A Year of Audio Production
As we approach the end of the academic year I thought I would invite our first cohort of Audio Production students to write a post reflecting on their experiences and learning on the course. Here are Jake Walsh’s thoughts on his first year as an Audio Production student:
So we are nearly at the end of our first year as Audio Production students – and looking back we have covered a lot of material and learnt a lot of new techniques and skills.
Starting with Semester A we were introduced to Radio and Sound, Principles of Audio, Multitrack Recording, and Mediation and Representation. During our Radio and Sound sessions we learnt about the skills necessary to create and produce radio pieces – working to create short clips, and radio shows that were of a broadcast quality. We have also been looking at a variety of different elements during Mediation and Representation, looking at the ethics of broadcasting, semiotics and issues such as feminism.
My favourite two modules so far have been the Principles of Audio and Multitrack recording modules, which both went hand in hand – allowing us to work with audio to create and edit pieces. We covered items ranging from an overview of the MP3 format, to the methods of calculating, for example, the wavelength of a sound wave at a certain frequency and we worked as a group to engineer and record two cover songs. We then mixed and reported on this individually.
Moving on to semester B, we are studying Electronic Music Production, Understanding the Cultural Industries, and Sound Editing for Visual Media. During our Cultural Industries sessions we have been looking at changing trends, attitudes and perceptions of audiences, and creating presentations on a variety of topics – my group looked at the issue of how audiences perceive illegal music downloads.
Furthermore, we have also been looking at the techniques, tools, and research needed to create audio to accompany images – looking at techniques for sounds that are used for a variety of methods; including creating sound effects, narrative, foley etc. We have also been looking at Electronic Music Production, and examining the methods used for electronic music making, whilst continuing with our Pro Tools tutorials.
Perhaps the highlight of the year so far for me, has been working with a local band, The Fix, recording them in the studio and producing their EP, which has just been finished and will shortly be released.
You Gotta Live by jakewalsh
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