Yesterday was my first, and last day of working with Mr. Yaffe. He is a music producer and a cellist in the North Carolina Symphony. On Memorial Day I was given the opportunity to sit in with him while he was recording a live group of three people.
I showed up about an hour before the recording. There, Mr. Yaffe showed me how he set up the microphones and all the technology necessary in order to properly record the artists in a wide open space. Even though there were only 2 instruments and one vocalist being recorded, ten mics were used. I learned a little bit about different kinds microphones and how each one captures sound differently. A ribbon mic, for example only catches sound in front, and behind it, while a cardioid microphone captures sound in a heart-like shape.
After I was walked through all the materials set up on stage, I was brought back to where the music producer and director sit, which was much less glamorous then the large, fancy auditorium. None the less, it was cool.
In there I was shown around the small area a bit, and Mr. Yaffe explained to me how the programs on his computer assist with the recording process. After that, for the next six hours (not including a two hour dinner break) I got to listen to the music being played on stage. I learned a lot about how the recording process works and the difficulties of being both the person being recorded as well as the producer. It was fascinating to see how the individuals around me have been trained to listen and catch certain errors within the music and work with the artist to fix them.
Unfortunately, Mr. Hodgen (the man I am doing the rest of my work experience program with) had to go to the doctors this morning, and decided that our first day together should be tomorrow the 30th.