DJing
WORKSHOP, April 29th 2008 BY DJ ASH (CAP ALUMNUS)
CAP alumnus Shawn
a.k.a DJ Ash presented a workshop on DJing on April 29th
2008 at the Recording studio. The mixing students were introduced
to the very basic rudiments of DJing as Shawn enthusiastically
demonstrated through his Pioneer CDJ's and mixer.
He shared his thoughts on dance music structure
and discussed the various types of DJing. A good amount
of time was spent on demonstrating the all-important 'beat
matching' concept of DJing wherein a current selection has
to segue into another song on cue. The students were excited
when he beat matched two songs from his varied collection
of trance numbers. He stressed on the importance of tempo
synching and also ensuring the feel is right. A bit of harmonic
mixing and energy boost mixing was also discussed and he
also tried to show a bit of harmonic mixing which caught
the attention of the many keen listeners.
The students were then encouraged
to come and try out beat matching with his guidance which
many students readily volunteered to after hearing his earlier
beat match. The students altogether had a great time and
he concluded with talking about the financial side of DJing
and also a few good pointers on becoming that cool DJ!
GUITAR
RECORDING WORKSHOP BY JD, 20TH September, 2007
ICOM was treated to a classic guitar recording
workshop by Jedidah Wong also know as JD, guitarist from
popular Malaysian Rock/Hip Hop act Pop Shuvit. JD brought
his guitar and new Line 6 amp head, which he used to showcase
his talents of recording those crunchy guitar sounds. The
students were excited to hear those loud and bold guitar
chords emanating from the studio far-fields.
JD spent some time on talking about the
approach to the recording work he does and also stressed
on the importance of the right guitar string gauge to match
the genre and how important it is on getting the right tone
to tape or disk. He almost spent up to half an hour on finding
his right tone by maximizing the potential of the Focusrite
RED 2 equalizer.
The students were invited into the main
recording area wherein he spent some time on the right microphone
position for the guitar cabinet. A Marshall 4X12' cabinet
was used for the workshop and he made use of the famous
SM 57 on one driver and an Audio Technica 4050 on another.
His use of torchlight to find the cone center and edge got
the students all inquisitive making them understand the
importance of microphone position in order to achieve that
ideal guitar sound. He then recorded a guitar part to one
of his songs and then layered it.
The students had so many of their
guitar recording questions cleared and they felt like their
were ready and could right away find the next axe wielding,
long-haired six-string chucker, throw him in the studio
and record that raw and rambunctious guitar sound.
