Student – Page 3 – Ellie Thornton Music

Music Business, Primus, Roles within production and delivery of live music.

Within the music industry there are many aspects and roles that contribute to it behind the scenes to the public eye. One of the aspects of the industry is the live production of music, there are many people involved in the organisation and also the delivery of live music happening each and everyday roles like the following.

Sound Engineers
Security
Box Office
Hospitality
Stage Manager / Stage crew
Camera crew
Support act / slot
Lighting Engineers
Musicians – backing singers and session musicians
Hair and Makeup

Primus were filmed live at The Capitol Theatre on Sunday the 29th of October 2017 at 8:20PM, this is what I’m going to be basing my example off of as it’s perfectly demonstrates some of the key roles needed for this performance to go as smooth as it did.

Produced + Directed by: Jonathan Healey
Producer: Brad Sands at Red Light Management
Executive Producer: Peter Shapiro
Camera Operator: Dave Brown

As seen within the video of the performance the band have worked closely the production team to achieve the image they want to put out within the music industry.

To start off with the lighting engineers and technicians, throughout the set they are constantly change colour and the direction they are shone within this helps to set the mood of the song that’s being played and how the song is also progressing.

Lighting engineers have high-level skills to prepare, rig, operate and maintain stage lighting systems and electrical effects during live performances. Lighting engineers work closely with lighting designers, sound engineers, the director and the stage manager to combine their skills and help create the best live experience that pleases both the band and the audience.

During Primus’ set the atmosphere changes massively song to song, at the start of their first set they started off with ‘Mr Krinkle’ and the onstage presence is very dark and ominous which best suits the sound, the lyrics and Les Claypool’s stage appearance for this particular song.

But a couple of songs later, the mood changes when Primus play ‘Jerry Was A Race Car Driver’, the stage lights up progressively throughout and gets a lot heavier during the breakdowns and they also stop when the song pauses before Les Claypool says ‘Dog will hunt.’

This just shows how much preparation and time took to maintain and sustain the electrical effects during the live performance along with the sound engineers, the director and the stage manager.

As a sound technician, it’s their responsibility to assemble, operate and maintain the technical equipment used to record, amplify, enhance, mix or reproduce sound during a live performance. They’ll also need to identify the sound requirements for a given task or situation and perform the appropriate actions to produce the sound that the band want to produce for the audience and themselves.

However, they may also be responsible for setting up audio and mixing board equipment for event and or production. The duties of a sound technician vary according to the industry in which they are employed. Sound engineers often assist record producers also to help give their work the sound they are hoping to achieve.

They’re all types of audio engineers that help out at live audio events as it takes a lot of people to produce a very good out come just like Primus did, here are just a few examples.

Live Sound Engineer – A live sound engineer works at live events to make sure the sound is of appropriate value and high quality.
Monitor Engineer – A monitor engineer works with live sound engineers to help the performers at a live event hear themselves.
Systems Engineer – A systems engineer manages the entire experience of sound at live performances. Systems engineers manage both live sound engineers and monitor engineers, and also work to set up the entire live sound system at many live events.
Audio Post Engineer – An audio post engineer works to mix and edit audio for television and movies.

With all these factors and people combined the lighting technicians and the sound technicians help to dynamically convey the delivery of music to Primus’ audience, however there are still a lot of people that helped organise how this gig was going to play out.

Stage managers have several key responsibilities and tasks to perform in each phase of a production, including: scheduling and running rehearsals. They also coordinate the work of the stage crew and or stage hands, this is done by calling cues and possibly the band members entrances at the beginning of the performance.

Stagehands, also known as stage technicians or crew, work backstage with scenery, props and special effects in theatrical productions and live concerts. They play a vital role in any performance, by knowing exactly where and when to move objects, instruments and scenery in which that the band needed whilst performing song to song.

Yet again, during the first set whilst Primus were performing, Les Claypool was playing with his usual array of basses, but for ‘Mr Krinkle’ and ‘The Valley’ he uses a Ned Steinberger 5-String Electric Upright Bass.

Swapping between his vast collection basses would be the stagehands job to do it before the Que is given to the lighting engineers to light the stage back up again after the change is made, as seen in the video it’s been done fairly efficiently and done with no trip ups.

One of the last but most important role within the industry is security, within recent times it’s became apparent that security is an even more important role than ever within recent years due to such events as the Manchester bombing and because of this over the past year it has put the music industry on high alert. A number of promoters say that security expenses increased as much as 20 percent following Grande’s concert and that costs are rising another 10 to 15 percent in 2018.

Door Supervisors have specialist training to perform specialist functions. At live music venues these currently include all types of security, such as; front of stage pit teams, undercover anti-theft teams, undercover drug detection teams, drug detection dog units and personal searching specialist.

They staff some of the most critically important positions at concerts and sporting events and are there for the safety of everyone attending. Because crowd management and security is a top priority for events and venues, a large number of event staff members are needed to oversee this important task. These crowd management employees have received training in the field but are not formal law enforcement officers. Simply put, they keep things in order and respond when an incident gets out of hand or needs mediation.

But, without all of these roles we wouldn’t be able to produce quality live music for the public and it just goes to show how vital each and every aspect truly is!

If I had to do any of the following roles, I think I would choose to be a Sound technician and or a stage hand/manager, there any many different types of sound engineers also which all play a vital role with the delivery of live music.

But out of all of them I’d like to be a live sound technician because I’ll be able to ensure the quality of the sound and make sure it’s to a good quality that the audience have paid for.

On average a live sound engineer gets paid around about £25,000 to £40,000 a year which is a reasonable amount of money to do something I’m passionate within, the hours you’d work would be varied constantly which may become a pain at times if you want a social life within the evenings, but it would heavily rewarding most of the times because I’d be helping to produce a bands image and or vision, especially when it comes to Primus.

I’ll definitely need a good knowledge of music and sound technology, and I may find it useful to also have an understanding of physics and electronics.

Having a degree with any of the following will help me to achieve this job,

a course in technical theatre, music technology or sound engineering
a degree or diploma in technical theatre accredited by Drama UK.

It would be useful also if I have paid or unpaid work experience, like:

Helping backstage in a theatre
Being a roadie for a band
Rigging sound in amateur or student theatre, or for local bands
Recording or mixing music, for example as a DJ
Working for a sound equipment manufacturer or hire company

I’ll definitely need these attributes:

Good hearing, for judging sound quality
A good sense of pitch, timing and rhythm
Patience, stamina and good concentration
The ability to cope with long hours and tight deadlines

I’ll also have to mix the inputs from microphones and amplifiers, using a control desk to balance the sound levels. You might also provide background music and sound effects.

My duties might also include:

Discussing the production’s sound needs with the director or sound designer
Identifying places in the script where any sound effects, music and changes in sound level are needed
Pre-recording any sound effects and music
Positioning and rigging up microphones
Completing sound checks before a performance
Operating the sound desk during shows Following a sound plan (known as a ‘plot’) and cues from the deputy stage manager
Looking after and repairing equipment
Unloading, setting up, dismantling and loading equipment at each venue when on tour

I may also have to set up and operate lighting equipment as part of a sound and lighting crew.

Whilst doing some research I found out that the salaries for live sound engineers are the following within our country.

Starter: £25,000

Experienced: £30,000

Highly Experienced: £40,000 (sound designer)

Freelance rates would vary from this research. You could always negotiate fees based on the type of production and your own track record. The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematography and Theatre Union (BECTU) list suggested rates.

Working hours, patterns and environment.

Hours can be long and irregular.
Evening and weekend work is common.
You may also work during the day for rehearsals, sound checks and maintenance.
You’ll work in theatres, concert halls, arenas, and outdoors at concerts and festivals.
You’ll spend a lot of time sitting at a control desk.
You’ll travel throughout the UK and possibly overseas.

With the following experience, I could always progress to chief sound engineer in a theatre, become a sound designer, or set up my own sound services company which would be quality but it is up to me what my future can hold!

