MMS 172 Assignment 4: Closing Blog

The journey in this course is something I’d describe as unexpectedly interesting. Not only did I learn about audio both as a theory and practice, but I also discovered something new about myself along the way. For the past three blogs I’ve written for this class, I always began by admitting how skeptical I was. The first few weeks of MMS 172 seemed manageable. But as the weeks went on, it became clear to me that audio will be the most challenging of all the production courses I’ve taken so far. More challenging than text and even photography.

For me, audio is the most technical. It demanded a lot of physics concepts that I thought I had left behind when I finished engineering school four years ago. Concepts in analog and digital signals, and acoustics are not just "good-to-know" topics. They are actually necessary to understand if you want to do audio work properly. From recording, to mixing, and finally mastering, knowing your waveforms matters.

On top of that, I didn’t come into this class with much experience. My only real "audio production" background was back in high school when I used to make music remixes for Christmas party dance numbers. Back then, music burned on CDs was still a thing. I would clip and arrange tracks, throw in some effects, and call it a day. I didn’t really care about sound quality. As long as the transitions didn’t sound weird and the cuts fit the mood I was going for, I was satisfied.

Even now in BAMS, when I recorded voice overs for my course requirements, I never gave much thought to audio quality. My mindset was always "if I can be heard and understood, that’s good enough." So going into MMS 172, I really thought audio would be my weakest. Science plus inexperience? A recipe for disaster.

But I was wrong. This course surprised me. It turned out to be not just a learning experience, but also an enlightening one. Aside from learning how audio work, I came away with three important realizations.

Audio Should not be an Afterthought

Shooting for our Student Film "Missed Call"

I used to treat audio as secondary. I’d plan my visuals, shoot my clips, do my edits, and only at the end would I think about sound. For vlogs, I would sometimes even record voiceovers after finishing the final cut of the video. Not even on the rough cut.

Music was often just thrown in at the last step without much thought.

Looking back, I realize this is why my outputs often felt amateurish. No matter how much effort I put into the visuals, whether through shooting, editing, or color grading, the final video still lacked that professional quality. It always lacks that "glossy finish."

It wasn’t really the visuals that were weak. It was the audio that dragged the whole thing down.

Rewatching some of my past projects made me notice this even more. The visuals were fine, but the audio was inconsistent. Some parts sounded muffled, others were too reflective, and the dynamic ranges were extremely uneven. All because I never included audio in my production plans.

This course taught me that audio is just as important as visuals. It isn’t just something you "add later." In any audio-visual production, audio needs to be part of the plan from the beginning.

Where will you record? What equipment will you use? How will you process the sound?

If audio is half of audio-visual, then treating it as an afterthought is like working with only half of it.

do your recording right

Boya BY-M100 Pro Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

One of my biggest lessons from this course is simple, do your recording right.

Recording clean audio is already half the work.

In my final project, my main challenge is from an unclean guitar recording. One guitar track had a low hum and an intense hiss from ambient noise. Cleaning it up was a real challenge. I had to apply a noise gate, then combine high-pass and low-pass filters to cut out the mud and hiss. But the hiss was so strong that I had to push my low-pass filter higher, which also sacrificed the brightness of the guitar.

I couldn’t rerecord since renting a studio and scheduling with my artist again is another challenge I’m not willing to take. So I had to work with what I had.

This taught me the importance of capturing clean takes from the start. For the tracks I did record cleanly, mixing was so much easier. They gave me more flexibility to shape the sound and apply effects creatively.

I also realized that it’s better to record clean and apply effects in post, rather than commit to effects during recording. For example, if you record with a reverb pedal, it would be hard to take it away later if you decide it doesn’t fit.

Clean recordings give you freedom, and freedom is everything in creative work.

Less is more

Multitracks on Tracktion Waveform

At first, I thought adding more tracks and layering more effects would make my mix sound fuller. I tried stacking instruments, EQs, and compressions, believing that more meant better. Instead, I ended up with a muddy mix that lost its clarity and cohesiveness.

In the end, I had to take things out. I removed unnecessary layers and cut back on effects. That was when the mix finally started to breathe. It sounded more cohesive and more natural.

This process also is where I discovered something about me as a creator. I overthink my process too much. Even after exporting my track, I kept going back to revise. I would notice something off, tweak it, export again, then repeat. I don’t think I would have ever stopped if I hadn’t forced myself to.

The lesson? More is not always better. Sometimes, restraint makes for stronger creative choices.

Aside from my key realizations, what surprised me most in this course was not just the technical knowhow, but how much I enjoyed the process.

Yes, the exercises were definitely challenging. But they were also fun. I found myself spending hours mixing without noticing the time, sometimes realizing it was already three in the morning. I was so immersed in the work that it didn’t feel like a requirement anymore. Here, I was able to exercise not just my newly gained skills but also my creativity. It felt like an art I was genuinely invested in.

Having just one primary output for this course also helped. It gave me the space to focus on a single project from beginning to end. I was able to apply my learnings along the way, watching it grow from conceptualization to execution.

My final output isn’t perfect, and I know it has flaws. Compared to some of my classmates, some outputs were much better and more creative. But for me, it is good enough. I did answer the brief and did my best to apply what I learned throughout the course. More importantly, I’m proud of it because I genuinely enjoyed the process. It showed me that what once intimidated me could actually become something that excites me.

As I move forward to my next production courses, especially videography and animation, I know I’ll bring these lessons with me.

I now see audio not as a secondary element, but as an equal partner to visuals.

I’ve also gained the discipline of recording cleanly and to recognize that less can often be more.

In terms of technical skills, I now know how to properly operate a DAW, not just for simple audio clippings. I now know how to record and mix my tracks, and how to listen analytically and critically. Hopefully, these skills will help me improve the quality of my future multimedia outputs.

Yamaha CT Mixer

This course turned out to be the one I thought I’d struggle with the most, yet it became one of the most rewarding.

It sparked a genuine appreciation for audio that I didn’t know I had. More than that, it reminded me of something important. Challenges can lead to growth, and along the way, you may enjoy the process.

I came into MMS 172 thinking this would be my weakest. Well, I’m still far from being an expert but I’m leaving it with new skills and a greater appreciation for it.

And maybe that’s the best kind of journey, the one where the thing you fear becomes the thing you grow to appreciate.

Rhon Joshua Calupitan | 2022-30993