Planning Makes Perfect (WR 8)

Theres an old saying that practice makes perfect. While I completely agree with this, I also believe that in order to be successful in life it its very important to have a thorough plan. A big part of ISM is having a professional, yet creative display board to showcase your work. The board is not due for a while, but I have already started creating a plan of what it will look like, what information it will include, and what creative elements it will include. Last friday in class, I completed a full color sketch of what I plan it to look like. For colors, I strategically picked black, silver, and orange. I am using these colors because they are my 'color scheme' for this year in ISM. Why these colors? Simply because they match the tie I will be wearing. I like to keep things simple and not overly complicated. I am also planning to bring my macbook and put studio monitors into my board so I can display some projects I have been working on, and maybe do a compare/contrast of how my work has improved.

Another day, Another Interview (WR 7)

This past week, I successfully completed my fourth research interview. On Thursday, I interviewed Bruce Faulconer of cakemix recording studios. Mr. Faulconer is a very successful composer who worked on projects such as 243 episodes of Dragon Ball Z with cartoon network and even some full feature films such as Bystander Theory. In this interview, I learned a lot of the composition side of music. He also gave me insight to what it takes to be a professional music composer and some things I can be working on right now to prepare me for this possible career. Another thing we talked about was the fact that it is hard to be a music composer in Dallas. He said that if he could do it all over again, he would have moved to LA or New York because it is much easier to get started in these places as a music composer.

Also, this week I have been doing a lot of assessments and research to prepare for our research speeches next week. These speeches have to be 10-12 minutes long and cover most if not all of the research that we have been doing, both online and through in person research interviews. This coming week, I have another research interview scheduled and plan to do some more research to help me get ready for the big research speech next week.

Professionalism (WR 6)

I had quite an eventful week this past week. On wednesday morning, I had an interview with Aaron Carpenter from fifty50 studios. It was amazing to say the least. He was a very down to earth guy and I learned so much invaluable information. We talked about a vast majority of things and I gained information that I couldn't get anywhere else. One thing he said was that as i'm learning ProTools (Industry standard recording software), I need to be learning as many keyboard shortcuts as I can. He said when a client is paying for your time in the studio, you need to be as efficient as possible and not be wasting the clients time and money. He also told me about some plugins that aren't very well know, but are very great so I will be looking into those. Another cool thing about the interview, was I got to tour his studio. I felt like a kid in a candy shop! It was an old '70s studio that they renovated and modernized. It was a very cool experience to be in a professional studio.

Another big thing that happened this week was the annual ISM Business Symposium. At Business Symposium, every ISM student gets the chance to get interviewed by professionals that volunteer their time. This helped me be more comfortable with getting interviewed and boosted my confidence with interviews. The professionals also gave me some critique about my resume, and some were even able to give me some contacts.

First Interview (WR 5)

Last friday (8/3) I had my first research interview. I met with Christian Chavarri who owns C-Factory, a music production company, and Creativation, a music school. With this being my first interview, I was slightly nervous but it turned out great and I learned a lot about my field of study. Now that I've had a successful interview, I am much less anxious about upcoming interviews and even more excited. I think one of the most valuable things I learned about the interview process is that Interviewing a real world professional is one of the best ways to research your field of study. Even though reading articles and watching videos are helpful, nothing beats getting to ask a professional any question you can think of.

While interviewing Christian, I learned many things about my field. One of the most important things I got out of the Interview is to build up a strong portfolio. He told me that having a strong portfolio of your work is one of the most important things your can have. I learned that as an unexperienced producer, I should even work for free just so that I can gain experience and build up my portfolio.