Title DJ9F 34 - Sound Production: Group Award

Graded Unit 1
Description Candidate support pack addressing the
requirements of the above Graded Unit.
Keywords Sound Production Graded Unit, Integration,
Synthesis, Project, Portfolio
Objectives To support candidates achieve the HN Sound
Production Graded Unit within the delivery time
of their course of study.
To support colleges in the delivery of the HN
Sound Production Graded Unit 1.
Author Adam Armit/Chris Bradley
Organisation SQA
Version 1
Date January 2008
Copyright SQA

Information

DJ9F 34 - Sound Production: Group Award Graded Unit 1

Published date: January 2008

Publication code: CB4244

Published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority

The Optima Building, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8DQ
Ironmills Road, Dalkeith, Midlothian EH22 1LE
www.sqa.org.uk

The information in this publication may be reproduced to support the delivery

of HN Sound Production or its component Units. If it is to be used for any
other purpose, then written permission must be obtained from the
Assessment Materials and Publishing Team at SQA. It must not be
reproduced for trade or commercial purposes.

© Scottish Qualifications Authority 2007

Acknowledgements
SQA would like to acknowledge the contribution of Adam Armit and Chris
Bradley in the development and publication of these materials.

1
Copyright
Except where otherwise indicated the copyright in this pack belongs to SQA.

Where these learning materials contain links or references to any web site
operated by a party other than SQA, or references to any other materials
created or made available by a party other than SQA, such links and
references are provided for information purposes only. SQA has no control
over the content of any such third-party web sites or other materials.

Accessibility statement
It is SQA's intention to provide the widest possible access to this study guide;
to achieve this, contemporary accessibility standards and guidelines were
adopted when preparing the materials. Should you experience any difficulties
using the study guide, we would very much like to hear about any such
difficulties, so that we may take steps to rectify them. Please email SQA with
details of the problem, the name and version of the browser you are using
and, if possible, details of the operating system, screen settings and any
assistive technology you are using.

2
Introduction to pack

About this pack

This e-learning resource will assist you attain the standard for the Graded Unit
for your HN Sound Production studies at SCQF level 7.
The Graded Unit is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your overall skills
and knowledge in Sound Production, and a chance to showcase your
strengths within the field, as you would to future employers. You will put
together a showcase portfolio of work that you have done related to the core
elements of the course and present it for grading. The course is designed for
you to develop as a Sound Engineer and your showreel will be used to
illustrate these skills ie Recording and Production of Audio.
You need to provide evidence that you have achieved the principal aims of
the HN Sound Production course, you have or are:
• prepared for progression to further study in sound production or a related
discipline
• developed competencies in a range of specialised areas of your choice in
line with preferred career aims
• analysed and synthesised knowledge and skills acquired through study
• developed study, organisational and research skills
• adopted innovation and creativity in your work; been able to respond
quickly to the challenges posed by changes in the sound or audio
industries.

Note!
You must ensure that your project will be of a sufficient basis for a practical
assignment that meets all the requirements of this Graded Unit.

3
How the pack is organised

This pack is organised to address each of the requirements of the HN Sound

Production Graded Unit. It begins by explaining exactly what the Graded Unit
is and then explains the key stages in a logical manner; highlighting and
suggesting approaches you can adopt to complete it.

HN Sound Production Graded Unit E-learning pack outline:

Introduction - Study notes for the Sound Production Graded Unit
• The project - three stages – planning, developing and evaluating
• Mentoring sessions

The planning stage requirements

The developing stage requirements

• The portfolio
• The logbook

The evaluating stage requirements

The pack is divided into sections and pages. You can navigate using the
menu on the left, or by using the arrows to go forward or back. Links to
external websites or further material are provided, and these will open in a
new window.

It is recommended that you should have completed or be in the process of

completing the following Units relevant to your course of study and relating to
the above specific aims prior to undertaking this group award Graded Unit.

