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q&a:

Qu 1: What is your current approach to music creation - do you tend to focus on producing a high quantity of work or prioritise honing the quality of each piece?

Ans: I usually go for quantity at first, however if an idea comes that sticks I will focus on quality.

Qu 2: How do you define success as a musician? Is it based on the number of compositions or performances you produce, or is it determined by the impact and emotional resonance your music has on listeners?

Ans: Success as a musician is producing a consistent amount of high quality music, the ideal is to create quality tracks at a high quantity

Qu 3: Consider this chapter quatity vs quality challenge / a recent project you worked on. Did you feel more fulfilled by the sheer volume of work you produced, or did you find greater satisfaction in meticulously refining and perfecting a smaller selection of pieces?

Ans: A recent project which was stumbled upon by focusing on quantity was my DAW piece for this assignment - I heard the song Whip It by Devo and enjoyed the 6/4 section so decided to record it to jam over. This led to me going deeper into the quality of the track, and eventually picking it as my assignment piece.

Qu 4: Do you believe that prolific output is essential for artistic growth and finding your unique voice, or do you think quality is a more significant factor in establishing your musical identity?

Ans: I believe you need to find a medium and be able to make quality tracks at a good consistent rate - this may require trial and error and giving up on projects that you may have spent a lot of time on

Qu 5: Consider a time when you produced a large volume of work in a short period. How did this affect your overall creative output? Did it enhance your skills or lead to burnout and diminished quality?

Ans: It lead to burnout however they were all to a decent quality

Qu 6: Reflect on a piece of music that you spent a considerable amount of time refining. How did this process influence your emotional connection to the music and its reception by others?

Ans: One of the times I spent a considerable amount of time, it led to me being focused on the track however the longer I worked on it and the more detail I added, the more I started to not like and turn back on it, This would usually lead to me going back to it at a later date

Qu 7: Consider a time when you received feedback on your music. Were the comments more focused on the quantity of work you produced or the depth and impact of the music itself? How did this feedback influence your future approach to music-making?

Ans: The last time I received feedback, It focused on the quality of the work. This piece, however, happened to be one of the ones done when focusing on quality which stuck, so didn't take very long to refine.

Qu 8: Reflect on your long-term musical goals. Do you believe that prioritising quantity or quality will be more critical in achieving these aspirations?

Ans: I believe that prioritising both will be essential.

Qu 9: Do you tend to compare your creative output to others? How does this comparison influence your perception of the balance between quantity and quality in your music?

Ans: I usually end up comparing to others, this can sometimes hinder the progress as more often than not, I try to not sound like anyone else.

Qu 10: How do you feel about the idea of embracing both quantity and quality in your creative journey? Do you see them as conflicting or complementary aspects of your artistic growth?

Ans: I believe this is essential in being a successful musician.

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Finding the tone of the original song and replicating it during both Live and Studio version

Weaknesses: Sticking close to the original track during the live version - Speed - Instrumentation.

Opportunities: Book sessions at Practice Sheffield for strict rehearsals of the song

Threats: Availability of band mates - Difficult to find a day where all the band members were available

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Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa Creative Ideas

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Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa Creative Ideas

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The ideas that we came up with for this track were to add some nile rogers-style funk chops to it and speed it up slightly or slow it down into more of a jazz track (which eventually became the final decision)

We settled on the idea after a few play-throughs, eventually refining all the parts into a solid arrangement

The video attached is the final practice of the final piece - unfortunately we did not get a video of the performance at corp.

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We went through a few ideas for this piece, including a metal version, heavy rock version, classic rock version and a old school punk version.

We settled on the punk version after just one play-through as we all really enjoyed the sound of it - the video of the practice is attached

We also decided it was a good genre as our other guitarist was ill and couldn't attend, as well as this the other singer wasn't available so the barebones aspect fit well with the chosen genre

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The video of the corp session is attached, not much changed to the practice session and it stayed relatively similar.

