Last week, we asked FdSc Audio and Music Technology student, Harvey Glasby, to write about his time at Industry Week and what stood out for him as a music student. Let’s hear about his experience…
Industry Week is a unique event held annually by Confetti, where students can attend lectures, events, and showcases not usually discussed within classes, showing students potential career paths within the creative industries. As a music student, it’s shown itself to be extremely useful in understanding different roles within the music industry and what they do. In past years there have been talks from the likes of rapper Professor Green and Will Kennard from Drum and Bass group Chase and Status. This year was no different, with producer Connor Turner, experimental artists Aja Ireland and sound engineer Jon Burton, making up just some of the music events available during the busy period.
Of the events I attended, the two that really stood out was ‘The World of Experimental Music’ run by the aforementioned experimental musician Aja Ireland and the ‘Songwriting Masterclass’ led by Connor Turner and Youngman – a singer/songwriter who has worked with artists such as English dubstep mainstays Skream and Benga.
Aja Ireland held an insightful talk into the use of field recordings within music, a method that involves the use of location recordings, such as the sound of a car or people talking in a café, in a musical context. As well as her knowledge of experimental music we asked questions about her experiences within the music industry, including booking her own tours, making connections with the likes of fashion designer Lu La Loop and the influences within her music. She also showed us her setup used during live shows, of particular interest was a three oscillator synthesiser called the ‘Lerango Box’ which created a drone that would go on throughout her set.
The other standout session, the Songwriting Masterclass, went into the procedure of songwriting at the highest level of the music industry and how quickly a song may need to be written. Youngman and Conner Turner went into both their thought process and how they would bring concepts and ideas to a session, so as to make it easy to write a song in a short period of time. As a producer, it was interesting to see the process that went into songwriting at that level and how each person can bring their own ideas to the table. One area that stood out to me was the process of taking words or simple phrases as a starting point such as ‘Liberty’ or ‘Catching hearts’ that could then be expanded into a whole song.
Overall Industry Week was a great experience as usual, and ended up being extremely useful for me and hopefully everyone who attended their chosen events! It’s great to get such an opportunity to hear the experiences of those embedded in the industry, whether that be gaming, media or music – there was definitely something that suited and inspired all interests.
Want to be part of Industry Week next year? Find out more about our creative college courses and degree courses and book an open day.