Unit HN Credit value

Creative Industries Infrastructure 1
Working in the Creative Industries 1
Sound Production Theory 1 1
Sound Production Practice 1 1

4
Digital Audio Workstations 1 2
Acoustics 1 1

There are no Outcomes in the Graded Unit as there are in other Units, rather
the Graded Unit is, for the sound production framework, a project demanding
that you produce a portfolio to showcase or demonstrate what you have
learned.

5
Introduction - Study notes for the Sound Production Graded
Unit

The project
There are three stages to completing this Graded Unit project:

Stage 1: Planning
Stage 2: Implementing/developing
Stage 3: Evaluating and presenting

You will be provided with a brief that allows you to demonstrate creative skills.
You will have to research, plan, prepare, evaluate and present a relevant
portfolio. The assessment is based on a combination of the result of the
activity (the product) and the carrying out of the activity (the process).

You will be asked to:

• interpret the brief
• gather information in response to the brief
• select and prepare materials
• present portfolio
• evaluate the portfolio (through feedback).

Staff will not direct the project, but you will be given appropriate support while
preparing the project. You will be given a date for completion of each stage of
this practical assignment.

References 6
Mentoring sessions
A mentoring system will help you to select a suitable portfolio subject and
ensure that you carry out appropriate preparation of the task. You may also
be encouraged to consider different aspects of your preparation for the
project.
The emphasis of the Unit is on independent learning, therefore staff are there
simply to guide you.

You are entitled to up to five mentoring sessions as follows:

• two at the planning stage
• two during the development stage
• one at the evaluation stage.

References 7
The planning stage requirements

Stage 1 – Planning
Mentoring sessions one and two
In the first two mentoring sessions you will present a plan of your initial ideas
for your project for consideration. Your tutor will ensure that your choices are
practical. There are numerous reasons why a plan would not be appropriate
or practical.

It would also be wise for you to focus on how you intend to integrate or
synthesis knowledge and/or skills from the core Units of your course. Ask
yourself the question, ‘what challenges do I face when creating a portfolio’?

When you attend your first mentoring session to present your project plan,
you must convince your tutor that you have presented a plan that:
• is realistic and achievable in the timescale of a single credit Unit
• clearly demonstrates how you will integrate knowledge and/or skills from
the core Units into your project
• states how you intend to compile and organise your portfolio
• reflects current industry practice and is not ‘blue sky’, ‘fantasy’ or over-
ambitious in nature; the plan should be focused.

Although you are free to select what you include in your portfolio your tutor
must be satisfied that the evidence you present is structured and will clearly
demonstrate synthesis and integration of knowledge and/or skills from the
core Units.

Given that your project must address the core aims of your course, you must
keep your project focused. For example, you may wish to have a show reel
containing different examples of audio that demonstrate your skills across the
discipline of sound production. In addition to the show reel you will describe
the complete details of the activities that you had to do to complete the
process, and in particular, reasons for choosing the material you put into the

References 8
show reel. You will explain how the material demonstrates your skill in
recording, microphone techniques, production, editing, mixing etc.

So during the course of the graded Unit process, you will put together a
portfolio, where you write up all the things you had to do to complete the
project, resources you had to use, research you undertook for various
techniques employed. Examples to include in your portfolio would be:
• detailing meetings with a band/artist/client to choose the material you will
record
• research into microphone techniques that would suit the situation you will
be employing
• analysis of the acoustics of the spaces you are recording in and how best
to achieve the required sound
• session sheet documentation
• studio/equipment booking sheets
• mixing/mastering choices and considerations
• discussion of techniques used within the software/hardware.

In addition to being a skilled sound engineer, you have to demonstrate that

you are able to be effective within the industry and so your portfolio will also
highlight your understanding of how you can use your skills in sound
production as a career within the creative industries, and so you should also
discuss
• any contracts that had to be set up, and an understanding when this would
be applicable
• that you have fully understood the implications of copyright
• that you have demonstrated the marketing potential/options of the
recordings (for the artist or just for you)
• how the show reel could act as a business opportunity, either for the
artist(s) recorded or the product, or as a means for you to progress your
career.

