Simon Allen Resume

High Barn
As well as many other activities, I have worked at High Barn for 4 years which has been the base for my time in the music industry so far. High Barn is also a multi-media company offering services such as video, audio, graphics and web development to a number of corporate clients ranging from Ikea, BP and The BBC through to musicians both ‘up-and-coming’ and international successes.

High Barn has one of the best small music venues in the UK, a purpose built professional recording studio, graphics and video editing suites and has many business arms such as its own record label which has given me good experience in many fields. As well as my strengths in audio, both live and studio based, I thoroughly enjoy the business elements and other technical areas that High Barn can offer.

The studio is an impressive set-up including 5.1 surround sound mixing and mastering using Blue Sky System One 5.1 monitoring. It has two good sized isolated live recording rooms situated either side of a control room running a 48-track I/O Digidesign Pro Tools HD 2 Accel system alongside a Yamaha DM2000 96-channel digital mixing console. The control room also looks out over the barn itself making it ideal for live recordings, broadcasts and larger ensemble and orchestral recording work.

Simon Gogerly
Simon Gogerly is one of the UK's leading mix engineers. His skills have been applied to music by a wide range of the world's top selling recording artists. In 2006, he was awarded with a Grammy for his work on the U2 album "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" which won the coveted "Album Of The Year" award. Simon has now set up his own mixing studio next to High Barn and I have been working very closely with him for about a year on several projects.

Cornbury Music Festival 2006
I have done live sound for many large acts in many venues and at several festivals but perhaps the largest event I’ve worked at to date was the Cornbury music festival on the main stage behind the FOH desk in-front of 10,000 people.

Audio Media
Audio Media is one of the worlds leading pro-audio magazines and is highly respected by the most professional individuals in the industry. I was asked to write for Audio Media after one of the editors watched me sound engineering at a concert and I have now been working for them for about a year reviewing pro audio equipment.

GCSE Grades:
Mathematics A
Electronics A
Biology B
Physics B
Geography B
Chemistry C
English C
Economics D
French E

Subjects studied at Helena Romanes 6th Form College:
Physics
Electronics
Chemistry
Maths

Sound Engineering / Record Producing
Event Management
Good understanding of most pro audio equipment
Fluent in Pro Tools, Logic, Aperture, Adobe Photoshop
Comfortable with Mac and Windows
Clean driving license

English
(will be learning Greek very soon and when I move out to cyprus I will be with Greek family)

GCSE's and A-levels at Helena Romanes School, Gt Dunmow, Essex, England

I have had a lot of on the job training for the last 4 years but more importantly gained lots of experience. Here is my personal statement:

My greatest strength is sound engineering and record producing. I have always had a keen interest in music and even before I had done any work in a live or studio environment I have always been really interested in sounds. I used to collect different speakers and hi-fi’s and my interest in electronics and physics has always meant I’ve had a good understanding of how everything works. I believe that this background has lead to me having a good feeling for the job.

I have also learnt that a large part of sound engineering is being able to work well with others and to always look after the artist or client. I am consistently receiving praise from the people I work with and I can’t think of any time that I have left the artist or client anything but content. I didn’t go to study sound technology or something similar like many people do now and I think the art of working with people is easily forgotten and can’t be learnt without lots of experience. It has also meant I have had to teach myself a lot of my technical knowledge which I think has given me a valuable and thorough understanding. I also now find it very easy to teach others and have enjoyed many workshops and lectures at local universities that I have run.

As well as sound engineering I have been heavily involved in many other areas at High Barn where I am currently working full-time. It has provided an amazing base to expand my knowledge and skills. I have had a lot of responsibility and room to learn and experience the music industry from many angles and build up skills such as making business decisions and strategic work. I have organised High Barn’s event program, liaising with agents and managers, negotiating deals, managing promotion, managing the box office and planning the events for 3 years including events such as Lucie Silvas and Scouting for Girls. I have also been heavily involved in the record label, which now has licensing in the US and national distribution by Nova through Pinnacle. High Barn also offers graphics, web development and video work which I have been involved in to broaden my skills.

More recently I have started to work alongside Simon Gogerly who is one of the UK's leading mix engineers and has worked with Gwen Stefani, Yusuf Islam, Nelly, U2 and many more. I have a great working relationship with Simon and have learnt a lot from him.

I regularly write reviews for new sound equipment in the world’s leading pro audio magazine ‘Audio Media’ after being spotted engineering at a concert and at only 22, this is quite an achievement for me. I am an expert in Pro Tools with a good understanding of most pro audio gear and other platforms such as Logic.

Music Industry contacts
Audio Media (The worlds leading pro-audio magazine)

Sound Engineering
Record Producing
Music (inc. many aspects of the music industry)
Photography
Video
Watersports (inc. swimming and sailing + power boats)
Technology

Simon Gogerly
Hub ll
Unit 1
The Bardfield Centre
Gt Bardfield
Braintree
Essex
CM7 4SL
00441371 875159