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Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin Creative Ideas

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Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin Creative Ideas

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We previously decided in a group chat that we would add a hip hop verse somewhere in the song

During practice we kept the guitars and bass pretty accurate to the original - apart from the added lead line which I played.

The video of this is attached

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Why do you need to reference

To allow reader to validate your points

So you can go back and check your own work

To avoid plagiarism accusations

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My Song - Killing in the Name

Dynamics: The song is mostly pretty full on, however during the verses all of the instruments begin to play softer, eventually resulting in large sounding choruses. Also during the bridge, the volume and dynamics gradually rise which also builds up to large sounding choruses

Rhythm: 4/4 - Syncopated - Swing in the Bridge

Structure: Intro, Verse, Bridge, Chorus,

Melody: Guitar and Bass

Instrumentation: Drums, Vocals, Guitar & Bass

Texture: The texture of the song is harsh and abrasive, often with everything always playing at the same time. This is complemented well by vocalist, Zack De La Rocha's aggressive vocal style.

Harmony: Key: D

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How do you find drive when you're feeling unmotivated?

Put music on

Get caffeine

Watch other people do what I need motivation to do

Waiting until last minute

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Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin Performance

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Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin Performance

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The ideas we had that differed from the practice session were to strip back the drums and guitar in certain parts to enhance the vocals, especially during the rap verse.

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Original Goals when starting WaterBear:

When starting WaterBear my original goals were to improve my creative input when in bands, as well as this another one was to begin going out and doing regular gigs with a band performing original and cover songs.

Have you met these goals?

I have met the first goal thanks to the pre production and LPW/CPW sessions, these have helped with not only performance and stage presence skills but also enhanced my creativity and collaboration skills as a musician in a band, which was the original goal. The other goal is on its way to completion as I have since joined a band however am still working on doing regular gigs and performances.

Have these goals changed?

My goals have indeed changed since completing one of them, one of my newer goals is to develop a clear image of what I would like to do as a living whilst being a musician, whether that be solely performing or being a portfolio musician and having many means of earning.

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Strengths

My strengths of my project were the tone, I believe I managed to recreate the original tone quite accurately. I also believe it is well produced for the limited resources I had when completing.

Weaknesses

The main weakness of the project was some of the playing wasn't particularly up to scratch to what it should've been, especially during the solo. This was partly the reason I chose this song as I want to work on my tremolo picking which is prominent during this section.

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One of the main obstacles I faced during this assignment was I had to use limited equipment, this was due to going back home so only had one guitar, and audio interface, a couple pedals and my laptop. This forced me to focus more on the production and delving deeper into the amp modelling side of logic rather than using my own physical amp and pedal settings.

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This song was Always on the Run by Lenny Kravitz and the genre we chose was Blues Rock. This decision evolved from the original suggestion of 50's Rock, similar to that of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.

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This was the final version from Corporation, we didn't end up changing much and just brushed up on the structure

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This week's song was Hard Times originally written by Paramore. For the genre alteration we decided to take inspiration from the Deftones. In addition, we also decided to add a breakdown to add more depth, heaviness and variation to the track

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For the CPW Session we didn't change anything apart from the length of the breakdown at the end, we also added a second solo during this breakdown.

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For this song, Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder, we decided to change the instrumental of the song and turn it into the Slipknot song, Psycosocial. This included changing the vocal style to more metal and screaming. As well as this, we changed the structure to add a breakdown towards the end.

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One of my main influences is Tom Morello (guitarist of Rage Against the Machine) which is a reason I picked one of his songs as my DAW track, another prominent influence of mine is Johnny Marr of the Smiths, which helped me during the live song. The style of 'Play for Today' is rather similar to Johnny Marr's style, due to the jangly guitar sound and use of chords to create a melody.

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Week 10 was spent purely rehearsing for the Live Performance at Corporation

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PMR101 Creative Music Performance Project Proposal

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Tremolo Picking - Killing in the Name Solo

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Tremolo Picking - Killing in the Name Solo