Working at CME – Week 17

I have had a particularly enjoyable time at CME this week. This is because we have just acquired a lot of new equipment including guitars, basses and amps. My job for this week was to test all the equipment and make sure it was all working fine and then to catalogue it all onto a spread sheet so we know what we have. This was really fun for me as I love playing instruments, and we got some more equipment on Friday, so there will be more of it to test and catalogue next week.

Working at CME – Week 15

This week I have been busy with a few jobs. I have been working on getting the contacts database updated, helping out with recording for the Learning Foundation group and also various things such as posting packages and taking phone calls. I have also been busy with maintaining equipment, getting new parts for things and setting up guitars etc.

Week 14 at CME

This week we did a “Junk Workshop” at the forum in Norwich. Before doing this Tom and I had to go into the city to buy the junk we would be using. We had to find cheap objects from charity shops which would have a good sound when hit. This proved to be surprisingly difficult, only finding the odd thing here and there, until we came to the last shop to look in, where we found 90% of the things we needed.

The next day we took all the junk up to the Forum and made some music with it. We played twice (once at the start of the day and once at the end) and the second time went a lot better than the first. The idea was to show people that you can make music out of pretty much anything, even if you can’t afford loads of expensive equipment, and to get people to join in with playing (which a lot more people did the second time round).

I enjoyed the day doing the junk workshop lots as I got to be outside and playing music. I wasn’t sure exactly how it was going to go playing to lots of people with no rehearsed music, but we jammed out some good stuff and everything went well.

Week 12 at CME

This week as well as the usual jobs I was also given the task of working out how much it costs to put on a workshop. To do this I had to work out the amount of time it takes to organise everything, (booking tutors, a van, the venue etc.) travel time, and also do the actual workshop. I then worked out all the costs, (staff time, tutor time, promotion etc.) based on this. I then put all the information on to a spread sheet and worked out how much time and money is needed in total, and how much the students would need to be charged to cover the costs and also how much they would need to be charged to make a 10% profit.

I enjoyed doing this as it gave me a better insight into how everything works and how businesses in general operate. I also found that I am quite good at doing this sort of thing and Liz who does a lot of the financial work here said I should consider going into that sort of work. I would however, much prefer doing something practical such as teaching, but it is good to know that if I need to do that sort of work in the future, I will have the skills to do so.

Week 11 at CME

I have been very busy with workshops this week. On Tuesday I went to a Short Breaks workshop for children with complex needs. Because I had already been to one of these I found it very easy to turn up and start getting on with setting up, and working with participants etc. and as usual the day went fairly smoothly and the participants enjoyed it.

The day after I went to a new workshop for me called Rockestra. This workshop was for 7 – 12 year olds wanting to learn about creating music with others. This particular workshop was quite structured compared to other ones I had been to and there was already a plan for the whole day before the students got there. (Normally they are based on what the participants want to do when they arrive). The plan was basically to get everyone in the room to come up with a piece of music and to perform it at the end of the day (a sort of rock – orchestra). At the end of the day we achieved this and the participants performed it. I particularly enjoyed this workshop as being in rock bands is one of my favourite things about being into music so this was very much my sort of thing.

On Friday we did a similar kind of workshop but for older students (aged 12 – 18). With this workshop we split the participants into two bands and got them each to write a piece of music between them to be performed at the end of the day. The day went fairly smoothly and we gave help and advice at some points but they managed to come up with two good pieces of music by themselves and successfully performed it. Another pleasant surprise earlier in the day was when we were doing rhythm exercises in a large group and everyone managed to play a complex rhythm in 7/4 which normally takes people quite a while to pick up that sort of thing.

I have enjoyed this week very much particularly the Rockestra and Rock School workshops. I have had lots of things to do and keep me busy so the week has gone by really quickly.

Week 9 at CME

This week I have been mainly doing the usual admin related jobs but I have also done a few new things. On Thursday I got to help out with teaching some guitar to one of the students that comes here weekly. I love teaching and playing guitar so I found this really fun.

The day after I went to a workshop I hadn’t been to before in Sprowston. This workshop was for elderly people with disabilities such as Alzheimer’s and was the largest group I had seen in a workshop so far. The activities consisted of things such letting everyone have a go on the instruments and passing them round the circle, and variations on this such as having people stop and start at different times. There was also a bit at the end where everyone got into small groups and took it in turns to play as bands.

I enjoyed going to this workshop and thought all the participants there were really nice and I am looking forward to going to the next one.

Working at CME – Week 8

This week Tom and I were given the task of designing a flyer for the Rock School workshop. We decided to do this on Photoshop which I found quite challenging as I wasn’t particularly used to the program, but in the end we got it done and I now know how to use another program. The day after, we posted flyers to schools and colleges, and went round to various places in Norwich putting the flyers up in windows etc.

