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In this module I aim to improve 3 key skills that will aid me in my future career. I have decided to focus on these different skills:

Performance Techniques

Production Techniques

Composition

I am hoping to see a significant improvement in all of the areas above by the end of this project. I will measure my progress by reviewing the mix and composition quality of my different tracks. I will look over live videos as well to track the progress of my performance skills.

To make my goals more attainable I will break down my goals into smaller tasks I can complete each week. (Such as practicing mastering as part of improving production skills)

My band and I have decided to use 2 of our originals for this project:

Fade (DAW Recording)

EGM (Live Performance)

These songs were chosen due to their heavily contrasting styles, 'Fade' being more of a soft-rock ballad and 'EGM' having influences of groove and nu-metal; a much heavier track. We made the decision of performing 'EGM' live as we will be able to perform with a lot more energy and that will be more engaging to watch.

'Fade' was chosen as the DAW track as our bands members are all used to mixing heavier styles, so mixing this track will demonstrate the progress of our production techniques more.

Both of these songs are in their demo stages, so we need to rehearse them as a group and tighten them up. I will attach each song in its current state.

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Here is my weekly practice schedule. I have given each skill I want to improve a corresponding task where I have allowed some time each day for myself to focus on. I have put short two hour sections for individual practice, because I know I can realistically maintain focus and motivation for that time.

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STRENGTHS

My feedback complimented my stage presence and on-stage communication within the live performance. I was also able to effectively play my parts while performing too. The feedback also praised my DAW recording for its clear and balanced mix.

WEAKNESSES

The feedback suggests I take more care with guitar tone, not removing too many mids so I can be heard live with more clarity. The DAW mix was a mostly balanced mixed, but the kick snare and guitar could all have been lowered in volume to achieve a better sound.

OPPORTUNITIES

As a band we have a good relationship with other local acts and some smaller promotion companies in the area too. We can use this to book live shows and help hone our performance skills and become a tighter live act. Joe and I are also able to write a good amount of demos and new tracks for us too, this will help us have fresh material to keep our audience engaged. As I write more with Joe (Band Member), it also helps to develop our bands style, I'm hoping this module can help us define our sound even more.

THREATS

Our organisation can be shaky at times. We need to improve our planning skills to avoid unprofessional mistakes in the future. As a new band just starting, it's important to maintain a good reputation in the local scene, we don't want to be known for lateness/bad performances etc. I think my motivation holds me back at times, I need to find more inspiration to fuel my creativity. I wouldn't want to contribute less to the band and affect our collective success.

WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

My band had two four hour rehearsals this week in preparation for a gig we had on the 28th of January. The rehearsals went well, we focused on practicing our current set to tighten up for the show and didn't spend much time on the new originals. We felt playing a tight show was more important than playing new originals.

I feel good after this weeks practice and show, every time we perform I feel more confidence. I was unable to do much songwriting or mixing practice as I had timetabled, I need to get better at sticking to my practice schedule which I found challenging with the added stress of the live show.

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WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

Mixing Practice

This week I spent time focusing on bass tone and how it compliments guitar tones. I used EQ to remove unnecessary sub frequencies from the guitar tracks and removed mids from the bass guitar. This allows each element to cut through more and blend together better. I distorted my high and low frequencies on the bass guitar track separately using a programme called Parallax by Neural DSP. I acquired this plugin recently and I'm still getting used to using it, this weeks' practice was a great help in familiarising myself more with new equipment.

Band Rehearsal

We were only able to book one four hour session this week. This time was used to focus on rehearsing 'Fade'. I struggled to write a guitar line that complimented the melody of the rhythm guitar part. I will spend time on this at home before the next rehearshal to save time. I was able to experiment with the solo section and found a few parts that suited the song. I will translate this into a more structured and rehearsed solo at home before the next rehearsal.

Songwriting

I spent this week trying to write new material from the band. I was able to come up with some guitar riffs I enjoyed and some ideas on drums too. I also spent time writing the solo and other lead parts for 'Fade'. I was able to find a progression of arpeggiated chords that I played in a few different inversions before settling on the final chord shapes I stuck with. I'm glad I was able to finish writing these parts as I was left feeling frustrated with myself after band practice. Sometimes I feel writing by myself easier, as I'm more willing to make mistakes and go out of my comfort zone. I will take this as a lesson for the future.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

'Fade' has progressed well and everyone is now familiar with the tracks structure and vibe. We need to start work on 'EGM' as soon as possible, this is planned for next week.

