Work Experience at Point Blank

This week we have had the pleasure of 14 Year old Noa Krikler's company here at Point Blank Towers. Swapping the classrooms of Highgate Wood School for the studios she came to do some work experience and get a feel for life in the working world of the music industry. Whilst here we tried to give her a taste of all the different departments that keep Point Blank running smoothly and this is her blog of her experience:


Monday
I had a really fun day on Monday. After being introduced to everyone and shown around, I went to sit in a Sound Engineering class where we looked at all the types of microphones and the situations when they would be used. I then went into the recording studio and sang through each microphone so the students could hear the differences. This was really useful as, since I am interested in singing, it gave me some experience and knowledge in the topic.

Then, after lunch, I went to a vocals class. Here we practised a song a few times before passing a microphone round and took a chorus or verse each. This was really good because it gave the teacher a chance to give us direct improvements we can make on our singing. This helped a lot and also I wasn’t shy or embarrassed about singing because the teacher was really inclusive and gave us a lot of compliments.


Tuesday
On Tuesday I saw a different side of Point Blank. In the morning I was asked to look at a couple of introductions to the courses on the Point Blank website and see if there was anything I wanted to change on it. I felt really important when my views were taken into account. Then after lunch, I shadowed a college assistant who looked after the leads and helped the students out when they needed. This was really fun because I learned cool skills like how to coil leads properly, a couple of tricks with the computer and also some knowledge on the music industry in general which I found really interesting.

Wednesday
Wednesday was a lot of fun. At first I helped out in the office, photocopying and doing some paperwork (which I actually really enjoyed!). I'd never done any paper work or anything before so it was cool to give it a go. Afterwards, I went to a class of web design students aimed at making a new website for the Hackney Youth site. Here I learned about all the steps to making my own website and all the ideas I could include. I found it really useful because I know that in the future I might want to create a website for my music and the class has given me some basic skills to put towards that. It's just a shame we didn't have longer!

Thursday
I learnt so much today! I started off in a Music Production course where we looked at structures of songs and the top ten songs in the chart this week. After, we looked at different types of bass lines, their effects and examples of them in songs. I didn't realise there was so many! I googled the tutor of the Music Production class,a guy called Jos Jorgenson, and found out that he wrote the theme music for the X Factor and America's Got Talent! He knows all about the professional side of song writing and how to use all the equipment – and there's a lot of equipment in Point Blank! I'’s much better than the school stuff and there's so much of it. After lunch, I learnt about the marketing side of Point Blank and what they do to spread the word about Point Blank. I brainstormed a few ideas on different ways to market the business and they were really interested in a young person's view and opinion. I can't believe it's my last day tomorrow!


Friday
I really enjoyed today. I worked with Nick, the online marketing executive, who showed me the different social networking sites Point Blank uses for promotion like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Youtube etc. Social networking is important because it provides a way to reach out to new audiences who might not have heard of Point Blank and creates a community for current and past Point Blank students to network with each other.

This week has given me a real insight into the different types of jobs and opportunities the music industry has to offer as well as what it is like working full-time in an office. The courses Point Blank run not only teach the students technical skills and theory, but they also prepare them for finding their ideal jobs. Thanks to everyone there and hopefully I’ll be back one day soon.

Noa