trumpet - panned to the left and right (space, reverb, polyrhythmic patterns within the trumpet melody when using the panning technique)
strings - using a melody in the chorus to create a distinct difference in melody in the chorus to avoid over repetition otherwise it could cause the listener to become uninterested in the song.
simple drum pattern and using the tambourine on the off beat for dynamics in the track.
Electric guitar melody using a mixture of chords and arpeggio patterns to create dynamics and a soulful edge within the melody.
The use of the chord progression and rhythmic patterns creates a chilled/relaxing atmosphere and the vocals also has this relaxing performance especially when the harmonies come in as the use of the octaves creates a much fuller and richer sound but the melody specifically of the vocals and the lyrics work well together as the lyrics are very direct and are used to perform to a specific person and the smoothness of the vocals create a very chilled vibe.
The trumpets playing the polyrhythmic patterns of two different melodies at the same time is the lead instrument used in the chorus with vocals almost being used as improvised vocal patterns to create a "singalong" technique rather than a specific vocal hook.
Using the panning technique to create space for each instrument to be heard in the song and to avoid the track from sounding messy or the mix sounding too squashed (as in too many instruments playing on top of each other)
- Reverb
- EQ
- Exciter
- Delay
- Phaser
Monday 30 March 2020
Friday 21 June 2019
Monday 17 June 2019
EXP Evaluation
During the process of the EXP I have come to a realisation that my work has become very high level in terms of the overall sound I have developed in relation to vocal editing and music production, I would definitely say that my work fits into the music industry because I make various types of different genres including: Pop, Funk, Soul and Reggaetón and since I have develop the skill to adapt to all of these genres, my music can fit in anywhere in today's market whether It is for my own music release or to write a song for another artist. A good example would be "Lost Tonight" which I wrote for my EP, that song was influenced by Charlie Puth and that song falls into that type of pop/funk/soul vibe which would definitely have a great effect in the world in todays market. When I compare my music to an inspiration like Charlie Puth, I would say I'm never satisfied. However, I have developed my musical knowledge so much to a point where I have so many ideas when it comes to creating and producing, areas such as vocal recording has become a very interesting thing for me when it comes to adding harmonies to certain parts of the songs and the use of software techniques such as EQ, Reverb and Exciter to play around with tones and to make my songs sound a certain way to distinguish my work from anyone else's but simultaneously show the inspirations that I have through my music. As mentioned in my proposal, I have made songs out of enjoying the process rather than overthinking what I want to make, by this I mean I just go with the flow and make my lyrics and production without overthinking what I want the track to sound like which can be a very good way to make music as it lowers the chance of stress when creating a track, in my opinion.
I would have to say that the main area I struggled with during my EXP was my interviews. Since it was something I hadn't done before I knew it was going to be a challenge, however, I didn't expect it to be as hard as it was, things such as: finding people to interview, research of camera settings and recording techniques were things that I had to research coming into and during the project, nonetheless I managed to learn a lot during this process and I can only learn from what I made mistakes on. One thing I wish I could change would be making my interviews from the beginning as a podcast rather than stress myself trying to make a video interview because doing it that way would of consumed much less time and I would've been able to do more interviews which would've got me more experience.
My key area of research was interview techniques, doing this research helped my interviews massively as it got me prepared for something I hadn't done before. Even though I mentioned in my proposal that my key area of research was going to be interviews, I also done research on production techniques, mixing and specific songs that I was inspired from. I didn't just research on interviews because I knew that I had to research these different areas due to my EXP revolving around both interviews and my EP so I had to balance my research with gathering techniques for my music making and for my interviews so that I could show progression through both areas of interviews and my EP.
Research methods included looking at YouTube videos and books to gather information and apply to my own work, such as: questions to ask the interviewee etc... These methods of research were very useful because methods such as videos are a good way for me to gather a lot of information and apply to my own work without forgetting it, even though I done research using books, when it comes to researching books it is harder for me to remember certain information in comparison to videos.
