The purpose of the capstone project is to identify a problem of some kind, and then solve it using proposed engineering solutions that we come up with in a group. In our project, the issue we identified was that sound engineering a music production are difficult for beginners. Our goal was to make this more approachable for people who are looking for a hobby to improve quality of life.
Gantt Chart
Before beginning the project, our first step was to make a GANTT chart. This chart allows us to assign certain objectives to each group member to assure that we are each doing an equal amount of work. It also allows us to keep our work organized so we can accomplish each task on time.
Brainstorming Ideas
The next step was to brainstorm and think about what problem specifically we were solving and what kind of solutions would be possible. We used a digital program called padlet to put these ideas all in one place.
This step involved designing a logo for our groups identity, and to represent our product. With identity and music in mind, we decided to create the logo using the acronym MEDD, which utilizes each of our first initials, and designed the d's at the end to look like two eighth notes beamed together. Below is our final logo
Creating a Survey
After brainstorming and coming up with a few vague solutions, the next step was to create a survey to see who would be interested in using our product, what people think about music production as a hobby, etc. In total, the survey received 106 responses, most of which responded positively to our solution, which was a digital sound kit with all the basic sounds that a beginner should need which we make and can be easily utilized on a digital audio workstation, or DAW.
Demands and Wishlist
This step involved making a formal report of what we need to complete the project and how we will go about completing it.
Project Proposal
After finalizing each of the prior steps, we were finally able to create our main project proposal. Below is the document.
Reflection So far, the project has been pretty difficult for me and my group. Due to the current pandemic, we have been stuck doing online school at home. This means that the work in the stem engineering curriculum is super dense and the deadlines are very short, so it has been difficult to finish everything perfectly on time and we've had to request extensions numerous times. It is has been very challenging for teachers to squeeze their curriculum into one semester, but the workload for this class specifically has not been condensed nearly enough for it to be realistically turned in on time. One good thing that has come out of this first step of the project is that we have a good idea of what we actually want to create, which is a digital sound kit. I feel it not only best resolves the issue of the learning curve in real music production, but it is also able to be made within the semester instead of remain as a concept, unlike what other groups are doing. Something that will prove to be a challenge, other than what was mentioned earlier, is the fact that our product is not physical and is largely digital. This hinders us because many assignments we are given, such as 3D modeling our product, do not apply for our project and the goal we are trying to reach.