capstone project

• (A) Summarized Project Proposal

"My project does not have a name yet. It will be 4 songs, which are inspired by the lo-fi airy guitar sounds of the band vacations and old Steve Lacy. I had a couple of these demos done earlier this year and so it will just be a matter of re-recording them."

• (B) Overall Project Goal

"Originally, I wanted to try and use more hardware in the studio for this project. I also knew I wanted to re-amp in a few different unique acoustic environments, record in stereo, and see how they blend the mixes together. I'd like to do some weird ones, like inside a toilet bowl or in a trashcan. I want to see if I can make something that’s visually unappealing and audibly appealing. In general, I wanted a cohesive project where songs felt individual and unique but also fit the same mold."

• (C) Successes toward reaching that goal (were you able to reach it? Why/why not? Perhaps speak to how external influences impacted this process)

"Limited on time and sessions, I did not experiment with hardware as much as I would have liked to. When I could get into the studio to mix, the majority of the time spent was in-the box making sure that I was happy with how things sounded. I tend to obsess over vocal mixes, so my main concern was getting them as perfect as possible. As for the cohesiveness of the project, I think I achieved that with these songs while also making sure that each of them had some sort of trademark sound. Song 1 was recorded almost entirely with a 13 dollar Temu SM57 (TemU-87 for the vocals), and song 3 has a re-amped trash-can verb actually quite high up in the mix. If you listen to that song and imagine you’re in a big trash bin, you’ll hear it. So overall, I think all of these songs have a unique sound to them that I would say does complete my project goals. A combination of new and go-to tactics helped me achieve that."

• (D) What you learned/reflection

"I learned that while peer and instructor feedback can be useful, it’s important to take it with a grain of salt. I made a few changes that I ended up reverting back later in the project which could have slowed me down. I also learned that I tend to mix much darker than I realize, which I found out in the mastering process. Finally, I think the biggest takeaway is that the best work is done on the gear you know the best. Taking a space ship 30 minutes down the road won’t save you any time compared to your trusty old Corolla. Find your sound by working with the gear and plugins that you’re used to and that you like. Out of recording, mixing, and mastering, mixing was definitely the most tedious and time-consuming. It took a lot of studio time and listening on different systems to get the mixes anywhere close to where I wanted them to be. Mastering was fairly straightforward and totally revamped my sound. This is the point where I realized my mixes tend to be on the darker side."

• (E) If you could pick one song to play for your peers, what would it be and why?

"I chose this track first (song 4) because after listening to it 500 times in a row I still don’t mind it. I think it has a very tight and concise yet unique mix that I’m very proud of. I believe it sounds the best sonically across different systems. I also spent the most time with this song in the studio so I was able to get it as close to my version of perfect as I could. Also, it’s just a bop, straight up."

portfolio