Finally, we have finished the final two tracks. It was difficult on staying on top of everything, but the work is finished now. The songs have taken time to create and get used to the genre but through this process I have learnt that being able to adapt is important when unfamiliar with the tasks.
Firstly, it was necessary to adapt to the songs as they were in two different styles of a more relaxed style and a distorted style. For the King Draxx’s Lullaby I was to do the keys. I made the decision though to use a viola sample for the Orchestra pack on Ableton. I chose this due to the subdued sadness that strings can give and due to the unique clef (alto) that the instrument uses.
The other song Burn Your Cross was extremely distorted in comparison and so I used a synth that had a heavy electric organ sound. This was so that the sound could be heard over all the guitars in the track.
For these progressions I was given the drums and rhythm guitars which I imported into Ableton and used tuner to identify the chords used. I took this information and my knowledge that Lullaby was in E natural minor, and Burn Your Cross was in E harmonic minor with A # accidentals. Through this process I played along to the guitars and captured selection once I had a melody and chord progression that suited. I then rendered out the audio and sent them to the main Pro Tools sessions. An issue for this was the distribution of the files to me. The files never attached to emails and finally, I got them through a google drive share eventually but the person sending them struggled with technology and therefore I got them a week late setting the creation late. This could have been avoided if the files were given beforehand in person, but they were incomplete at the time.
Through this process we also worked with a graphic designer contacted by Dechlan but designs given were discussed in person once sent. We also worked with an animator who we met initially in a tracking session where we discussed the style and the particulars of the animation we wanted. We then continued by having meetings in person and Roy had contact through messenger and would send us updates in person or slack. My only issues with the design was it was too bright for the logo and wanted the black and white to be inverted. This did not end up happening despite others understanding my concerns. I was at least grateful for a completed design so decided that any changes were secondary to the finishing of the songs and accepted that the designs might not be exactly how I felt they would be.
Other issues were the difficulty with the communication with one member who would not get the applications that we used for communication for easy response except email notifications. The member also left recording sessions and actively avoided us when we were together on campus. This could have been avoided if clear references for the part so that the member knew exactly what was wanted as EDM is a large genre and many influences. I also regret the words spoken by other members but tried to deescalate the situation. The member was not known to be reliable in the first song they produced and so we had a prepared backup in case the member went AWOL.
The plan was used to stay on track with the main objectives. This worked to a degree however the missing process took longer due to the desire to have all members process. This was stressful but we adapted by doing this with as many members that were able to be there at the time. This was less than ideal at times but allowed us to keep working whilst time was against us. We adapted the plan our timings changed slightly but we increased our deliverables from the original plan to include an animation when we found an animator that was excited to work on the song.
This process was interesting, and I wasn’t too in love with the process. I definitely learnt to know the group better before starting and avoid joining a group that has had issues before. I liked elements but will probably avoid this mix again if possible as I continue to explore what I really enjoy to do.
Mixing DAW Session
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