During this project, tomorrow was to direct, record and lead project one. I was successfully able to collaborate with the different members of my group to produce our planned and finished outcome.
Many things went well throughout the recording process, for example recording the amplifier of the electric guitar, setting up the desk inputs, and recording directly into the DAW software. On the other hand, we faced a few challenges during the studio session as the audio console was not responding to our selected channel routing. At first, as learnt in class we attempted to root channel one (the guitar amp mic input) directly to the 8W input one however we were unsuccessful as there was an error with the desk. To overcome this issue we approached the supervisors and asked for support. The supervisors then explained to us that the routing system is set on the console was only active starting from the second routing setting, therefore, the reason for it not to work. For me and my group was a learning curve and understanding the reasoning behind the error we were receiving.
At first, we started by trying to record an acoustic guitar however when listening to the playback recording we found that it wasn't what we expected. We were expecting a clean a crisp recording however, in the playback we could hear a lot of guitar string slides. What this meant for the development of the project was that we as a group had to then sit down and brainstorm other ideas to achieve our outcome which would meet the criterion set on the project brief. After spending an hour brainstorming the different ideas and opportunities we had we decided to go ahead and record an electric guitar using one condenser microphone which would mic up the amp to capture the guitar sound. When then reviewing our playback of the second recording we found it much more appealing to the ear and with a cleaner sound. Then automatically decided as a group that that was our final submission as it was meeting all the given criterion is based on the project brief.
This project allowed me personally as well as my fellow group members to learn a lot of different things. An example was in the way in which the audio desk works, different input routing settings to the DAW software, and finally the best way of which we can mic up and record different instruments within different studio scenarios. Upon the information learnt and the experience, we had with project one we as a group have concluded that for the second project we will be trying out new things. We will be experimenting with different instruments, different recording techniques (such as DI, the use of multiple microphones, room micing and close micing), and different mix blends and effects processing units. For the second project, my group and I have also decided to try and record what is being mixed directly from the audio desk instead of adding virtual plug-ins and effects to the DAW software post-recording.
Out of the whole experience of project one and all the skills that we have learnt and developed I personally think that I have strongly enhanced the following skills:
Time Management: I was personally able to successfully brainstorm, plan, produce, and execute the final projects within the given time frame. I was also able to successfully with my group members to find a suitable time that works both for them and myself. We as a group also were able to complete the project within the first week of being given the brief which I personally think was a massive accomplishment and something that we should look up to for future projects.
Communication and Collaboration Skills: The way in which I think I personally was able to strengthen and develop my communication and collaboration skills were due to the fact that I was successfully able to collaborate with my group in order to brainstorm ideas to come up with a creative and unique project. My group and I were also able to successfully able to communicate with each other when it came to planning out recording studio sessions and callaboration on the final project documentation.
Problem Solving and Critical Thinking: In terms of problem-solving and critical thinking I think a great example of when we were able to enhance and apply these skills was at the beginning of the recording when we were trying to find out the reasoning behind the routing error we were recoding. After trying, however, and being unsuccessful in coming up with a solution we then contacted the supervisors to support as it was an issue that was out of our control. Furthermore, we were also able to successfully apply problem-solving skills when we were required to find an alternative method to record our guitar as the initial brainstormed idea was not as successful as we had expected and planned.