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QUALITY VS QUANTITY

In an ideal world, you would have both quantity and quality, but if I had chose one over the other I would rather focus on quality. To me it is more important to produce a higher calibre song than write loads of uninspired tracks that will be more forgettable. As a band we all agree it is important to give equal attention and focus to all of our tracks to make sure they're as good as they can be. We have less originals completed compared to some of our peers, but we believe in the long run this will be the right move.

WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

Mixing Practice

This week I spent time using different modulation effects. I mainly spent time messing around with chorus on distorted guitar. Something that's always bugged me is how guitar with a heavy chorus can often sound too off-key. I tried layering a guitar with just distortion (no chorus) over the other guitar track. This helped solve the issue of it sounding too off-key, and I was able to keep the lush tone a chorus provides.

Band Rehearsal

Joe and I were recovering from a throat infection this week so we decided to skip rehearsal to rest both of our voices.

Songwriting

The first demo go 'EGM' was completed this week. I have finish writing the vocals but have worked out some initial ideas. We want this track to be fun and very high energy and we want the vocals to capture that too. As I will be performing this track it's up to me to deliver that energy with both what I compose and the live performance aspects too. I will need to ensure I use proper fry and false chord technique to avoid damaging my voice.

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RESEARCH

This week our task was to research into our chosen areas of development. I decided to research into vocal stage performance to enhance my abilities, as I've only been properly performing vocals on stage for around a year.

Learning lyrics is crucial as a vocalist, uncertainty in yourself will reflect in your performance. Practice performance as much as possible, in rehearsal you should be practicing how you move as well as how you play. Breaking away from your character, creating a more flamboyant stage persona can help for audience engagement, and can help for confidence as you're separating your performance 'character' from your everyday self. Good on-stage communication with other members is important too, it gives all of you a chance to perform more and it's something the crowd enjoys seeing. Making use of your space and getting close with the audience can help improve your performance too. This helps a crowd engage more with your shows. If they see you moving, they'll start moving too.

WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

This week my band had two gigs, I was only able to complete the band rehearsal parts of my practice routine.

Band Rehearsal

We had eight hours of rehearsal this week. A four hour session before the gig on the 11th of February at the Rossi Bar and another session in between before the 14th of February at The Temple Bar in Eastbourne. The practice went smoothly and we were able to finish practicing 'EGM'. We all loved how the song sounded in the room and wanted to try it out live at our shows. We played the track to a great crowd reaction at both shows. We decided not to play 'Fade' as it still needed some work before we were happy playing it live.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

'EGM' completed and performed for the first time at live shows and great feedback was received from the audience. They really seemed to engage with the track and it brought great energy into the room.

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WHY?

What do I do?

I create and perform music.

How do I do it?

I play in a group to live audiences regularly and use my abilities as a multi-instrumentalist to compose songs.

Why do I do it?

Music to me is a very powerful force. A pure expression of art that almost every culture and every human can appreciate in different contexts. I believe music to be a language of pure emotion. When a song is written, it is usually meant to encapsulate a memory or feeling. Truly great music can make you feel a certain way so deeply. High energy music can be uplifting and motivating, whereas a more somber tune can be a cathartic release of negative feelings. I am so strongly attracted to music I feel like I must pursue in a career in it. Even if it fails, I would always regret never trying.

WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

With extra rehearsal and the gig, I was unable to complete my practice as usual. I'm really hoping to get back on it next week as this is slowing my progress for this module.

Band Rehearsal

We had eight hours of rehearsal for our gig on March 7th at The Pipeline. I am very pleased with this performance as we debuted 'Fade' for the first time with a great reaction and played overall one of our strongest gigs. Our rehearsal is coming together well and we are becoming much tighter as a band. The last couple shows there were definitely problems with our tightness and guitar tones. We were able to rectify these problems in practice and it translated into a great live show. I still think we could improve our stage performance and interaction with the crowd. Maybe we could add some crowd participation into our act.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

Both are now well rehearsed and essentially completed in terms of writing. We have performed them live and received constructive feedback. Some harmonies were suggested for the final chorus and I need to tighten up my lead playing in the solo.

