During this project, I am bound to come across problems and setbacks that I will need to work around. Here are a few that I think will be an issue:
Timescale:
I am on a relatively short timescale, therefore I will have to be maintaining a steady and constant work rate if I am going to complete all the tasks that I intend to do. Evaluation: Luckily enough, I managed to get everything I had planned to completed within the set time-frame so this problem didn’t occur.
Studio Time:
Due to other students who will also wanting to use the recording studio, there is a high chance that I could not get in the hours that I need in order to record my thee tracks. Evaluation: To combat this, I made recording my initial task to complete. This meant that by the time I had finished my EP, other students were only just starting to book the room out, and I had all the time that I needed.
I might not even like one of the songs:
As with any project that demands original content to be produced, there is always the chance that you aren’t even going to like what you have produced in the end. Evaluation: This risk is not fully avoidable, however to lower the risk of this I chose to write in a specific genre that I love to play. I also began evaluating the progress and developments of each track while recording them; This helped me to realise when a song wasn’t going to fit in stylistically, and when an idea was sounding good and was worth spending my time on.
I might spend too much time on a failed track:
There is also the possibility that I could spend too long recording a track just for me to dislike it. While I cannot eliminate this risk, I reduced it by taking steps to write in a genre that I love and am confident it, but also by taking on board positive comments from peers. Evaluation: I did in fact have four ideas that I never used, however I was quick to realised that they weren’t going anywhere and managed to move on from them quickly.
Equipment Failure:
There is always the chance of equipment failing for anyone on this project, this is inconvenient and time consuming, therefore it could quite negatively effect the progress of my EP. Evaluation: I reduced the risk of this happening by mainly using my own equipment that I am confident using, and that I know is reliable. I also reduced the risk by treating all of the equipment I did use with respect.
Possibility of Absence:
There is always the possibility of having to miss days for college in any project and in some cases this is unavoidable. Evaluation: I reduced the risk of this by making sure my weekdays stayed free of any unnecessary appointments, and would make the effort to get into college on days where I was not feeling great.
Live Sound balancing:
Live sound isn’t easy to keep under complete control, and would need to be monitored during performances. Evaluation: This risk was reduced by having a sound engineer behind the mixing desk for the whole performance, as they would be able to keep the audio levels balanced, and help prevent feedback from the speakers.
Tracking progress:
Keeping track of my progress when taking on so many tasks during this project is going to be difficult to stay on top of. Evaluation: To reduce the risk of me loosing evidence of progress, I kept several notes in my notebook in regards to any progress made on tracks and portfolio work.
Comunication regarding collaborative work:
During this project I would be in contact with other people in regards to collaborative work, wether that be a venue to perform at, or the higher education graphic design students who were going to be designing my album artwork. Evaluation: To reduce the risk of loosing contact with people, I made sure to keep in touch with people as much as I could via e-mail or in person.
Problems that did happen:
Equipment failure:
On one occasion when trying to use the small recording suite, I found that equipment had been neglected by other students, and I could not get Logic Pro to receive the signal from the guitar input via the soundcard.
To overcome this I first attempted to rectify the problem by checking all cables and other inputs to ensure they were all properly set up. When this didn’t make a difference I tracked down one of our tutors who have a more in depth knowledge of the equipment here, and after about ten minuets of trying, we got the set up to work once again.
This wouldn’t have been an issue if the students who had used the room previously would have properly turned the gear off, and left the room in a sate where it is useable by others.
I had recordings that I didn’t like:
During my time recording on this project I did have four extra recordings that I never used on my finalised EP. This was either because they didn’t sound good enough to my ear, or that they didn’t fit into the genre that I was aiming for. Not only was tis frustrating at times, but was also time consuming.
To overcome this I kept evaluating my ideas, and followed my plan to stop working on an idea if it wasn’t making a good amount of progress.
This risk is unavoidable in any project like this, but I feel as though I could have reduced the amount of time spent on this, particularly on two of the ideas, as they very clearly did not fit the style. Instead of persisting and trying to adapt these ideas, I should have just left them as ideas at that point, rather than continuing work on them.
Timescale (regarding recording time):
I knew that this would be an issue from the start of the project as I had a lot of work to be doing. I ended up becoming a week behind schedule when recording the final song as this was the most complex song.
To overcome this, I began practicing my other two songs while still recording the last one, instead of focusing on one task at once. This just meant that I was practicing on an evening outside of college hours, and spending the daytime using the small recording room. This was successful at getting myself back on track, and served as a good reminder to stay on top of all my work, even more so towards the final few weeks of the project.
Although I do not think that this issue was completely avoidable, the chances of this happening would have been considerably lower should I have spent less time trying out other song ideas that inevitably never saw completion.
Loss of contact:
During this project I had asked a group of the higher education graphic design students if they could design some cover artwork for me. They said they were happy to do so which I was really pleased with. Eventually I lost contact with them, as I was not receiving e-mails from them and had no idea of what progress was being made.
To overcome this I actually took the time to design my own album art outside of college hours just as a backup plan. I also went up to their facilities to ask about progress, and was told that everything was in motion. Regardless, the students did not come through for me with the artwork and I used my own.
This was a risk that concerned me throughout the project as communication requires input from both parties, rather than just myself. I am glad that I had my backup plan ready just in case, as this clearly paid off.
Here is the actual cover I had designed myself:
