Efficiency

and its faults

When you run a demanding and regular production schedule, efficiency is the key.

I learned that back at the movie studio. 

The tight deadlines and the many territories we had to dub meant that speed and efficiency were crucial to do the job.

Our podcasting is no different.

We have a small team but a regular and demanding schedule that requires templates and systems in place for the machine to run efficiently.

And it does; years of practice means that we understand how to operate in our fields of expertise.

BUT

As I started my master's course and 2022 is ending, I am spending more time on research and reflection. I realised that in pursuit of perfect efficiency, the fun of the work is often sidelined.

Even the most awesome job in the world will get tedious at times, and usually, I solve it by keeping my days varied. Having different projects on my schedule, switching between tasks and so on.

Changing it up.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the tasks are more fun. They can still be tedious, but variety makes the whole day fun.

I've been working on music for an upcoming Casefile Presents show for the last few weeks. I've done my research, had a good idea and started implementing the knowledge I recently acquired.

Then, I decided to lay down some guitar tracks over the weekend on top of my compositions.

Let me explain.

In a big movie or tv production, the composer has a budget to write the music and then organise the recording sessions with musicians.

On smaller productions, you can have a mixture of virtual instruments plus a few soloists/real musicians.

In small productions, the composer uses virtual instruments.

And that's where podcasts are.

The budgets are small, and the deadlines are tight. So the most efficient route is to write and then create the score with virtual instruments. That's how I do it.

However, this week, on top of already-written tracks, I recorded myself playing acoustic and electric guitar.

I mixed these with the virtual instruments to add a human touch to the score.

First of all, it adds realism and makes the music better. That's obvious.

However, I realised how much I love playing the instruments, recording the music and having fun with it. 

Because in pursuing efficiency, I forgot why I chose this career, this path in the first place. To play, to have fun, to get lost in the music.

It took me a couple of days to lay down these poorly recorded tracks. Mixing them in will take me another day or two. 

Not the most efficient use of my time.

But this small action reminded me of something important - how crucial it is to have play time in our lives. And how efficiency, workflows and systems can make even the most fun job boring.

I plan to keep it in mind in 2023.

PODCAST PRODUCER LATEST

A quiet period is upon us. I finalised the score for the upcoming Casefile Presents show, and once Anthony finishes with the dialogues, I will start the production.

I'm also about to start working on music for another Casefile show. I have written the sketches a few months back, so it's time to revisit them and adequately compose the score.

Also, it's time for the archiving (yay!) I got another external 6TB drive and will need to clean up my recent work and do the backups.

YOUTUBE

I recently moved my music composition template to Cubase 12 Pro, and in this video, I show the process of why and how.

LEARNING

I've started a new unit - Writing to a Brief. So far, I have listened to and watched all the videos and booked 1-2-1 with the tutor. My next step is to select the next three assignments and start on the research.

BOOKS

Arranging for Strings by Mimi Rabson. I'm still going through the book as part of my learning journey.

Reinventing Your Life by Jeffrey Young and Janet Klosko. I finished this self-help/psychology book this week. I had it on my Kindle for like three years just sitting there, and it was one of the better ones I read recently!

FUN

Wednesday. We finished watching the latest Netflix show by Tim Burton (plus Elfman music themes!). The story was simple, but the production was outstanding. Really enjoyable show, and Ortega as Wednesday was fantastic.

Stutz. A film by Jonah Hill about his therapist - Stutz. I am big on therapy and mental health; it is a great watch.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you (hopefully!) next week!

Mike

https://mikemigas.com/

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