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After reading my feedback for my WB01 Summative assignment, I drew several conclusions regarding ways in which I can improve for my WB03 Summative this term.

Firstly, due to lack of preparation for my DAW track last term (a cover of Royal Blood's 'Little Monster') I tracked the drums using a midi electric drum kit. I knew that acoustic drums would have made for a more full and punchy sound that would have better complemented my mix, and my feedback supported this, as well as pointing out that tracking acoustic drums would have made for 'worthwhile experience'.

Secondly, in terms of my development process, my feedback stated that I could have utilised 'better planning' to avoid some of the issues I encountered. I completely agree with this, as I feel that my complete potential was not reached due to lack of proper preparation.

To conclude from the feedback I received, I created three SMART targets to help me improve my development process for this term:

- Making sure to plan ahead, and book studio and recording sessions with plenty of time to spare before the deadline.

- Making sure that I keep up to date with my practice diaries, so I can document my progress accurately.

- Making sure to submit my tracks for the Formative this term, as I failed to do so last term due to misunderstanding the correct way to do so. It's important that I submit my progress for the Formative, as it gives my assessors an idea of where I'm at in my development process, as well as giving myself a checkpoint so I can easily see my improvement and development as the term progresses.

Working off of these targets, I can visualise what success would look like for me in this module.
Personally, I will feel successful when I have crafted a strict practice diary that I make sure to stick to, and plan dates well in advance as to when I intend to use the recording studio and practice rooms. This will make me feel successful as it will solve my issue of lack of planning.
Secondly, I will feel successful when I have written and recorded my own song, which I intend to record with acoustic drums, and also track my own vocals. This will solve my issue of the lacklustre drums that were recorded on the electric kit, and give my song a more real and raw feel. I am also very excited for this recording as it will be my own song, as last term I did a cover.
Finally, I will feel successful when I have practiced my second song (the live performance) to a standard which I feel best demonstrates my abilities, as last term I feel I did not rehearse my song quite enough to feel completely confident.

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The brief for this module states that I must play two contrasting songs - one will be recorded and mixed on a DAW, and one will be performed live.

My initial thoughts are that I definitely want at least one of the songs to be an original, because I enjoy writing songs but never get round to recording them due to lack of confidence and resources. Therefore, I decided to carry out a SWOT analysis in order to visualise my doubts and analyse whether they were justifiable as reasons not to record my own original track. I have attached said SWOT analysis to this entry.

The conclusion I drew from this SWOT analysis is that for this module, in order to overcome my weaknesses surrounding production skills, I should utilise my strength of perseverance and carry out research to become more confident in the production elements I struggle with. I will also utilise my opportunities to help me with this, such as, most obviously, my production tools lectures, which I will make sure to always show up to when I am able, pay attention and make notes so I can take the information home and use it on my track.
The remainder of my weaknesses can be improved by the practice diary that I attached to my first entry on this Padlet, because I have set myself time to practice my songs, write practice diary entries, and research production skills. This also solves my problem with time management, as providing I stick to this schedule, I should achieve all my goals in the time provided.

Therefore, I have decided that I will submit an original for my DAW recording, and a cover for my live performance, as I don't want to set myself a bigger goal than I can handle by writing two songs, when this is the first song I will have ever written completely alone.

I intend for my original to be reminiscent of the Indie rock genre, with electric guitar throughout, not too clean but not too grungy, punchy and energetic drums, clean bass that supports the low end and gives the mix a real push, resulting in a full and pleasing overall sound. I also want a guitar solo that takes the bridge into a grungier sound, perhaps with a half time section as I've always loved songs that include this.

I haven't decided what song I will do for my live cover yet, but I will either choose a song of a different genre, perhaps soul or funk, or a song with a different time signature, as my original will be in 4/4, so this will show contrast between the two tracks.

I am considering perhaps covering an Amy Winehouse song, as these tend to be within the soul genre which will show contrast against my Indie rock track, and I've always thoroughly enjoyed her music. I will carry out this cover as part of a band, with a vocalist, bassist and one or two guitarists depending on the song I choose, and my original will be recorded with me on drums and vocals, and fellow musicians Bonnie and Sam on bass and guitar.