I would say I over researched in some areas because I done more than I really needed to when it comes to doing case studies and literature reviews when it comes to analysing songs and looking at production techniques I already had good knowledge about. Nonetheless, I wouldn't say it is irrelevant research, I would say that I done more research than I needed to because I was taking on a big task on doing interviews which is something I had never done before but also because last year in my FMP I was disappointed in the fact that I really wanted to get the highest final grade possible but I wasn't able to get it due to not having enough research and specificity in my work. I didn't understand why back then but when looking back at my work I can very clearly see why I didn't get the grade I should be getting.
My project has come a long way from when it first started in terms of what I was aiming for, in the beginning I was confused because I didn't necessarily plan properly but due to researching everything throughout the project it managed to support my knowledge of what to do and how to move forward when things went wrong. I don't think there are other areas I could've researched, but despite that I would say I should've done research in regards to my interviews earlier so that I could've been aware of the problems I faced earlier on in the project rather than later and I would've been able to do more interviews and been more aware of how to set up my interviews.
My researched informed my practical work a lot as my interview techniques research involved looking at how to place microphones in order to make get the best quality of sound and also looking at how to make the interview sound as natural as possible, this would involve for example not forcing my questions and treating the occasion almost like a normal conversation by being myself rather than making it vey forceful and awkward. My first Case Study research was an interview that Justin Timberlake had that involved a very outgoing and flowing conversation which made things much easier for me to understand because it made me realise that the best way to approach an interview is by being yourself rather than trying to be someone else; this also makes it easier for the person being interviewed because they will feel more relaxed and comfortable which is very important.
During the process of this project, I have developed a lot of my skills such as my production techniques, this includes using panning, effects and level changes in my music to make the EP sound as interesting but also technically balanced as possible, This was really important when it came to making my EP. I feel like my practical skills have developed a lot but there is always room for improvement, areas that I need to develop on and that I struggled on was recording my interviews as I needed to be aware to put the camera settings right to make sure nothing would go wrong during the recording but to also set up the interviews. I developed my practical skills mainly by just doing the work, by just doing the songs and learning through the process of making the songs.
My music has been presented to the public via different social medias and music releasing platforms such as: Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. I hose to use these methods because these are the most used social media platforms to realise projects on and are a good way to get attention and feedback from projects. Since I'm 18 years old, my audience would fall around my age around 18-25 years old, therefore since social media is used a lot by the younger audience I think its a benefit to release it on social media in order to promote music and to get new opportunities. However, when it comes to realising more music I will also think about plugging my music so that it plays on the radio because my music is written and produced for all audiences to hear and the radio definitely involves more of the older audience so it is good to get a balance across all platforms.
In the current industry the method of presentation involves realising music on all music platforms that are popular for music release, streaming sites such as: Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud are used for promotion and so people can stream the songs they want to listen to as many times as they want which is a very effective way to get known as now streaming has become more popular due to the numbers of listening increasing. My method is relevant to the current music industry because it involves using all of these media platforms to promote present and upcoming projects, I would say that even though it is a good way to promote music, I would also say that it more difficult over the last few years to successfully get the feedback that we all desire because their are millions of people whoa re doing the same thing as you so therefore thats why it is important to make something that stands out and that means something to you as an artist and that represents your image. I would say my method of presentation has been somewhat successful as I have gotten good feedback from my performance which means that they enjoyed it and loved the way I performed, also, my EP was successfully posted onto Soundcloud which makes it successful as the audience can listen to my music whenever they want.
When it comes to completing my project I would most definitey say that I completed it but not as successfully as planned, for example, when it came to the end of my first 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. However, I ended up on adapting to the situation by creating a podcast type audio release which in a way made it much easier for me as i don't have the experience of interviewing a lot of people and learning that this is also an affective way to releasing interviews, by doing podcasts and audio interviews. The biggest challenge of planning and finishing my EXP was my time management, by this I mean balancing all areas of my work such as the interviews and the songs in the process as a lot of delays happened due to interviews not happening. Nonetheless, I managed to have enough time to complete everything because even though my interviews were delayed. its not like I waited until an interview was available, when interviews weren't successfully taken place I would just focus on finishing my EP and rehearse as much as I can to get my work done. However, I didn't necessarily give up on anything but instead of doing video interviews I decided to do an audio type interview as it was easier for me in the amount of time I had to finish my project and because I realised that it was an affective way as it is more engaging to the audience.
