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As of now, my first idea for this project will be to produce a Electronic/Hip-Hop song. For my alternative version of this track I would potentially like to produce it in the Nu-Metal or industrial genre.

Alternatively, I would like to create an ambient track which I re-produce as a Hip-Hop track.

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Specific

I will learn how to use Ableton, specifically to navigate the UI and its differences between my usual DAW.

Measurable

I will produce in Ableton at least twice a week.

Attainable

I will spend at least 2 hours per session in Ableton.

Relevant

This is so that I can get comfortable with the software and produce beats with confidence.

Time Bound

By the end of the year, I would like to be at a competent level with Ableton.

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Good:

Production/making beats

Attention to detail

General creativity

Problem solving

Bad:

I could be better at finishing projects

Perfectionist mindset and being overly critical

My confidence could be better

Can easily be distracted

What I've been told I'm bad at:

My confidence could be better

Being overly critical of my own work, Perfectionist mindset

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Challenges I may face when completing my coursework for this module?

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Challenges I may face when completing my coursework for this module?

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I tend to find that I have a perfectionists mindset and can be overly critical which can impact my ability to produce/create ideas. To over come this, I will need to improve my attitude towards my own work and push myself to finish/repurpose projects which I may not feel happy with initially.

Time Management - I feel like I may potentially fall a little bit behind my weekly diaries due to work and extra-curricular activities. To overcome this, I will populate my weekly diary with an entry every time I finish a noteworthy session of written/practical work.

Academic writing potentially?

One challenge I may face (and have previously faced) is data loss/file corruption. Although this is highly unlikely to happen, I will continue my practice of backing up files via google drives/flash drives.

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Today I have created a Gantt chart so that I can visually plan and manage my project timeline. Here I have planned out a timeline that I believe is realistic for me and my abilities. I have planned the final four weeks to be dedicated to writing my evaluation. If need be, this period will also serve as time for me to make changes to/manage my project before my deadline.

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Description

This week, I have been focused on learning Ableton at Waterbear and making a beat using this DAW. The goal I had in mind was to learn how to navigate the program and make a beat. After a few days of familiarizing myself with the UI, I was able to create a demo beat. I initially created an atmospheric beat but wanted to restart. In my second attempt, I created a trap beat. To start off, I focused on creating a simple but effective chord progression in C minor. Secondly, I spent time creating and refining a trap drum beat to contrast my chord progression. By the end of the week, I had a beat with a rough arrangement. I would like to add more little details, expanding the dynamic range to make my beat sound more exciting and complete.

Feelings

I started off feeling a bit daunted when I first opened up Ableton due to the UI. Despite this, I was able to pick up things quickly and was feeling more confident the more time I spent in the program. I started on a beat which was more atmospheric which considering the circumstances, I was happy with. I did not get much further than laying down a processed chord progression and a drum beat. At this point I wanted to restart as I felt like I could make something better. This was when I started on my second beat. This time around, I felt more confident going in and by the time I finished the second beat, I felt a lot more pleased with the result.

Evaluation

This week I was able to get comfortable using Ableton which I was really pleased about. Not only this, I had managed to produce 2 beats which I feel happy about. For the latter beat, I plan on potentially using it for my Production development diary. Overall, this week as been positive in development.

Analysis

During my time producing in Ableton, I had a few moments where I was unsure where different parameters were in the program. I also was a bit too inclined to make something that fit my usual production standard. This was a feeling I should have been more lenient with since I was producing in a DAW that is new to me. This is something that stems from a perfectionist mindset, which can sometimes make me set standards for myself that are too high to reach. Despite this, I was able to create results which I was pleased with.

Conclusion

So far, I have learned how to use Ableton at a level where I can now produce a beat with relative confidence. I have also realised that, despite my positive feelings on my results, I still have a perfectionist mindset which can (and to an extent, did) effect my process. This can be seen with my decision to start over with a new beat. From this point onwards, I want to improve my mindset when creating. Specifically, I want to be able to create/produce without being overly critical over my ideas and see said ideas through into finished products.

Action Plan

Next week:

I would like to refine my second beat, my goals are to widen the dynamic range of my arrangement to make it more exiting and less repetitive as a track.

I will need to start reflecting on my progress now as I plan to use the latter beat made in Ableton as one of my tracks for this module.

