Case Studies, Bibliography

Case Study 1
My EXP involves interviewing different artists and musicians and part of my research will involve how experienced interviewers making their interviews stand out and how what type of questions they ask the guests they choose to interview. In this video, experienced television presenter Zane Lowe interviewed Justin Timberlake and asked questions in relation to his recent album which is something I can do with one of my guests as one of the musicians I am interviewing (Jayfo) has released two single in the last couple of months and I can ask question in terms of the process of making those songs and why he chose to release those songs etc. Also, the environment will play big part in making the final product in video stand out and make people want to click on the video. Depending on who I am interviewing, I will choose a location that relates to the guests profession and what they are successful in so the people who watch the video are aware of what they are about to watch. The way this interview is set out is very much natural and almost like a simple conversation which is definitely something I will apply to my project within interviewing because it'll make the guest feel comfortable and it makes the final product look even more professional and not so forced.


Case Study 2
During the last year I have been able to figure out my style as an artist and in this EP it will show the progression I have been through in comparison to last year. I have been looking at artists that I admire such as Michael Jackson, Prince and Justin Timberlake, this is because I love the way the instrumentation, vocal dynamics and structure is used. For example, in the song "Love Never Felt So Good" by Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson, I love the use of instruments used such as the piano because it gives a very happy and joyful feeling when listening to the chords and when I listen to the song, it just reminds me of positivity and the song just has a very positive vibe. One thing that catches my attention in this song is the use of layering in the chorus which makes the song sound fuller and brighter which makes me want to sing along. The technique of layering is definitely something I will use in music in that stand out moments of the song such as chorus and pre chorus. Also, in the process of making this song one thing I learnt is that in Michael's sessions he would usually have two versions of one song, he would have a first idea of a song and then he would have a different version of the same song, this is in relation to the production, it would be completely changed into a different type of track. This is something I will add to my practice as I have learnt that this is an affective way of not limiting my self and my ideas and playing around with the songs and experimenting to get the best version of the song possible. A lot of this music (soulful pop) originates from the 1950's/20th century from mainly the African American community where singers would use real instruments and their own vocals to sing about what was going on at the time in terms of social issues such as: racism and political issues. However, this specific from Jackson also comes from the era of disco in the 1970's/1980's where artists would talk about having fun and partying. Over the years, this type of music has continuously been replicated and used as it has a very positive vibe and an energetic flow.


Case Study 3
Charlie Puth uses a very good technique in his music where he uses beat boxing on top of the instrumental that he already has and he explains how the technique of using beat boxing and layering it with the software instruments will create a lot more of a natural sounding instrumental as its from the human body, however, one thing I could struggle from doing this is that my beat-boxing isn't that good so I would have to do as couple of takes before hand in order to try and make the takes a good standard. I feel like this would help me a lot in my future projects as I have been stuck on creating tracks using just software instruments rather than real instruments and since I will start using more real instruments to create more of a live performance but still use a mixture of software and real instruments. Also, he mentions using different distances from the microphone to get a different feel, especially when it comes to harmonies in a track or vocal layering's because its an effective way of creating an ambient choir or make it sound like there's more than one voice in the track which is also something that I will experiment when making my music and try out something new.




Case Study 4
I looked at this interview that was very interesting in terms of the way it is set out. The interview is outside which is in a way unusual in my opinion because most interviews are set inside but this is what makes the interview stand out. Also, I love the way in this interview how there's a very good conversation flow and one thing I have learnt from watching all of these interviews is that it doesn't  necessarily have to be about just the musicians music or career, it can also involve talking about a musicians private life up to a certain extent if they are okay with it as it will fill in a lot of gaps in terms of what the audience want to find out about the artist in relation to how their music has affected their personal life and also more in depth questions such as to what point have you been close on giving up or did your family support you on your road to success and sacrifices that took place during that process or was it more of a personal belief and self support. These types of questions are the ones that motivate people when they watch these interviews to live their life to the fullest and not be scared to make sacrifices and follow their dreams and this is something that will make my interviews stand out and be something to remember. I took part in a workshop last week which involved our teacher Keith talking about interview techniques and how to approach interviewing any artist. He explained how it is important to not try to be something that your not, this means that the best way to get the best out of interviewing an artist is to be yourself and try not to act "cool" otherwise if you try to come across as someone that your not you wont get the right answers out of a musician and you can create a wrong impression of yourself. He also said many interviews may contain an element of controversy that the musician might have been through or may have been through whether it might be saying something on social media that offended a certain audience or something along those lines. However, this doesn't mean you cant bring it up, its almost as if you have to work your way up to that one question to make it a smooth transition from question to question and not to make the artist think your interrogating them.


