Project Management Essay Sample: Equipping a Sound (Record) Studio

Project Objective: To equip a record (sound) studio for professional use using a minimum of $100,000 by March 24th, 2018.

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Project justification: The sound studio will be used for the professional purposes of recording sound for music or audio production. The studio will entail whatever tools necessary to produce professional sound production results in the most efficient way possible.

Main Deliverables:

Rented space on a commercial facility that can be used to house the sound or record studio for the specific duration of its operation.

The provision of all the necessary tools needed for professional sound production in the studio.

Personnel trained in the use of music or sound production tools to manage the installation of the necessary tools for sound production in the studio.

Properly working tools and equipment which have been properly installed and implemented to provide a fully functioning record/sound studio.

Milestones

Rented space for the record/sound studio in a commercial facility where it will be accessible by a variety of people in need of professional sound production services.

Properly functioning record/sound studio equipment with all the supporting tools and equipment that will ensure a smooth running of the sound production business or enterprise

A list of necessary personnel needed for the proper functioning of sound production operations and activities in the sound/record studio (Gander, 2015).

A secure and comfortable area in which all the sound production services can be provided to our esteemed customers.

The existence of backup equipment for the existing equipment, support personnel and a sound technician on call to ensure that everything runs smoothly shortly after a malfunction of the installed equipment.

Technical Requirements:

The studio must have a rack mount which is used in a sound studio to facilitate the mix-n-match of the existing equipment through customizing the signal and routing flow.

The studio must have a power conditioner which is appropriate for a studio set up as it helps to consolidate the power of the entire rack down to a single cable for the purposes of simplifying power connections.

The studio must have a microphone preamp as well as a microphone. The microphone preamp, which should be multi-channel, is used on important tracks or vocals in a music mix. The microphone is used for the purposes of converting sound into an electrical signal to facilitate recording.

The Studio must have a headphone and headphone amp. The headphone is needed for listening to recorded music-mix or sound recordings. There are generally two types of headphones used in a studio. Closed-back and open back headphones, each with its own uses and advantages. The headphones are used during the performance where individuals can monitor themselves when they perform. The headphone amp is used to facilitate multiple users monitor one's performance.

The studio must have studio monitors and monitor management systems which are necessary for the accentuation of certain frequency bands to enable better listening experiences for a variety of audiences in the studio. The monitor management provides multiple outputs for studio monitors which enables one to compare the sound mixes on a variety of playback devices (Gander, 2015).

The studio must have a virtual instruments program which enables one to have a variety of instruments in the studio without actually purchasing the entire set of instruments. What is important is the synchronization of the sound created by these instruments into the music-mix created in the studio.

Every sound studio must have cables which facilitate the connection of various instruments in the studio to the audio interface or the monitor interface.

The studio must have microphone stands which enable the holding of the microphone to facilitate easy performance.

The studio should contain a pop filter which is essential in the filtering of the thumping sound which is unacceptable in recording and unpleasant to the ears when listening to a music-mix (Recording Studio Equipment List: The Essential 33 Items, 2018).

The studio must have one of the highest performing computers which will be able to function smoothly once the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) program is installed on it. An example of a high performing computer is MacBook Pro with a high-performance capability (Recording Studio Equipment List: The Essential 33 Items, 2018).

Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is a primary software that is necessary for any sound or record studio. This software enables one to edit, record and mix music on a computer.

The studio must have an audio interface which facilitates sending the music to the computer for editing for other purposes (Recording Studio Equipment List: The Essential 33 Items, 2018).

The studio should have a technical workstation connected to all the necessary devices for sound engineering to ensure efficient production of sound (Christopher, 2015).

The studio must have bass traps and acoustic panels. Bass traps and acoustic panels facilitate the recording of decent acoustic sound in the studio.

The studio must also have diffusers which are purposed to provide acoustic treatment to provide an ambience when recording sound. The diffusers together with the bass traps and acoustic panels enable the recording of decent sound (Recording Studio Equipment List: The Essential 33 Items, 2018).

