James Personal Pilgrimage Project Reflections

James Valencia

Pilgrimage Project Planning:

Name	James Valencia
Title of project	Trying to Learn to Mix and Master
Overview:	I have been watching the Youtube tutorials and am reading the audio masterclass chapters. Although I have been moving at a steady pace through the dense chapters, I will not actually reach the chapters about Mixing and Mastering for a few more weeks. The Youtube tutorials are going well though. I am really starting to understand how most Plug-Ins work, what each knob will do to the sound, and what new sound-related words mean.
Readings:	Audio Masterclass: chapters I’ve read: 1 - Analog and Digital Audio 2 - Microphones 3 - Microphone Preamplifiers In progress: 4 - Equalization
What you saw: titles, film/links:	I have been watching the Logic Pro 10 Videos by MusicTechHelpGuy. So far I have watched: Retro Synth and the Basics of Synthesis ES2 Synthesizer (PART 1) Ultrabeat (PART 1) Ultrabeat (PART 2) Ultrabeat (PART 3) EXS24 Sampler (PART 1) EXS24 Sampler (PART 2) EXS24 Sampler (PART 3) Logic Pro X - Using Midi LFO to Create Interesting Filter Movement
Experiences:	I have been playing around with the different Plug-Ins and have found some cool sounds. I’m also having fun finding interesting samples and manipulating them.
What you will make:	I will make some cool sounds so share and try to make a nice tune.
*Reflection:	Although I haven’t been able to reach my goal yet of learning to mix and master, I am learning a lot about creating sounds and using samples and am having a lot of fun experimenting.
Presentation plan:	I can show the class how to use one of the Plug-Ins to create new and interesting sounds.

November 18, 2016

Reflection 1 - Insight

I watched the Logic Pro X tutorial video, “Logic Pro X - Video Tutorial 25 - Intro to Automation.” This episode explained what automation is and how to use it basically on Logic. This allows me to change parameters (volume, pan, attack, etc) of each track at a certain time in the mix. I also watched, “Logic Pro X - Video Tutorial 26 - Intro to MIDI, Recording MIDI, Basic MIDI Editing.” This gave a short history lesson on what MIDI is, and how to use MIDI on Logic. These videos really solidified my understanding of the basic concepts of MIDI, MIDI editing, and automation. I also learned some shortcuts which will help speed up my creation process. I’m not ready to move onto more complicated MIDI and automation topics. 

November 25

Reflection 2

I have finished reading the Analogue and Digital Audio beginning section of Audio Masterclass Music Production and Sound Engineering Course. I now know the general information about sound and the nature of it, acoustics, audio electronics, and digital electronics. This section was extremely dense and I spent a lot more time than I had anticipated reading it. I should from now on read chapters more carefully so that I can really soak it in. This chapter was the very broad information explaining sound though, so now that I have this basic understanding out of the way, I can move onto further chapters that get me closer to my goal of actually mastering music. 

December 5

Reflection 3

I have worked my way through the Microphones section of Audio Masterclass Music Production and Sound Engineering Course. I am taking this section slower so that I can really absorb the information. I have also watched the “Logic Pro X - Video Tutorial 47 - Retro Synth and the Basics of Synthesis,” which explains the basics of synths, oscillators, filters, and LFO. Understanding information like this will eventually allow me to create whatever sound I can think of. 

December 15

Reflection 4

I have watched the video, Logic Pro X - Using Midi LFO to Create Interesting Filter Movement. This video has helped me to understand the basic effect of LFO or low frequency oscillation. I can now apply this to my music to create a lot more movement in my sounds. This should help bring up the energy that I want to portray in my beats. 

December 20

Reflection 5

I have watched Logic Pro X - Video Tutorial 49 - ES2 Synthesizer (PART 1) and Logic Pro X - Video Tutorial 49 - ES2 Synthesizer (PART 2). These videos explained and showed how to maneuver around the ES2 plug-in, which is a really versatile synthesizer. With it, I am able to create just about any sound I can think of. I’m super excited to apply this to my music and start practicing with it. 

December 24

Reflection 6

I have been practicing my newly learned skills on Logic and have been spending time creating new sounds and combining them to form simple beats. I am especially focusing on trying to master the Retrosynth and ultra beat plug ins. Right now, my beats are mainly just a bunch of loops that I make that I layer on top of each other. I have been trying to be careful to balance the beats so that the sounds are evenly distributed among the frequency spectrum and also among the stereo spectrum. This way, my ears will feel more balanced sounds. 

December 28

Reflection 7

I have been working a lot with the ES2 plug in and have found that there are really an endless amount of sounds I can make with it. I have also been converting interesting sounding Youtube videos to mp3s and then using those as samples. Sampling is a great way to take something interesting that someone else has made and make it your own. I’ve been re-watching the Logic tutorials on the ES2 and Retrosynth so that I don’t forget the nuances of the plug ins. 

January 7

Reflection 8

Lately, I’ve been working a lot more with samples. I’ll take the audio from cool videos I find and edit it. I have been getting really cool sounds from them. I pair these with Retrosynth sounds and also drum samples from a sample pack that my friend Clay sent me. They have really unique sounding drum samples and I’ve been having a lot of fun using them in my music.

January 14

Reflection 9

I’ve been putting together a couple short beats to show the class during my presentation. I’m pretty excited to show everyone what I’ve been learning and I hope that they enjoy them. They will all be pretty simple and a little odd but I still think they are interesting to hear. Hopefully the class will be intrigued. I also plan to show the basics of how one or more of the plug ins work. 

January 16

Reflection 10

This is my final reflection for our class Pilgrimage project. Since I began this pilgrimage a couple months ago, I have discovered ways of creating and using sounds that I never knew were possible. The complexities of digital audio workstations and music have become a lot clearer to me and my own music has improved significantly. Often times, I have felt like as I gain more knowledge, I also find out about more things that are completely foreign to me. Yet, my growing ability to transfer what I hear in my head to real life has kept me motivated to continue learning. I still have many video tutorial to watch and am not even halfway through all the chapters in the Audio Masterclass course, but I am moving at a great pace. I am really excited about continuing my journey towards mixing and mastering, and look forward to the day that I am able to truly complete this pilgrimage. Tomorrow, I will show the class what I have learned and share some of my music.