UNIT 13 Task 1 – Research

What is my key research behind my thinking as a producer/mixing engineer mastering engineer or live sound engineer for this project?

My key source of research with these job roles in mind will be various mixing and mastering techniques used by all the top or even up and coming producers in the industry today,  along with looking up various different recording techniques I will also look on youtube for different videos where I will be able to see a visual representation of these techniques being portrayed.

Doing this sort of research I feel should help to inspire me for the future and my hopes of being involved in the industry should take a nice boost thanks to this. There are many different roles within the music industry of which to get into, and even if you do not get into the most desirable role at first you can easily work your way up through consistency and hard work.

In terms of a live sound engineer it would be helpful to watch some in depth tutorial videos more specifically, also to look up some very successful live sound recordings over the years to see if there are any techniques I could translate into my work for this project. For mixing and mastering the concept is much more simple, I can just research these techniques as mentioned before.

I am aware how much live sound has changed over the years due to previous research in previous assignments, but looking further in depth into it would only help my understanding towards live sound which would mean a better understanding going into each live sound performance I help to produce in the future.

In terms of a mixing & mastering engineer it would again be helpful to look up how all the top selling/ popular songs have been mixed/mastered prior to their release,  this would give me some helpful ideas of some techniques on how to master my tracks when I get them to that stage; also I could implement some of what has achieved me a good grade in the past when it comes to mixing and mastering.

Luckily for me I have had a lot of experience in the mixing and mastering department thanks to my previous assignments. But doing even more research cannot be a bad thing in terms of helping boost my chances of receiving a higher grade for this project, of course I want to achieve the highest grade possible as well.

In terms of a producer I feel videos on youtube could be extremely helpful, I am on youtube a lot anyway, so I could use this time and put it towards my project instead. There have been so many famous and popular producers over the decades and there will continue to be very good producers for the next few decades as well, my idea would be to research how to stay consistent as a music producer or how to obtain the longevity as a music producer because I am aware how easy it can be to lose your way when you get to the very top.

Also I could look up some of the top producers over the years and how they adapted to the amount music has changed over the years, as well as just how these producers got to their very deserved or perhaps fortunate position!

One of my favourite forms of research is in the form of videos, as I spend a lot of time on Youtube anyway I felt that I could use this time more productively, having looked up some videos on youtube I will now link them below:

This video enlightened me to how may different types of music producers there are and have been over the decades, I feel that this video has given me inspiration for the future when it comes to producing music especially in the near future for this project! It was also good to view peoples opinion on who they believe to be the “top 10 best music producers”

This video gave me a better insight into how to mix and master in the required style for my performer, and how to mix and master to a better standard in general, as mentioned I want to personally see my ability to mix and master improve over the course of this project and I feel if I implement what I took from this video I can’t go wrong.

This video helped me massively gain a better understanding of just how much live sound has changed over the years, of course I was aware that in the last even 10 years so many new intuitive ideas have been added to this side of the industry but when you truly look at how live sound used to be recorded you really being to realise just how basic it was as opposed to how complex it is now.

Lastly, this video showed my just how many different job roles there are in the music industry if I have a change of heart in terms of where I would like to work in the future, I feel that its good to aways keep your options open and having done some research into all the many different job roles there are I now have a better understanding for when it comes to applying for a job.

Having researched throughly on youtube, and on the internet in general I have gathered up some I feel vital information which will definitely help aid me in achieving my goal with this project, which is of course to obtain the highest grade possible. All that remains now is for me to put across what I have learnt into the work I produce! I look forward to working closely with Charlie for the next five to six weeks.

I will continue to research throughout my time spent doing this project, all links will be referenced correctly in a separate blog post titled “UNIT 13 – Task 2 – Harvard Referencing” any other research will be documented as and when it happens on my different blog posts.