I worked with one of my classmates for my project when it came to the performance aspect, even though my performance wasn't the main focus, I chose to do it because I sang a song by an artist that inspired my music and that I done research on (Prince) In this performance, The Afterparty managed to help me with playing the main guitar chords with backing track to create more of a fuller sound. I got into rehearsal rooms through the process and I had to make sure that I didn't disrupt his project by having a balance of rehearsals per week, but since i was familiar to the song I knew it wouldn't be stressful to prepare for.
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 the day of the interview 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. I developed a lot of things such as my confidence when doing interviews which definitely important it is significant to present yourself in a way that shows you know what your talking about and to also make the interviewee comfortable during the process and I developed my musical skills when making my songs.
In conclusion, my project has been a mixture of success and not so successful because I have managed to finish all my work but at the same time I my interviews weren't successfully done as I planned them to be done. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that it wasn't good, it just means that I have a lot to learn but I know how to adapt to any situation. I encountered a lot of problems during the course of my project such as my interviews not going to plan I’m not managing my time wisely, however I would say I managed to adapt to all areas that went wrong and learn from my mistakes. This project will help me in my career in the future as it put me through a lot of pressure that I managed to get through, and I have now learnt to to be more aware of time management and balance between all areas of work. I can also say I have learnt to work confidently and not doubt my talents; I believe in my abilities and I have been able to show that through my projects.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/03/spotify-users-push-back-at-the-over-the-top-drake-promotion/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_cs=Noz2YlVwkB3Q9Rf6SBgSww
https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/20/17883584/streaming-record-sales-music-industry-revenue
I would have to say that the main area I struggled with during my EXP was my interviews. Since it was something I hadn't done before I knew it was going to be a challenge, however, I didn't expect it to be as hard as it was, things such as: finding people to interview, research of camera settings and recording techniques were things that I had to research coming into and during the project, nonetheless I managed to learn a lot during this process and I can only learn from what I made mistakes on. One thing I wish I could change would be making my interviews from the beginning as a podcast rather than stress myself trying to make a video interview because doing it that way would of consumed much less time and I would've been able to do more interviews which would've got me more experience.
My key area of research was interview techniques, doing this research helped my interviews massively as it got me prepared for something I hadn't done before. Even though I mentioned in my proposal that my key area of research was going to be interviews, I also done research on production techniques, mixing and specific songs that I was inspired from. I didn't just research on interviews because I knew that I had to research these different areas due to my EXP revolving around both interviews and my EP so I had to balance my research with gathering techniques for my music making and for my interviews so that I could show progression through both areas of interviews and my EP.
Research methods included looking at YouTube videos and books to gather information and apply to my own work, such as: questions to ask the interviewee etc... These methods of research were very useful because methods such as videos are a good way for me to gather a lot of information and apply to my own work without forgetting it, even though I done research using books, when it comes to researching books it is harder for me to remember certain information in comparison to videos.
I would say I over researched in some areas because I done more than I really needed to when it comes to doing case studies and literature reviews when it comes to analysing songs and looking at production techniques I already had good knowledge about. Nonetheless, I wouldn't say it is irrelevant research, I would say that I done more research than I needed to because I was taking on a big task on doing interviews which is something I had never done before but also because last year in my FMP I was disappointed in the fact that I really wanted to get the highest final grade possible but I wasn't able to get it due to not having enough research and specificity in my work. I didn't understand why back then but when looking back at my work I can very clearly see why I didn't get the grade I should be getting.
My project has come a long way from when it first started in terms of what I was aiming for, in the beginning I was confused because I didn't necessarily plan properly but due to researching everything throughout the project it managed to support my knowledge of what to do and how to move forward when things went wrong. I don't think there are other areas I could've researched, but despite that I would say I should've done research in regards to my interviews earlier so that I could've been aware of the problems I faced earlier on in the project rather than later and I would've been able to do more interviews and been more aware of how to set up my interviews.
