AEL3001 Blog 1 Reflective Writing
The Art of Audio for BCGC: Feel the JOY!
A new experience can be overwhelming, exciting, and a learning curve, therefore it is crucial to record your personal reflections from it. Every day we go through many different experiences and neglect to reflect upon them or observe how we can learn from them. Within the context of studying music, blogging improves overall meta-comprehension (Moore, 2014). An array of similar yet distinct reflective writing frameworks have been formed by scholars to provide guidelines on how to reflect on practice effectively. In week 3 of the AEL3001 module Work-based Learning, Dr Laura McGinnis and Dr Allison Aylward from the QUB Learning Development Service provided an insightful lecture on Reflective Writing and Practice. They presented four unique models which we were advised to implement into our blog assignment: Boud, Borton, Gibbs, and Schön. In this blog, I will draw on Gibbs’ reflective cycle and use it to shape my reflective writing concerning my work placement experiences to date with my placement employer Third Source. Gibbs’ model has six stages to it, each posing a question, as seen in the image below (Gibbs, 1988).
Friday 20th October:
I am studying Music and Audio Production, and within that discipline, audio-visual is a key part. I am doing my work placement with an audio-visual supplier company called Third Source. I began my work placement on Friday 20th October at the Merchant Hotel Belfast, I completed 3 hours from 19:30 to 22:30. The performance group Third Source were facilitating audio for was the Belfast Community Gospel Choir; Third Source has worked closely with the choir for over 10 years. The choir were providing entertainment in a corporate environment for CRN Financial Group where BBC Newsline Sports Correspondent Stephen Watson conducted a Q&A with local sports star Mary Peters. There are over 100 members in the choir, but due to the nature of the event, only 11 members were recruited for this occasion.
Prior to this event, I had communicated with Adam, Third Source’s manager, via email and phone calls, so this was my first time meeting with him in person. Adam arrived with Andrew, who is part of Third Source’s team, earlier that day they had set up most of the gear to save time. They brought in equipment that had to be set up right before the performance including microphones, microphone stands, and the sound desk. The audience was in the middle of dining which made it challenging to work around them. Initially I observed how Adam and Andrew worked together to set up and test sound levels efficiently in the short time window they had between setup and the choir’s performance. I then assisted with the assembly of the 11 microphone stands and positioning. After we finished setting up, we met with the choir and waited until it was time for their performance. This was a fantastic opportunity for me to begin to understand the dynamics of the choir and how they perform, as they had a brief warm-up.
At the start of the performance, a backing track was played for the choir’s grand entrance and first song. Adam had set up his iPad to connect to the sound desk which enabled him to control it wirelessly and the backing tracks. It was challenging to set gain levels correctly since there was no opportunity for a sound check with the choir beforehand, so it had to be completed at the moment. Throughout the performance, Adam monitored the levels on the iPad to make sure they were balanced appropriately, I observed how he managed this throughout the performance. When the choir had concluded their performance, Adam, Andrew, and I began to dismantle and pack away all the equipment. Andrew brought all the cases into the room whilst Adam powered off the sound desk. I disassembled the microphone stands I had set up earlier and learned which boxes they were stored in. After everything had been packed in the correct cases, we loaded them into Third Source’s van.
In summary, I felt nervous throughout the evening, as I had not done anything like it before. I felt as though I was not always entirely helpful to Adam and Andrew because of my lack of know-how and initiative. However, I recognise my work placement is not supposed to be easy and I am glad that my first night was a challenge. To evaluate this initial experience, I would say I learnt a lot from the 3 hours I completed and there were many positive takeaways from the it. It was great to begin to understand how Adam and Andrew work together as a team and how they complete the various tasks that come with an event like this one. It was very insightful for me to see the Belfast Community Gospel Choir’s way of performing and consequently how Adam had to adapt to cater for this with wireless microphones and backing tracks, for example. Nevertheless, there were negative aspects of the experience too, there was a great deal of waiting time. I was aware this would be part of the job; however, I found in the moment of it that it was quite tiresome. We had to wait since the choir were not performing until after the audience finished eating which was delayed in itself. Nevertheless, to make the best use of this extra time it might’ve been helpful for me to have a conversation with Adam and Andrew about the job and how they find it, in turn, I recognise that I should have initiated this. In future instances, I plan to use any extra time more effectively so that I can develop an understanding of this part of the music industry.
Saturday 21st October
On this occasion, Third Source was facilitating the sound for the Belfast Community Gospel Choir, which performed at the Ulster Temple, Belfast. The event was a concert in aid of Flourish, a local charity that provides long-term support to survivors of human trafficking. I completed 8.5 hours from 14:30 – 23:00 of my work placement. Similarly, to the previous night, a small section of the choir was performing, however this time it was 22 of them. We arrived at the Ulster Temple at 14:30 to set up the equipment for the concert that evening before the sound check with the band who were accompanying the choir. We brought all the equipment in their boxes from the van and began unloading them. I assembled and positioned all 22 microphone stands and placed in them either Shure SM58 or Sennheiser e835 microphones. Following this I chose 5m or 10m length XLR cables for each mic and connected them to the closest stage box. I had to ensure I understood and remembered the number on the stage box selected for the coinciding position of the associated microphone cable. This information was important for Adam to be aware of for mixing purposes and if any troubleshooting issues arose with individual mics. Additionally, I checked that the XLR cables were not a tripping hazard for performers.
I shadowed Adam working on an Allen and Heath SQ5 mixing console whilst the choir and their band completed a sound check and practice. This was also the case during the concert as well. Adam had grouped all 22 microphones and labelled the group ‘Choir’ on the desk which enabled him to easily mix the whole choir with the band appropriately. Following the concert, I assisted with the dismantling of the equipment and placing it into the boxes. I recalled from the previous night which boxes stored which items, this was a great demonstration of how I was learning the ropes already. Since I knew how to put away the equipment correctly this time round, I was able to do this more efficiently. I helped to load the van with all the boxes like the previous night.
When I reflect upon my experiences of this event, I notice a subtle contrast from the previous one; more confidence in myself. Since I had an idea of how Third Source operates, despite being at a different venue, I could recall from last time what I had learnt and observed. I was still quite nervous, however, I felt more at ease after setting up the microphones as I had that responsibility, and I completed the task correctly. Similarly to before, there was quite a lot of waiting time, in turn, I asked Adam and Andrew questions about the company and their work commitments. I am glad I used my time more effectively on this occasion and asked them questions. Nevertheless, perhaps upon reflection, I should have asked more specific questions about the setup for that particular event. Such as how the patching of microphones operated in the venue for example. At the next work experience event I attend, I will aim to word my questions more carefully in order to have a fuller understanding of the sound system at different venues and how Third Source adapt to operate them effectively each time.
Bibliography:
Cake, S.A., Solomon, L., McLay, G., O’Sullivan, K. and Schumacher, C.R., 2015. Narrative as a tool for critical reflective practice in the creative industries. Reflective practice, 16(4)
Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Oxford Further Education
Unit.
Jasper, M. (2013) Beginning reflective practice. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA.
Moore, D., 2014. Supporting students in music technology higher education to learn computer programming. Journal of Music, Technology & Education, 7(1)
Other:
Choir Website: https://www.bcgc.biz/
Flourish NI Website: https://flourishni.org/