Posts Tagged digital media
Careers in Music, Film, and Digital Media: Music Producer.
Digital Media Academy News + Events | April 12th, 2010 by Seamus Harte
Let’s look at the role and responsibilities of the Music Producer within the music industry. A music producer can wear many hats. I will try to cover them all here, but do know that depending on the project a producer may wear all of the hats or perhaps just one.
Let’s check out some of the hats the music producer wears:
1) The Idea Hat
It can be the music producer’s job to gather ideas for the project. This may seem vague, and it is, that is why artist hire a music producer. When all is said and done with the production of an album you essentially have a CD that has on record 12 – 15 “ideas”. It is the music producer’s job to steer this idea harvesting.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is an example of a “concept” album. On this album the Beatles worked with their producer George Martin to collect and shape their ideas of an album recorded by “Sgt. Pepper” and his band.
2) The Golden Ear Hat
Once the idea of the album is agreed upon the music producer can put on his Golden Ear Hat. While wearing this hat the producer will be responsible for making the decisions of song selection and musician selection. Lot’s of times a band will go into the studio with the general idea of an album and perhaps more songs than can fit on one album.
The producer will help select which songs should be put on the album by determining which songs best support the overall concept and idea of the album.
Often to bring the songs to their full potential additional musicians need to be brought in. Perhaps, the chorus of a song would benefit from a horn section, but none of the band members play any horn instruments. Or sometimes, the band members themselves need to be replaced for the best sound on record. The producer is responsible for making these tough decisions that can ultimately make or break the album.
3) The Coaching Hat
Once the musicians and songs are selected the producer then becomes the coach in the studio. The producer is now responsible to coach the artist and the studio musicians to come together and create the most accurate record of their ideas at hand. Perhaps this is helping the drummer find the groove or discuss different approaches with the guitarist for the solo. Sometimes it can also be much more psychological than musical. Maybe it’s making the vocalist feel confident so they give the best vocal performance.
4) The Schedule Hat
It is very important to not only have a schedule but have one that allows for your artist to provide their best performances. It is the producers responsibility to keep the production on schedule in terms of finances and release date, but also in terms of morale and fatigue. What is the point of having the record released on time if you exerted your vocalist too much during the production and his vocals are the best? This balance of schedule is very important and requires the producer to juggle the demands of many different people in the process.
5) The Follow Through Hat
Once the production involving the artist is done they are able to go back on tour or go home and relax, but the record itself is still far from being done. The producer is responsible to oversee the Mixing and Mastering process. The mixing process is where a mixing engineer mixes together all of the audio files gathered in the recording process into one sonically beautiful stereo track. The mastering process involves a mastering engineer that ensures that each individual track on the album matches the sonic qualities of the other tracks on the album. Again it is the music producer’s responsibility to oversee these processes and ensure quality control.
These are examples of the hats that a music producer would wear in the record making process. The term “Producer” in some genres such as hip-hop, pop, dance, and electronica, is the actual producer of the music. These producers are the ones responsible for the production of the music track, or the “beat”.
Hopefully this shows you a little into the many hats of the music producer.
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Careers in the Film, Music, and Digital Media
Digital Media Academy News + Events | March 24th, 2010 by Seamus Harte
In 2005 I had a problem. I was enrolled at Michigan State University and I was studying Construction Management and oh, right… I was miserable. At that time I was teaching myself how to play the guitar and I was completely in love with it. I would sit in class (those that I even attended) and just wait for that hour to come when I could run home and work on another song I was writing. I hated school.
I would eventually come to realize that I didn’t hate school; I hated what I was learning. I had no interest whatsoever in Construction Management, my father had a small family construction business and picking that “Major” just seemed like the logical thing to do.
One day I had the radical thought of pursuing a career I loved. I had to think… I didn’t care for much of the classes I had enrolled for, so now what? Oh wait!
“There is that guitar that I run home to everyday after class, I mean, I could become a Rockstar” thought 2005 Seamus. “No, that’ll never work, people will be too distracted by your good looks and not love you for your music” said Seamus’ voice inside his head. “True” sighed 2005 Seamus. “So then what do I do?”
I realized that I loved songwriter, and more so just a writing, but those are rarely sole breadwinner. So I did what any modern young man does when he’s lost in the maze of adulthood.
I Googled.
I Googled “Music Production and California” and found a college that provided for me a degree and an education in what goes on behind the scenes of media. I knew all this “tech” stuff was the furthest thing from what I was comfortable with, but I also had a feeling it was the closest thing to what I wanted to accomplish – giving birth to my ideas in this big, big world.