My researched informed my practical work a lot as my interview techniques research involved looking at how to place microphones in order to make get the best quality of sound and also looking at how to make the interview sound as natural as possible, this would involve for example not forcing my questions and treating the occasion almost like a normal conversation by being myself rather than making it vey forceful and awkward. My first Case Study research was an interview that Justin Timberlake had that involved a very outgoing and flowing conversation which made things much easier for me to understand because it made me realise that the best way to approach an interview is by being yourself rather than trying to be someone else; this also makes it easier for the person being interviewed because they will feel more relaxed and comfortable which is very important.
During the process of this project, I have developed a lot of my skills such as my production techniques, this includes using panning, effects and level changes in my music to make the EP sound as interesting but also technically balanced as possible, This was really important when it came to making my EP. I feel like my practical skills have developed a lot but there is always room for improvement, areas that I need to develop on and that I struggled on was recording my interviews as I needed to be aware to put the camera settings right to make sure nothing would go wrong during the recording but to also set up the interviews. I developed my practical skills mainly by just doing the work, by just doing the songs and learning through the process of making the songs.
My music has been presented to the public via different social medias and music releasing platforms such as: Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. I hose to use these methods because these are the most used social media platforms to realise projects on and are a good way to get attention and feedback from projects. Since I'm 18 years old, my audience would fall around my age around 18-25 years old, therefore since social media is used a lot by the younger audience I think its a benefit to release it on social media in order to promote music and to get new opportunities. However, when it comes to realising more music I will also think about plugging my music so that it plays on the radio because my music is written and produced for all audiences to hear and the radio definitely involves more of the older audience so it is good to get a balance across all platforms.
In the current industry the method of presentation involves realising music on all music platforms that are popular for music release, streaming sites such as: Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud are used for promotion and so people can stream the songs they want to listen to as many times as they want which is a very effective way to get known as now streaming has become more popular due to the numbers of listening increasing. My method is relevant to the current music industry because it involves using all of these media platforms to promote present and upcoming projects, I would say that even though it is a good way to promote music, I would also say that it more difficult over the last few years to successfully get the feedback that we all desire because their are millions of people whoa re doing the same thing as you so therefore thats why it is important to make something that stands out and that means something to you as an artist and that represents your image. I would say my method of presentation has been somewhat successful as I have gotten good feedback from my performance which means that they enjoyed it and loved the way I performed, also, my EP was successfully posted onto Soundcloud which makes it successful as the audience can listen to my music whenever they want.
When it comes to completing my project I would most definitey say that I completed it but not as successfully as planned, for example, when it came to the end of my first 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. However, I ended up on adapting to the situation by creating a podcast type audio release which in a way made it much easier for me as i don't have the experience of interviewing a lot of people and learning that this is also an affective way to releasing interviews, by doing podcasts and audio interviews. The biggest challenge of planning and finishing my EXP was my time management, by this I mean balancing all areas of my work such as the interviews and the songs in the process as a lot of delays happened due to interviews not happening. Nonetheless, I managed to have enough time to complete everything because even though my interviews were delayed. its not like I waited until an interview was available, when interviews weren't successfully taken place I would just focus on finishing my EP and rehearse as much as I can to get my work done. However, I didn't necessarily give up on anything but instead of doing video interviews I decided to do an audio type interview as it was easier for me in the amount of time I had to finish my project and because I realised that it was an affective way as it is more engaging to the audience.
I worked with one of my classmates for my project when it came to the performance aspect, even though my performance wasn't the main focus, I chose to do it because I sang a song by an artist that inspired my music and that I done research on (Prince) In this performance, The Afterparty managed to help me with playing the main guitar chords with backing track to create more of a fuller sound. I got into rehearsal rooms through the process and I had to make sure that I didn't disrupt his project by having a balance of rehearsals per week, but since i was familiar to the song I knew it wouldn't be stressful to prepare for.
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 the day of the interview 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. I developed a lot of things such as my confidence when doing interviews which definitely important it is significant to present yourself in a way that shows you know what your talking about and to also make the interviewee comfortable during the process and I developed my musical skills when making my songs.