Case Study 5
I am thinking of performing with one of my classmates "Purple Rain" by the one and only Prince. I just to do this because a lot of people aren't performing this year and I figured that it would be a good chance to perform a song that is one of the best songs of all time by one of my favourite artists of all time. In this performance I'm analysing the way he uses fog and lighting to make his performance stand out. The use of the Purple lighting evidently relates to the lyrics of the song "Purple Rain" which creates a very intense and dramatic atmosphere which is something I could most definitely  use is my performance to create that same vibe. Also, Prince has a lot of interaction with the crowd which makes the audience feel a lot more engaged and part of the performance in terms of knowing that the performer is aware of the fans and also making the fans sing along is also a technique that he uses which makes the moment much more memorable and interesting for the performer as it also is for the crowd. One specific technique I will definitely use is to use the whole stage by walking around in certain parts of the songs rather than stay in one place because staying in one place can be a bit boring for the crowd whilst walking around and audience interaction can be seen as much more intimate. This is also to do with his personality as well in relation to have the confidence and the relaxation to interact, but I have a very outgoing personality which will also allow me to interpret this into my performance which in my opinion is needed to make the performance referable and special which can lead to future opportunities in the music industry as you never know who is watching or listening.







Case Study 6
When it comes to recording my interviews I have to look at different videos to see what mic placements are the best to capture the sound of the voice. I am thinking to use the microphones above the head without the camera capturing that shot and as it also shows in this video, the microphone can pick up the voice really well.. Also, one thing that is very important when it comes to interviews is the mental state, by this I mean what can effect the interviewee mentally and depending on the artist, something that is in the way someone's personal space for example a microphone, can be quite uncomfortable and invading which can most likely cause the person to not be relaxed and cause the interview to not flow the way it should do. In terms of editing the recording, I will just have to add compression so that the recording doesn't pick up too many plosives otherwise it will sound unprofessional and the people who hear the recordings will find it quiet annoying and I wont get the views and credit. Additionally, it is important to make sure two microphones are being used so the voice from the interviewer and the interviewee can be picked up to get a good quality recording.




Case Study 7
In this case study I was looking at different videos related to mixing and mastering in order to get my music sounding professional and to make the tracks from my EP sounding as balanced as possible. I don't necessarily stress myself out when it comes to mixing but I always make sure that I use panning in my tracks to create enough space in the track for every instrument and vocal to stand out. Also, I make sure to bounce the track as a WAV file so that the track is in the best quality possible. In my research, the video I researched went into detail in regards to mixing and I learnt a lot of things from these videos such as using the Multipressor effect on logic, when it comes to making songs, I like to use samples from Spice so I can use it as a foundation for the track and I build my ideas around the track, furthermore, in this video the guy talks about using a Multipressor which helps to balance out different frequencies in a track such as: bass, mid etc... If I use any time of sample it will be really helpful to use this as I can cancel out any frequencies or increase any frequencies in the track to get the sound that I want. This is very important when it comes to editing music and also coming to the final stages of music producing you want to make the sound of the track be as professional as possible, this will benefit me a lot in the long term because when it comes to bigger projects I will be able to confidently use more tools and editing effects on logic to create more dynamics in the track and I will be able to experiment a lot more when it comes to making different genres and types of music. 

Bibliography
Bartlett, B. and Bartlett, J. (2017). Practical recording techniques. New York: Focal Press.