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For this project, I have been inspired by the songs:

Stone in Focus - Aphex Twin

Eos - Ulver

The ambient tracks listed have inspired me from the nostalgic, bittersweet feelings they convey. They are different in terms of their structures and total instruments they use. This is clear when listening through the tracks since stone in focus only uses a 3 chord progression throughout the song. Eos on the other hand, has a defined linear arrangement which can be heard with the introduction of new instruments/sections as the song progresses. Another key difference is that the song Eos includes lyrics, whereas Stone in Focus is purely instrumental.

What I have taken away from these ambient songs are ideas for layered, atmospheric sounds that are spacious both sonically and melodically. With this in mind, I will most likely produce my ambient track in a minor key somewhere around 100 to 130 bpm.

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For this project, I have been inspired by the songs:

Fall Back - Lithe

Calling My Phone - Lil Tjay

As far as the Hip-Hop tracks go, they are very similar and have inspired me due to their minimal, melodic sound. For what is typical of the genre, they are on the slower side (Fall Back 126bpm) (Calling my Phone 105bpm). Both tracks were written in the minor scale and use minimal sounds, the differences mainly come from the sound selection. Calling my Phone has slightly more going on in the beat, using a piano as the main sound, occasionally layered with a chopped vocal sample throughout the beat. Fall Back only uses electric keys for its melodic sounds. Both tracks also utilise trap drums, but do so differently. Calling my Phone uses the standard (slightly spacious) trap drums paired with a reece bass. Fall Back also has a similar spacious drum pattern, using a rim shot as a snare and an 808 for the bassline instead.

What I have taken away from these tracks are the composition of the melodies and how they are paired with trap drums to convey the feeling of melancholy

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My goal going in to the session today was to refine what I learned previously and increase my confidence using Ableton. We (study group) was tasked with creating a beat in any style, I chose to start producing a Hip-Hop beat with atmospheric/ambient elements. To start off, I composed a piano chord progression in F minor using a combination of a midi keyboard and clicking notes in to refine my progression. To make the chords more interesting texturally, I layered them with an atmospheric pad and made a reverb send for my piano to imply a sense of space.

My next task was to add a drum beat, which I found was somewhat tedious at first due to Abletons warping function throwing off my drum pattern. I quickly learned that this was an issue easily solved by going into the piano roll and adjusting the highlighted bar on top to fit the measures of my drum pattern. Once this was solved, I was able to make my drum pattern with ease, going for a spacious but bouncy groove. The next task I set myself was to process my drums, I wanted them to be both punchy and atmospheric. To achieve this, I compressed my drums and routed them to a reverb send, which was then sidechained to prevent the drums from being drowned out in the mix.

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Today, we (study group) continued producing our tracks made in Ableton. After revisiting the beat I made last week, I did not really like the idea and felt like I could produce something better. I was also really feeling the inspiration from tracks I've been listening to (refer to initial ideas - Week 1) and decided to start over. My goal was similar to last week, in that I wanted to create a Hip-Hop beat with some atmospheric elements. This time I wanted to put more emphasis on melody and make the beat trap centric, since the previous idea I produced was too abstract for my liking.

I began my new beat with the chords again since this would be one of the most important elements that determines the feeling of the track. The progression I wrote was in the key of B minor at 126 bpm, I was aiming to create a similar feeling made from the progressions used in Fall Back and Calling my Phone (refer to Week 1 initial ideas - Hip-Hop).

From here, my process for creating this beat was the same as last week when layering and processing my sounds. This time however, I was conscience with the amount of sounds layered together as I did not want to overload the progression with atmospheric textures.

Finally, I was able to make a start on my drum pattern, which I planned to be trappy. Due to limited time, I wasn't able to complete the pattern this session but I managed to select the key percussive sounds I wanted to use. By the end, I had left the session feeling more confident using Ableton and pleased with the new track I've started today.

My goal for next week is to complete my drum pattern and start an arrangement for this beat as I feel like I now have the fundamental idea down.

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This week I have started learning how to use Ableton through my Composing with Technology module. Today the goal was to just get used to navigating the UI and learning where different parameters are compared to DAWs I am used to. Overall, I was able to get accustomed to Abletons differences quickly and finished todays session feeling confident of what I had learned. Since I had spent my time getting used to the DAW, I did not leave todays session with a result. My development from today and later weeks will be evidenced in later entries since I will want to produce a track I can be happy with and use for this module.