In conclusion, my project has been a mixture of success and not so successful because I have managed to finish all my work but at the same time I my interviews weren't successfully done as I planned them to be done. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that it wasn't good, it just means that I have a lot to learn but I know how to adapt to any situation. I encountered a lot of problems during the course of my project such as my interviews not going to plan I’m not managing my time wisely, however I would say I managed to adapt to all areas that went wrong and learn from my mistakes. This project will help me in my career in the future as it put me through a lot of pressure that I managed to get through, and I have now learnt to to be more aware of time management and balance between all areas of work. I can also say I have learnt to work confidently and not doubt my talents; I believe in my abilities and I have been able to show that through my projects.
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/03/spotify-users-push-back-at-the-over-the-top-drake-promotion/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_cs=Noz2YlVwkB3Q9Rf6SBgSww
https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/20/17883584/streaming-record-sales-music-industry-revenue
Friday 14 June 2019
Tuesday 23 April 2019
Literature Review
Literature Review
In this book, it talks about the truths and secrets of the music industry, one thing that was very interesting to me in this book was how the author talks about how CD record sales are dying and how digital platforms are the best way for a musician to gain his or her success and how it will continue to be for many years. Also, one thing I learned from the book is that since digital platforms have become very popular with music sales, artists don't necessarily need a record deal. It states in the book how before 360 deals use to common when it came to signing a deal with an artist so that the label could have rights to publishing, performances and many other sales from the artist and this was at a time when digital media wasn't big because media such as: Spotify and iTunes didn't exist but labels would still try to get a 360 deal with an artist which in a way seems very selfish. However, it also says in the book that this certain deal started to decrease over time but since media platforms have become so big and the signing of artists has decreased due to this and artists can now be independent, it seems that the 360 deals have now increased because since artists can be independent, labels use the 360 to their advantage as they will try to use this deal when they are looking for an artist who might not have a massive experience or knowledge of the music industry and use this to get as much money as they can from this deal. I will most definitely use this for my own career by being very careful when a record label approaches me and use lawyers to know what kind of agreement I'm getting myself into.
Kimpel, D. (2005). Networking strategies for the new music business. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology PTR.
.Literature Review
This review is about the process of song writing and the book has interviews from around sixty songwriters from the industry, they talk about their process of writing music and ways to make a good song. Songwriter Willie Dixon writes about how his inspiration from song writing comes from his life experiences and his preferred genre of blues came from the slavery times in the 20th century. He also says that writing poems helped him get a song together rather than forcefully trying to get a melody come out from his voice. This book relates to me as an artist as it can help find different ways to write music and make the songs that I write more special and contextually more interesting to hear. He also talks about the importance of practice and how practice will always lead you to success, "just do it, badly at first, then better every time." This quote was something that interested me very much because I have grown up with quotes similar to this in terms of being aware that in the beginning of something new that you are learning from will always involve making mistakes which a lot of people see as a bad thing but is actually a good thing because without mistakes you cant develop and get better at your craft and also knowing that it is a gradual process when it comes to progressing which also relates to not giving up and following your dreams.
Zollo, P. (2003). Songwriters on songwriting. New York: Da Capo Press.
Literature Review
In the book "The Musicians Way" it talks about the process of an artists' life within music and how practice is the key to success and to reach your goals. On page 76 it says, "Timeouts are significant when working for an extended period of time and serve as rewards after an affective practice" this is very important in relation to my own practice because I tend to overwork my vocals and music every day which in a way can be unhealthy for the brain and the vocals as it can make you feel very tired. This will impact my future as when I start to get into the bigger industry, I will need to manage my time and practice very carefully and make sure I don't injure my vocals or don't get too tired and then I wont be able to perform to the best of my ability and I wont be able to focus. However, this also comes down to experience which I evidently have in my 7 years of music making and performance but I have this thought in my head where if I don't work as hard as I always do, I feel very uncomfortable or anxious, its almost as if it is a sense of security to keep working and to avoid spending a day doing nothing. Furthermore, one thing that I have learnt that balance is very important, if you spend a whole week down work and making music and you don't have any social life or don't go out with friends or family, it'll become unhealthy for you mentally and physically. I done a research in regards to overworking and a Stanford research study claimed that overworking surprisingly decreases productivity and decreases attentiveness which is evidently a negative thing as it suggests that overworking doesn't necessarily get the best out of you, if anything it gets the worst out of you because your brain gets tired and you won't be able to come out with good ideas, that's why short effective practice a few days a week is the best way to go as your body will be less tired and your brain will have more ideas.
Klickstein, G. (2009). The musician's way [electronic resource]. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Literature Review
This review was written based on the business of artist management, the book contains information which relates to me as an artist due to the fact that it talks about how an artist can become successful and succeed in the music industry. The book says how an artist in the beginning of their career needs to recognise and be aware that they will have to put all focus and dedication to their life in music. This is one of the biggest steps in music decision making because it requires an artists' full time effort. Also, it mentions the steps to getting a record deal, it says that the key to a successful music career is to mainly perform and work hard enough to a point that you are recognised by a label otherwise a career in music is unrealistic, however, this book was written in 1997 which makes this book outdated, in this day and age their are many artists who aren't signed to a record label. A key example of this is the rapper Not3s, he was an independent artist who got a fan base without any support from a record label, he constantly released music but relied on his fans to share his music and create opportunities for him. Also, in this day and age, social media has become the main platform to release music and gather attention from other people from around the world which has become a very good way to promote yourself and get opportunities such as: being signed, performing and writing songs for other artists, but the growth of media platforms proves that being signed isn't necessarily a must when it comes to being a successful musician or songwriter as artists such as: Macklemore and Chance The Rapper, Chance was also the first artist to win a Grammy as an independent artist which shows that being signed isn't vital, its optional depending on where you are in your career.
Frascogna, X. and Hetherington, H. (2004). This Business of Artist Management. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
Literature Review
In the book "Practical Recording Techniques" by Bartlett and Bartlett in talks about various techniques in order to make all your music sound the best you can get it to be, and this involves evidently getting your set up to meet great standards in order to have the best final product. On page 31 it talks about the techniques to making a quitter studio as it is important for the studio to be sound proof to get the cleanest sound and to avoid any noises from outside the studio such as police cars and the wind as if it interferes with the recording it evidently wont make the final product sound professional which will stop an artist from showing the best of their music ability and can also decrease the chance of a career opportunity because it shows a lack of professionalism and this is very helpful to my career as I know to not commit these errors and know what I'm doing in the process of making these project. "Put several of plywood and carpet on the floor above the studio", this technique was something I found very useful because in my own studio I don't have carpets on the floor but yet I can still get a very clean sound on my recordings so it makes me think imagine the difference that carpet on the floor would make. When putting carpet on the floor, it causes any significant sounds to not be made as when using a mic stand it is possible for the stand to move an cause a disruptive sound to the recording and that's why carpet will decrease that sound since the softness of it will stop any sound from getting into the recording. For example, I have pets at home and if any pets will be moving around the sound wont be in the recording due to the carpets stopping the sounds from being heard in comparison to wood. Also, using plywood and carpets will make the room soundproof which will stop any unwanted sounds to be recorded into a project which will make the process of recording much easier and less stressful.
Bartlett, B. and Bartlett, J. (2017). Practical recording techniques. New York: Focal Press.
Literature Review
When it comes to mixing my songs for my EP I have to be able to mix the song the best way possible in order to create the best final product. This involves various steps when it comes to mixing, such as: compression, reverb, equaliser etc... It also involves making sure the tracks are bounced properly so the quality isn't different to the logic quality. At this moment in time, I am very experienced in terms of making my songs and going through the process of making the final product sound good, however, I looked at a video on YouTube which involves a man producer talking about the process of mixing and the simplicity of it and to not overthink it. For example, using reverb isn't complex but when it comes to finalising a track everyone seems to complicate it because we all want to hear a pleasant sound but we might not specially know what we want which can cause delay in getting our projects finished. The most important thing to do is just to listen to the mix and make sure the instruments mix well with the vocals in terms of space and identifying what is what in the mix. This video helped me a lot because it talks about things that I wasn't aware about in my mixing such as listening to your track on different speakers and headphones, I never used this technique during my time but it seems to be that it helps in terms of seeing what way you can make your track be balanced enough so that it is pleasant for others to hear and to get the best final product so that the audience can enjoy your music.
