MMS 172 - BLOG 1
Midpoint
Journey Through the Waves
In my self-introduction, I mentioned that I have little to no background when it comes to audio production. Although this is the case, I still decided to purchase a good equipment – something I’ve never done in my tenure in UPOU. In a way, investing in a good quality microphone and headphones gave me that extra boost of confidence and made me feel like, “I am going to do well in this class”.
The first requirement was a breeze – after all, we were all beginners, and the main goal is to produce the best audio recording we can. The sound meter trial and webcam exercises were also a new experience. It was fun exploring which room in my house produced the best recording (note: less furniture/things, more sound reflections). However, as I scanned through my classmates’ Assignment 1a submission, I realised that it doesn’t just take a good equipment to do well. In fact, time and effort also play a major role if one aims to excel in this course.
As I move on from Unit I to II, it was a bit overwhelming coming across new terms and technicalities that I never had to deal with before. But as I navigate from Unit II to III, the truth hit me: it’s not that I didn’t have to deal with audio before, it’s just that I overlooked its importance entirely, or perhaps it was a subconscious choice, I really couldn’t tell. But realising how vital audio is, I told myself that this will not be the case anymore. I recently submitted an audio/visual presentation for my MMS 197 class, and I never thought I would spend more time recording than producing the actual script for the requirement – something that’s never happened before. I guess this is normal, especially now that I understand the benefits of utilizing a good audio recording.
Although Assignment 2 required a lot more effort than the first two assignments combined, it was a requirement that didn’t feel like a chore, at least not in my case. I think this is because the submission meant more than just a requirement for me. Surprisingly, this enthusiasm also carried on with other requirements for the course as well, which is a great plus! So far, the short story draft is going well – we’ve revised it a lot, so it took a little longer, but it’s almost finished and we’re aiming to finalise it by the 21st of August and proceed with the table reading afterwards.
While working on the short story, I also started adding more books to the table to improve the room acoustics. I accidentally forgot to cancel my sound meter trial app subscription, and since it’s not eligible for a refund, I’m making the most out of it by testing the sound levels of the room as I apply room acoustics into it. My average reading when I did the sound meter trial and before I applied room acoustics is at an average of 40db, but after adding the books, the average peak is down to 36db – a small improvement, but an improvement, nonetheless. I also asked my dad to keep our used egg trays (I have two so far, so I didn’t add it just yet) so I can also add it to the wall where I will be hanging the duvet sheet to filter out the humming noise from the other side of the wall.
After scanning a couple of pre-production plans, I think it’s safe to say that most of us enjoyed conceptualising our final project. Most students are doing song covers and others are doing audio book readings like me, but the concept that stood for me is the audio travel diary of Merv D’Melo. She’s travelling this summer and she’s planning on capturing diverse environments in India and Thailand before coming back to the UAE. I’m looking forward to reviewing her output after the end of the course and see how she connects and mixes these sounds together. The same concept crossed my mind since I’m also travelling in August, but my equipment is quite heavy, and it would be a hassle tugging my 1.6kg dynamic microphone in Europe – which equates to 1.6kg less pasalubongs I can bring back home.
But the ultimate deciding factor was that I wanted to polish recording inside the studio before moving on to the great outdoors. The other week, Sir Al shared final project samples from his previous MMS 172 class, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I felt a bit intimidated with their output. After listening to their submissions, I thought they got a perfect score considering how good their outputs were, but Sir Al explained why he only gave them a near-perfect grade. Instead of feeling inadequate and amateur compared to his previous students, I used his examples as a gauge of what I want to achieve for my final project. Although I am still far from the quality of their output, I can honestly say that I’m a bit closer compared to where I was before the term started, and hopefully be at par with theirs by the time I wrap up my Final Project suubmission.