Your tutor should guide you and identify the difficulties in pursuing such a
course in one of the first mentoring sessions.

References 9
Your plan must be accepted by your tutor as fulfilling the brief before
continuing with your project.

References 10
Minimum Evidence Requirements for the planning stage

This is the minimum you must do to complete the planning stage.

The Planning stage is worth 20% of the total marks

You must achieve all of the minimum evidence specified below in order to
pass the planning stage.

You are required to create an action plan that will act as a working document
for the rest of your project. The plan must include:

Your interpretation of the brief

This is likely to consist of half to one page of text stating what is required of
you when undertaking the project. For example, you may say, ’I have been
given a brief in which I am required to produce a project consisting of a
portfolio to be used as a business proposal to gain me employment within the
industry or onto a course for further study. I will do this by ……..’.

Any information you gather in response to the brief

If setting up a company, for example, you may state that you will model your
proposal/project on a Scottish Enterprise company structure model.

A title for your project

The title of your project must reflect the actual project. Don’t use what looks
like a snappy title at the expense of saying what the project is actually is
about. Anyone reading your portfolio should be confident that they know what
to expect when reading the contents of the portfolio.

References 11
A statement of the project issue/solution
You must state what you intend to do for your project and how you are going
to do it. You must also consider challenges you may encounter when
undertaking the project and how you intend addressing them. This is also an
opportunity for you to initially consider and identify how knowledge from core
Units could or will be integrated. For example, you may propose setting up a
PA hire company as a business and, recognise the need for a thorough
business plan and method of maintaining financial information. You would, at
this stage state that this information will be drawn from the Working in the
Creative Industries Unit. It will be necessary for such a business/ to have a
high quality engineer. The knowledge/skills for this skill is likely to come from
your study of the Sound Production Theory and Practice Units.

Aims and objectives of the project

You should have been given clear guidance regarding producing realistic
aims and objectives and these should be SMART – Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. You will be encouraged to produce
three to four aims with no more than four objectives for each aim. This should
ensure that these are achievable in the time given. See notes on SMART
objectives after this section.

A timescale for conducting the project

This should include both final and intermediate completion dates.

A statement of the reasons for the choice of issue/solution

A simple statement is sufficient and could be as simple as stating that this is
something that you always wanted to do and intend to do when your study is
over.

Identification and explanation of the sources of information to be used

for your project and why each has been selected
This section allows you to state how the knowledge and/or skills from the core
Units will be integrated into the project as well as identifying sources such as
internet sites and books. See notes on referencing after this section.

Identification of the resources (including time) required for you to carry

out the project and how these will be accessed
These can be in the form of time management systems such as Gantt charts,
‘to do’ lists etc. See notes on managing time after this section.

An explanation of how the project will be conducted with reasons for

your choice and of methods used
This is a statement of how you plan to manage the project. See notes on
setting goals after this section.

References 12
A statement of the criteria to be used to assess the implications of the
issue/solution and the reasons why each has been selected
You must state how you will assess the project. This is likely to include a
statement regarding ‘road testing’ the project once it is complete and the
manner this will take.

References 13
Action plan
It is important for you to understand that your plan is a dynamic document.
This means approaches and methods used will inevitably change as the time
progresses. This is the case with all plans, they are reviewed and revised as
factors change and updated accordingly.

By following the above outline for your plan you will demonstrate clarity of
thought as well as understanding of the requirement to integrate knowledge
and/or skills from core Units.

Action plan example

Action By when Completed
(date)
Undertake three recording sessions in
different contexts (studio/venue) End November

The planning process in context

Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans.
John Lennon

At its simplest a plan has three stages:

• Identify the goal(s) and set the objectives to be achieved, make the
objectives SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and
Timed.
• A specification of the activities needed to achieve the outcomes, and how
they relate to one another. What do you need to do and in what order?
• Estimate of the resource requirements to implement the activities. What
you need to do and what you want to do - state who does what, with what
and by when.