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This week I crafted an action plan for the 12 weeks of my development process for my Summative assignment. I made sure to set myself realistic and achievable goals that would help me visualise the process and improve my time management. I included deadlines to stick to, and resources I will be needing.

After class on Wednesday, I thought of some lyrics I wanted to include in my song.
I firstly listened to the voice note on my phone of me humming the chorus melody that I had thought of last week. Then after I had memorised it fully, I began to sing some lyrics that I thought would compliment it. I had been feeling quite unmotivated this week so the lyrics I wrote were based around this feeling. I thought of the metaphor of the 'glass being half empty', but instead of referring to a 'glass' I decided to change it to 'plastic cup' as this seemed far less romantic, which I felt worked with the pessimistic feel of the song. This led to the decision of naming my song 'Plastic Cup'.
I then sat down with my notebook and wrote the verse lyrics, crafting a melody for them as I wrote.

When I was satisfied with my lyrics, I plugged my midi keyboard into my MacBook and opened up Logic Pro. I experimented with the tempo and chords until I found a sequence I was happy with, and tracked this onto the project at 131bpm to establish a starting point for the song. I then saved the project and exited Logic.

I then moved on to my electric drum kit, where I spent an hour crafting a drum beat to a click of 146bpm. I wanted the beat to be in 4/4 and relatively simplistic, to drive the song and give it some structure in my mind. I knew I wanted a build up from the bridge to the guitar solo, so I decided on the classic snare and floor tom 16th note combo, gradually increasing in volume, before doing a half bar fill to introduce the solo.

With the speed of the song and the chord sequence being mostly made up of majors, I decided to lean into the happy feeling the song had, to contrast with the negative lyrics and create a sense of irony.

Next week I will track my electric drums onto Logic and decide on a song for my live cover.

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This week I tracked the drum sequence that I created last week on my electric kit on Logic Pro. This will be a placeholder to base the other instruments around, before tracking acoustic drums for the Summative. I used a click at 146bpm to keep me in time and sang the song in my head. It took me three attempts to create a track I was satisfied with.
I then corrected any mistakes on Logic such as slight timing errors or velocity issues.

I experimented with EQ to make them sound more real and punchy, and I found this effective, but in my opinion you can't beat the sound of a real drum kit, so I'm excited to replace the electric tracking with acoustic.

After this, I decided to focus my attention on the cover that I intend to play for my live performance. I thought I would look through the songs that we had been assigned to learn for my CPW class. One that struck me as a good option was 'Black Dog' by Led Zeppelin, because although this song is rock, so the genre isn't really highly contrasting from my own track, it has a range of time signatures that I feel I will find to be a challenge, and there are times when the drums are playing in a different time signature to the rest of the instruments.
Therefore I decided that this would be a perfect song to cover for the live performance, because it would demonstrate my ability to switch time signatures within a song, and my ability to play independently against other elements that threaten to throw me off. I look forward to learning this song in the coming weeks.

I am pleased with how I have been following my action plan and timeline thus far, and I hope to continue with this level of self discipline, as one of my goals for this term was to stick to a more rigid schedule in order to get the work done in a more relaxed and organised fashion.

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Week 4 - Balancing Quality and Quantity 

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Week 4 - Balancing Quality and Quantity 

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This week the discussion in class was about balancing quality and quantity when it comes to creating music. Some artists, such as Ed Sheeran, write many songs within the span of a few days and choose the ones they and their record label consider to be the most promising ones to work on. Whereas other artists value quality over quantity, spending a long time on just one song at once to ensure it is of the highest standard before its release. Both of these techniques can be effective, however a balance has to be established. Failing to find this balance can result in many songs being made but none of them being of a high enough quality to be released, or spending too long on a single track that you never release it, because it then becomes a case of over-perfectionism. As an artist it has to be known that 'perfect' can never be achieved, and a track doesn't need to be absolutely flawless in order to be of high quality.

I have attached my thoughts on the quality v quantity discussion, and how it relates to me as a musician.

