summary of learning outcomes

Week 1 - Identifying forms and layers (instrumentation) of a song and define the roles of the layers (rhythm, foundation, lead, fills & pads).

Week 2 - Creating song model which included its form, layers, time signature, chord progressions (harmony) and phrasings.

Week 3 - Beat-making (using preset drummers as inspiration and started using Indie Disco GB as the basic beats). Discovered audio loops and effects through the library after enabling the advanced tools (Logic Pro -> Preferences -> Advanced Tools). Learned shortcuts like cmd S (save), Q (quantize), Z (undo), R (record).

Week 4 - Uses of MIDI channels (playing notes, continuous controllers, aftertouch, pitch bends & plugin effects). Played with the frequencies of bandpass filter for the drums to create a more subdued sound (I basically lowered the high freq). Shortcuts learned: cmd B (bounce), M (mute), S (solo).

Week 5 - Instrumentation layering (bass, cello & pads) to further support the foundation and fills. Shortcuts learned: E (enable piano roll), N (enable MIDI notes chart), cmd C (copy), cmd V (paste).

Week 6 - Learned about dynamic & condenser mics and the QU-32 mixer, setting up for recording vocals. Phantom power is needed to be on, create audio track in Logic in preparation for recording, select input and send it to the same channels as the mics and constantly be aware of the gate and gain level. Gain should not exceed the red level to avoid clipping and distortions. Shortcut learned: I (input)

Week 7 - Creating a top line. Shortcuts learned: cmd A (select all), K (enable metronome), L (looping), "," (rewind), "." (skip).

Week 9 - Adding reverb to the saxophone. Choosing a producer which aimed for a similar improvising sound as I do.

Week 10 - Producing Chloe's song. Learning to communicate with the songwriter and get a reference song. Added drums to her song with the inspiration from her given reference song. Shortcuts learned: cmd J (join), cmd T (split playhead), X (enable mixer).

Week 11 - Recording Chloe's vocals for her song. Practiced using the mixer and setting up mics during the process. Learned about sending shared effects to buses and creating auxiliary tracks, uses and types of delays and reverberation. Main tool used in that particular week is flex pitch and reverbs. Week 12 - Fixing vocals using flex pitch (pitch correction and also timing). Altering gain for certain parts of the audio to balance out the sound throughout the song and create articulation. Creating harmony/layered vocals by using the original vocal tracks and flex them a-third & an octave higher OR layering it with a track that has modulation chorus effect on it. Shortcuts learned: z (zooming of tracks), cmd left or right (to look at different positions of tracks).

Week 13 - Learned to bounce/export tracks and send to the mixing engineers. Easiest way is to solo the particular track and turn on the cycle (C) from the beginning to the end of song. Before that, shift and select all the tracks after enabling the mixer (X) and set them all to unity gain (0dB) on the fader for strong signals. To import all the audio tracks into a new project file, I created an audio track and duplicate it (cmd D) to the amount of audio bounces I have, then, shift cmd I to import the files in. I then shift cmd D to create a folder stack to group the instruments under their belonging category. I also colour coded them for visually-convenient purposes. Week 14 - Applying automation (A) to use for fades in and out. (Detailed blogging in Update #12 & Update #13 - Final Mixing)