Now that my aims, objectives and learning outcomes are all signed off, the main topic of discussion for the tutorial was my first recording session for this project and the research that I needed to include in my blog.

When discussing my drum recording session, I told Ben how I’d incorporated the use of some outboard compression and EQ from the desk into my recordings. We also discussed how successful the session was overall as well as some of the things that didn’t quite go to plan. (e.g there was a lot of bleed coming from the live room into the control room which prevented me from utilising as much hardware as I’d liked). Ben also suggested that it’d be a good idea to include some of my previous tracks so I can benchmark my previous drum sounds against these ones.

We then discussed in depth the research I needed to include in my blog. From the Spotify playlist I had made, we looked at some of the reference material for this project and looked at Jacquire King who had produced James Bays debut album. We found a lot of great stuff which covered my learning outcomes and the articles we found also had links to many more. Ben also introduced me to a website called allmusic.com which is a great resource for looking at other producers work as it shows all of the albums they’ve been credited on.

We also looked more in depth at creating a production plan as well as looking at other research resources such as Pensados place and Recording Revolution.

Since last week I completed my aim, objectives and learning outcomes so that they were ready to be signed off and posted to my blog. When showing them to Ben however we decided that a few things needed tweaking slightly just so they were clearer. For example, I needed to specify the number of tracks I would be recording, elaborate more on my third learning outcome (vocal production) by describing how I would measure its success and link my learning outcomes to my objectives so I simply wasn’t just listing the steps I would take to record the EP. Once we had resolved these, we discussed the best way to lay my blog out so that my research and learning outcomes were easy to follow. Ben suggested having a separate page for my reflective summary and to make notes after each recording session of what did and didn’t work so that I can elaborate on these when writing my reflective summary. He also suggested making a production plan for the project and to take plenty of photos during the recording sessions to make my blog posts more interesting.

For this week’s tutorial, the main focus was to try and finalize some specific learning outcomes for my project. The two that sprung to my mind initially was that I wanted to improve my use and knowledge of outboard hardware during recording and mixing as well as improving my overall work flow for the project. For my third learning outcome, I then decided that I wanted to improve my vocal production. This learning outcome is quite an important one for this project due to the fact that I’m working with a solo artist and his vocals will play quite a key part in the finished EP. Finally, for my fourth learning outcome, I decided that I really wanted to look at the mastering process and apply these methods and approaches to the EP, especially because I will be mastering it myself.

Myself and Ben then discussed the ways in how I would go about achieving these learning outcomes and monitoring them throughout my project. A lot of my research is going to involve researching other general and genre specific producers in the industry and looking at what skills and techniques they employ in their work. I can then use this research and utilize the techniques in my own work and see how effective and beneficial they are in my recording sessions.

Since our tutorial last week, i’ve found quite a few potential artists to work with for my project, a few of whom contacted me. After speaking to Dave Farnan again who I mentioned last week, he seems keen on the idea of implementing drums and a full band sound to his tracks which is ideal for what I want to do for this project. I have also been in touch with a band called Kings & Bears who are looking to work with me on recording and filming some live sessions at a load of different locations. Undertaking this project would also require me to work alongside a film crew which would definitely provide a different kind of environment to work in than i’m used to. In addition to these, i’ve also spoke to a singer/songwriter from Boston about working on his EP, an artist from Lincoln about working on her album and a band from Boston about continuing there EP. Ben also received a response about one of the bands from Access to Music called Helter Skelter.

After discussing the different options, we decided that the best choice would be to go with Dave’s EP. This is mainly because I know I can rely on him as we already have a working relationship, he is a very competent songwriter and is willing to try new ideas that I suggest to him. I also have a session player lined up who can play drums on his tracks.

With regards to the idea put forward by Kings & Bears, because the details of the project are still being discussed we decided that it might be worth spending this semester doing some planning and pre-production on it and ensure its all ready to use for next semesters project.

Once we had come to these decisions we discussed my aims, objectives and learning outcomes in more detail and how to include these in my blog.

For my first meeting with Ben, the majority of it was taken up discussing the type of project I wanted to do for this semester. As a lot of my interests lie in music production, I knew that I vaguely wanted to work with a band/artist to create an EP of some sort which particularly included the use if drums. With this in mind, we briefly discussed some of the potential learning outcomes which included improving my overall skillset as a producer and use of Pro Tools, refining the way in how I work in a professional manner with clients and improving my knowledge and use of the outboard gear in the multitrack studio. Creating an EP for this project will also help to bolster my production portfolio and website.

The next thing we discussed was sourcing the artist/band I would record for my project. Although I’ve worked with a few bands/artists over the summer, they probably wouldn’t have enough solid material ready to record so soon for this project. One artist I did have in mind though was someone I know called David Farnan, previously from The Hilos. I worked with him on a track back in May of this year and he recently mentioned to me that he was looking to record more music with me. The only issue however is the fact the stuff I recorded with him previously was quite soft and stripped back and didn’t utilize the use of drums and other electric instruments. From this, myself and ben decided that it was probably best to source an alternative artist and use Dave’s project as a plan B. Ben offered to put a message out seeing if any artists from Access to Music would be up for the project and I also messaged Dave McSherry to put a message out to the BA Music course to see if any of their students would be up for the project too. I also set myself the task to source an artist by contacting potential local record labels and the artists themselves ready for next week’s tutorial.