LO2 Report/Evaluation
Produce a written evaluation of the technical, organisational and creative aspects of the session including analysis of imaging and placement – 500-600 words.
(This should be handed in with a log book of your work)
• complete a fully automated mix within given time constraints
• correctly use an audio monitoring system appropriate for the mix-down session
o Explain how you performed your mix. Was the mix solely listened to on headphones or did you use any speaker monitoring system? Discuss the implications of such restrictions when mixing. How did you aim to reduce the problems that may arise from such issues?
• create an automated mix-down using a console with appropriate functions
o “In the box” mixing is the main form of mixing. Discuss how you automated your mix, and why. Remember, a dynamic mix is a performance in itself.
• control the signal flow of a multi-track recording throughout an automated mix-down session
o Clips are the DAWs way of warning you that you are sending too much audio through a given bus, or that your plug-in processors are adding too much gain to the signal.
• effectively use recognised forms of signal processing: eg equalisation, dynamic processing, time-domain processing etc and automate appropriately
o This is the main bulk of your report. Be creative here and discuss the thought-processes behind the MAIN talking points in your mix, i.e. you don’t have to discuss each channel of gating etc. Screenshots are a great way of communicating the how-and-why to me, and let me see at a glance what you have done. NOTE: not every single parameter should be mentioned, simply saying “I decided to squeeze the compression on the bass track to give it a pumping effect” – along with a screenshot – will suffice.
• produce a final mix-down from a multi-track recording on an appropriate format
o Explain sample resolution here and why you bounced to AIFF/WAV rather than mp3, for instance.
• operate technical equipment in accordance with recommended instructions and health and safety guidelines
o Mention listening levels here. What is the optimal mixing volume and why?
Other submissions:
• maintain a log of activities in the course of making the mix-down:
o There is a log book available on Moodle dating from the first week of Semester 2. This must be completed and submitted at the end of the year.
Inspiration:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr06/articles/mixrescue_0406.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/articles/maserati.htm
Type “Sound on Sound: Secrets of the mix engineers” into Google and geek out! You should be more than comfortable with terminology in these articles, and it gives you an idea of how to start speaking studio…
Complete Logbook:
12.02.2019
Re-amping Test
14.03.2019
AST recording
04.04.2019
AST Final Mix