Native Instruments: Massive Plugin The Massive plugin is a synthesizer plugin for DAW'S. It is used in many genres of music such as; Dubstep, Glitch-hop, Electro etc. The Massive plugin would benefit me greatly as i want to be able to produce several genres including dubstep, and most dubstep producers use this plugin as it has the most to offer.
Dubstep producers 12th planet & Flinch talking about
Massive and what you can achieve through using it.
To achieve a professional and high standard with this plugin, i will have to purchase the software aswell as purchasing some guides to get the best out of it. I will also have to spend numerous hours on this software getting the hang of it and perfecting sounds and effect. As this is a plugin most of the skills will have to be self taught as it will have to be my style as i cant copy other producers.
Although I am focusing on one plugin it will benefit me alot as the language and effects used in this plugin will be present in other professional plugins. So if i can gain knowledge and build skills in this plugin i will be able to transfer them.
This plugin will develop me as a producer because it will enhance my skills and understanding so that i am able to use other DAW'S because Massive works on all and is the same on all, meaning i can have my presets on whatever system i'm on.
Marketing Yourself The Website i created was created using weebly, i used the free domain for now but in the future i will upgrade it so that is more professional, I would also like to include a professional logo that will be placed in the top left corner of the screen.
Like how this one has 'GDMLDN' in the top left i would like a more professional logo to be placed there Also as you can see the header contains a stock image. once i purchase the domain i would like that to be a picture of the members of GDMLDN. I have created a soundcloud as a way of showcasing my music quickly and being able to embed it into websites, This way i can keep people in my website and them being able to see my work rather than having to leave the website and possibly lose interest. Another good way of displaying music is creating a bandcamp as people can donate if they want to, this is a good way of releasing a mixtape as people can donate whatever they feel like also it doesn't restrict your audience as you are not forcing them to buy it like how you may if it were to be put on iTunes
If i were to go for a completely professional feel with a separate home page that then sends you to proper website i would do something like this. As you can see you can see the logo clearly as the colours contrast and the social icons are clear and its clear to see and is clean.
Website I made my website the way it is because i feel that the way it is laid out is clean and easy to navigate through, I embedded my soundcloud files into the website because now my target audience will be able to listen to my music and stay on my website and not stray away from it and get distracted.
An amazing example of a professional website
Using a brilliantly designed website as a template to build mine has really helped. Seeing how it should all be laid out, but as i have not released anything as an artist i cant have a separate page for my two crafts as i have only release stuff as a producer. In this picture you can see the website owner has two pages for their work aswell as having videos
Business Card Ideas
My Business card design
Having a business card is great for face to face situations, as you can just hand someone your card and look professional rather than having to hunt around for a pen and paper to write your contact details down. On my business card i have included my email address, my YouTube account and the name i am known as whilst producing and rapping. Handling Social Networking sites Handling the sites should be easy as there are several sites that allow you to control all sites at on time. A good example of a site like this is ifttt.com, it allows you to create triggers and actions E.g. if you upload a picture on instagram it will automatically be saved into your dropbox folder
The Website is easy to navigate through as the tabs and pages are labelled properly and is also accessible through search engines such as Google, Bing & more. Also the way i have laid out the website it is able to be viewed on mobile phones, tablets etc. with ease as it does not have any flash on it so it will load quick.
If
you are self-employed you must be able to self-manage and be professional in
the way you present yourself and the way you handle your money, and in this
blog post certain things about this will be discussed and explained
Self-employed – Being self-employed is working for yourself and getting your own work i.e. handing out flyers and social networking to get your name around, being completely self-dependent so that you can handle all of your money at low cost and correctly
Specific Income - Specific income is a person’s employment income for tax purposes
Tax deductible expenses are things that are for work use and not personal use e.g. a new laptop that is used to record or produce music would be a tax deductible. An example of something that is not tax deductible would be a house with no studio because you cannot say it is work related and therefore it would not be tax deductible
Examples
Equipment
Auto Expenses
Travel Costs
Equipment Repairs
Advertising
Board Meetings (entertaining guests)
Invoice
An Invoice is a record for you and the customer of what was done, when it was done and how much is owed, it is very important that an invoice is kept for tax purposes as it will be tax deductible and you can lower what you give if you are the one paying, but if you are the one receiving money it is not tax deductible, because that is money that is acquired because of a job so therefore must be declared
An example of what a Invoice looks like is located below
In the example you can see there is a billing address, company name, my details, the money that is owed and a due date. All of this is essential for an invoice, because without this there could be many problems with payment including not receiving any money as there is no due date.
National Insurance
National Insurance - social insurance program in Britain; based on contributions from employers and employees; provides payments to unemployed and sick and retired people as well as medical services (Definition from http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=national%20insurance)
You pay National Insurance if your profits are above £5,725 and you’ll pay more when your profits rise above £7,755.
Annual profits
Class 2
Class 4
Up to £5,725
£0 but only if you get an exception
£0
£5,725 - £7,755
£2.70 a week
£0
£7,755 - £41,450
£2.70 a week
9% of profits between £7,755 and £41,450
More than £41,450
£2.70 a week
9% of profits between £7,755 and £41,450 and 2% over that amount
Class 4 is paid through your Self Assessment tax return.
E.g.
If you earn up to £5,725 in annual profits you pay no national insurance
If you earn £41,550 you pay £2.70 per week and that is taken from your direct debit card so that totals up to £140.4 per year and then the class 4 is paid through your tax return, So the 9% would come out of £33,659 meaning that you would pay £3,056.85 in national insurance and over the £41,450 you would be charged 2% so if u had £100 over you would be charged £2
Working out Class 2 - £2.70 x 52 (working weeks in a year) = £140.4 £41,550 (profit) - £140.4 (class 2 national insurance) = £41,409.6
Class 4 - 9% of £33,659 (profit left from class 2) = £3,056.85 £33,659 - £3,056.85 = £30,602.15
Total taken for national insurance - £3,197.25 Money left after national insurance - £41,450 - £3,197.25 = £38,252.75
Tax
Tax - a sum ofmoneydemandedbyagovernmentforitssupportorforspecificfacilitiesorservices,levieduponincomes,property,sales,etc. (Definition from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tax)
If I was to get a job producing in the future and earned £28,000 anually then I would be taxed £5,600
and then the next year i earned £100,000 anually I would be charged 20% for the £34,370 and then for the remainding £65,630 I would be charged 40% so in total you will be taxed £33,126
Importance of Professionalism
If you have a professional approach to the freelance world you would be more likely to be hired and more work would come your way as you'd grow a reputation for being professional.
As a Music Production student I feel that presentation is very key in receiving job offers and actually making money so being professional with your image and money is a way to be successful self-employed, Because if you aren't responsible with your money you are just basically losing all of your profit and potentially losing money. Also being able to self-manage as well is just as important because you can actually keep track of what you have and how much you owe rather than getting an accountant to check your books for you, you can do that yourself and be able to lower what you are giving in tax.
Also being professional would mean being up to date with social networking sites so that you can market yourself in a professional manner and showcase yourself to a wider audience. Also if you are professional you will know about tax considerations and be able to find ways to reduce your profit therefore you will pay less.
If I was a freelance sound engineer and was hired to master a song and handed the mastered track back late and not up to a high standard i would be risking not being hired in the future by any artists as i did not complete the work with professionalism. But if i mastered the song to the best of my ability and done so on time i would be in a great situation as the artist may hire me again and my reputation as a professional would grow and more work would come my way.