YouTube. (2019). The Basics of Mixing a Track | Logic Pro X. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/5clxt2xacjw [Accessed 29 May 2019].
In this book, it talks about the truths and secrets of the music industry, one thing that was very interesting to me in this book was how the author talks about how CD record sales are dying and how digital platforms are the best way for a musician to gain his or her success and how it will continue to be for many years. Also, one thing I learned from the book is that since digital platforms have become very popular with music sales, artists don't necessarily need a record deal. It states in the book how before 360 deals use to common when it came to signing a deal with an artist so that the label could have rights to publishing, performances and many other sales from the artist and this was at a time when digital media wasn't big because media such as: Spotify and iTunes didn't exist but labels would still try to get a 360 deal with an artist which in a way seems very selfish. However, it also says in the book that this certain deal started to decrease over time but since media platforms have become so big and the signing of artists has decreased due to this and artists can now be independent, it seems that the 360 deals have now increased because since artists can be independent, labels use the 360 to their advantage as they will try to use this deal when they are looking for an artist who might not have a massive experience or knowledge of the music industry and use this to get as much money as they can from this deal. I will most definitely use this for my own career by being very careful when a record label approaches me and use lawyers to know what kind of agreement I'm getting myself into.
Kimpel, D. (2005). Networking strategies for the new music business. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology PTR.
.Literature Review
This review is about the process of song writing and the book has interviews from around sixty songwriters from the industry, they talk about their process of writing music and ways to make a good song. Songwriter Willie Dixon writes about how his inspiration from song writing comes from his life experiences and his preferred genre of blues came from the slavery times in the 20th century. He also says that writing poems helped him get a song together rather than forcefully trying to get a melody come out from his voice. This book relates to me as an artist as it can help find different ways to write music and make the songs that I write more special and contextually more interesting to hear. He also talks about the importance of practice and how practice will always lead you to success, "just do it, badly at first, then better every time." This quote was something that interested me very much because I have grown up with quotes similar to this in terms of being aware that in the beginning of something new that you are learning from will always involve making mistakes which a lot of people see as a bad thing but is actually a good thing because without mistakes you cant develop and get better at your craft and also knowing that it is a gradual process when it comes to progressing which also relates to not giving up and following your dreams.
Zollo, P. (2003). Songwriters on songwriting. New York: Da Capo Press.
Literature Review
In the book "The Musicians Way" it talks about the process of an artists' life within music and how practice is the key to success and to reach your goals. On page 76 it says, "Timeouts are significant when working for an extended period of time and serve as rewards after an affective practice" this is very important in relation to my own practice because I tend to overwork my vocals and music every day which in a way can be unhealthy for the brain and the vocals as it can make you feel very tired. This will impact my future as when I start to get into the bigger industry, I will need to manage my time and practice very carefully and make sure I don't injure my vocals or don't get too tired and then I wont be able to perform to the best of my ability and I wont be able to focus. However, this also comes down to experience which I evidently have in my 7 years of music making and performance but I have this thought in my head where if I don't work as hard as I always do, I feel very uncomfortable or anxious, its almost as if it is a sense of security to keep working and to avoid spending a day doing nothing. Furthermore, one thing that I have learnt that balance is very important, if you spend a whole week down work and making music and you don't have any social life or don't go out with friends or family, it'll become unhealthy for you mentally and physically. I done a research in regards to overworking and a Stanford research study claimed that overworking surprisingly decreases productivity and decreases attentiveness which is evidently a negative thing as it suggests that overworking doesn't necessarily get the best out of you, if anything it gets the worst out of you because your brain gets tired and you won't be able to come out with good ideas, that's why short effective practice a few days a week is the best way to go as your body will be less tired and your brain will have more ideas.
