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My initial thoughts on this project is;
1. How I want to approach it
2. The resources I would need
3. How I would benefit from using said resources
3. The image I want to convey

I have the choice of either covering a song, composing my own or making a creative arrangement of a song or piece.
Choosing to do a cover will allow me to focus more on recording the song, the technical abilities needed for it and how it signposts where I want to go as an artist. However it would neglect my song-writing skills. Despite this, I've decided to cover a song as I feel it will be more beneficial to me working towards a session artist. In doing this, it will allow me to link all my modules as a consistent piece.
Covering a song allows me to explain what its doing theoretically and creatively. As well as where those influences may have came from based on the artist it's self. This gives me the opportunity to explore how successful artists built and molded who they were and how some less successful artists didn't do that and why that had a detrimental impact to them and their career.

This will apply both to my summative and formative assignments similarly.

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My goal here for my formative assignment is to either record a live performance of a song with audio or to complete a studio recording. I've decided to perform a live performance (in a similar style to typical YouTube covers). My intentions are to record the set up, the process' of recreating the track and the challenges that I face. This will be both video cameras and screen recordings.

Some of the challenges I am going to face are, how I'm going to recreate the vocals? Do I find someone who can do them and record that, do I find an isolated track from the original and so forth. I will also need to learn how to mix effectively in order for it to be time efficient.

This will develop some valuable skills, such as; a deeper understanding on how studios approach recording and creating a song, how I would showcase that in an academic way which would be useful for marketing and promoting. I will also be able to hone my content creation skills including photography, cinematography and how to colour grade those to enhance the music that I will be showcasing.
All of these will be detrimental to becoming successful and having the opportunity to create a career.

Recreating an authentic cover of a song requires a sharp ear in order to catch all the details in a mix. This will further me towards being able to work as a session musician, as that requires you to be able to identify chords and ideas without any tabs or music sheets -unless told otherwise- and to do so quickly and effectively.

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For my summative assessment I want to record a cover of a song, with the final product being a polished recording that is mixed well and recorded to a high standard. i will signpost each section of a song and break them down into what I think is an appropriate way of describing what's going on musically and emotionally. This will involve practice of the scales/modes that are been used, alternative ways of interpreting it's theory as well as some background on why that song would've been wrote at that time - did it have cultural significance, was it politically involved, etc. This would typically involve bands like Rage against the Machine, Guns n' Roses, Black Flag.

However, I'm going to use the formative assignment as an opportunity to create my own instrumental piece. With the hopes of showcasing techniques that I wish to develop further. Some of these techniques are inspired from bands such as; Polyphia, Extreme, Slipknot, Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The reason I have chosen these bands are because the concepts that they tackle, some are less obvious than others but tend to be just as profound. I want to be able to identify this and to use it to my own advantage. For example song that use contradictive sounds to the idea, For example - Hey Ya! by Outkast is a very up beat song and most people only hear it as such however the song is implying that we (as a modern day society) feel pressured to stay in relationships we may not be all that invested in.

That was done through use of vocals, i want to try and do the same but with only and instrumental. This may involve sounds that may not be typical and could potentially create offensive tones and sounds.

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Now a few weeks into the course, I am aware of where I'm lacking and where I am excelling. For example, I am very good at procrastinating and I'm easily distracted however I have a good idea of what I need to do and how I wish to accomplish that. My plan to get the journal completed effectively is to vlog it instead, as I feel I'm much better in speaking than in writing as well as that it allows mew to info dump which i can then review and edit to be more to the point. I want to record multiple short videos in a week and then at the end of said week I can compile them and delegate any ideas or thoughts that I feel are irrelevant. Hopefully this allows me to be more concise and point out exactly what I am going for without rambling too much. This will work for both assignments as I can combine both my project and my industry studies.

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At this point in the term, I have set myself a task to write an original piece. This came about because the songs that featured the techniques that I want to use are further ahead in skill compared to where I am currently at. So far I have a riff that opens the piece, however I am struggling with transitioning into a different sections.

Above is the intro and 1st verse to this new original. It's a metal based track that pulls influences from Qotsa and aforementioned nu metal bands.

