Just a little backstory on how I came up with the idea for my project. A few weeks back, I was very conflicted on what kind of project I’d be doing. I considered a lot of ideas such as podcasts, cooking tutorials, song covers, and the likes. I honestly didn’t know what to do and where to start. Then the morning of July 6th happened, my grandmother suddenly passed away. Like a switch, everything came crashing down and I became unsure of how I’d be functioning for the rest of the term. Since my family lives abroad, the death procedure is not the easiest, and bringing back home the body also requires a very tedious process. Going through all the mandatory procedures, it felt like I was delaying my grief and living on as if nothing happened. Considering her death was sudden, I didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.

So, through this project, I realized I can use this as a means of saying my last message to her in the form of a eulogy. My plan is to produce a short audio scene that evokes the solemn and reflective atmosphere of a memorial. I hope to create an immersive soundscape wherein listeners can feel as though they’re a part of that quiet room, surrounded by people mourning and remembering someone deeply cherished.

The scene will run around 4 minutes, fitting the time requirement. The core of the project is the vocal recording: the eulogy itself, written and voiced by me. Accompanying it will be three other tracks which will be live recorded:

1.        Background music – a guitar track played by my sister

2.        Ambient sounds – soft murmurs, chair creaks, someone coughing, light movement

3.        Sound effects – subtle cues like page turns (to add realism and emotion)

Most of the recordings will be done in my study room. The acoustics aren’t perfect but there are several pieces of furniture (e.g. my desk, a shelf, a chair, and a fan) that I believe can help dampen the sound and reduce echo. Once I close the door, the room is mostly isolated from noise outside. However, the study is located across the kitchen, so occasional clatter or kitchen noises might be picked up by the mic (hopefully not). I’ll try to schedule recordings during quieter times and maybe re-record as needed if background noise bleeds in.

My DAW (Adobe Audition) - haven't done anything so it's empty for now...

For the outflow:

Monitoring will be done using my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Ohm headphones, plugged directly into my Mac. This will be my main setup during both recording and mixing sessions.

The recording process will begin with the narration, since that forms the structural base of the project. I will take time with this part and expect to do a few takes depending on how emotional or composed I am during the sessions. As for the guitar track, I plan to record it with my sister on a separate day, possibly layering it underneath the vocal track. Ambient sounds and sound effects will be added after the main recordings are done, they will be recorded live as well.  The mixing phase will involve balancing all elements, so the narration stays front and center without being drowned out by background music. I’ll apply light EQ, panning, volume adjustments, and possibly some reverb to create spatial depth. I’ll make sure to be cautious about overprocessing, since the goal is to make it intimate. Lastly, I plan to publish the 4 separate tracks and final track to SoundCloud. As shown on my timetable, recording will begin on the 2nd week, the mixing on the 3rd week and publishing on the 4th week of August. I'm not confident with how short the intervals are between each phase but I'll do my best to manage and hope to complete everything on time.

I’m not exactly new to recording because prior to this, I have made podcasts for other courses but this project feels different. Apart from being heavily focused on the technicalities of audio production, it’s also an emotional project. Honestly, this whole idea terrifies me, not because I don’t know how to use a mic or a DAW (okay, maybe those too), but because I’ve never had to record something so personal and raw before. 

One of my biggest concerns is whether I can even get through the script without breaking down. As of this writing, I don’t have a draft for my eulogy write-up but I’m certain that it will be from the heart, and I know that speaking it aloud will hit differently. There’s also the practical side of things, such as will I have enough time to clean the audio, mix it properly, and still deliver something cohesive? I also pushed my timeline of production to the 2nd week of August, mainly because we’re still finishing the formalities for laying my grandma to rest back in the Philippines. It’s been an emotionally and physically draining process, and I wanted to give myself space to handle that before diving into the production side of this project.

Despite how personal this project is for me, I know I still need to treat it like a serious production. I want it to be clear, clean, and structured, not as something I cried through and pieced together last-minute. That’s why I’m giving myself time to properly plan out the script, test my equipment, and figure out how to balance everything from the guitar track to the ambient sounds. I don’t want the technical side to get in the way of the message, but I also don’t want to use emotion as an excuse for sloppy work. My goal is to strike that balance to create something that’s emotionally honest but also thoughtfully made, considering that it’s for my grandmother. Even if I get stuck or overwhelmed in the middle, I want to follow through.