Personal Statement Friday- 7th of October

AG1064A: Professional Practice – Personal Statement

Proposer:	Calum Mclean
Student Number:	1003309
Programme:	Creative Sound
Specialism(s):	Composing music for learning applications.

Personal Statement

Inspiration and Interests

What really inspires me is music, both playing and listening and it’s because of this that I want my honours project to relate to music in a big way.  My idea for my project is to investigate how audio, most specifically music affects the brain and our ability to concentrate while carrying out various tasks.  I want to find out what genres of music have an impact on the way we concentrate and what it is about these specific tracks that make the difference.  In terms of my artefact what I want to develop is a piece(s) of music that are composed around my findings to find out whether or not this method of researching and creating audio is successful.  I want the end of year show to show my skills as a composer and producer as well as my engineering capabilities.

Career and Creative Aims

My main aim for when I leave university is to find work composing music and creating sound effects for games, apps and advertising.  Part of what I want to achieve from this year though is how to use the psychology and music theory side to enhance and develop the skills I need to be successful.  I am also interested in the learning and teaching side audio as well.

Current Skills and Abilities

Music- ·         I can play a few various instruments- Guitar, bass, piano, vocals. ·         I can write music in different styles. ·         I have a reasonable knowledge of music theory. Sound Production- ·         I can record a large variety of Instruments. ·         I have a good knowledge and practice of various microphone techniques. ·         I can operate a range of audio interfaces i.e Cubase, Garageband, Protools etc. ·         I have experience and practice in mixing.

Skill Gaps

One of the skills I want to address in this project is my ability to compose music in a completely different way.  I want to learn how to compose music that can serve some sort of purpose in a teaching/learning field. Another skill I would like to enhance continues on from last year and that is my use of sampling and Midi instruments in my music.