A Year of 2016: Summary

When you ignore the mound of celebrity deaths, this year hasn't been too bad for me. It's normally something that goes unnoticed, but with all of the social media coverage the stories are everywhere. The death of celebrities doesn't tend to effect me and with what seems to be an bottomless list this year I have only really connected with a few, but that doesn't mean that the rest are unimportant. Alan Rickman, Victoria Wood, Ronnie Corbett, Gene Wilder and George Micheal are those that I will miss the most. RIP.

I feel like I have achieved most of the goals I set for myself this year, the lager goals and some unexpected. Let's start from the beginning of the year, shall we?

In January this year I had my audition for NCN Clarendon, which went really well apart from failing my music theory test and having to re-take that another day. I did pass that the second time, thankfully. In February, I had my audition of MMU. I remember the long drive wth my friend Joanne to the Crewe Campus which vaguely reminded me of Ilkeston School with it's layout. It was a very enjoyable day and I was surprised that the lecturer that interviewed me knew of Dmitry. I continued to write more songs when I found the time from the inspiration I found from a combination of visiting Clarendon and MMU and later released my first original music video on 22nd February. This was a big achievement for me, made possible from the use of my Mac and new camera at the time, my Samsung WB350F and made only within a few days once the editing process had started.

This year has been a strange one for new obsessions. I currently have a storage unit rather like a bookcase apart from it has three cupboards and three shelfs, on top of which sits the entirety of my larger figure collection. Most of them are either Nintendo or Doctor Who themed and it's just something thats continued to grow through this year. No doubt I will add more to the collection soon. I now collect Doctor Who comic books and novels and I am already up to well over fifty between them both. An even more recent obsession is my new found love for the Nintendo Gameboy Pocket. I have three of those now.

I did start to make another music video with my good friend, Kieran. It is still in the works and I think we still need to record a few extra parts, that and I still need to re-record the vocals for the song. I'm debating now whether I should do it again or ask around the college to see if anyone wants to do a better job than myself. I'm still not comfortable with my vocals. I know my confidence has improved massively over the years, but I've still never sung live on stage and I'm not sure I want to. But, I do. It's really difficult to explain. I really want to get this one finished and released early in the new year. Maybe I could use it as a part of my course? ... hmmm.

A lot of this year has been a waiting game and that is probably why I felt so let down on Enrolment. I don't really want to mention what happened all over again because I've already wrote about it back then. I think I'm over it now, but thinking about it still angers me. If I wasn't waiting I was probably working, but then theres a certain contrast where the two become the same thing.

Regardless, there's no better feeling than achieving something. Or at least, at the end of the year there isn't. I just re-read through my blog post summarising last year, "Hopefully, this time next year I will be a University student." I remember wondering if I'm going to get on with Uni and if I was even going to get in at all. I had just sent off mu UCAS application. Where would I be exactly? I suppose you can never really know what's around the corner.

For this new year, I feel like it's only a necessity to set myself goals again. Resolutions tend to be things that go amiss, so I shan't bother with those. Without goals, how will I be able to know if it has been a successful year at the end of it otherwise? My main goals are as follows:

1. To pass the first year of my course - This one is must and completely obvious, but I would be stupid not to include it as a top priority because otherwise there would be no point in myself being back in education. 
2. Not to get too distracted from work - This applies mostly to my Uni coursework, but then also to the extra work I do outside of my course such as recording. I have noticed patterns in how I distract myself from doing the work needed to be done. This needs to stop if I want to be successful and achieve a better grade.
3. Enrol for second year of my course - Another one that again shouldn't need mentioning, but I still need to turn up, right?
4. Collaborate - I want to work with those that want to work with me, this could be anything from a simple practice, sharing theory knowledge and even recording a track either with them or for them. This should be something that happens natural throughout the year, not a once only thing.
5. Enrich myself in knowledge - If I finish my first year feeling like I haven't really learnt anything, I must have done it all wrong.

I am debating finding a new job in the new year, but it's not something I want to focus on although arguably it could be something that helps improve my focus. The weekends are just something I can't look forward to at the moment. I just feel like there is no respect for me at work as there is when I'm at Uni. Is it the subject I've chosen to study? Is Music not academic enough? Is it because I work part-time now? Either way, I still pull my way and don't understand how it's fair that I should feel undervalued.

I may add more to this within the next week. I'm still currently in the state of accepting the new year and the fact that it is now nearly January 2017. I'm not happy about the January part. I don't want to experience January. I have a few deadlines coming up shortly. I do wonder if there will ever be a year when I don't ask "Where does all the time go?", but for now I'll leave it here.

Happy New Year, everyone! Hello, 2017.