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WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

Mixing Practice

This week I focused on using compression and EQ on a drum mix. This is in preparation for the recording sessions we have coming up next week. I have always struggled with drum mixes so I wanted to spend some extra time focusing on it. I learnt about using multi compression and high and low-pass filters to allow the different elements of the kit to shine in the mix. I think I can still drastically improve my skills in this area, I need to become more familiar with the tools at my disposal.

Band Rehearsal

We only had 4 hours of rehearsal for our 2 shows on march 11th at the Waterbear Venue and march 13th at The Pipeline. These shows were both incredible and showcased how far we've come as a band, especially compared to last year. Our stage presence was great, we added crowd participation into our final song and the audience loved it. We have developed a small fan base that will reliably come to most of our shows, hopefully we can develop this further by the end of the year.

Songwriting

I worked on some demos for the band that I attached above. One was written in rehearsal and the other I wrote at home. I made a quick demo of the one we came up with in practice to send to the band to see if they liked the addition of the octave /whammy effect to the track. I found the riff boring before and this made it sound more unique in my opinion.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

WHAT WENT WELL?

I was able to stick to my SMART target practice this week better than usual.

WHAT CAN IMPROVE?

I think I can use my time more effectively during the time I practice.

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WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

Recording

Metal to the Masses 18th March Daltons.

Band Rehearsal

We were unable to get a practice in before our gig on the 18th. We were booked last minute for a competition called Metal to the Masses. If we win all 3 rounds we end up playing on a stage at Bloodstock Festival 2025. We were able to win the first round with the majority of both crowd and judges votes. This is incredible for us as a band as it could lead on to bigger things. We also had our recording sessions at small pond studios recording both drums and bass. I was there to help with bass tone and cymbal choice. Our drummer and bassist were able to get everything finished really quickly. We recorded guitar at home using my set up.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

We have everything recorded apart from the vocals. Once they are recorded I can mix down my version of 'Fade'

WHAT WENT WELL?

We won a competition that could lead to greater opportunities. Good progress has also been made on our tracks.

WHAT CAN IMPROVE?

I need to try harder to stick to my SMART target proposals. Especially composition.

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WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

Mixing Practice

This week I spent time mixing my version of 'Fade'. I used techniques I learnt through my lectures and own practice to produce a decent mix of the track. I always struggle mixing drums, and I think they could certainly pop more, but I'd say this is one of the better drum mixes I've done. There is still a long way to go. I will continue to work in this over the next week if I have time. I'll be busy next week finalising the pallet and evaluation so I'm hoping I can find time to improve my mix. The guitar tones could certainly do with more work, especially the clean tone. I do not think the rhythm and lead tones complement each other well.

Band Rehearsal

We had a four hour session this week as all of us were busy with coursework. We experimented with some new riffs and came up with a lot of interesting ideas. I'm looking forward to seeing the final product of these initial creations.

Songwriting

I spent time this week working on demos for the band. We wrote a lot this week as we are focused on getting a full original set. I experimented with different tunings and starting off with drums instead of guitar, I think it lead to some interesting creations.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

We have our live recording slot next week for 'EGM' and 'Fade' is mixed enough to submit. I would like to improve the mix if I have time. We need to ensure we are fully rehearsed for the live performance as well.

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WEEKLY PRACTICE UPDATE

This week was mostly devoted to finishing up coursework for all of my assessments. With me being so busy I was unable to complete much practice for my SMART goals.

Mixing Practice

I was able to adjust some elements of the mix in fade. I mainly just focused on balancing parts of the drum mix and removing treble I added later in the mixing stage last time due to ear fatigue. This is a problem I will have to be careful of in the future as I recently found out ear fatigue sets in after only around 20-30 minutes

Band Rehearsal

We had a practice just after our live assessment. Our live assessment didn't go too well. There was a number of technical and tuning issues. We were given an earlier slot than planned and I was unable to warm up my voice for much time at all. I think I was able to put energy into the stage performance, but sonically it really was not our best.

PROGRESS ON SUBMITTED TRACKS

Live assessment recorded and 'Fade' has been mixed a little more.

WHAT WENT WELL?

WHAT CAN IMPROVE?