What I have become aware of in the past 5 years has left me dumbfounded. Since graduating from Ex’pression College, working on board the Lennon Bus, and working with Digital Media Academy, I have found more avenues of work in digital media than I could have ever imagined. What’s even better for me is that whether I am working on music or video my love for writing always finds a home.
Most parents look at the Music and Film industry and don’t see many career options. They look and they see movie stars and they see rock stars. And let’s be honest, that’s what most of the kids see too. But once you take a look closer you’ll find there is a lot going on behind those Hollywood curtains.
Here are some of the many high-end creative jobs that are involved with the music and film industry (this does not include the 100’s of other jobs done by other skilled crew and staff):
Executive Producer
Producer
Director
Assistant Director
Director of Photography
Editor
Assistant Editor
Sound Editor
Sound Mixer
Sound Designer
Visual Effects
Art Design
Makeup
Audio Engineer
Audio Producer
Songwriter
I have had the pleasure of learning many of these positions over the past 5 years and I’m going to spend the next few blog entries to go into some of these in depth and share with you the many creative outlets and career openings there are in such positions. And if you have any questions about something I didn’t add, just shoot and I’d be glad to go over it.
When I was at Michigan State I was unhappy. But I was unhappy because I was oblivious. I was oblivious to all the opportunities available in the world that could truly benefit from my talents. Once I opened up my eyes just a peep a whole flood of insight came pouring in and I realized I could find a career in what I loved to do. Sometimes it takes one opportunity, one moment, one summer camp to realize your dreams don’t have to be something that happen with your eyes closed.
These are not just positions available in the film and music industry but also experiences you’re introduced to as a participant in one of the DMA Summer Courses or even the Pro Courses. Who knows you could be an aspiring Director that falls in love with editing, or you could be a young student that learns their eye is behind the lens.
Stay tuned to learn more about the positions and be sure to enroll for you’re class before March 31st to save on DMA’s Spring Special!
Technology at the forefront of Life Long Learning
Digital Media Academy News + Events | March 22nd, 2009 by Lara
Janet Armstrong is a high school teacher at Adrian Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, California. She recently attended CUE (Computer Using Educators), where she learned of DMA. Seeing the importance of technology in today’s world and the importance of keeping up with and teaching the latest technology to her students, she is going to take a DMA course this summer to advance her skills. The following is her views on technology in the classroom:
Schools have seen the need to educate students to make appropriate, efficient, and productive use of available technologies. At the same time they are compelled to reduce the digital divide that exists between higher and lower socioeconomic groups of students, giving them all access to the same tools. Consequently, as the tools advance, educators must be at the forefront of life long learning.
Life long learning is a phrase that has been buzzing around academia for the last decade. It’s a mindset educators must have to stay connected to the ever-evolving technology that seems to grow exponentially each year. Teachers and administrators MUST stay abreast these advances or they will quickly find themselves fossils.
Skills once reserved only for high school students are more appropriate today for middle school students. This has created the opportunity to expose high school students to cutting edge technologies that are fun, interesting and highly engaging. At Wilcox High School in Santa Clara we are opening two new digital media courses that will employ the use of Adobe CS4 products to teach web design, digital image editing, digital storytelling, and publication design. To be a proficient teacher I must become a proficient user of these tools. This summer Digital Media Academy at Stanford will prepare me to be such a teacher. The Introduction to Web Design with Adobe CS4 – Dreamweaver, Flash & Photoshop course will enhance my current skills as I learn the latest version of these programs to design lessons and activities for my students.
Life today is complex and diverse. As never before, communication involves the constant use of visuals, sound, and action. The digital age is here and education has the responsibility to prepare our children to use the tools today and into the future. Thankfully, the Digital Media Academy is available to assist with this process.
Janet Armstrong
Adrian Wilcox High School
Film Camp for Teens. Watch a Movie made this year at DMA's Summer Camp.
Digital Media Academy News + Events | March 11th, 2009 by Philip Harding
Teens get the full film camp experience at Digital Media Academy summer camps and week-long courses.
Watch a movie created by teens in the Filmmaking course at University of Pennsylvania DMA camp this past summer. All teen students in the class played a part in writing the movie script, storyboard the movie scenes, acting in various shots around campus, filming with high quality cameras, directing the scenes, editing music for the video, and editing the video in Final Cut Pro on their own Apple computer.
This video is just one example of the creative movies that are created by teens at Digital Media Academy’s summer film camps. Enjoy the suspense-filled movie a group of DMA film students made entitled… “Re-Encountered”