Ftp.iza.org. (2019). [online] Available at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp8129.pdf [Accessed 16 May 2019].

Frascogna, X. and Hetherington, H. (2004). This Business of Artist Management. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.


Kimpel, D. (2005). Networking strategies for the new music business. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology PTR.

Klickstein, G. (2009). The musician's way [electronic resource]. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Zollo, P. (2003). Songwriters on songwriting. New York: Da Capo Press.

YouTube. (2019). The Basics of Mixing a Track | Logic Pro X. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/5clxt2xacjw [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Justin Timberlake: New Music, Touring & Fatherhood [P1] | Beats 1 | Apple Music. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rll790aP60Q [Accessed 15 Mar. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Mixing with Multiband Compression | Logic Pro X Multipressor Tutorial. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/xNcq4KVf0lQ [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Audio Recording Tips: Shotgun Microphones. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/WO1-G-K67zg [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Prince - Purple Rain live at Super Bowl XLI HD. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/lElCzhjiPX8 [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Purple Rain 1985 Syracuse. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/x8L-S2umLfM [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Kendrick Lamar Meets Rick Rubin and They Have an Epic Conversation | GQ. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/4lPD5PtqMiE [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). See Charlie Puth Break Down Emotional Hit Song, "Attention". [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/IU8BEMi8UyM [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Charlie Puth Reveals Layers Of New Single "Attention" | On Air with Ryan Seacrest. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/-qdLwfRooz8 [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Love Never Felt So Good (Original Version)- Michael Jackson XSCAPE (Deluxe). [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/fw-iK0Nztv0 [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake - Love Never Felt So Good (Official Video). [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/oG08ukJPtR8 [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].



YouTube. (2019). The Basics of Mixing a Track | Logic Pro X. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/5clxt2xacjw [Accessed 29 May 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Official Music Video). [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/Zi_XLOBDo_Y [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Shawn Mendes - Nervous. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/DGzy8FE1Rhk [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

YouTube. (2019). Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream (Official Music Video). [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/rrbFQEcpJ3A [Accessed 14 Jun. 2019].

weekly blog

Week 1
The plan that I have for this week that I put on my timeline was to start an idea or mess around with a few ideas for the first song on my EP and record it even if I choose to use it or not.

In this week I went into a rehearsal studio and I managed to get a guitar idea and I used the loop pedal and gather different ideas during the loop and played the melodies and riffs on guitar to build a potential song. I struggled in the beginning to use the loop pedal in terms of timing but it was definitely more of a mental thing because after a few times of practicing using the loop pedal, I became confident and I overcame that difficulty by constantly repeating the same loop and not overthinking how it will sound and not being scared to make mistakes. The reason it got me frustrated mentally is because I struggled to get into the right timing with getting all the melodies to work together and not failing make the idea flow as I obviously want it to sound great.


Week 2
My plan for this week is to contact different guests that could feature on my interviews and see when they are available and write down certain questions and ideas for these interviews so I can get the interviews recorded as soon as possible.

My initial plan for this week which I put on my timeline was to get into contact with guests for the interviews but I still haven't gotten in contact with anyone yet because I have been focused on my songs and trying to get ideas together so I don't fall back on making my music which is one thing I fell back on last year. However I will contact an artist on the weekend and see when he is available for an interview and write down some questions so I am prepared for when the it takes place. I came up with a good idea for a song this week, I used a sample from logic which was a vocal sample which reminded me of Daft Punk based on the effect and how the sample sounds and I managed to figure out the key of the song by playing different chords and notes and I found out the chords using my knowledge of chord progressions and I just finished with that quick idea and I will come back next week and get the song finished by adding vocals and getting all the instruments together.
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Week 3
My plan for this week is to go back to the first song idea and try and get majority of the song finished.