References 14
Stages of planning
Define objectives What is it that you are planning to achieve?
Generate and How many different courses of action are available?
evaluate options
When each course of action has been evaluated,
which one will best achieve the objectives?
Identify the activities What do you need to do in order to implement the
chosen option?
Sequence the What is the best order in which to carry out the
activities
activities?
Identify the What resources do you need in order to carry out the
resources
plan?
Review the plan Will it work? If not, go back to stage 2 or 3 - or even
stage 1.
Prepare action Who is going to do what - and when?
plans/schedules
Monitor and Control Re-plan if necessary?

The following flow chart is a graphical representation of the above stages of

planning outline.

References 15
Stages of planning - graphic

References 16
Problems and constraints in planning

Planning is almost always constrained by the need to meet certain deadlines.

Areas where problems are likely to arise are:

Vague objectives Are the objectives SMART, the objectives must be in

as precise terms as possible.
Lack of information The greatest difficulty in planning is to obtain accurate
information when we want it. Accurate, timely and
relevant information is the vital ingredient of planning,
but is often in short supply at every level.
Changing Planning is carried out for the circumstances that we
circumstances
think are the most likely to occur – but rarely do. With
every piece of new information the objectives may
have to be reviewed.
People and politics Planning is the art of the possible; it is only successful
if it is acceptable both to the people who provide
resources and those who will carry it out.

References 17
The contingency plan

As the name suggests, this is a form of plan addressing problems if the

original plan goes wrong. The idea here is to introduce an element of flexibility
to cover difficulties, although too much flexibility would be undesirable. It is
important to ensure that there is a relationship between the amount of effort
spent on contingency planning and the level of risk involved. Ways of
achieving flexibility include:
• know where additional equipment and people can be obtained at short
notice
• keep key people fully informed of unexpected developments so that they
will find ways to solve their own problems
• ensure that not too many high priority activities are planned to happen at
the same time
• deliberately allow some free time at key stages of the plan so that delays
can be accommodated (but not necessarily announcing this information
publicly)
• ensure that the best possible information is used in the plan and that it is
kept up to date.

References 18
Creative thinking

Creative thinking is all about looking at the range of options available to you,
in the widest sense, and then deciding on which of these is or are the best
and most useful.

The role of creative and analytical thinking can be represented in the following
diagram:

Creative Analytical
(convergent) (divergent)
thinking thinking

Some web links for creative and critical thinking techniques

http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm
http://www.copyblogger.com/mental-blocks-creative-thinking/
http://www.ahapuzzles.com/puzzles_1.htm

Planning tools and techniques

The following planning tools and techniques will help provide you with a form
or framework whereby a plan can be presented and communicated, focusing
attention on the following:
• identifying the key events and deadlines
• disentangling the different activities and estimating how long each one will
take
• examining the relationship between activities, in terms of both dependency
and workload
• working out which activities have priority and which ones still have time in
hand.

References 19
SWOT analysis

Before embarking on any project it is desirable to ascertain whether or not

there are obstacles to achieving success or if you have the skills or
knowledge to complete the project. Focused thinking about these issues is
therefore extremely important; SWOT analysis is a method to understand and
address these issues.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

SWOT analysis is used to help balance what is desirable with that which is
practical. This is achieved by obtaining a balanced perspective of internal
strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats
therefore allowing the development of an effective strategy.

Successful businesses and business people build on their strengths, correct

their weaknesses and protect against internal vulnerabilities and external
threats.

SWOT analysis - contributing factors

Strengths Ability, resources, the weakness of the competition, or the
opposing sources.
Weaknesses Failures, defeats, losses, and inability to match up with the
dynamic situation of growth and change.
Opportunities Possibilities of what can be done and where effectiveness is
possible.
Threats Changes in business environment, PEST forces – political,
economic, social, technological.

