Christine Heriot

13014015

Creative Project
Plan

For Creative Project, we are given 3 options to explore and to decide which
one we want to do. These options include; Live, Studio and Multimedia. I have
decided to do the Live option because this choice appeals to me the most. This
option consists of recording a band at a venue and mixing the final piece into a
stereo track. To keep track of my progress throughout my project, I will create a
portfolio which will be accessible from my website.
I have decided to work with a classmate and organise an event at the Perth
College UHI Campus in February 2016 known as ReFresherz. This event will take
place over a few days and include performances from bands from the music
department of the university as well as other activities for the students to enjoy. I
have been given permission to use the Student Union at the university as my venue.
I intend to record a few of the bands live at the student union and then mix the tracks
into stereo files before submitting them - with my portfolio - at the end of the
academic year.
To complete this task, I am planning to use the help of students from the
Music Business, Technical Theatre, Visual Communications and Music departments
as well as the advice from lecturers. I plan to work with the Music Business students
the most as they will have more experience at organising events of this scale as well
as helping me contact musicians from the music department to perform. I have read
recently about how different peoples strengths can be used by the team throughout
the project 1 Therefore I will be asking the Technical Theatre students to help with
lightning the venue as I have no knowledge in this aspect of the industry. For
advertising, I will be working with a Visual Communications student to help design
the logo and posters for the event. With the help of the different students from
around the university, each person has the opportunity to learn more and maintain a
strong concentration of technical expertise2 which will later benefit them in their own
courses.
For the Audio, I will be using Makie Thump TH-15A a point source speakers.
Point source speakers are best suited for a live event at the student union due to the
size of the venue and a Line Array system would simply be too powerful. The
software which I will be using to record the bands with, in the student union, is called
Tracktion. This will be provided by the union rep along with the speakers. The desk I
will be using to record the performances is a Behringer Xenyx. I have not used this
desk a lot but I will be practising a few times before the event. I am currently helping
out at the student union as an audio engineer, with a classmate, doing small shows
for music department bands. This experience is preparing me for the event. When it
comes to mixing the tracks for the final piece, I will be using Protools. I have used
this software before and I am confident with operating it. I have not recorded a band
live before therefore this whole experience will be new to me.
To help me determine when certain parts of the project are to be completed, I
have created a Gantt chart. This chart will be updated regularly with my log which
will help me keep track of my progress. In order to identify any opportunities which Ill
1

Worthington, J. Blyth, A. Managing the Brief for Better Design, Taylor and Francis, 2000 (E-Book) page 95
Kesner, H. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and controlling, Wiley
Publishing 2013 page 115
2

Christine Heriot
13014015

Creative Project
Plan

gain throughout this project, I did a SWOT analysis. This analysis also points out
some of the strengths and weaknesses I have such as my good time-keeping skills
or my tendency to get easily stressed. Some of the opportunities include; the
possibility of my project becoming an annual event and the wide range of the
equipment which is available to me at the college.
Throughout the duration of this project, I hope to gain new skills in event
planning and improve my current skills in live audio engineering. My networking and
communication skills should also improve during the course of the project due to the
various collaborations. My knowledge as an audio engineer will develop greatly,
particularly in live recording which is something I do not do often.
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