Changes to my study programme

I am studying sound engineering here in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Chile. It is an undergraduate degree of 5 years, or 10 semesters. If you have ever been walking around the faculty, surely you must have heard about the multiple failings in the faculty, and this career isn't an exception.

It is well known that the academic structure of this degree here in the Faculty of Arts is incredibly bad, though I like to think that you can make the most of it even if it isn't the best degree. Actually, we all know that music and sound engineering development in Chile isn't the best. I think the main problem of the degree is the structure of the subjects is too ambitious, and the infrastructure isn't at the level of this. I don't want to explain extensively because it is depressing to talk about the things that are bad, but in summary: we are trying to study too many areas of knowledge—music, math, physics, psychoacoustics, electronics, electronic equipment design, sound design, etc.—in a department with only ¿5 classrooms?, classrooms that were originally printing offices, and poor laboratories.

The main change I would make to the program is to give it a primary focus. If the career wants to produce engineers, then it must focus on that and reduce or eliminate all the music or artistic subjects. Alternatively, if the career wants to produce music producers, then it mustn't include all of the scientific subjects that are there now. This is the main problem the career has; it tries to produce sound engineers, musicians, and music producers all at the same time with no budget and no infrastructure.

I know all the students in the faculty are facing the same problems we have, so I don't want to talk more about it.

An image say more than a thousand words. Special greetings to teacher Guillermo.

Past, present, future, past, present, future.

Actually, if a time travel magician offers to send me to any time and any place, I wouldn't accept because I think I am already living in the best times I ever could expect. It is unavoidable that the time we are living in isn't perfect, and doubtlessly, plenty of people are suffering the consequences of technological advances and other injustices. I don't mean to cause offense to them, but we aren't currently experiencing the worst times, and regretfully, there will always be good and bad times in our lives.

Leaving aside this and submerging into a fictional world, I would go to year zero (almost what we've known as year zero), and travel to Jerusalem where Jesus Christ lived, because it was one of the most important historical events for humanity. Imagine it for a moment; if any of us could go back to year zero, we would have the key to witness the secrets that the lords of the world might have, and we could answer questions like, "Does Jesus truly exist, and was he a prophet?" It is an interesting place and time to discover if we have the chance. I don't know if it is totally impossible to make time travel these days. I remember watching Dross's videos about experiments by the CIA in the 20th century that got me scared about technology. I think we are not so far from making things like time travel possible. If we remember fundamental acts (acts that I think are important, and I don't have a lot of knowledge, so don't take me too seriously) like the three laws of Newton in 1750, the industrial revolution, the discovery of the number 0, and more, to finally artificial intelligence in programs like ChatGPT

But as I said, if I were to travel to year zero, I wouldn't stay there because I want to be where I am now. Forgive me for getting off topic, and thank you a lot for reading :-)

SPEAKERS SPEAKERS SPEAKERS SPEAKERS SPEAKERS

I think I am a boring person hahaha, but in the future my dream job will be design speakers in a big company like Fender or Marshall. 

Let me tell you some things about myself. I like musical production, which is the first activity we think about a sound engineer here in the faculty because it is a direct science/art activity, but it isn't in my deeply interests. To be honest with you, I am horrible in musical production's activities, and music as well. However, acoustics, math equations, architectural activities, electrical equipment, distorted sounds, live sounds, etcetc fascinated me. (dull things in a first view, but too beautiful).

I imagine myself designing speakers customized for great artists, working side by side with special people, building wires with the best quality, calculating equations for optimization (etc), learning a lot, going to concerts, I don't know, a boring job but beautiful at the same time.

In this job I will mainly need a lot of knowledge about math, acoustics and electronics, and more important being able to learn all the time.

I choose this job as my dream job because I don't care much about money, or being a famous person. I just want music sound good.

Some people love musical production, others love music performances, others microphones, and others speakers. My love for speakers came to rock music, I remember when I read the autobiography by Keith Richards, it blows my mind. He in his 16th started with music thanks to Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters (...) influences, and he was a poor boy, so to get a distortion sound he opened his amplifiers and changes wires, set stuffs and other primitive things to get a broken sound. I recommend to you to listen this song because the guitar riff (played by Keith) sounds extremely dirty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz5mI6tqm_Q

The Fender 5F8-A Twins, one of the favorite's amplifiers for Keith. (I think it is an stereo set)

Watch a demostration of the sound for this amp played by Pierre de Beauport on a soundcheck, Pierre is Keith's instrument curator and inventory manager Sound of 5F8-A Twins

Another video demostration 1959 Fender Twin Amp

Best concert ever. EVER!

