This week me and my 3rd year Audio production course received a guest lecture by Ken Blair. Ken is a recording engineer, record producer and and owner of BMP. BMP is a recording company specialising in classical, jazz and acoustic music.

Ken began by the lecture by briefly talking about his various roles over the course of his career in sound recording. For the lecture Ken focused mostly on his role as Recording Engineer.

Ken pointed out differences between recording classical and pop records. Firstly with classical recording the microphones are generally more distant from the sound source because the aim is to pick up the acoustics of the room/hall. Ken explained how the room/hall sound is a common convention in classical music. Secondly with pop you have the mix set up right before you start through a large number of placed microphones. Finally with classical you record entire takes as opposed to pop records where artists do overdubs. Ken let us know that since 20 years ago classical record labels have been making fewer records and as a result Ken has been working with music publishers

Ken then went through a range of recording locations around the world he has worked on. Within these locations Ken spoke about some general rules of thumb like setting up the microphones first before the musicians arrive. Ken showed us a picture of an engineer, producer and client sitting at a control room desk and explained each persons role.

Ken moved on to a range of hall recording examples which for him typically take place in London. Ken made it clear that it can be a long day of work moving between Lincoln and London. When recording in music halls around London Ken highlighted various amenities such as soundproofed cable holes in the walls which made an easy link between the control room and recording equipment in the hall.

Ken ended his lecture by speaking about ways of getting into the industry. Ken stressed the importance of recognizing and grabbing chances. Furthermore to have perseverance and go for the opportunity even if it looks impossible. Ken spoke about his past in the 1980s and how he wrote letters to 50 studios and only 1 Caribbean studio got back to him offering work experience. In the interview Ken as told by the interviewer that you should wear to an interview what you wear when doing the job. Ken explained how we need to do stuff in order to build a portfolio. In terms of working in the studio Ken expressed how its just as important to be good at what you do as well as getting on well with colleagues like musicians and to quote Ken ‘somebody needs to play mum’ in order to create strong relationships. Furthermore Ken pointed out how the genre of music determines how you express yourself in some actions for example in studio talkback you. In terms of CVs Ken advised us to make a skills based CV for audio industry related jobs and to justify each skill with examples.

An audio production student asked Ken what kinds of skills in a skills based CV he would seek in audio engineering. Ken responded by that the skills would be based around experience in recording, editing and having an easy to work with personality.

I learnt a range of valuable lessons and advice. In terms of lessons I learnt to make my CV skills based for jobs in the audio industry. For me highlighting skills related to video game sound design/music composing such as technical skills in Pro Tools and FL Studio. I also learnt that I need to build a portfolio of work by doing stuff so in my case doing anything related to video game audio.In terms of advice I learnt the importance of recognizing and grabbing opportunities regardless of whether it looks impossible. Furthermore I learnt that having an easy to work with personality is just as important as having the skill set required in any audio related job.