This week I managed to go back to the first song idea and get the song finished, it took me a few hours to get the song finished but that's because I spent a good few hours adding instrumentation to the track, adding vocals and creating lyrics. I did struggle with this a bit because I had to do all of this at once rather than spend a few weeks working on one track, this is so I can experiment with various different tracks during this project and so I don't stress out at the end of the project and leave things until the last minute. I managed to get all the instruments recorded such as: leys, software drums, guitar and vocals. However, I struggled to originally come up with a catchy melody for the chorus as in coming up with a structured catchy lyrics in the chorus, what I decided to do to overcome this is since I used the vocal sample in the chorus that says "only one, only one that you'll ever love, you'll ever love", I decided to use the lyrics and sing those lyrics but using vocal dynamics almost like a call in response technique which makes the chorus very interesting because the stand out part in the chorus is pretty much the vocal sample because of the catchy phrase and robotic vocal tone.


  Week 4
The plan for this week is to get the first interview of this project recorded, I was meant to have an out of college Producer/Singer as my first guest but he wasn't available so I'm going to interview a musician from my class called Jayfo and this will help me to get my first interview done and get some practice and experience.

This week I have managed to get my first interview done and I always thought to myself that this would be the moment of truth in terms of if I will enjoy doing this as part of my professional career and I have to say that I loved every moment of it. Besides the fact that I know the person I interviewed which means there's less of a curiosity when it comes to asking the artist questions, I enjoyed being able to ask questions and find out information from the artist in relation to his career and the journey through his music. However, when it came to the end of the interview, one of the camera's said that the recording had "automatically stopped recording". I done some research to find out why this happened and it is because the camera wasn't able to record everything because the camera was recording in a large file size which means it couldn't record the whole interview due to being in a high quality recording and the interviewing being quiet long also affected this. Also. the other camera was using an SD card which was 8GB which is not enough to get recordings of videos that will be more than 20 minutes long, and in my case the interview was 40 minutes long so it ended up on being stopped. This was my first time interviewing someone so I try not to be too upset about it since it was my first interview. However, what I will do is use the audio from the interview and post it as an audio interview on Soundcloud which is also a great way for the audience to hear an interview.

Week 5
Since my interview wasn't fully recorded in video format, this week I will edit the opening and ending of the audio recording so it has a clean start and a clean ending and save it on my computer so I can post at the end of the project and I'm also going to start a new song idea for the EP.

This week I managed to get a new song started and I looked at different songs from my favourite artists and tried to see the different types of things that make the song special. For example: harmonies, instruments used and vocal improvisation. I looked at the song Billie Jean by Michael Jackson, and one thing that stands out for me in this song is the use of vocal harmonies and also vocal layering which creates a lot more of a crispy and fuller sound which in my opinion makes the song sound catchy and the harmonies and vocal layering stand out. The vocal layering in the pre chorus and chorus makes the sound complete and crispy. I started with a bassline which is a way that helps me to develop a groovy vocal idea and I added in a piano sample which caught my attention because of the use of major and minor in the same chords which made the pre chorus sound very smooth but almost created a sense of tension and unease which is what I was going for.



Week 6
As it says on my proposal, this week I will research different interviews on YouTube so I can analyse them in a way that I can get some ideas from the interviewer him or herself in relation to questions I can ask and how the video looks in terms of camera shots and the setting of where the interview is recorded in.

This week I was pretty busy with my family and personal issues, however I looked at this interview that was very interesting in terms of the way it is set out. The interview is outside which is in a way unusual in my opinion because most interviews are set inside but this is what makes the interview stand out. Also, I love the way in this interview how there's a very good conversation flow and one thing I have learnt from watching all of these interviews is that it doe sent necessarily have to be about just the musicians music or career, it can also involve talking about a musicians private life up to a certain extent if they are okay with it as it will fill in a lot of gaps in terms of what the audience want to find out about the artist in relation to how their music has affected their personal life and also more in depth questions such as to what point have you been close on giving up or did your family support you on your road to success and sacrifices that took place during that process or was it more of a personal belief and self support. These types of questions are the ones that motivate people when they watch these interviews to live their life to the fullest and not be scared to make sacrifices and follow their dreams and this is something that will make my interviews stand out and be something to remember.




Week 7
As it says on my proposal I was meant to be doing an interview, however last week I didn't manage to contact any artists for an interview for this week. But what I will do is continue with my music this week and go back to the second song of my EP.

Due to not being able to do an interview this week I managed to finish the song I started last week and I used various techniques in order to make my song sound a certain way. The way I wrote this song was mainly on spot, by this I mean I wrote, recorded and sang the song all together in around 3 hours with no actual structure. The reason I done this is because when I used to write my songs in advance, I felt like their would always be a mental block which didn't allow me to write the songs without being scared of what would come out my mouth and it actually took me longer to recorded songs as I would spend one day writing and another day in a week recording. Therefore, this made my song flow very easily with no pressure on top of trying to write my lyrics and no pressure when it came to recording because now I record with the emotions that I feel in that moment without overthinking things.

I used the baseline as the main instrument to guide me through the song and I wrote this song in that  particular way as the use of the bass  is what makes my song writing come along at a much quicker flow and creative flow.  I think this is purely because my style is more to do with Soul and pop funk music so I become a lot more interested when it comes to song writing. I used vocal layering as a technique to  make the vocal sound much fuller and richer, this was used in the pre-chorus and the chorus. When it came to writing the song it was more about improvising and using my emotions in that particular moment to make the song come across more natural rather than have a structured way of singing and not as dynamic or natural.

Week 8

As it says on my proposal, this week I am going to back to the second song I started for my EP and finish it.

This week I finished my second song and I really liked making this song purely based on the fact that I wrote this song by improvising lyrically and vocally whilst recording simultaneously. I layered the pre chorus and the chorus with my vocals which created a much fuller sound. I struggled with making the song much fuller in terms of instrumentation because I wanted to add more instruments so I feel more satisfied but I thought to myself that simplicity is the best quantity of music so I just kept the: piano, bass, guitar and vocals and had fun with the way I recorded the song by just recording the song on spot and going with the flow rather than overthinking and thinking of a strict structure to follow through out the entire track.

Week 9
On my proposal it says I was meant to edit my second interview but since it didn't take place I will start a third song for my EP. However, this week an artist from outside college said he is available for an interview for Thursday and we plan to get this recorded.

Tomorrow I was meant to get an interview done with an artist (producer/songwriter) outside college but he has contacted me saying he is unavailable because he has a photoshoot booked for tomorrow evening which is quiet disappointing as he seems to be unreliable as he should've told me in advance so that I don't need to explain myself to people who are trying to help me and are using their valuable time to get something done when they don't really have to. Furthermore, it seems like my interviews will be delayed and I will struggle to get another interview in my project, nonetheless, I feel like I have been trying to hard to get people from outside college to do an interview so to keep things simple but interesting, I will record an interview with a classmate in the next couple of weeks who is a singer/songwriter named The Afterparty rather than stress out making an interview with people who are unreliable and who don't have any time on their hands.

This week I managed to get a good idea for my third song, I went more for an acoustic vibe but with a soulful vocal edge. The same 4 loop guitar loop was used throughout the whole song which is a risky move because it can make the song boring but what I done is I used harmonies to make the song fuller and crispier. Also, the favourite part of making this song is recording the vocals without any pressure because I recorded the song by improvising my lyrics (not all at once) and going with the flow. I recorded the: verse, pre chorus and chorus separately but all was improvised by feeling the song, improvising and not overthinking.


Week 10
As it says on my proposal, this week I was meant to record a new interview, however, no artist has seemed to be available for an interview as one of them was only in London for two weeks and another artist told me a day before the actual day of getting the interview done that he wasn't available therefore this week I will just get my third song for my EP complete. One thing I have learnt so far from doing these interviews is that I definitely need to plan my interviews way in advance because some artists are just very busy for this and some artist are just very unreliable with time. Therefore, in this project its just about keeping it simple and learning with experience and trusting the process.