Later on in the week we were given the task of writing a press release for Rock School. I had never done this before, so I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach it, but after some research we managed to get it done. I enjoyed doing the flyers and press release as it meant I got to be very involved in what actually goes on. It was also a great opportunity for me to be creative in my work.

The main other thing that Tom and I have been doing is working on an acoustic set. CME are having a sale on the 5^th June to get rid of a few unused items and Tom and I will be providing  the background music, so come along if you want to pick up a bargain or just listen to the music!

Working at CME – Week 7

I really enjoyed this week. The main thing that I have been doing is writing and recording a new song aimed at a different age group to the last one we did. The theme of this song is animals in the jungle and hunters. Because it is set in the jungle I programmed some tribal sounding drums into Logic to give it that sort of feel. For the guitar parts I used my guitar FX unit so I could get some atmospheric sounds and used the Phrygian scale for the main riff to get a scary sound to represent the hunters. Although it isn’t finished yet we plan on making the song quite long and progressive sounding so it can be used in workshops of mixed age ranges (lyrics and story for the younger kids, and music to interest the older ones).

I also had a meeting with Paul Weston at Access to Music college to talk about what I want to get out of the job here. I am pretty set on becoming a guitar teacher so he has arranged for me to get some free guitar lessons. Also I will get to go on a course in London specifically for guitar teachers, as well as sometimes going along to watch the lessons at Access to Music, and also get some free piano lessons! Obviously I am really happy about all of this.

Week 6

This week I have been doing a general administrative tasks and finishing clearing out the old CME building. Most of the work involved carrying stuff into the van, driving up to the current building and unloading it all. Although this didn’t really have a lot to do with music which is what I enjoy doing most, I actually quite enjoyed doing it.

One of the things I like the most about this job is that there are so many different things to do, and I never really get bored because I don’t get stuck doing the same thing every day. I also just enjoyed this task anyway because it was quite demanding and hard work carrying a lot of the objects, and I enjoy exercise and physical challenges anyway.

I’m looking forward to see what challenges I get next, and hope that with my next job (although I am hoping that I manage to secure another place here after my 6 month contract has finished) will be just as interesting and constantly present me with new things to do.

Working at CME – Week 5

As well as the usual jobs, I did a few new things this week. On Tuesday I went to another Short Breaks workshop for children with disabilities. I joined in a lot more because I already knew how it worked.

Another task I was set was clearing out the old CME building. This involved taking things to pieces, moving lots of heavy objects and throwing things out.

On Thursday I went to a music taster drop in at Brundall Memorial Hall. The day started off with me teaching a bit of bass guitar which was good as I really enjoy teaching.  We wrote and recorded a song over the course of the day which everyone contributed to and then we burned it on to CD for participants to take home.

Different participants had different skills on the instruments so everyone got to do what they enjoyed. We also did a bit of word association as a group to help with ideas for lyrics. As the day went on, more people turned up and got to add their parts to the song and nearly all of them stayed for the whole day. I really enjoyed the day, the participants seemed to enjoy it as well, and I thought the song turned out really well.

Working at CME – Week 4

I have just finished my fourth week at CME and I am still enjoying it. As well as the usual tasks (updating the contacts database, maintaining instruments etc.) I went to two of ‘Short Breaks’ workshops for children with disabilities. 

We started off singing the ‘Hello’ song to make all the children feel welcome. After that we did some movement based activities to warm up like hopping on the spot, rolling on the floor, waving our hands in the air, etc. We then let the children choose what they wanted to do and have a go on some of the instruments.

After that we did some art. This involved making animal face masks out of card and felt, this was quite fun and I thought the tutors did a good job of helping the students out. During this time the participants also had the option of going and playing on the computer for a bit if they got frustrated, and then when they had calmed down they could come back.

After lunch we did a music based activity. We started off by sitting in a circle and passing a ball round. Then we did variations on this (pretending the ball was hot so having to pass it really quickly, using two balls at once etc.). We then all picked different instruments to use and took it in turns to play them and did other similar music games involving the instruments. The day ended in a similar fashion to how it began with a ‘goodbye song’. I also got a chance to play some relaxing music on guitar so the students could wind down. After the students left, I helped load the van and then we had a short meeting about how the day went.

At first, I was a bit nervous because I didn’t have much experience working with people with disabilities, but towards the end of the day I felt completely comfortable. I thought the tutors and the children were all really nice and I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one.