References 20
A Swot analysis is conducted in following way:
Internal – You have control External – Limited or no control
Identify and list your Strengths Identify and list Opportunities to
to be built upon. be exploited.

Identify and list Weaknesses Identify and list Threats – how to

and how you will turn these avoid them or ways of evading
around – how to make them them.
strengths.

Example for a Certified Pro Tools Operator:

Strengths Opportunities
Organised Accreditation from Industry
High level of technical skill Grants for start up business

Weaknesses Threats
Access to hardware systems Number of others qualified as
only within College Operators
Limited experience in Control Lack of funds
surfaces
Poor resources – equipment
and accommodation

References 21
What are objectives?

In any job it is necessary to break down processes, analyse them, set

objectives and then work hard to achieve them. You will increase the
likelihood of success for what you are trying to accomplish by writing
objectives.

An objective should be thought of as the object or aim of an action. It states

the direction for the action to take and a specific quality of work to be
accomplished within a given period of time. Objectives reflect the desired
outcomes for individuals, groups and organisations and provide direction for
and a standard against which outcomes are measured. Objectives are
therefore the foundation of planning and they are important because they
allow you to measure the success or failure of a project.

Essentially an objective is a precise, measurable statement of what you intend

to achieve during a specified period of time, as it works toward a desired
outcome. An objective is therefore a statement about what will change.

To be meaningful all objectives should be SMART. SMART is an acronym for:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable or attainable
Realistic or relevant
Timely and trackable

References 22
Defining SMART objectives

Specific Is the objective precise and well defined?

Is it clear?
Can everyone understand it?
Measurable How will you know when the task has been completed?
What evidence is needed to confirm the completion?
Have you stated how you will judge whether it has
been completed or not?
Achievable Is it within your capabilities to complete?
Are there sufficient resources available to enable this to
happen?
Have you relied on someone else or some other thing
to occur before you can complete the objective?
Can the objective be completed at all?
Realistic Is it possible for you to perform the objective?
How sensible is the objective in the current context?
How does it fit into your overall pattern of work?
Timely What is the deadline?
Is it feasible to meet this deadline?
Is it appropriate to do this work now?
Are there review dates?

The basic components of an objective are:

• a description of the activity or service to be provided (eg guitar tutoring)
• the expected result of the activity or service (eg improved guitar playing)
• the tool to measure the impact of the provided service or the quality of the
provided product (eg practical guitar playing test at new level)
• the standard of success the project hopes to meet (eg average increase of
at least one guitar playing level)
• the number of individuals who benefit (eg ten Grade 2 young guitarists per
session).

Although the rules are difficult to establish, the following fill-in-the-blank

equation may be useful when writing an objective.

Objective:
To — verb, result and target date.

Example:

References 23
To improve the skills in Pro Tools through course work and independent
study, as measured by successful completion of Digital Audio Workstations
Unit and Pro Tools certified exams by testing after twenty weeks of
commencing lessons.

This can be expressed graphically as follows:

To Verb Result Target date
To improve the skills in Pro measured by testing after
Tools through course successful twenty weeks of
work and independent completion of commencing
study Digital Audio lessons.
Workstations Unit
and Pro Tools
certified exams by

References 24
Useful tools when planning

There are various techniques to help define what needs to be done, how it will
be done, in what order, and by when, for example:

‘To-do’ lists with initial thinking: the lists can be revised, regrouped or
broken down as the plan takes shape.

Schedule and ‘key events’ charts: work under heading to the define dates
eg
Date Key event Other events
22nd June Update Meeting Receive project status
reports
3rd July Launch marketing campaign Update website

Production schedule: work under heading to the define dates eg

Weeks to go Action Date
16 Initial thinking
15 Planning meeting 24th August

Gantt charts (bar charts): work from an ‘end’ date, in this case the release
date to determine when key activities should occur eg
Month
Actions –
event Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Music
Rehearsal
Recording
Artwork
Graphics
Layout
General
Production
Distribution
Marketing
Release

References 25
Mind Maps

Developed in the late 1960s by Tony Buzan, mind maps were developed to:
• assist the thinking process when addressing complex problems
• summarise information by making notes with key words and images
• be created quickly because of visual nature
• be easy to remember and/or review information in the map
• be easy to link and cross reference information across the map
• show shape of a subject and the relative importance of each part
• show the way facts relate to each other
• be compact to make links easily identifiable
• give structure to a subject.