This week I have managed to finish my third song for the EP, I did struggle a bit with this song as since its acoustic I kept on trying to make it better and better vocally and production wise. I added a lot of reverb as the song itself is quiet ambient and soulful so I want to use the reverb to expand the sound to create a very live stage feeling. I added piano to the song with the main melody being the sampled  Guitar but I kept on trying to make the song better and better without adding too much production as I wanted to keep it an acoustic track, but I found out the chords of the guitar and played it on piano and panned them to make it more spread out throughout the track and to make the song a bit more dynamic.

Week 11
This week I was meant to finish my third song but I managed to finish the song last week due to an interview not taking place last week. Therefore, for this week I'll just focus on getting my fourth song idea started and do as much as I can.

This week I managed to get my fourth song idea started and finished and I also looked at a song called "nervous" by Shawn Mendes and I took inspiration from this song by using the bass as the lead instrument similar to my second song and I used the same production technique of layering which I also did in the second song I worked on and the song I looked at by Shawn Mendes has real life instruments on it such as guitar and keys which is something I done but the keys I used is a sample from splice but the rest of the track was recorded from logic, such as the guitar, drums and all vocals. I also took inspiration from Prince in terms of vocal performance and lyrics. The song is about seducing a woman that is special to me and I show that through my vocal recording as I use smiling and arrogance through the way I sing in the song in order to create a confident performance and so it comes across as an assertive performance which also make the listener acknowledge that the singer on the track (in this case me) is confident and knows what he's singing about as a mature artist.



Week 12
Since I have managed to finish all my songs for my EP, what I will do is get my interview done this week with one of my classmates, according to my proposal this week I was meant to finish the 4th song this week but since my interviews have been cancelled and delayed I still managed to get all of my music done which is a good thing but it has slowed down the process with getting my interviews done which has stressed me out a bit but in a way since this is my last week I am able to concentrate on it this week. However, I plan to do it as a podcast type recording using my iPhone voice recorder which one thing that I learnt from doing the first interview is that even though it went wrong in terms of getting the interview recorded properly in terms of video, I still managed to get the voice recording done using Logic which sometimes can be a good way to use in a podcast which can be very intimate for the audience to listen to. Therefore, I plan to record my interview which my classmate (The Aferparty) in a podcast.


This week I managed to finish my interview with The Afterparty and it went really smoothly, I asked good questions but as I have mentioned before, the objective is to make the interview as smooth and relaxed as possible which is something I have learnt in the two interviews that have taken place. This week was also the final performance in which I performed "Purple Rain" by Prince with The Afterparty (aka Kai). I chose to perform this song because this artist has influenced me in many ways such as: vocally and musically. This is also because I wanted to perform a song that I grew up listening to and because I wanted it to be a memorable performance for the last  year of college.

Uni and Careers

I have received an unconditional offer from ACM and an unconditional offer from Metropolitan University, I applied for a Music Business course however when I went to ACM for the open day they said I would be much more suitable for a song writing course as I can: sing, play instruments and song write. What they done was they signed me up for the signwriting course on the same day and I auditioned on that day and I got an unconditional offer as they had mentioned I would be very suitable for the song writing course. The reason they said that was because the Music Business course would involve a lot of writing and no practical which they said that I should do song writing as I would enjoy it a lot more.

Communication In Industry

Instagram
Personally, I think that Instagram is a very affective way to promote an artist because it is the most popular social media in terms of the most impactful audience which would be young people. Also, due to my experience of promotion my videos on Instagram, I think that you get a lot more out of promoting my projects on Instagram as it usually using the videos as adverts and a lot of people tend to pay attention to these things.


Facebook
Facebook is also a very good social media platform to promote an artist as for things such as live performances as you can write a post and write the: time, place and date of your performances and then promote that specific post to get people to come to your gigs. Even though Facebook is a very good social media platform, in the recent years the younger generation has started using more Instagram and twitter which is why I think Instagram is probably the most influential in terms of promoting your self as a musician.

