How to Write a Music Production Report
Aim
State the main aim of the project. You might go on to briefly describe the style, instrumentation and a little bit of background information about the song and the artist.
Objectives
Break down the aim into broad project stages: e.g. research, programming, recording, mixing and mastering.
2
Resear/h
Talk about the research you did into the various stages of your project. If you use photographs/illustrations then give them appropriate titles and credit the sources. If you use quotations, then format these appropriately.
All referenced sources should be mentioned in the "References" section, and the Harvard referencing system used.
Any technical data or illustrations that do not need to be included in the main report can be put in the appendices.
3
Method
Talk about what you planned to do here. You could imagine you were writing a brief set of instructions for someone else to carry out your project. Mention the purpose of each project stage. e.g. Pre-production will involve deciding the exact instrumentation of the track, arrangement ideas, rough recordings and rehearsing musicians.
4
Results
Talk about what happened here. Include problems encountered and how they were solved. Talk about processing/effects techniques and refer to screenshots by linking text to images, for example the compression settings.
Make sure you demonstrate understanding by explaining why a particular action was taken.
5
Conclusion
Briefly summarise the outcome of the project here.
6
Evaluation
This section is a real opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking. You might discuss:
- What worked and why
- What didn 't work so well and why
- What might be done to build on what has been achieved and why
- What might be done differently next time and why
- What has been learned and new areas of study highlighted
7
References
Use the Harvard reference system.
For less academic and unauthored sources you may wish to include a section
State the main aim of the project. You might go on to briefly describe the style, instrumentation and a little bit of background information about the song and the artist.
Objectives
Break down the aim into broad project stages: e.g. research, programming, recording, mixing and mastering.
2
Resear/h
Talk about the research you did into the various stages of your project. If you use photographs/illustrations then give them appropriate titles and credit the sources. If you use quotations, then format these appropriately.
All referenced sources should be mentioned in the "References" section, and the Harvard referencing system used.
Any technical data or illustrations that do not need to be included in the main report can be put in the appendices.
3
Method
Talk about what you planned to do here. You could imagine you were writing a brief set of instructions for someone else to carry out your project. Mention the purpose of each project stage. e.g. Pre-production will involve deciding the exact instrumentation of the track, arrangement ideas, rough recordings and rehearsing musicians.
4
Results
Talk about what happened here. Include problems encountered and how they were solved. Talk about processing/effects techniques and refer to screenshots by linking text to images, for example the compression settings.
Make sure you demonstrate understanding by explaining why a particular action was taken.
5
Conclusion
Briefly summarise the outcome of the project here.
6
Evaluation
This section is a real opportunity to demonstrate critical thinking. You might discuss:
- What worked and why
- What didn 't work so well and why
- What might be done to build on what has been achieved and why
- What might be done differently next time and why
- What has been learned and new areas of study highlighted
7
References
Use the Harvard reference system.
For less academic and unauthored sources you may wish to include a section
References: Bartlett, B and Bartlett, J. (1998) Practical Recording Techniques. 2nd Ed. Oxford: Focal Press Chion, M Holman, T. (2008) Surround Sound: Up and Running. 2nd Ed. Oxford: Focal Press Huber, D Owsinski, B. (2006) The Mixing Engineers Handbook. 2nd Ed. Boston: Thomson. Rose, J. (2002) Producing Great Sound for Digital Video. 2nd Ed. Oxford: Focal Press Rumsey, F Tingen, P. (2009). Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Dot Da Genius. [online] Published in Sound on Sound Magazine October 2009. Available at http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct09/articles/it_1009.htm (Accessed 27th September 2009).