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I have now tracked the guitar and programmed the drums into pro tools. The piece in its self didn't work the way I wanted it to and ultimately missed what I was after. It has some interesting ideas throughout however I don't think said ideas are in the right piece of music. The techniques used throughout are; Palm muting, Down-picking, Alternative picking and legato/pull-offs&hammer-ons.
The Opening riff is based on the chromatic scale with an open pedal of a D. After that it goes to a downpicked D Blues scale with a b2 interval.

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The demo that I have presented only contains Midi Drums and guitar parts. I don't have any synths or string sections because I acurrently do not have them set up yo work in pro tools. The track also doesn't feature a bass and that is due to not being able to source one for the project at this stage.
It's roughly mixed so all parts are heard and clear, however i need to explore mixing and mastering in order to do it efficiently and effectively, Although the track doesn't show my capabilities as a guitarist it does show them as a musicians as a whole. It's allowed me to see beyond my instrument and realise that no matter how well i can play or how much theory I know I can't broadcast that or reach an audience without knowing how to record and produce correctly.

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My studies this week for developing my project have been involved in taking part in writing a song ,with other band members, in 3 hours. We have so far done 2 songs in the 2 sessions we have aiming to do another during the next session. This pushed my abilities into other areas, due to playing with others, such as alternative rhythmic concepts and syncopations that I wouldn't have attempted otherwise. It also gave me the opportunity to write for a section rather than trying to create a whole part. This meant I could focus on that area exclusively, which proved to be more efficient for me. I could apply this to writing my own songs, such as; get a bare-bones concept start to finish in a set time period, and through the coming days focus solely on a specific section.

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Beato, .R (1990). The Beato Book 3.0. https://rickbeato.com.
Rick Beato

SpectreSoundStudios, (2018). Audio Basic: How To Use A Compressor. 21 March. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuWwq8Vidbk

Juan Antonio, (2018). Polyphia Guitar Concepts and Techniques. 9 July. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaHfQNn7bg0

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My formative didn't go to plan, mainly because I fell behind schedule due to work commitments and personal motivation.
However, I managed to submit a piece on time; The piece I submitted wasn't exactly what I was after. I felt like it fell short of what I was aiming for, for example; the soundscape wasn't consistent and the playing wasn't as refined as I would've liked, this was because it felt too forced and the timing wasn't great. This maybe due to the fact that it was rushed because I wasn't on schedule. Therefore I've been giving myself set times to complete the work, both creating limitations and expectations - this made me work more efficiently and consistently. The timing was worked on by using a metronome and general practice.

My priorities have changed to get back on track, in order to have a confident piece to submit I need to focus on the written work first, and then the recording. This is because if I record first I will neglect the writing. If I do the writing first I can the focus on each objective as it's own rather than overwhelming myself with a big group of tasks.

Some challenges I've found that I didn't expect were being able to balance my time correctly and trying to avoid burn out. However I did expect some challenges, such as things not going to plan and certain things not working how intended. To overcome these I intend on creating a tight schedule and making sure I am completing the task I have set myself in the given time. As for technical issues, my plan is to set up everything I think I would need before I begin my process.

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I have been practicing my ideas and riffs to a metronome at slower speeds to really hone in on the timing. I would play through each riff 5 times successfully and consecutively before bumping up the BPM by 5.
I have also been working on different finger combinations to make sure that regardless of where I am on the fretboard I am able to pull of the idea or passage that I am hearing.

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My target audience would primarily share the same scenes as my influences, such as: Queens of the Stone Age, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.
The reason why I have picked this demographic is because they would share a lot of similarities in taste and style, as I would.
I would know if what I was writing had any credibility in my writing because the audience that I share it with would be able to hear my influences. This fits into my goals, which is to be able to define who my influences are clearly but more so to expand upon them rather than a tribute.

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In the new track that I have created, the guitar and vocals take influences from bands such as Periphery, Foo Fighters and Stone Sour.
The guitar piece is in a Dbmaj9 tuning (Db-Ab-Db-F-Ab-Eb) and sits around the 90bpm mark.
Intro (15 Bars)
Verse 1 (8 Bars)
Chorus (12 Bars)
Verse (8 Bars)
Bridge (16 Bars)
Chorus (12 Bars)

The song starts with a riff based around F and D, The verse follows suit however it adds in an Ab with the top three strings being left open on all the chords Then the chorus falls back to the intro structure. It's in 4/4 however the riff and basics of the song syncopate around that.