The example of developing a Mind Map below shows the main topic and
branch lines radiating in all directions from the centre.

Developing a mind map

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3

Branch 1.1a

Branch 1.1 Branch 2.1

Branch 1 Branch 2
Branch 1.2 Branch 2.2

Topic or
Title

Branch 4.1 Branch 3.1

Branch 3
Branch 4
Branch 3.2
Branch 4.2 Branch 3.2a
Branch 4.2a Branch 2.2b

Topic
A topic is the title of the subject you intend as the focus of the mind map.

References 26
Branch
A branch in a mind map is a contributing, important idea. A branch line is the
line connecting branches between two neighbouring levels. The number of
branches for each level is limitless.

Level
The level identifies the amount or number of branches around a topic.
Branches of a mind map spread out from the main topic; in theory the number
of levels is limitless.

As you come across new information, link it in to the Mind Map appropriately.
A complete Mind Map may have main topic lines radiating in all directions
from the centre. Sub-topics and facts will branch off these, like branches and
twigs from the trunk of a tree. You do not need to worry about the structure
produced, as this will evolve of its own accord, see example below.

Summary from Learn to draw mind maps with Mind Tools where
you can get more information on how to draw mind maps
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_01.htm

Example mindmap by Graham Burnett from Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

References 27
Other areas of planning

Other areas of planning that should be considered:

Resource identify all resources
planning
state when and how long resources are required
are resources available when you need them?
are there any shortfall costs?
are changes to the plan possible to smooth out any
resource shortfalls?

Incorporating if you decide to change the plan what are the cost
costs
implications of another course of action?
it is advisable to estimate costs at different levels of detail
it is necessary to ensure all information regarding the plan
has been gathered, apportion all costs, produce cash flow
projections as well as forecasts of balances, monitor all
spending

Allocating work: who has the skills and expertise to handle the task?
who will find it useful?
who has the time?

References 28
The developing stage requirements

Stage 2 – Developing / Implementing

The developing or implementing stage is worth 70% of the marks. There are
two parts to this stage as below requiring you to:
• Prepare a portfolio. The portfolio should contain information and
documentation relevant to the action plan. The portfolio is a tool to
showcase your abilities and therefore its contents will be personal to you
and relevant to your vocational area or purpose. The portfolio is worth 50%
of the marks.
• Maintain and submit a structured logbook of all of the activities you
undertake for the project. Logbooks should only contain a log relating to
the Graded Unit project. It is not a record of all course activity and should
be structured. Simple diaries are unlikely to be appropriate. The logbook is
worth 20% of the marks.

Mentoring sessions three and four

By mentoring session three you should be well under way thinking about what
to select and include in your portfolio. Your lecturer will give guidance and
feedback regarding the choices you are making and the way you are
managing your project. Your lecturer should not direct you in your work
because the emphasis of this Unit is on independent learning.

Remember, you must provide clear evidence that knowledge and/or skill
from each of the core Units has been synthesised or integrated into the
project portfolio. Furthermore, your portfolio contents should be selected
because of project relevance; quantity is not a substitute for quality.

References 29
Considerations when preparing your portfolio

This part of the Graded Unit assessment is concerned with your ability to
create and judiciously select appropriate materials for inclusion in your
portfolio and then to justify the reasons for including those materials. The
portfolio is likely to include materials generated as assessment evidence for
other Units of your course. In this case, and to demonstrate integration of
knowledge and skill from these other Units, you may simply include a
statement to reference the source of this information. For example, if you
include a basic contract outline in your portfolio, you need simply state that
while studying the ‘Working in the Creative Industries’ Unit contracts were
covered and, the basic contract included was derived from that or those Units.
A statement such as this would demonstrate your understanding of the
requirement to acknowledge where you sourced information and be sufficient
to display synthesis of knowledge and/or skills from those Units.