Klickstein, G. (2009). The musician's way [electronic resource]. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Literature Review
This review was written based on the business of artist management, the book contains information which relates to me as an artist due to the fact that it talks about how an artist can become successful and succeed in the music industry. The book says how an artist in the beginning of their career needs to recognise and be aware that they will have to put all focus and dedication to their life in music. This is one of the biggest steps in music decision making because it requires an artists' full time effort. Also, it mentions the steps to getting a record deal, it says that the key to a successful music career is to mainly perform and work hard enough to a point that you are recognised by a label otherwise a career in music is unrealistic, however, this book was written in 1997 which makes this book outdated, in this day and age their are many artists who aren't signed to a record label. A key example of this is the rapper Not3s, he was an independent artist who got a fan base without any support from a record label, he constantly released music but relied on his fans to share his music and create opportunities for him. Also, in this day and age, social media has become the main platform to release music and gather attention from other people from around the world which has become a very good way to promote yourself and get opportunities such as: being signed, performing and writing songs for other artists, but the growth of media platforms proves that being signed isn't necessarily a must when it comes to being a successful musician or songwriter as artists such as: Macklemore and Chance The Rapper, Chance was also the first artist to win a Grammy as an independent artist which shows that being signed isn't vital, its optional depending on where you are in your career.
Frascogna, X. and Hetherington, H. (2004). This Business of Artist Management. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
Literature Review
In the book "Practical Recording Techniques" by Bartlett and Bartlett in talks about various techniques in order to make all your music sound the best you can get it to be, and this involves evidently getting your set up to meet great standards in order to have the best final product. On page 31 it talks about the techniques to making a quitter studio as it is important for the studio to be sound proof to get the cleanest sound and to avoid any noises from outside the studio such as police cars and the wind as if it interferes with the recording it evidently wont make the final product sound professional which will stop an artist from showing the best of their music ability and can also decrease the chance of a career opportunity because it shows a lack of professionalism and this is very helpful to my career as I know to not commit these errors and know what I'm doing in the process of making these project. "Put several of plywood and carpet on the floor above the studio", this technique was something I found very useful because in my own studio I don't have carpets on the floor but yet I can still get a very clean sound on my recordings so it makes me think imagine the difference that carpet on the floor would make. When putting carpet on the floor, it causes any significant sounds to not be made as when using a mic stand it is possible for the stand to move an cause a disruptive sound to the recording and that's why carpet will decrease that sound since the softness of it will stop any sound from getting into the recording. For example, I have pets at home and if any pets will be moving around the sound wont be in the recording due to the carpets stopping the sounds from being heard in comparison to wood. Also, using plywood and carpets will make the room soundproof which will stop any unwanted sounds to be recorded into a project which will make the process of recording much easier and less stressful.
Bartlett, B. and Bartlett, J. (2017). Practical recording techniques. New York: Focal Press.
Literature Review
When it comes to mixing my songs for my EP I have to be able to mix the song the best way possible in order to create the best final product. This involves various steps when it comes to mixing, such as: compression, reverb, equaliser etc... It also involves making sure the tracks are bounced properly so the quality isn't different to the logic quality. At this moment in time, I am very experienced in terms of making my songs and going through the process of making the final product sound good, however, I looked at a video on YouTube which involves a man producer talking about the process of mixing and the simplicity of it and to not overthink it. For example, using reverb isn't complex but when it comes to finalising a track everyone seems to complicate it because we all want to hear a pleasant sound but we might not specially know what we want which can cause delay in getting our projects finished. The most important thing to do is just to listen to the mix and make sure the instruments mix well with the vocals in terms of space and identifying what is what in the mix. This video helped me a lot because it talks about things that I wasn't aware about in my mixing such as listening to your track on different speakers and headphones, I never used this technique during my time but it seems to be that it helps in terms of seeing what way you can make your track be balanced enough so that it is pleasant for others to hear and to get the best final product so that the audience can enjoy your music.
YouTube. (2019). The Basics of Mixing a Track | Logic Pro X. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/5clxt2xacjw [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Friday 15 March 2019
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.
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.
YouTube. (2019). The Basics of Mixing a Track | Logic Pro X. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/5clxt2xacjw [Accessed 14 Jun. 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). 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].
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].
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). 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].
Thursday 14 March 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.
.
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.
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.
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.
.
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.
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