This module has taught me a lot in terms of recording, organising and editing audio. It has allowed me to use my creativity when making our soundscape and differing it from other audio work. Practice in using recording equipment, such as the portable Zoom microphone and software such as Adobe Audition has been beneficial to me. I can now use this equipment comfortably and efficiently with what I want to work on.

When recording for our soundscape work both the group and myself were taught the importance of using the Zoom correctly. We learnt that to get the best audio possible we had to use pop shields to reduce and popping noise, and listen through headphones when recording. This is because the microphone does not always pick up exactly the sounds we hear ourselves. Another aspect of recording we had to be aware of is the level at which the microphone picks up audio. This is important because if the sound is too loud/quiet then it may not be a good quality to alter and edit in the box. Getting these basics right when recording allowed us to save us time in the later stages of editing and manipulating our soundscape. Adam carried out most of our recordings (with myself, Olie and Sean assisting him) and done a good job.

Something our group learnt from was organising our files properly, we had some small issues with the files we were using. We did not realise the importance of naming our audio files, and this would of saved us a lot of time when editing instead of searching and playing several files which was not the one we wanted. We faced more problems as Sean recorded some audio outside a club on his phone, however the audio was deleted unintentionally and was not backed up. This space in the soundscape was filled with some more audio we had and then manipulated, we are happy with the results. More audio files we had were also not backed up, but luckily had the exported piece we had used previously. From now on it’s safe to say we will back up files as a contingency plan and name files immediately

In terms of software the group decided to use Audition instead of Pro Tools as it is better for the editing and effects we used. It is also simpler, not in terms of the quality of work but by sequencing, more basic fading and volume adjusting (dB). We faced no problems using Audition and very much enjoyed editing this piece and being creative with it.

In conclusion, despite having small problems, our soundscape work was very successful and the group are very happy with the results. In hindsight, we could have been closer to the Cathedral when recording the bells, as they sound a little distant. Turning up an audio piece that is too quiet does not always sound good, plus a lot of background noise is picked up. We are happy with the outcome of our audio piece and think it is a very good listen.