Mad Day

I spent the most of the 16th Christmas shopping around Derby and Nottingham. It took me a while to get there, but I decided to go down on the bus and ditch the car for the day. My car had already cost me enough in fuel from an unusually poor performance in mpg, just from leaving that little bit later in the morning and catching all of the traffic. Something I should take note of when I go back to Uni in the new year.

I brought most of the presents whilst and Derby and a few little bits for myself, then I decided to get the Red Arrow to Derby early afternoon. The traffic seemed ok. I just caught site of a Facebook post that there had been a major accident on the M1 and was trying to find out more about it. The coach goes over the M1 using the brigde of the A52 and when I looked over, the traffic heading northbound was at a standstill and there was nothing heading southbound. I found out that they had closed a part of the motorway to carry out an investigation, but I didn't think much of it as it wasn't affecting my route. I got into Nottingham pretty quick actually. I had so many big bags to carry it was unbelievable. I ended up buying myself more things in Nottingham too, some new trainers - perfect for the new year!

I picked up a few other bits and decided it was time to start heading home not long after 4pm. I did go to Broadmarsh Bus Station first to see if the 21 was due as that takes me to my doorstep, but there was a 45 minute wait so I took the free bus to Victoria Centre instead to catch my only other option, The Two.

It was very busy when I arrived. There were queues of people waiting for different buses. I had never seen it so busy before. I decided that it wasn't even worth trying to que up because I couldn't even tell apart where one line end and another line started so I sat to the side patiently and started browsing through a Doctor Who book I picked up whilst I was in Derby earlier. Whilst reading, I was listening to the people queuing grow ever more impatient. Some people had already been waiting at least half an hour or more at this point. I distinctly remember one woman constantly going on about how this had completely ruined her day and this angered me. I remembered the duel incident of earlier that day and I knew this was the after effect of it all that yes, had inconvenienced a lot of people, ourselves included but the thing to remember is that regardless of the story two people died that day. One murder and one suicide.

When the bus finally arrived Trent Barton were fantastic. They knew there was nothing they could really do to make the bus magically fly back to Ilkeston. Our driver shrugged his shoulders and the female customer service rep that was on the bus with him announced to everyone that they don't need to worry about paying and just ordered us to get on the bus. Two buses arrived near enough together, both easily an hour or so late so the heavy que of people was divided quite well despite both buses being full.

Getting out of the city centre was the easiest part and seemed quite promising, but when we passed the bus stop U4 on the very edge of upper parliament street we all saw more huge queues of people like I had never seen before. I had never seen that bus stop so busy, the que was starting to trail around the corner of Maid Marian Way. When we hit Canning Circus that's when things got really slow and sluggish again, from just turning off onto Ilkeston Road down to the next 50m took us about 20 minutes. Traffic was at a standstill. Gridlocked. There were cars trying to filter out of the side roads and we couldn't use the bus lane yet because there either wasn't one or there were cars parked. To get from Victoria Centre to the cross-section at Radford Boulevard took us at least 40 minutes and then some one decided to block the bus lane. This happened twice and the second time our drive lost it. He beeped him. The car driver didn't move. Our driver stopped the bus and got out, knocked on his window and told them to shift up and merge so there was enough room for the bus not to block the crossroads. Everyone cheered him, welcoming him back like a hero. It was quite an amazing moment.

Our journey started to get a little easier from this point since we could now use the bus lane. We drove past half a miles worth of traffic within minutes. The ride did still seem to last forever though, it was nice to hear people chat to each other and keep each other company. I didn't join in so much apart from laugh at the odd funny situation but, I had my iPod set up to keep me entertained. I set myself up quite tactically. I know I was going to need a lot of room and that there was no chance I was going to get two seats to myself so I hugged onto a luggage hold and dumped all my bags in there, shopping and rucksack too. The only problem I probably caused for others was my refusal to move down when our driver told us to, I just wasn't going to leave all my stuff there. I don't know how people do it.

In the end our bus ride took well over an hour and a half. I didn't time it to be honest so it could have been closer to two hours, definitely if you include the waiting times. I will certainly remember this bus ride, not because of how long or stressful it was. Or even how bad it was or the uncomfortableness. I don't understand the full story of what happened still with all of the different news reports, but I feel like I experienced a part of the pain the murderer must have felt when he felt the need to end his life by jumping off the motorway bridge with the way it it affected us all. All those people stuck on the motorway. No one should feel like they need to commit suicide, ever regardless of what they have done or even what they want to do. It was all I could think about during my journey back home, that and reminding myself of how thankful I am for where I'm at now. The guilt and the heartbreak. Two people died that day, neither of which was me. That is a reason enough to still be alive. I still made it home.