Tuesday The 9th of October 2018

In Rehearsal today, we went over ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars in rehearsal today by request of me, finally, the song was composed in common time and in the key of E♭ major with a tempo of 112 beats per minute. The chord progression of A♭m₇–(Gm₇)–Fm₇–Gm₇–Cm–(B♭) repeats throughout the song, changing only to end phrases on B♭_9sus (A♭/B♭), a deceptive Cadence. I enjoy the song because of how upbeat it is and the style in which the bass-line is played, I haven’t been able to play anything slapped and popped but now I have the perfect opportunity as Disco is where it’s at!

In Composition, Chris had told us to start a new 30 second piece based on ‘How you see yourself” which was interesting, because I am pretty the overall outcome was doom and gloom. I’m finally the hang of Logic X at the start of term was fairly difficult to get into, but I will be sure to improve all my compositions before I have to submit it to Chris. This composition consisted of a Finger style bass because playing with a pick isn’t the way to go, studio cellos, a ‘slow jam’ drum kit and a soundscape sound called ‘Metal World’ which helped create the edge that I see myself in me.

After Composition, we had Pop Music in Practice with Jason which I always enjoy now that I know what I’m doing and have confidence to ask Jason for help. In today’s session I finished going through the background and arrangement to ‘Mercy’ by Duffy, I think it is to the best of my standards but that’s always open to change. I started to go through ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars also, I started to go into the background of Disco as a genre which is the most interesting one yet along side soul, to me at least; but I will definitely work on it a lot more tomorrow and over the weekend, because tomorrow the lectures have safeguard training which is interesting to me as I’d like to be a teacher one day.

After lunch we had Rehearsal again, so we proceeded to go over the structure of ‘Treasure’ which is always fun to do at the end of the day. We went through the song a handful of times because our singer was trying to figure out what key she was going to be comfortable with, after a few times me and drummer locked down the groove so it’s now up to our guitarist to learn his part up to scratch then that should be another song in the bag!

Monday The 8th of October 2018

My weekend went well considering how garbage my week was previously, I started to watch the documentary about metal that Jason gave to me on Friday which has so far been interesting.

Within music business, we went over the job roles again and Chris gave the class a big ol’ chat on how much detail he wants put into the work. He said mine was fine and that I just needed to add in what role I’d like to do and what it further entails, which I then proceeded to do at lunch as I wasn’t up for hanging out with my band members.

After that, we had rehearsal which can either go two ways, but before today’s session Chris sat down and gave our guitarist a chat and then the both of us, Chris and Jason eventually sorted it out as what he said won’t be tolerated as lightly as it was the next time. Then as a band we went through a couple of songs before the session ended, because then our singer had to a leave to attend a funeral which is sad to hear.

The next rehearsal session was cut short again as our guitarist wasn’t willing to go through anything which is always great, so then when they left I went and saw Chris about finishing up sorting my bass out which I learned a lot from, last Friday he didn’t have the right size trust rod adjuster so he brought his Fender jazz bass in and we went from there.

He also thought to put me in another band to help them out with the lead guitar work so I get the best of both worlds, which is going to push me as a player but it should go ahead with flying colours and I hope to further impress Chris and my family on what I’ve achieved within music for the past 3 years with hard work and dedication!

Album of the week

Purple Onion – The Les Claypool Frog Brigade

It was released on the 24th of September 2002.

The label it was released under is called Prawn Song Record.

It followed two other live releases by the band, and it is the first release of the Frog Brigade’s original compositions, while the brigade regulars are consistent on the majority of the record such as Jay Lane, Eenor, Skerik and the new percussionist Mike “Tree Frog” Dillon many special guests appear on the album as well!

The Album totals within 56 minutes in length and its genre is Experimental Rock.

My favourite track on the album would have to be either ‘Whamola’ and or ‘Ding Dong’.

‘Whamola‘ was a live show staple and the song was eventually named after the unique instrument that Les employs- it’s a one stringed bass played with a drum stick, which enables him to achieve some pretty cool sounds with just one string.