Working at CME - Week 3

I have just finished my third week working at CME and I am still enjoying it and learning new things. On Monday I learned how to use a program called Windows Movie Maker. The week before, Tom and I made a song on the recording program “Garage Band”. We had already made a jazz song with real instruments on it, so this time we decided to make a techno song using samples already on there. We used Windows Movie Maker to put images of us working on the song, and changed the pictures in time with the music. We also took about 80 pictures of us doing a “robot dance” and changed them in quick succession to give it a kind of stop motion effect. We thought this would suit the style of music well.

Using windows movie maker.

The day after we did some of the usual stuff, but we also learned how to use a new recording program – “Logic”. Logic is pretty much the same as Garage Band except you get a lot more options (and it is a little bit harder to use). One of the things I liked about Logic is the way you can program drums. You basically open it up and assign different drums, (snare, cymbals, etc.) to different notes of the keyboard. I would probably get Logic for my own use at home except you can only get it on Mac and I have a PC, so I have decided to get a similar program instead called Cubase.

Using the recording program Logic

Later on in the week we were assigned the task of making a children’s song. We wrote a song about a bumblebee that was really happy. It didn’t have many lyrics so the kids would be able to sing along easily, and the music was in 4/4 time signature, at medium tempo in C Major so it was easy to listen to.

Writing a children's song on keyboard

Billy's Future Job's Blog - Week 2

Working at Community Music East – Week 2

I have just completed my second week at CME and I am still enjoying it. I am also getting a better sense of everything that goes on. On the first day I had to copy some DVDs and put the labels on for promotional use. I also did some more of updating the contacts database. 

The day after I observed the learning foundation workshop in the first half of the day. I got more involved talking to everyone about what they were doing etc. Here are some of the pictures of the workshop taking place....

Later that day I went to a primary school to observe a workshop. In this workshop, the children were split into different groups and each had to come up with their own piece of music with the help of a tutor. At the end of the day they each performed their piece to the rest of the school. This was interesting to watch and you could tell all the kids really enjoyed it. The next day involved updating the contacts database, going into town to get equipment, and fixing a couple of guitars, which I really enjoyed as I like working with guitars.  We also made a new song on Garage Band which we made a video for. Here is the video...

On Friday I went to an event at the Arts Centre which was called “A crash course in the music industry”. I found this very interesting and helpful in understanding certain things. Although I had already learnt some of it at Access to Music when I attended there I also learnt a lot of new things and it was good to be reminded of some things. For example, one thing which I should have done a long time ago was to register with the PRS. If I had done this then I could have earned a lot more money with the gigs I have played.

The day started off with learning about copyrights and royalty collection companies and things like that, then it moved on to how to make money out of music, and then finally it went on promoting with social media with sites like Facebook and MySpace, talking to fans, and building up a fan base (which sites are best for different reasons and how to use them optimally).

Overall I have very much enjoyed my second week working at CME, especially attending the course on Friday, which I found very informative and helpful, and am looking forward to the next week.

My first week at CME

For the past few days I have been working at CME as a music workshop assistant. It wasn’t much like I expected it to be but in a good way. The atmosphere here is very relaxed and a nice place to be. On the first day I had an induction telling me a bit more about the job. Shortly afterwards I observed the Learning Foundation workshop that was taking place here.  In this workshop there are a few different courses going on. These are the digital audio course, the digital sampling course and the digital art course.

My job at first was to just talk to the students and find out about what they were doing. One of the students doing the digital art course was making an album cover for a CD which was being made by the students doing the audio course. This tied in the two courses well. One of the things I liked about it was that the tutors tended to have better relationships with the students than teachers at school, for instance. At school it tends to be a teacher standing at the front of the classroom telling everyone what they have to do and there isn’t much compromise in it, whereas here it is much more about user centred learning. The tutors work together with the students in a friendly atmosphere to achieve goals and everyone is happy to do it. I had lots of fun talking to everyone and joined in playing instruments with them.

On the second day I had the job of updating the contacts database. This involved telephoning a list of people and checking their contact  details. Later on I was told to familiarise myself with a recording program called Garage Band which is often used in music workshops. I had a lot of fun with this and recorded the start of a song and learnt how to use the program.

Another of the jobs I had to do was attend a meeting with the other new employees. This gave us a chance to meet the people we would be working with in the future. We were also shown and signed up to a site called Linked In which can be used to keep music and business contacts on. Another site we were shown was the Music Leader website. This had lots of information about available music jobs as well as upcoming training events etc.

Some of the other tasks I have been given included re-stringing a guitar, deciding what equipment to take to a workshop, copying and preparing some DVDs for promotional use, and various other jobs. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week of working here. Most of the time it doesn’t feel like work at all and the time goes really quickly. Although the placement is only six months I will gain lots of experience, skills and training in this area of work and it should help be to find other jobs equally as enjoyable and relevant to my interests when this one has finished.