Rationale & Pilot Production
Following a pilot practical project of 3-days of recording sessions with additional mixing sessions and revision, rationale behind the project has become clearer to express with context. Undertaking studio recording sessions, the cyclical iterations of reflection and adaptation until a final consensus / implementation is reached is an inherent aspect of the creative production process. With aiming to ensure best practice in a production context, the cyclical process highlights areas of production work that need improving to maintain consistent professional standards.
For example :
- Recording performance requires repetition (takes) for the musician to reach a point of satisfaction with the result.
- Monitoring requires observation, discussion & adjustment until a consensus is reached on areas of sonic property such as tone and stereo image.
- Mixing can require readjustment following release back to the client, and following their reception with discussion may then require iterative revisions until consensus & satisfaction is reached.
As this is inherent however, going about this cyclical process with no rigorous formula for application can lead away from best-practice, regarding in hindsight efficiency of time management / communication / consensus & commitment at the decision point.
As the methodology for this project forms a framework to hone sub-process, reflecting at any stage of iterations can generate useful considerations for following processes / productions and therefore draws positive action from otherwise unsatisfactory processes. Whilst consensus is still working to be met for the final pilot project output, specific comments can already be made from myself as participatory practitioner such as the following :
- Recording Session time should be optimised : meaning priority should be assigned to those layers of instrumentation that otherwise cannot be recorded in other settings such as drums which require large space / microphone setup / input counts otherwise not available.
- If specific instrumentation is already able to be recorded to satisfactory & professional standards by musicians capable of their own recording (and this has been quality checked and approved) then this should be encouraged, coordinated and arranged beforehand.
- Takes should be decided on following reflection and consensus, and when this is done commitment to this should be adhered to.
- Mixing should not commence until all deliverables are finalised in consensus between artist and engineer / producer. This includes reference tracks, and similarly commitment to these consensuses should be adhered to.
These recommendations, if followed from project participation and production undertaking, can ensure time management is efficient with no resulting wastage. To follow through with further reasoning, optimising recording session time is crucial from a financial perspective as unnecessary recording directly correlates to unnecessary spend [time is money, but pro-bono is unpaid]. Additional production considerations, monitoring should be consistent between producer / engineer / artist - where the artist is using a large form dual Amp / Cab configuration. Monitor signal together through the control room with amps set up separately in the live room - so that all subjective perspectives are observing the exact same signal [monitoring in the room with the amp signal vs. monitoring in a separate room listening to the amp signal via a microphone and monitoring speakers will not deliver a consistent monitoring environment for observers].
Finally commitment to takes should be adhered to once a final satisfactory consensus is reached, otherwise if it is not then there is the risk that additional take tracks are received following extensive mixing session time spent. This situation is not desirable, as work is nulled when starting again with new stem recordings. Making clear that takes are committed during the recording stage is a strong recommendation going forward in my own practice to avoid such situations, as it covers the risk of time wastage from clients who’ve fallen out of favour with their previous take decisions. If satisfactory consensus is not reached within the allotted time, following recording sessions / iterations should be coordinated and arranged before the session ends.
Coordination and communication is key to ensuring this, as keeping people on the same page means everyone is in consensus of what processes are taking place at any one time, ensuring no nullification of work done or time spent.
Going forward, the iterative and reflective methodology has already provided beneficial, relevant to the working environment and developmental in its reflective considerations going forward. Developing towards best practice requires this cyclical process to hone in towards guiding standards for a specific sub-process, all the while generating beneficially useful considerations and retrospectives.
I feel this pilot practical project has reinforced the rationale to this research project. It has also tested the method framework for utilisation in a production context and gleaned positive results in that regard. Going forward it would be illustrative to tally iteration counts into a dataset which could accompany final accounts for process iteration, highlighting areas for improvement.
