George Lauder Bursary - Week 3

It’s truly quite baffling that Week 3 has already passed by! Where is all the time going?

Let’s just get straight into what I got up to this week. Like the last post, there may be a couple of days where not much actually happened. Because I’ve been balancing three different classes, my own projects, and day-to-day life, there have definitely been some days where I’ve chosen to do a little less exploring and such.

But fear not—after my classes finish, I’ll have just under three weeks to explore wherever I wish, so I’ll be sure to maximise every opportunity during that time!

Monday 23rd June

Starting off with a familiar rhythm, my day began with Engineering the Record I, where we focused on stereo piano recording techniques (typically two microphones in various positions relative to the piano—see picture below). Michael (our lecturer) brought in a piano player to demonstrate the different sounds of each recording technique, which was incredibly interesting, especially as it added to some of the existing knowledge I had from the RSNO and college.

Class concluded, and as usual, Jackson and I went to get lunch from the dining hall (which actually makes really decent food). It’s right across the road from Clive and relatively affordable, so it’s a no-brainer for uni days.

After lunch, we headed back to Clive for our next class, The Virtual Producer: Beats & Beatmaking. At the beginning of the lesson, we showcased our homework from the previous week. Kayvon (our lecturer) then told us that on the final day of class, four industry professionals from various backgrounds would join us via Zoom to listen to 1–2 of our projects and offer feedback.

This was a really exciting prospect! I asked Kayvon if I could showcase the projects I’ve been working on (the ones I’ve subtly mentioned in this blog), and he approved. So, I locked in and committed to getting those projects as close to finished as possible by the end of the week. That way, the feedback could focus on final tweaks before their planned release in a few months.

Tuesday 24th June

In ETR I, we focused entirely on using a patch bay. The most basic definition: it’s a centralised hub in a studio that connects inputs and outputs of various equipment, allowing for flexible signal routing without needing to reconnect cables behind the gear. It’s a vital piece of analogue audio equipment.

It’s something I’ve only briefly worked with before, so I was excited to get more hands-on experience. We also focused on how to "print" our mix from the console. For context, printing a mix means sending the song’s elements (vocals, drums, guitars, etc.) out of the computer, through a physical mixing board, blending everything manually, and then recording the final mix back into the computer as a stereo file.

After class and lunch, I caught the subway to Manhattan for The Basics of Music Licensing. We continued learning how music is sourced and licensed, who is involved in the process, and strategies for pitching. Our lecturer brought in a guest speaker: Keith D’Arcy, Senior VP of Sync & Creative Licensing at Warner Chappell Music Publishing.

He gave us insight into how they find music in their catalogue of 1.4 million songs for sync placements in ads, films, and broadcasts.

We ran a bit over time, so I had to race back to Brooklyn for a recording session for our ETR I group project (with Jackson, JV, and Amy). We set out to record a song inspired by Amy’s demo, and managed to lay down piano, vocals, and bass (played by yours truly!).

Afterwards, we felt things were a bit disjointed—building a song from scratch was proving difficult. So we decided to fully recreate Amy’s original song, which gave us a solid foundation for our next session on Friday.

Wednesday 25th June

A couple of important updates before diving into the day’s events!

I discovered a scheduling conflict in July—two of my classes, Digital Audio Workstations: Logic and The Future of the Music Streaming Economy, overlapped. The student scheduling lead advised that it was too significant a clash, so I chose to drop the streaming class as it was less relevant to my interests. To give context as to what Logic is, let me explain - Logic is a digital audio workstation software developed by Apple designed for recording, editing and mixing audio. I currently use Pro Tools as my main DAW, which currently is the industry standard. But I was interested in learning more about Logic since I only ever had a couple of opportunities to ever use it. However, after speaking with Jackson, he questioned why I wasn’t doing Mix Intensive. I didn’t really have a proper reason other than to learn more about Logic. He rebutted that by saying, "But you could simply learn that whenever and teach yourself in the process, so would it not better off for you to do a course like. Mix Intensive where you will learn off of someone you may never get an opportunity to meet again?". I asked for more details. He explained that it was led by Grammy-nominated mix engineer Jason Goldstein, who’s worked with Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and more.