Almost 6 years ago, in September 29th and 30th when I was 14 years old my dad and me went to one of the most important concert ever to me. 

It was in the Monumental Stadium in Santiago, I can remember those days with a special longing because it was one of my first trips in a plane, it was my second time here in Santiago, and it was a kind of dad-son trip (me in my 14 and my dad going out just for a good time and our love for music). As I said here in the blog, my love for music came from my dad's sway and this concert was the cornerstone for me, even I didn't know it. The event was a two days concert named Stgo Rock City and the guests originally was Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, The Who and Def Leppard.

But it was a unexpected issue. The days before the concert, the Aerosmith's singer, Steven Tyler did a show in Brasil and got sick and the band was replace by Ramones (the legendary Marky Ramone and other guys) and I don't want to forget mention it was the first concert ever in Chile for The Who and Def Leppard. With The Who's presentation I started to discover what means music, talking about feelings and sounds quality. The atmosphere was magic, the sounds of the instruments in the air, the distort guitar, and high level music blew up my mind. Eminence front - The Who

It was a special moment I will never forget, it changed my life and essentially is the reason why I am here.

I couldn't found the pictures my dad took but there is the poster of the event.

A beautiful country

Hi!

Actually to me it's not easy choose just one country to visit because there are a lot places I would love to go, however in the last years I have been interesting in England. I would like to go to England because it has been an important country to me, not it a direct way, but in the music I usually listen to, in the university's subjects, in the biographys of artist I was read like the "Life" of Keith Richards, or music career of Bob Marley.

England is a state that belongs to United Kingdom, one day I heard the capital London is the most visited city around all the world, the United Kingdom is an interesting place to visit for it culture, traditions and history. If I had the opportunity to visit England I would like to go to places like the abbey road avenue, the districts where the rolling stones members was born (I don't remember the names jaja), take a walk around the tamesis river, westminster abbey, british museum, or take pictures at big ben, and if I had the opportunity to work there for me would be a dream come true because in London are a lot of music company and music records, factories and I know for sure I could get a lot of knowledge in music, England culture, electronic, loudspeakers, etc...

        

    Abbey Road

Post 6: An expert / person in your field you admire

His name is Muddy Waters, he was born on 4th april, 1913, in Issaquena, Misisipi and lived until 1983. He was a blues rock musician and usually called The Father of Chicago Blues. 

Muddy in 1960 did a tour to England and that was the beginning of everything. 

This is the most important show and I saw in a video Paul McCartney was there, I don't know if it's true but I heard this in a video!

There are a lot of musicians that have been influenced by Muddy Waters, some of them are:

- The Rolling Stones

They called like this because the single "Rollin' Stone" by Muddy Waters

      Rollin' Stone

The Rolling Stones's first album all songs are covers. In the first part, numer 2 they knew this song by Muddy Waters and also in the second partm number 1.

- Eric Clapton

When he was in Cream, the band recorded "Rolling and Tumbling" a song by Muddy too.

Rollin' And Tumblin' - Muddy Waters

Rollin' And Tumblin' - Cream

Because of my love by The Rolling Stones I found this folk American music and I really love this, I find a kind of mirage in this music, in those sounds, in those lyrics. 

More Muddy!

Muddy alive!!!

Post 5: How can your major make the world a better place?

The major that I am studying can make the world a better place in two mainly topics:

music                    and              science/architecture

and I will take the music way.

I know that being a Sound Engineer can make possible all the music, since recording, mixing and reproduction music. But how? well, if don't exists microphones, music players, instruments... we can not listen music in the way we do in these days. (This applicate to Engineer in general). In these case, all these pieces of technology can make more people listen music and that is beautiful because I know that they life will be better with music.

I searched one example: "Harry's house" by Harry Styles. 

In the art, many people have to work hardly to make art possible and exactly in this case the sound is "perfect" because of Sound Engineer's work! obviously the artists make all the art, but this never will sounding like this without all these Engineer's work                    

Tracklist

Sound Engineer's names

But how this can make a life better? I have seeing a lot of young people listening this record and I know, I really know that this production mark how this generation see the life and gives them a really good time.

I want to be part of this generation experience, I know that something big is happening and I want to make my best and I will see myself stressed out but satisfied haha.