My thoughts go out to the families of those affected at this festive time of the year.

Clearer Thoughts...

So, most of the deadlines have now passed for this month with only one remaining. This one is a little less terrifying as it's a skills audit where I basically just need to write about myself and point out any areas that need improving, which for this course is probably a lot. Most people find it really difficult to talk about themselves, I think I still do but I understand the whole evaluating process a lot more and the importance of it.

My main downside is that I tend to take it right from the top, if I feel it's necessary. I've typed up quite a lot already and I feel like it is very nearly done. It is something that I knew wouldn't have much of a problem with just because of how much I blog on here. I tend to end up using this as a reference.

I also cleared the air last week and had a catch up with Dr. Nick Redfern. I brought us tea and coffee from the college canteen and we stuck it back into a classroom eventually after a short stop off at "reprographics" or rather, the room with two large printers. The canteen was just way too noisy and as Nick put it himself, "chavy". He shown me his new Facebook group, 'Mentoring for Life' that he had not long set up last month and expressed his irritation that not one of his 3rd year students had used it yet and they are predominantly who he designed it for. The idea of the group from what I understand is that every member, whether they be a current or past student helps each other learn and progress as a mentor, but the group has been active for about a month now with no active users posting and discussing other that Nick updating the description.

I personally think that the Facebook group is a great idea once it starts being used actively, but I think it is already causing a stir since I introduced our head of Music, Andrew to it and he didn't seem very keen I think mostly because of the social media platform that it's on. The thing is, is that we're all HE students that should be able to be sensible enough with this sort of thing, but I do understand the possible breaches of lectures having contact with students outside of class time other than email as it has the potential to endanger either party. Since I'm now a member of this group, I suggested to all the members in a post that Campus Society would be great site to use in conjunction with this group and to no surprise didn't get a response. Facebook groups are strange things from my experience because of the layout of the site. It is easy to see when someone is online and rather than talk within a group or even a group chat, given the option it is obviously easier for most people to just send messages via the chat feature one to one.

Nick seems to have created his own den within the college, which is completely normal. When I was last at NCN Clarendon before this course, the keyboard lab used to be in a huge, spacious room downstairs that's strikingly similar to the HE Common Room, but now this has been moved into a room about a quarter of the size with somewhere between eight to maybe ten keyboards stuffed inside. It took me until the second visit to this room to notice that Nick was also using it as a second office with it being too noisy in his actual office. I'm pretty sure the room is smaller than my bedroom, and I struggle to fit one keyboard in there along with other furnishings.

I feel a lot better nearing the end of this term. The December haze is still in place but there's really not many days left until I break up for Christmas from Uni. I will still have to traipse to work at the weekends. The subject of work is ever becoming more monotonous by the day. The more I go, the less I want to be there. It's really not healthy, but it's just how it is and I need income from somewhere. Saturday shifts tend to flow quite nicely but for some reason that I just can't place Sunday's just feel so slow. We had our Christmas meal the other day and I feel like it was an absolute sham. We went to Frankie & Bennies and I sat opposite our store manger and his wife. I spoke to my colleagues mostly before we were seated and had a couple of laughs around the table, but my manger never said a word to me. Not even, "How's Uni?" To make things even better the food was shite and they wanted well over £200 between us all (14) including an automatic service charge of £17.50 which thankfully they removed in the end after arguing). I really don't understand the hype for this food chain.

I will still have a couple of assignments to work on over the Christmas break. I want to get some research done at the library for our Music in Context essay before it closes and then while I'm away from college, I'm planning it so that the first week off I will be fairly focused on these couple of assignments. I don't want to do anything Uni-work-wise during the week of Christmas to give myself a decent break, I've been pretty flat out since the get go especially with working with the other students. Then finally the week after that I will get back into focusing on assignments. That's the plan anyway, no doubt I might stray from it a little bit with it being Christmas, but I'll be happy I could get a good chuck of the assignments out of the way.

I will probably post again before Christmas but just incase I don't, Merry Christmas everyone! :')

The December Mood

It's always around this time of the year that I become a lot more emotionally sensitive, I think it is mostly the harsh cold and the fact that Christmas is again fast approaching, but I can feel that the extra stress included this year with all of the assignments that I have been set isn't helping. I generally like Christmas, I'm not in anyway a Scrooge or cheapskate. I like to treat my friends and make them more than aware that I am thankful for them and their loyalty. I haven't sorted a lot of presents out yet though, I still have a lot of people to buy for; even family, but there really is something about December that just sets me off.