The portfolio might be a folder into which you can add paper-based materials,
CDs, DVDs etc., or it may be an e-portfolio, some computer space where you
can add Word documents, spreadsheets, audio and video files. The form of
the portfolio should be discussed with your mentor, and will depend on the
resources available. You may also be able to make use of Web 2.0 tools such
as Wikis or blogs to enhance the reflection/evaluation process and make your
portfolio interactive.

Also, think about what you are doing already that could be used to help your
portfolio. Do you use Facebook, Myspace, bebo etc? Is there anything there
that could help – perhaps as a marketing tool to support your business?

You can get a free blog here www.blogger.com

You could store and share videos at www.youtube.com
or pictures at www.flickr.com

References 30
Marking should be based on your justification for what is included in your
portfolio and not necessarily the materials you include. However, if the
materials you include are thought to be not relevant to, or do not showcase
your skills appropriately your tutor may question their inclusion at one of the
mentoring sessions.

Portfolio idea

Title — A proposal to set up a mobile recording facility

The focus, structure and legal implications and considerations, example

contracts, financial information and forecasts if appropriate, marketing and
promotional materials and press packs, agencies that may form a
collaborative partnership, health and safety issues and risk assessments.
These topics are included in the Creative Industries Units.

Relevant materials to demonstrate knowledge and/or skill eg technical skill

and theoretical knowledge examples – audio equipment and software,
microphone placement and general acoustics. These topics are covered in
the Sound Production and Practice Units, the Digital Audio Workstations and
Acoustics Units.

References 31
Demonstrating integration of knowledge

Demonstrating integration of knowledge and/or skills from the core

Units in the Graded Unit submission

Use the following tables to assist you to identify how you have integrated the
knowledge and/or skills from each of the core Units into your Graded Unit. It is
not necessary to complete every box, however you must demonstrate that
knowledge and/or skills from core Units has been used and applied. For the
column headed, ‘Portfolio item included’, you need only tick the box then,
under ‘How knowledge and/or skills is integrated’, state what item(s) you have
included and that the knowledge and/or skills from this core Unit was used
when producing that item. For example, if an outline for a business card
and/or a poster is included simply tick the box next to Marketing, in the
Working in the Creative Industries Unit table, then state that the knowledge
and/or skills necessary to produce these items came from this aspect of this
Unit, as below.

Items included: a business card and

poster outline. Through study of
Marketing √ marketing and promotion in this Unit
I gained the necessary knowledge
and skills to produce these items.

HNC Sound Production

Graded Unit
Core Unit Portfolio How knowledge and/or skills is
Item integrated
included
Creative Industries
Infrastructure
Types of organisation
Organisation structure
Trade organisations

Sources of advice

References 32
Sources of funding and
finance
Business development
opportunities
Networking
opportunities

Working in the Creative

Industries
Career development
skills
Marketing
Health and Safety
issues
Legal - contracts and
copyright

Sound Production
Theory 1
Technique
Microphone theory
Processors
reproduction

Sound Production
Practice 1
Cables, connectors,
Health/Safety
Testing
Recording

Digital Audio
Workstations 1
Configuration
Audio/MIDI
Audio processing
Editing

Acoustics 1
Properties of sound

References 33
Human hearing
Acoustic properties of
spaces

A printable copy of the tables can be downloaded here

Considerations when preparing your logbook

As stated above, you are also expected to maintain a logbook, but this should
not take the form of a diary. You should use relevant headings as a guide,
therefore making it easier for assessment and verification.

The logbook is a written record of the progress and should consist of the
following:
• the Action Plan
• research evidence of appropriate texts read
• explanation and justification of actions
• analysis/description of the portfolio preparation process including creative
and imaginative interpretation or response to ideas or issues from
mentoring.