Control Surfaces are necessary for a sound recording studio. These devices enable the mixing of sound and music on an analogue mixing board.

Technically, to avoid the issues of power interruptions every now and then, the sound studio should have a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) installed. UPS will offer additional time to save one's work so that it is not lost due to unexpected power interruptions (Christopher, 2015).

Direct boxes are listed as one of the most important equipment to have in a sound studio. The direct box will be used to enable the balancing of sound signals transmitted through cables as electronic signals to avoid unbalanced instrument level signals flowing through (Recording Studio Equipment List: The Essential 33 Items, 2018).

Limits and Exclusions:

The sound/record studio must be able to perform professional sound recording using the tools provided above.

Only a budget of $100,000 is available. The allocated amount will be used to purchase equipment, tools, pay for labour for installing the equipment and rent the space in the commercial facility where the sound studio will be located.

The space inside the studio will be able to hold a maximum of two clients per any given time. This translates to about half a dozen people including the clients and the studio personnel.

Sound engineers and other qualified technicians must be the ones to install most of the technical equipment that will be used for creating a professional sound/record studio.

The studio must be set up and able to provide full professional services by March 24th, 2018.

Client Review:

Weekly status updates on the progress so far on the installation of the required equipment for the sound/record studio (Osei-Kyei & Chan, 2015).

Weekly review of financial expenditure for the equipment, tools, labour and other costs of conducting the project (Osei-Kyei & Chan, 2015).

Final review of the recording studio in the client's presence where all studio personnel will be present to explain the function of every single equipment and tool installed in the studio (Larson, Gray & Gray, 2011).

Equipping Sound Studio

Work Breakdown Structure:

Planning

Execution

Rent Space

Locate Commercial Facility

Budget

Purchasing Equipment and Tools

List of Equipment

Installing tools and equipment

Hiring necessary personnel

Provision of sound production services

Responsibility Matrix:

Sound/Studio Management Team

Task Studio Manager Assistant Sound Engineer Head Sound Engineer IT Technician Support Personnel

Venue Selection R S

Layout Selection R S

Equipment Selection S R

Sound Equipment Installation S R S

Computer Equipment Installation R S

Sound Systems and Multimedia installation R S

Venue Setup S R S

Clean Up R

R = Responsible Personnel

S = Support Personnel

Communication Plan

Communication Plan

What Information Target Audience When Method of Communication Provider

Status Updates Client Weekly E-Mail Studio Manager

Weekly Financial Review Client Weekly E-mail & Hard Copy Studio Manager

Installation

Task Completion-IT Studio Manager Daily Letter IT Technician

Installation

Task Completion-Sound Studio Manager Daily Letter Head Sound Engineer

Issues Relating to Studio Set-Up & Layout Head Sound Engineer Daily Meeting and E-mail Studio Manager

Project Team Updates Studio Manager Daily E-mail & Meetings Project Team Manager

Assumptions:

Assume that the project team is familiar with the requirements of a sound/record studio.

Assume that rented space will be easily found to host the record/sound studio.

Risks:

The allocated budget amount may not be enough to pay for all the costs of equipping a sound/record studio.

The required equipment may take long time source and install in the record equipment as most of the equipment is high tech and expensive.

References

Christopher, E. M. (April 03, 2015). Project Management for Musicians: Recordings, Concerts, Tours, Studios, and More by Jonathan FeistMusic Industry Forms: The 75 Most Important Documents for the Modern Musician by Jonathan Feist. Music Reference Services Quarterly, 18, 2, 130-133.

Gander, J. M. (2015). Situating creative production: recording studios and the making of a pop song. Management Decision, 53(4), 843-856.

Larson, E. W., Gray, C. F., & Gray, C. F. (2011). Project management: The managerial process. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Osei-Kyei, R., & Chan, A. P. (2015). Review of studies on the Critical Success Factors for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects from 1990 to 2013. International Journal of Project Management, 33(6), 1335-1346.

Recording Studio Equipment List: The Essential 33 Items. (2018). E-Home Recording Studio. Retrieved from https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/recording-studio-equipment-list/ Accessed [27 February 2018].