I'm happy with the transitions however i do want to re record the guitar parts as electric as i feel that it would fit my voice a little better. I would also like to refine my voice with better techniques such as vocal fry, breath control and natural compression.

The track has a basic set up for recording, 2 Vocal tracks for each section, 1 guitar track and 1 drum track.

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Looking back through this module I have come to a lot of realisations. There have been holes in my methods of working which have caused some issues, such as falling behind or the quality of my work not being quite as good as I would expect. However, I have plans in place to fix this for the new term. For example, set times to complete work and my own smaller deadlines and goals. The thought process behind this is to be able to keep me motivated and to avoid burnout.

Overall, I'm happy with what I have learnt this term as it's opened my eyes to what is possible and what I need to aim towards in order to be successful in what I am after. I want to ultimately be self-sufficient which means I need to be able to mix and produce effectively and to manage myself with my own goals and deadlines.

My guitar playing in a technical aspect has improved as I'm listening to the finer details such as dynamics, tone and harmonic structures. Focusing on these has allowed me to become tighter and more accurate with string skipping, tapping and general lines. The biggest thing I struggled with was writing a piece that flowed from one section to the other smoothly. I've started to get over that struggle and I believe that I can credit the fact that I'm writing with vocals in mind to make the piece naturally fall into place. Another area I have improved on this term is my vocal work, I have been doing vocal warm-ups and exercises to maintain a healthy voice while also pushing my limits, I.e. using as much of my range as I can in all different contexts such as; Using my head voice and falsetto, Chest voice with vocal fry and a mixed voice as well as applying a mask to all these vocal styles.

One area where I am lacking in is my mixing and producing skills. I understand what all the components are and why they are necessary however I'm not exactly sure how to use them appropriately. For example, I find that my mixes sound very unhinged and seem to sound quite flat or muddled. I believe that this is down to EQ'ing and maybe my line ins and inputs as they can generate a lot of noise, especially in my environment. In order to solve these issues, I have been researching via YouTube and online forums on how to apply different effects to clean up a mix. I also think that I should focus more on making the mix clean and getting a solid foundation to work from instead of approaching it from an entirely creative angle. This is one of my bigger goals for next term and moving forward.
I would also like to become proficient in video recording and making professional-looking videos in order to start releasing songs on YouTube and other platforms. This means I need to research how to set up a good environment for recording in both videos and sound as well as how to edit, colour grade and possibly some small forms of VFX. The reason I feel that this is crucial for me is because I can start to build a brand around what I am doing and start to build a fan base to be able to release music too. Eventually being able to make judgments on analytics and when's best to release songs and videos documenting the process, building a fanbase would create expectations for me and would make my goals more realistic as I can't jump ahead of where I currently am in skill.

Reviewing my Live performance and Recording Version of my song, It's come to my attention that while they are very natural sounding they are of low quality, Sound-wise. However, they do work as a lo-fi or solo acoustic piece however I would like to further it as a more polished piece for example having everything clear and consistent. On the other hand, I enjoy the DIY aspect that it puts across, It feels more personal when something sounds raw and that might be an avenue I should look into and pursue. The benefit of taking a more raw sound and approach means that you can achieve a closer connection to your fans - For example - John Frusciantes' solo albums such as; Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-Shirt or To Record Only Water For Ten Days. The soundscapes used in these albums allowed the fans to feel a lot closer to the artist, however, a downside to this is that some people may find music that isn't produced and polished with a clean mix, unpleasant.

Overall, While I'm happy with what I've been able to do I believe I can do better. To me that is down to work ethic, doing what I said above would at least attempt to tackle this issue. This term has also highlighted things I am good at and not so good at, which has given me a new perspective to view things from and has allowed me to approach from different angles instead of approaching it as just a Musician, for example; viewing from a producer's standpoint focuses more on the logical sides of music such as does that work in this context and does that deserve to have it's own piece entirely. Often making decisions that a guitarist like myself would maybe neglect. Approaching from a Managers view you can ask yourself questions such as, are you on schedule and can make decisions to prioritise different things that were not initially planned.

My best plan of action moving forward is to make a roadmap that features realistic goals and personal deadlines/expectations. With the intention of becoming more efficient at the areas, I lack in to eventually become self-sufficient.