A suggested logbook layout:

Date
My action plan point:

Research sources I used

Book or Unit Title Author Publication ISBN
details
x

References 34
Notes

Why an action or direction was taken:

My portfolio preparation processes:

A printable copy of the table can be downloaded here

A note on referencing academic work

In any piece of academic work accurate referencing is essential. Referencing

is a standardised method of acknowledging sources of information and ideas
that you have used in your assignment in a way that uniquely identifies their
source. Direct quotations, facts and figures, as well as ideas and theories,
from both published and unpublished works, must be referenced. There are a
number of referencing systems that you could use but your tutor will tell you
the method your college uses.

Harvard Referencing
Within the text of the assignment the author’s name is given first, followed by
the publication date. A reference list at the end of the assignment contains the
full details of all the in-text citations as follows:

Kalmar, Veronica, 2000, Label Launch: A Guide to Independent Record

Recording, Promotion and Distribution, London, St Martin's Press

Formal academic referencing acknowledging sources is normal but you

should also reference information and materials derived from other core Units.

References 35
For example, you may include materials generated for your Acoustics Unit in
your portfolio; you should clearly reference these to that Unit. This would
demonstrate understanding of the project requirements - selecting and
judiciously including relevant materials. However, where knowledge and/or
skill has been used which was acquired through study of a core Unit, in for
example, the production of a biography, a simple statement and reference to
the appropriate Unit (Working in the Creative Industries) would demonstrate
integration of knowledge from this Unit, an essential requirement of the
Graded Unit.

See further information about referencing at these links:

http://www.neilstoolbox.com/bibliography-creator/

http://www.shef.ac.uk/library/libdocs/hsl-dvc1.pdf

The evaluating stage

Stage 3 – Evaluating
The evaluating/presenting stage is worth 10% of the marks

For this stage you must provide an evaluation report of approximately 750-
1,000 words relating to the effectiveness of all parts of your project. Your
evaluation must include:
• An assessment of the extent to which each of the original objectives of the
project have been met. This should include reference to any modifications
made during the course of the project and to any alternative courses of
action considered but rejected. Your assessment should be supported with
credible reasons for actions.
• A commentary on aspects of the planning and developing stages which
worked effectively and why, and/or aspects of the planning and
development stages which did not work as effectively as expected. Each
aspect of the project should be covered in the commentary.

References 36
• An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the activity of the
project. This should be supported by credible reasons and cover at least
one strength and at least one weakness.
• Recommendations for future projects. These should be based on items
one to three above and could relate to your personal development (eg in
terms of the further development of skills used in this project) or aspects of
the process or product of the project (eg with respect to setting timescales,
gathering information or possible future projects). It should be clear from
the recommendations that you have reflected on what happened and that
you have drawn conclusions from this reflection.

Mentoring session five

In mentoring session five you should have an idea of the way you are going to
approach and evaluate your project. You may feel that your project went
according to your plan and that you have very few weaknesses however, you
may, on the other hand feel the opposite, there were numerous challenges to
overcome. Your tutor will have an overview of how you have handled this
assessment task and will be able to guide and assist you in your evaluation. If
everything did go well then it might be the case that simply stating this fact
with examples is all you are required to do.

References 37
A final thought

The Graded Unit gives you the opportunity to provide evidence that you have
achieved the principal aims of your course of study. It quite simply allows you
to do what you will probably do naturally when you complete your studies: you
will compile a showcase portfolio in order to seek employment and/or further
study.

When compiling such a portfolio you will not put everything into it that you
have studied, you will:
• think and plan what you should use
• carefully select materials for inclusion in your portfolio and order the
materials logically and sensibly
• present the materials in your portfolio in a professional manner.

If you succeed in compiling a portfolio correctly you will place yourself in a

stronger position for selection in whatever you are applying for. It is exactly
this that you are required to produce as evidence for this Graded Unit
assessment.

References 38