It features a single string which is manipulated via a pulley-and-lever system, the pulley mechanism is mounted in place of the tuning pegs at the top of a double-bass-style neck, which is attached to a wooden or metal body featuring a bridge, pickup and stand. The Whamola is played by hitting the string with a drum stick and either fretting it against the neck with the other hand or using the lever to alter its tension and change the pitch.

The song then later appeared as the theme for South Park’s Season 10 and on wards, it was remixed with the other song primus made for them also which keeps the authenticity for older fans!

Purple Onion was released on vinyl for the first time on the 24th of November, 2009.

I like this album because it allows Les Claypool to unleash his and vent his madness fluently and it goes without saying that it definitely to pleased his hardcore fans to this very day. His work isn’t as near edgy enough or the same level of his works with Primus but it’s like a well needed breath of fresh air!

Wednesday The 3rd of October 2018

Today we only had half a day to get things done because the college had a open evening, so we only came in for rehearsal, well I did at least because my guitar teacher was at a funeral and I teach myself Bass with some special help from Chris on the side.

Rehearsal was a bit heated as me and the lead guitarist are having a bit of a petty argument over whats going on in the sessions, etc and how I am acting up, which I’m not which is fun times. Apart from that I worked to the best of my abilities whilst feeling like absolute garbage on the side, I felt like I was at fault and I was bringing the drummer and the singer down because me being silent and his bad mood.

After rehearsal, Chris saw my email about him and that was fun, I understand that Chris is a very busy guy at the moment so I just let it play out. But I knew that talking to him and showing him what’s going on would be ten times better than me being sad.

But after that fun was sorted out and Chris cheered me up a bit, I went home and got myself ready to go and help out at the Henry Cort open evening in their music department considering Ben (Mr Chilcott) helped me get as far as I am now in college. Chris and I agreed also that I should come back in on Friday to sort out my basses action out so its a lot easier to maintain so that should be fun also!

Tuesday The 2nd of October 2018

We went over ‘Mercy’ by Duffy in rehearsal today by request of our singer, it’s a Pop Soul song so its fun for her to sing as it’s within her vocal range and she likes the style as well, personally I think it suits her perfectly. The bass line is fun to play around with because the song follows a 12-bar blues progression and it compliments the vocals and the keys also, the drums are pretty laid back and simple but it is just what the song needs to make the impact that it does.

In composition, Chris had to go deal with an issue, so one of the HNC’s ran then class. We started a new 30 second piece based on a washing machine which was interesting, I’m still getting used to Logic X so it was fairly difficult to get into, but I will be sure to improve it before I have to submit it in to Chris. I’ve started off with imitating the sound and the motion of a washing machine on the drums to give it that chugging feel, but I can only get better and it will come together eventually.

After composition, we had Pop Music in Practice with Jason which is always fun times for both parties. My other band mates started to do an analysis of ‘Mercy’ by Duffy but I was still doing my break down of ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ by Bon Jovi, so I was incredibly confused with what I was doing but I didn’t want to frustrate my peers and or interrupt Jason, so I chose to listen in and make a few notes on the song and kept my struggle to myself.

After lunch we had rehearsal again, so we proceeded to go over the structure of ‘Mercy’ which is always fun to do at the end of the day. But we eventually called it a day because we didn’t know our parts incredibly well and we were all getting frustrated and hardwired to self destruct.

Dorset & Hants 2018, Bournemouth Littledown Centre Gym

On the 29th of September, I competed for the second time this year and I’ve improved in the span of seven months from a Bronze to now a Gold and a Silver. I train with my team on Monday and Thursday evenings, and occasionally Wednesdays if i can get there after college.

Monday the 1st of October 2018

During theory this morning, music business, which consisted of going over our Job Roles within the Music Industry when it comes to Live music.

As previously mentioned, I based my work upon one of Primus’ live gigs and that went very well, Chris enjoyed it but to further improve it he told me to add which role I’d part take within and even consider doing in the future, my report can be found under the Music Business section on my blog!