Jackson made a good point. It definitely aligned more with my goals and offered an amazing learning opportunity. After some thought, I agreed and made the switch.

Back to ETR I—today’s class covered general mixing concepts for the console as well as auditory perception (how humans perceive sound) which was incredibly interesting! We were advised to arrive early tomorrow, as a band would be coming in and Michael would be running the session.

After lunch, Jackson and I attended Beats & Beatmaking, where we focused on our final projects and what we wanted to showcase to the professionals next Monday.

Kayvon took us into breakout rooms on Zoom to hear our selections. We had 1 minute and 30 seconds to present, so I chose two highlights from each song that best represented my skills as a producer and engineer. The rest of the class was dedicated to working on our projects.

Later, I spent a bit of time in an edit suite, then headed back to the accommodation to relax.

Thursday 26th June

A jam-packed day—let’s dive in!

ETR I began sharply, with Michael handing out a mic list and asking us to set up for the recording session. The band included Ed (the drum tuner from last week), a bassist, and a guitarist (whose names I didn’t catch due to the fast pace).

I took the initiative to help with mic setup, cable management, and overall session flow—drawing on my past experience to keep things running efficiently. Once everything was ready, the class moved to the control room while I stayed in the live room to make mic adjustments as requested.

We recorded two songs (with a quick overdub) before class ended. I skipped the playback to begin tearing down the gear—saving time and having already heard the takes live. A few others joined in, and we got everything packed up in good time.

Michael thanked me afterward, saying it was nice to have help when he couldn’t be in two places at once. I really appreciated his kind words.

After lunch, I headed to the Paulson Centre to study for my Music Licensing test, which consisted of multiple choice and short-answer questions. Following the test, I was happy with my results as I managed to only get a couple of questions wrong.

We then prepped for our final project: a 5–10 minute presentation from the perspective of a music supervisor. We needed to pitch or request a song for a visual medium and include metadata, ownership splits, rights, and more.

I started brainstorming ideas, hoping to incorporate one of the songs I’ve been working on. After class, I grabbed dinner, caught up on some homework and relaxed for the night in preparation for our next studio session in the morning.

Friday 27th June

Today was our second recording session for the ETR I group project, focused on percussion and vocals.

I stepped into the live room as the drummer/percussionist since I had stronger timing skills. We kept it simple—kick, snare, shakers, claves, tambourine!

It felt strange not being at the console but it was also really fun to actually be recorded! Moving on, we recorded Amy’s vocals, followed by some additional piano with JV.

Later, I took my MacBook outside and soaked up the sun while working—a rare but lovely change of pace. Not much else to report since the studio session took up most of the day!

Saturday 28th June

A rare free day! I slept in, did some homework, and mostly relaxed.

I began preparing my presentation for Tuesday, deciding on two "music replacement" examples:

• One of my client’s songs over the opening of Iron Man 2.

• Drive by The Weeknd over a Porsche 911 GT3 ad.

I started building my PowerPoint and editing audio-visual examples (sadly, I can’t share these on the blog due to copyright—sorry!).

I ventured out to find food and stumbled across Shake Shack. I had their signature ShackBurger with Spicy Fries—the burger was the star, no surprise!

Afterwards, I wandered around Downtown Brooklyn and caught up with my dad and sister via video call which was really nice. Later, I worked on my presentation and Beats & Beatmaking project before calling some friends back in Glasgow. It was nice to feel “there but not there”. Afterwards, I decided to get an early night to get up early for tomorrow!

Sunday 29th June

If you don’t know already—I’m a big motorsport fan. I started the day early to watch the Austrian Grand Prix before heading to the studio for our final group session.

We recorded any last-minute parts and finalised our mix for hand-in the next day. We finalised the vocals on the track and began the mixing process. Everything went smoothly and we wrapped up mixing with time to spare.

Afterward, we grabbed food from 7th Street Burger—a staple in NYC. I tried their cheeseburger with onions, pickles, and house sauce. I usually avoid pickles (I really don’t like them lol), but decided to give them a go. Verdict: still not a fan!

I then joined JV for a trip to Union Square. The area was buzzing due to NYC Pride celebrations earlier that day.

We wandered around for a bit, then I headed back on the subway to prep for my busy week ahead!