1. Anatomy of the Ear

The first project I have chosen to share with you in relation to a specific chosen career path as a sound designer is called ‘The Anatomy of the Ear’. My role in this project was as a freelance sound designer for a small production company. The project deliverable's were to record a voice over and using specific detailed Brief Requirements to produce a soundscape in Ableton for a short video clip given about the working of the human ear.

My reasoning for sharing this project is not only to showcase a process of which enhanced my skills in a possible career in sound design but also to reflect my personal interest in gaining an understanding of the relevance of sound properties, acoustics of environments and it's effects on human perceptions all of which were gained from the mandatory units covered in the HND course.

I have discovered that the key to successful outcomes in production is by developing skills that foster good identification of project brief requirements, to swiftly prepare a plan to allocate elements, organise equipment lists, studio bookings etc and delegate if necessary for speedy organisation. Backed up with Gantt Charts to help focus on the critical path in relation to the time schedule. With keeping regular reference and updates to the Plans, Gantt Charts and Activity Logs helps to maintain the work in progress and to meet targets and deadlines successfully.

Working this way allows me to assess the workflow, the critical path, and to rectify any possible hiccups that may occur and provide alternative solutions to allow a more positive and complete outcome. Keeping in mind Health & Safety Recommendations, Task and Resource management, Wiring Diagrams and project deliverables.

Updating the process in a regular Blog and showcasing the finished production through FB, you-tube and contacts to ensure distribution in reaching a wider audience with product recognition.

Taking time to Self-Evaluate the project process allowed me to recognise strengths and weaknesses to allow for improvement in future projects.

Throughout the process of this sound production I Routed a MIDI drum pattern to the Roland TR 8 and recorded the audio output of the Roland TR 8 to my session.

Using the Roland Gaia, recorded a lead synth line that complimented the existing material.

Recording both the MIDI and the audio output of the Gaia in to my session.

I also MIDI recorded using the Gaia to trigger sounds on a virtual instrument and blended with the recorded sound of the Gaia to produce a “thicker”, “bigger” effect.

Recording and programming additional instrumentation I felt the soundscape required sequencing all recorded parts to produce the finished track that lasts the duration of the video exporting a stereo bounce of the project to import in to Pro Tools (24bit 48KHz).

I also created a script that described the human hearing mechanism mentioning the operation and purpose of each part of the ear and the process that the human hearing mechanism uses to distinguish frequencies within the audible spectrum.

Recording a distortion and noise free voice over with an appropriate microphone in a quiet environment and editing in Pro-tools.

Video element remains with original creator