This week I tracked the guitar part for my song, with the help of my friend Sam. I told him the general energy that I wanted for the track, and we ran through the entire song a few times (which is obviously only keyboard chords and electric drums at this point) and he played over the top of the track. I recorded his playing as multiple takes into Logic each time we ran through the song. We used a relatively clean guitar sound for the verses and choruses, but for the guitar solo I wanted a more grungy sound, so we used a Logic fuzz pedal. I then kept the pedal on for the remainder of the song, as I felt that it created a nice crescendo that ended the song on a high, rather than the drive and energy coming back down after the solo.

I decided that I liked the grungy sound because it added a lot of drive to the track, so I got Sam to play another guitar track for the entire song with the fuzz pedal on. I turned this down so it didn't disrupt the clean tone I intended for the verses and choruses, but just acted as a support to flesh out the lead guitar track.

I experimented with the EQ of the guitar a little bit, but I feel I have more to learn in terms of making it sound as good as it can. In the coming weeks I will research EQing thoroughly so I can make sure my track sounds exactly as I intend it to in my head.

Finally, this week I formed a band to perform my live cover of Black Dog with me, and carried out my first solo practice session of the song. I found it challenging, and unlike much of the songs I have played before, but I am confident that I will be able to play it well with regular practice.

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This week I intended to track the vocals and bass for my song. Unfortunately, problems arose this week. Firstly, I caught a bad cold, which prevented me from being able to track the vocals due to my sore throat. Secondly, due to slight lack of preparation on my part, I didn't give the bassist enough notice to track her bass part on my song, and she found herself too busy with her own track, which is completely understandable. Therefore I will have to submit the demo as is for now, with just the drums, keys and guitar. I decided to only submit the guitar solo through to the end, as this part is the most instrumentally interesting, and the rest falls quite flat without the inclusion of bass or vocals. However these will definitely be tracked and mixed to a good standard for the Summative in April.

On Wednesday I practiced 'Black Dog' with a band. I found most parts manageable, but some were more challenging. One of the more challenging aspects is the fact I have to make sure the band all follow my timing, which is irregular as is the style of the song, oftentimes making it difficult for everyone to come in at the same time. However I solved this problem by hitting my sticks together one beat before coming in, and the other musicians paid attention to this cue, and after a few run throughs we had become used to this and were playing well in-sync. There are certainly still improvements to be made, for me the two main ones are the transitions between time-signatures, and the section where I switch to the ride cymbal, as I can't seem to grasp the limb independence when hitting the toms with my left hand in a pattern that throws me off of the regular ride rhythm.

At time of writing this entry it is Wednesday, so I will make sure I practice the song tomorrow so I can play it well in my performance tomorrow, which I will record and submit as my live performance for my Formative.

I'm not too pleased with the fact I am going to have to submit my formative demo without bass or vocals, but I will learn from this and make sure I track them as soon as I am able, so I don't have any last minute rushed tasks for when the Summative comes around.

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Week 6 - Reflection on my Personal Practice Routine

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Week 6 - Reflection on my Personal Practice Routine

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In week two's entry I created a Personal Practice Routine to keep myself organised.

Thus far I have mostly followed it, although by week 5 I wanted to have a bass track laid down and failed to do so due to lack of proper planning and understanding other people's schedules. That being said, I have been practicing my songs a fair amount and can see much progress from my original SMART targets - for instance I am much more on the ball with booking rehearsal rooms, which means I will be prepared and confident by the time of my Summative performance.

Therefore I will keep the same practice routine as it seems to be working fairly well, and make sure I stick to it as best as I can.

My next target is to book a rehearsal room to practice my cover of Black Dog with a band.