I'm not strictly religious, although I was raised Christian forcefully through singing school hymns in assemblies, that and I do follow a popular group of musical mormon dads on YouTube with an open mind, but I'm almost convinced it's like a some kind of spirit has entered me. It sounds cheesy I know, but that's the best way that I can describe it. It makes me feel so pure, kind and at times broken then whole. It makes me want to just burst out in tears and cry like a baby. I don't know if this is just an outburst of some kind or what, but I have noticed over the last couple of years that I really have warmed up to the idea of Christmas. I've always loved it, I'm just too emotional.

I manage to stay positive usually by being surrounded by family and friends, although that has become more difficult with the amount of time I'm at Uni. I've spent a fair amount of time with my cousins recently. We had a gaming tournament which we decided to name, 'Super Smash Birthday Bash'. The game Super Smash Bros. Melee had not long hit its 15th birthday, this is just how we celebrated it. We used to play it a lot when we were all younger and the game had not long been released. It was a fun night! Plus, I won.

RS1 - My First Pro Tools Experience

This week, a new lesson was added to my timetable. This has replaced our other recording session that is now our Live Sound session with Andy Oakley, but all that starts next week with a slightly earlier time of 9am. It's been a bit confusing because even I thought we should have started it this week, but we had one last session with Rob to mix our little project and then physically submit it.

I had a short practice with the level 3 students that I'm working with briefly before this new lesson today, only for half an hour because then I needed to be upstairs. RS1 is an amazing studio, I knew that before I entered the room. There are three studios at Clarendon and this one is by far the best, especially now I know how to use it and patch up all of the microphones into the preamps and then the preamps into Pro Tools. This is a big step up from RS3, which is a Logic studio. A lot of it is still the same and most of the skills I've learnt from there are transferable, but the console in RS1 that controls the Pro Tools software is just incredible, even if slightly broken. When a new track is created, one of the faders will automatically go up. It's incredible to watch, technology at it's absolute finest.

Our tutor Matt lectures for this session, but then just lets us get on with it after a while. He ended up giving us a bit of a history lesson because of some of the technology they still have racked up for use are now a bit predated. There was an AKIA S2800 3 1/2 inch floppy disk sampler and another tape something or other. One of the first things he shown us was how to import audio because of the task he was going to give us. He then went on to show us all of the different preamps we could work with, and their qualities before showing us the patch bay, which I surprisingly picked up rather fast. I had done some patch work before during my level 3 course, but I didn't understand what I was doing because it was never explained to me properly. Matt explained it clearly and I actually feel like I fully understand, and this is just the first session. I was naturally quite worried about this session, just because of the new things, but really with the experience I already have its just feels like a little extra on top which relaxes me a little.

After Matt had helped import/technically convert the track, 'Just Be Good To Me' originally by Deborah Cox into Pro Tools, shown us the desk and helped us set up a bus channel so we could hear the track in the other room, sending it though an output routed to the live room through patching he pretty much left us to it to. Oh, and after showing us all of the different microphones that we get to play with. We were left to set up 12 microphones, all plugged into one of two stage boxes in the live room and then patch them all up to specific preamps that Matt had listed for us. It took us a about half an hour or so to set up all of the microphones on stands and have them all connected to the right input, then it was time to route everything using the patch bay.

Setting up all the microphones: We didn't record them all
like this, but it looked pretty cool.

I thought we did really well. We worked really we together as a team, even if I sort of dominated the leader position, but it's good to have someone coordinate things so work gets done. We took it in turns to work on the patch bay so that we could all get used to it and start to feel comfortable using it, after all it does look ridiculously confusing the more barton cables we added, but we started to notice a pattern which made things much easier. The ins and outs were usually either directly above or below. Matt came back to check on us when we got halfway through patching everything, which was perfect actually because we just hit a problem. One of the preamps didn't seem to be giving out much of a level even with the gain on full. We couldn't work out if it was a problem with preamp or just that the microphone wasn't very sensitive and neither could Matt. It was quite funny actually. He was sat by the patch bay trying to work out if we had done anything wrong or missed anything, (which we hadn't) there's a possibility that is could have been a loose connection within the patch bay, but we ended up just re-routing it into the AMAZING Focusrite 428 MkI. I love it. It's by far my favourite preamp to work with in that studio. It's reliable and it sounds great, it's just a shame they are so damn expensive.

Our session was meant to finish at 2pm, but we ended up running over. The session starts at 11am and we didn't finish until about 3:30pm. So, we had 5 and a half hours studio time. Mental. I loved every minute of it though, especially once Matt left us too it. I feel like if he had watched over us the whole time I might not have learnt as much, but yeah I'm quite impressed with both myself and Pro Tools after today! Can't wait for the next session!