs; however, the only real way somebody can understand our topic is by listening to clips of it, so that means a lot of video clips.  Well, here are some of the notes I took on Monday from the groups presentations:

Cody's and Bernie's presentation- MIDI: A History and Understanding

• the music industry's standard for communication ideas of composition
• communication protocol because its compact
• limitless potential
• versatile
• Intuitively follows a visually pleasing format of a desired instrument, such as a keyboard
• MIDI interface designed with 2 applications:
• Connecting and controlling synths.
• Linking computers to synths
• Dave Smith
• audio engineer who founded Sequential Circuits Ind.
• 1981 he came up with the idea for MIDI
• 1983 he proposed the idea
• 1984 MIDI is first introduced
• 1991 General MIDI (GM1) is realeased

Don and Dave's presentation- Roots and Fruits of Electronic Music

• 1951, GRM is founded.  It is the first studio dedicated entirely to electronic music.
• Pierre Schaeffer releases Symphony for a Man Alone, with Eroica being one of its movements
• Stockhausen's Song of the Youths (Gesang der Junglinge) (1955-1956)
• John Cage
• considered the Giant of the Genre
• learned from Shoenberg at UCLA
• StressedDesserts
• SquarePusher (Tom Jenkinson)
• Born in England in 1975
• Transistorized bass
• reel-to-reel

William and Dan- Piezo Pickup

• Piezoelectrical phenomenon was discovered by Pierre and Jacque Curie in 1880
• Further development of piezoelectrical phenomenon was stopped due to the popularity of electromagnetism
• Piezoelectrics became viable again do to the improved capacitors
• the improvement of the capacitors lead to small, sensitive microphones
• Development of of the piezo pickup for musical instrument use in the late 60s was significant, because prior to the pickup, amplified acoustic musicians had to stay in one place on the stage.

Nick and Cynthia- Magnetic Tape

• Made of a plastic base with iron oxide
• Ampex was founded in 1944 by Alexander Poniatoff
• Problems with magnetic tape
• Longevity
• Can become de magnetized

Friday, November 12, 2010- John Vanderslice Lecture

John Vanderslice is a singer, songwriter, musician, and owner of Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco.  Today, he came in and talked about what it's like owning a studio and how to succeed in keeping the studio going when there is competition. I found John to be a really nice guy who really loves what he does.  I definitely plan on doing a tour of his studio.  Being someone that wants to own my own studio in the future, I definitely found his advise about "when you run a studio, you will either be a songwriter or an engineer" to be very helpful. This was something I never really thought about. Some personal notes that I found helpful for owning a studio:

• You will need two separate sources of income for running a studio
• for him, at the beginning, it was waiting tables and the studio income. Then, once the studio really started to kick off, it became touring and the studio
• finding the niche that keeps the studio going
• for him it was holding onto analog equipment and not really using digital equipment and providing free tapes
• Always be transparent on your charges, don't have hidden extra costs
• Don't fight with clients
• Form a friendship/bond with companies
• Making sure you combine the right engineer with the bands/musicians.  If there isn't really a chemistry, then it could make it harder for both the engineer and band, maybe even making it a bad experience for both (something you definitely don't want).
• Contact is very important. If someone emails or calls you, make sure to respond within at least 30 minutes.
• Giving tours of the studio can also be key.
• Paranoia definitely doesn't hurt
• If you plan on owning a studio in San Francisco, there is no rent control, meaning you could get kicked out at any time.