Teaching a Lesson⌗

Teach a 25 minute lesson on a topic related to audio production. You can go deeper on something we have covered in class, or explore something entirely new. If you choose a topic we have already covered, present it in a new way so we learn something new about it — for example, apply a technique to a different style of music, demonstrate a different workflow, or show how different plugins handle the same task. It can be a lecture style presentation with musical examples, or a discussion led by you, or a more hands on project based lesson. We will leave 5 minutes for questions and to switch between lessons.

Proposal⌗

Explain what you will cover in your lesson and how you will present this material. Turn in your proposal to D2L by April 3rd.

Possible Topics⌗

• Drum quantization and editing with multi-tracks
• Tuning vocals with ReaTune (manual and automatic)
• Vocal alignment techniques
• Takes, comping, and punching in
• Tempo mapping
• Pre-mixing checklist and project organization
• Panning and stereo imaging
• Mix referencing and critical listening
• Compression (when, why, and how to compress)
• Buss and glue compression
• Gating and removing spill
• Transient design
• Frequency-selective dynamics (multiband compression, dynamic EQ)
• Using EQ for corrective and creative purposes
• Harmonic distortion, exciters, and saturation

Presentation Formats⌗

• Live demo - walk through a technique in Reaper with before/after examples
• Lecture with musical examples - use slides and audio clips to explain a concept
• Hands-on workshop - have classmates follow along in Reaper on their own sessions
• A/B comparison - compare different approaches, plugins, or settings on the same material
• Discussion - lead a conversation around a topic using listening examples

Mixing 2: Class Song Mix⌗

Complete a full mix of our class song. This project brings together all the techniques we have covered this semester. You are responsible for creating an arrangement from the parts we recorded — it is up to you how long each part goes on for and how many parts are happening at once. Feel free to loop sections or time stretch them. The project files are a little bit loose, but it’s your responsibility to turn them into a cohesive production. The arrangement should be at least 3 minutes long.

Tasks⌗

1. Project organization — label and color-code tracks, set up folders and routing
2. Regions and markers — add regions delineating song sections (Tempo mapping)
3. Rhythmic quantization — quantize drums and any other tracks that need tightening (Drum quantization)
4. Pitch correction — tune vocals and any pitched instruments that need it (Tuning with ReaTune)
5. Gating on drums — clean up spill between drum mics
6. Balance — use item gain to remove clipping, then set an initial fader balance (Building raw balance)
7. Panning — place tracks in the stereo field
8. EQ — high-pass filter every track and use corrective/creative EQ (Using EQ)
9. Dynamics processing — compression, buss compression, and transient design (Compression, Buss compression)
10. Reverb and delay — add space and depth to the mix (Mixing with reverb, Reverb, Delays)

Additional Guidelines⌗

• Synthetic material, including synth keyboard lines, can only be added if it reinforces or adds depth to something already recorded in the mix, such as a kick enhancement or drum trigger.
• You may record additional elements if you think they’re necessary, e.g. vocals.
• If you use plugins that are not stock Reaper plugins they must be free and cross platform (Windows and Mac).
• Listen to your mix on the studio mains, the Behritone, and headphones. Write a short paragraph about what differences you heard between the speakers and how you accounted for them.

Turn in a consolidated version of the mix file and your listening notes to D2L by March 30th.

Rubric⌗