After this we had rehearsal until lunch which was alright I suppose, we went over the set list which I’m not to happy with what we are playing. We were told by Chris and Jason that our set has to be more than four genres to be considered acceptable, but at the moment the songs we have are ‘I Want You Back’, ‘Mercy’, ‘Sex On fire’ and ‘Chelsea Dagger’. The first two songs are alright as we can really express ourselves but the other two Rock songs aren’t the best for showing our capabilities, so I’m probably going to ask Chris to come and suggest something else and talk some sense into our guitarist because I don’t have the nerve.

Then we had lunch which was alright, I went to the library and decided to finish up some work as I’m like that and I tend to take a lot of pride within my craft ever since secondary which is nice to see that every thing has transferred over without having Ben by my side.

At the end of the day we had rehearsal again so we went through ‘Chelsea Dagger’, my enthusiasm was lacking whilst playing this and the guitarist soon picked up on this and starting calling me a ‘slacker’ and kept saying that I was ‘slacking’ which cheesed me off. This then resulted in the session ending early which is never okay, so next time I’ll be sure to be more assertive and take control and dominance within the rehearsal sessions.

Album of the week

I don’t know if I’ll keep up with a weekly pace but I’m going to try post a new album I find every week!

This week it will have to be one of my favourite Primus albums that I’ve indulged myself within the past couple of months.

The Desaturating Seven – Primus

It was released on the 29th of September 2017, making the album just more than a year old today.

The labels it was released under are, ATO Records and Prawn Song Records.

It’s the ninth studio album by the American group Primus, it is also the bands first album of original material since their album released within 2011 called Green Naugahyde. And it is also the first LP featuring with the original drummer Tim Alexander since 1995 when they released Tales from the Punchbowl.

The Desaturating Seven is a concept album based on the children’s book The Rainbow Goblins, written by Italian author of children’s books, Ul de Rico. This is also explicitly shown within the colourful album cover which is personally one of my favourites!

The album has been noted as a stylistic change for Primus especially within comparison to their previous works. The album explores more or less the traditional aspects of progressive rock, it’s more or less tailored for fans of Primus in general or those into prog rock with a fun twist, because of the fun childish story to follow throughout the album takes play.

The constant use of panning throughout the majority of the tracks helps to create the surreal feeling Primus were always aiming for. Layering also helps this too because without a doubt something is always happening during a pause and or a build up to something big within the story they’re telling about the The Desaturating Seven!

The band consists of a standard prog rock line up in which being Bass, Guitar, Drums, keys and a hell of a lot of effects such as delay and distortion where it best seeks fit on the tracks.

The track, ‘The Seven’ definitely sets the fun mood for the whole album as it’s more or less an introduction to the seven Goblins that are presented to us on the album cover.

But overall, I think it’s one of Primus’ most creative albums along with ‘Sailing the Seas of Cheese’ and ‘Fizzle Fry’, but if you have the time I high recommending to this album for the sheer creativity of it!

Tuesday The 25th of September 2018

Yesterday evening I couldn’t find an awful amount of time to practice as I was training within Brazilian Jiu Jitsu because I’m competing on Saturday for the second time professionally this year considering I have just started the martial art.

Keeping that in mind, when I got into Rehearsal today I picked up the bass line fairly fast and yet again the bass line is walking just like the one from ‘I Want You Back’.

Our female singer wasn’t about on the day as she picked up tonsillitis, however our male singer was about and he gave it ago; but at the end of the day he got moved out of band by Chris because he needed to form 4 bands so we worked through that like pros and just continued going through the structure as a trio.

In the morning also, we did composition with Chris we had to compose a 30 second piece based upon a news theme, that was fun to do; it was mainly to get us used to the new programme, it was a great starting point for everyone it was difficult at first but I soon got into the swing of things.

After Composition, we had theory with Jason, I went over my Pop Music in practice notes and made sure I was up to date with everything Jason wanted, I’ll be sure to add more as we progress in the future by analysing the arrangement of the the new songs we’ve learn’t so far!

After lunch, we had rehearsal again which is always a laugh, we went over the arrangement for ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ and as a band we got roughly about half of it down without the singer which is fairly impressive, but I know we can do better in the future!