Touring

Touring is a very useful and effective way of promoting musicians as it allows fans from around the world to come and see a show of you and if possible to even meet you. Also, it is a way to also promote your music as fans can also bring parents and friends who might not necessarily listen to the musician but by the end of the gig they might gain fans from going on tour. Going on tour evidently helps with making money and having more money will help with: travelling, making music and promoting music online which has a big impact on the artists career.



https://www.trackalytics.com/instagram/profile/shawnmendes/

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Proposal

Intro

The aim for my EXP is to create an EP with four songs that demonstrate the kind of music I love making and that show my style in this current point in my career. During the last year I have been able to discover my style as well as develop my sound as a whole in terms of what I enjoy making and writing. What I make now I would consider as my strength mainly because it is a style which I have been able to develop since these last few years. In this EP, there will be a clear demonstration of the progression and maturity in my overall sound as a musician which developed from my FMP in my first year of Level 3 Music. One thing I will also do is interviewing different musical artists that I have worked with and that have experience in the music industry. Also, since I will be interviewing people with a lot of experience, it will also help me with my career as I will be able to gain knowledge from the way these people make decisions in their own careers and I will be able to apply this when it comes to my opportunities in the future. I tend to evolve my song writing skills throughout the course of this project and listen to various genres of music to develop this.

Context
The EP will be based on the music I enjoy making and what represents me as a musician, the interviews link to my EP because these artists I will be interviewing have a similar style of music to me which will influence my EP massively when it comes to asking questions about how they make their music and techniques they use for their songs. Also, this is a chance for me to hear their experience and take inspiration from these artists and learn from their own experience and try to picture myself in their situation and what I would do in a certain position. I have chosen to focus on all of these three areas because its something that really interests me and that will keep me motivated to get better and get a successful end product, particularly the interviewing part of the project as gaining experience in this area will give me more opportunities in my career and it will also give me a new road to focus on to get new opportunities. The music for my EP will be to show the process of making each song and to show how I've progressed since last year and to show what I have learnt in terms of ways to make my songs stand out.

Areas Of Research
The area of research that I will look deep into will be within the interviews, I will ask certain questions that will be based on how these artists have used their experience to make the right decisions and to apply this to my own career. I will also look at different interviewers and I will look at the different questions they ask and see what type of questions they ask and apply this to my own interviews. My interviews link to my own work because I will hear about other artists' experience and what techniques they've used to get through their careers and how I can apply that to my own work. Also, I am also planning to ask questions in regards to the interviewee in relation to how they make their music and techniques they use in their own music and if I see that it can benefit me in my own practice then I can evidently apply this to my own practice.

Methodology 
I will research different online sources and use that information to develop the specific part of my project. I will also look at videos from YouTube that focus on mixing and I will have to look at different types of videos to see which techniques will help me and which ones work best for the music I want to make. In my interviews I will write down specific questions I will ask the people I am interviewing but the way I want the videos to be portrayed as is more of a natural transition through the videos rathe than stopping and looking at my questions and ask the artists what I have planned to ask. I will have questions which I will write down to ask but according to how the person responds I might develop another question on spot which will make it seem more natural and the most important thing is to be myself and make my personality stand out. In terms of the documentary, I will use my phone to record the process of each track and I will also use screenshots to show the transition between each song and how it develops throughout the project.

Week 1 - 11th March (Rehearse song ideas for first song)
Week 2 - 18th March (Contact different artists and talents to see if they're available for interviews and write down basic questions for each artist)
Week 3 - 25th March (Go back to first song idea, develop it and try to finish it, if possible to also record vocals y)
Week 4 - 1st April (Record Interview and take pictures of set up)
Week 5 - 8th April (Edit Interview and Start developing a second song idea)
Week 6 - 15th April (Research Interviews Online)
Week 7 - 22nd April (Record Interview and take pictures of set up)
Week 8 - 29th April (Go back to second song idea, develop it and try to finish it, if possible to also record vocals)
Week 9 - 5th May (Edit Interview and Start developing a third song idea)
Week 10 - 12th May (Record Interview and take pictures of set up)
Week 11 - 19th May (Go back to third song idea, develop it and try to finish it, if possible to also record vocals and record process for Documentary)
Week 12 - 26th May (Edit Interview and Start Fourth song idea. make sure everything is done and finish any gaps within the work)