Today we had a talk from Ken Blair who is a recording engineer and founder to the company BMP. Ken specialises in recording Jazz and classical music across the UK. He goes out to various locations, often being concert halls, to record bigger scale orchestras. Ken gave a valuable insight into setting up microphones in an orchestra setting as well as setting up the recording equipment in a different room. He also spoke about the importance of knowing the venue before you arrive otherwise issues may arise such as sound proofing and running cables.
Ken’s work is of particular interest to me as for a later career I am partly interested in live music. Recording live music has many of the same elements. I also have a background in classical music and am able to read score which is vital to be able to follow along with an orchestra. I also haven’t ever done any large scale recordings before so it was interesting to know what goes into it – especially when they are on location.
Ken also went onto to discuss useful tips for writing CV’s, as an employer and employee. He said it’s important to be clear and concise, trying to stick to 2 pages max and discussing technical skills such as the desks and workstations we are used too.
I found Ken’s talk very useful not only for tips on CV’s, recording techniques and practicalities, but as another possible career path I may take after university. This to me sounds like the ideal mix between live sound and music production and I would definitely be interested in pursuing it later in life.