SKILLS GAINED

ISP

With this, we were given a brief where we had to choose 1 of 3 tracks where we could use as much or as little as we wished. Choosing the electronic track as a challenge allowed me to further my knowledge and skills in Ableton as I primarily used this to create this track. As I went down the cinematic/soundtrack approach with the track, it meant I was able to strip the track back to the bare bones and rebuild from there. With some of the MIDI instruments used, I was able to increase my understanding of ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release). Other skills gained were mapping MIDI and using macro controls, developing recording studio skills in the use of mics (mic choice and placement) and ProTools. The pitch presentation and client feedback sessions helped me to develop my presenting skills as well as gain confidence in speaking to an audience.

ADR & Foley

As I chose an animated stop motion clip this helped to nurture creativity and encouraged stylistic choices (as the world and characters don’t exist in real word, can use unrealistic sounds for certain movements). My skills with sync and timing improved as we had to create live to video. It helped expand my knowledge and understanding of EQ, Reverb and AudioSuite plugins such as pitch and time shift in order to create a sound accurate to the world being portrayed on screen. My skills in organising sessions increased also as I used markers to cue when the Foley, SFX and Dialogue should be placed as well as compiling my tracks into routing folders (Foley, SFX, Dialogue, Music, Ambience etc.) to make sure my session wasn’t messy and that it was easy to follow, this will also help when bouncing the mix as I can bounce the routing folders out as STEMS.

DAW

Through this I was able to strengthen my use of both ProTools and Ableton. I was able to learn new plugins such as Elastic audio to fix timing issues, Melodyne to fix tuning issues, De Esser to help with plosives in the vocals as well as comping playlists where the best takes are cut and put together. It also encouraged me to further develop my mixing skills for both music and post-production.

PDP

PDP taught me about self-promotion and the difficulties that come along with it. It taught me that’s it’s important to use social media, algorithms and buzz words to help reach a target audience. By reaching out to charities and individuals to be a part of the podcast, it has helped me to see the benefit of networking and dealing with clients and helped improved my communication and organisational skills.

Spatial Recording

This will help me increase my recording knowledge by introducing new techniques and placements. It will develop my understanding of acoustics and how the space the recording takes place relates to this but also how to use it to your advantage. It will allow me to gain knowledge and understanding of recording for playback over a 5.1 system and how to capture binaural and ambisonic mixes.