Music tech night review

Not my best review but it's ok.

Music Tech night presents…

Beware wolf, Soul Burn, Paper Plane, The Mcques.

Huddersfield Student Union

 It’s 9:00pm which seems late for a gig. With 4 bands on the bill tonight it is not likely to end till midnight but that isn’t stopping people staying to see their favourite bands play. There is a good turn out tonight and about half an hour after being seated the DJ Dale Johnson introduces the first band.

By the time Beware wolf arrive Huddersfield SU is more or less full. The 3 piece alternative band dive straight into their first song. The rhythm is in sync and vocals are clear. After a few songs the singer announces their drummer is in fact standing in for the usual drummer who couldn’t make it. The music is almost Biffy Clyro influenced with the amount of pauses and heavy riffs being used. The band show true talent, in fact if they hadn’t have mentioned they had a stand in drummer I don’t think anyone in the audience would have known.

Soul Burn seem to take it in turns to play slow and fast songs. Two guitars dominate the mere 30 minute set. The use of pedal effects and broken chords creates a chilled out atmosphere and the use of breakdowns grabs audience attention. The band work well together as the slow melodic melodies build up to great crescendos towards the last few songs. Unfortunately it’s hard to hear the singer’s lyrics over the volume of the instruments.

Although they’re not the headliners Paper Plane is probably the most anticipated band on the Bill tonight. The 3 piece rock band are the battle of the bands 2012 runners up and have a lot to live up to. Vocalist Jack Bennet hasn’t lost his touch, vocals are perfection and all 3 seem lost in the music. They are the first band to interact with the audience properly taking some time out between songs.  The set is led by heavy chords, varied tempos and use of instrumental breakdowns. They play harder, faster and louder than the other bands so far. The strobe lights seem to appear whenever they feel like it, mistake or not it definitely boosts the atmosphere in the room. Many guitar spins, screaming vocals and air jumps later they bring the set to an end. ‘’And in the end, I’ll build a time machine,’’ is a worthy finish bringing an orchestral backing track to the finale. It doesn’t look hard for them to be able to follow up their 2011 album ‘Draw your own holes.’

It must be hard to finish off the night as the main headliners. However, The Mcques seem to be pulling it off. The bass takes the prominent lead creating an upbeat, bouncy rhythm. Half way into the 3^rd song they take the risk mixing an old 90’s dance song with one of their own but it works well. They play almost stiff like throughout the set but it’s uncertain whether that’s a trademark or if they’re just not used to bigger crowds. By no fault of their own, half way through people are looking tired and start to head home. Although they play well together it’s clear they have only been together for a year, not that the music is bad but there is minimal interaction with the audience. The Mcques play a simple set with not much lighting but it ends the night on a high.

 

Tyler Douglas profile piece

In class for an assignment we had to do a profile piece. We had to get a transcrcibed interview and make a piece out of questions and answers. The guy I chose was Tyler Douglas a man I met in America when I was doing a hockey tournament. Working time zones out was difficult but here is my finished piece.

Tyler Douglas, Profile Piece.

Set in Loganville GA, Skyline Recording Studios isn’t the average recording studio; it is fully equipped but is provided for local artists who can go there to record professionally for an affordable price. They know what they’re doing and Skyline Studios is slowly on its way to the top of the Music Industry and has made a big name and great reputation already. It provides an excellent environment for everyone to give their best shot at the mic and caters for artists/bands at a range of different genres from Hip-Hop to Acoustic and Metal. The studios are operated by non-other than twenty-one year old Tyler Douglas.

 

Born on October 8^th 1990 to an American/British family Tyler grew up in Atlanta GA. As a teenager he studied at Loganville High School. He became interested in sound and music whilst at school and it went from there. ‘’My favourite subject at school was Physics, I loved learning about how sound travelled and how it could be manipulated to the human ear.’’

 

From High School Tyler went on to study Audio Engineering and became a Master engineer at SAE Institute Of Technology. Here he would learn everything he needed to get a job in the music industry. He recalls ‘’I chose my career in the music industry because once I started getting involved in bands my friend had a tape recorder and we would just use that to record ourselves. I would put the songs onto the computer and mess with the sounds to make things sound better.’’

 

Tyler was born into a sporty family, whilst at High School he played for the Ice Hockey team Loganville Red Devils. During his time there his main position to play was defence. As a team they played in the State Championship and went on to win the National Championships later that year. When asked if he still played he replied ‘’I still play hockey for fun with some old friends but I don’t find the time anymore to play at high standards.’’

 

He started work in 2005 at Skyline Recording Studios while he was still at High School. He worked with a great deal of artists, mainly local and made his way up to running the studio himself where he is currently positioned. In his seven years there he has worked with the likes of Katy Perry, Usher, Drake and Justin Beiber where he got to spend time with them recording new material. ‘’Katy was my favourite person to work with she was so down to Earth.’’ He addresses her first name only which suggests they became friends while she was recording there. However Tyler’s time spent with Celebrities is kept pretty private, he is modest and not one to boast.

 

When asked if he has had any bad experiences at the Studio he seems eager to answer. ‘’I haven’t really had any bad experiences here at skyline studios. You just get those little problems every once in a while, but hey, its music business, you never know what’s going to happen. Things don’t always run smoothly, one minute it could be going perfect and next there could be a blown speaker Either that or the artist has had a bad day at the office and is giving everyone a hard time. No matter what happens Tyler is always at hand to help with the recordings. When Tyler is not working At Skyline studios he is usually found working at other studios or working for as a stage tech for Live Event Solutions, a production company that delivers professional Audio, Lighting and video.

 

One Christmas Tyler’s parents bought him some microphones for his drums so he could record demos and covers of him playing. ‘’From there I knew this is what I wanted to do, I kept building on my equipment and that’s how I got to where I am today.’’

 In fact Tyler has been in bands himself and recorded in Skyline Studios. From 2007-2010 he was in a band called Fortune Favors The Brave again playing drums. They were unsigned but released songs for listeners over music website Myspace. They gave off the sound of electronica/Pop Rock. Whilst together they recorded 15 demos and 2 EP albums before going their separate ways. ‘’My commitment to Skyline Studios and side projects means I no longer have time to commit to playing in bands anymore myself, I do miss it but me and the guys remain great friends.’’