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This week in class we did a quiz which determined the reasons behind each person's individual procrastination. I filled out the quiz and found that I resonated most with 'The Perfectionist'. The quiz stated that 'Perfectionists see every task as a performance to be judged by others', and they see 'any mistake, however small, as cause for criticism or rejection'. I find this to be accurate because I very rarely ask for help with my projects because I fear judgement and criticism from others. However I should remember that criticism is essential for growth and improvement, and I will never progress if I don't show anyone my creations and work in general. Therefore, this week In created another SMART target which was to ask for help and opinions from my peers more often, so I can become used to allowing other people to help me. This week I booked a Small Pond Studio session to track acoustic drums and electric guitar for my original, as I decided I would prefer to have a studio recorded guitar on the project.

I also worked with Lewis Huggett and Lewis Godfrey this week in a Small Pond rehearsal room to prepare an original we had written for Lewis Godfrey's summative performance. I am the singer of this band, which is a nice change from all the drumming work I have been doing over this year.

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This week I went to Small Pond studio with Lewis and tracked drums and guitar for my song 'Plastic Cup'.

We were given the option to play in separate rooms to stop mic bleed but I decided that I would rather record in the same room, because Lewis wasn't very familiar with the song (which was my fault for asking him on such short notice) so I wanted to be in the same room as him to give him queues when necessary. The session didn't take long and Lewis also created and played a solo to replace the one Sam and I recorded in my room. After the session I was emailed the stems so I put them onto my Logic track and lined them up. There were some moments when the drums or guitar went out of time so I had to do a bit of chopping and changing but I was happy to do this, and I used the metronome at 145bpm to keep the track in time.

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In keeping with my week 7 SMART target of showing more people my work, this week I showed my peer Abby and asked for her thoughts, despite there only being drums and guitar for now. She said she thought it had real promise and she was excited to hear the finished product. She also gave some constructive feedback on an area she thought could use some improvement, which was a section where the guitar goes slightly out of time. I therefore made it my next target to correct this, and I was pleased with myself for showing my work to a peer.

This week I also helped my friend Riley with their chosen live Summative song 'Black Velvet', and we practiced in a Small Pond rehearsal room, which went very well due to good communication and minimal distractions. This is the same band I am performing with, because we all get along and work very well together.

In addition to this, my band with the Lewis Godfrey and Huggett booked out Small Pond recording studio to record our song 'La da de da' for Lewis G's Summative performance.

I am still following my Week 2 Action Plan, and am finding it very effective. There are times when I sometimes fail to do something minor on the timeline like a practice session or a diary entry, but on the occasion this happens, I simply postpone the session for a day or so afterwards, whenever I have the time to do so. This week I didn't have anything pressing to do on my action plan, which was a nice opportunity to relax and take a bit of a break, as I believe the key to staying motivated is allowing yourself to have a break so you don't end up taking them when you should be working, leading to procrastination.

This week I also booked a final rehearsal for Black Dog with my band.

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Week 10 - Final Black Dog rehearsal and Summative prep

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Week 10 - Final Black Dog rehearsal and Summative prep

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This week I went to Small Pond Studio with my band to go over my song (Black Dog) and Riley's song (Black Velvet). We have gone through both of these tracks a few times now so I am happy with the amount of confidence I have for both of these songs. I also went to the studio with Mare and practiced 'Under the Water' by The Pretty Reckless for her Summative performance, and I found that I picked it up quickly despite the rehearsal being booked last minute.

This week I also got Lewis Huggett to come round and finally add some bass to my DAW track, and together we came up with a simple but driving bassline that helped elevate the track to give it that push I wanted. I also tracked the rest of my vocals after that, and added finishing touches such as a bit of keyboard and some harmonies.

I also booked my Summative performance slot for Wednesday.

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This week I had my Summative performance of Black Dog (on Wednesday) as well as the other performances for which I was the drummer, such as Mare and Riley's. I feel that all three of these performances went quite well, but I will focus on my own in this evaluation.

It took a few takes for me to be satisfied with my performance of Black Dog, mostly down to nerves, but also I found that lack of communication was also to blame, particularly on the instrumental part (after the 'ah, ah's) where it is especially important that the bassist (Bonnie) and myself stayed perfectly in time with eachother, and on the first take we seemed to be slipping out of time slightly, and my last beat was overlapping with her first beat of the next bar (very confusing). So I voiced my concerns to her before the second take and she suggested she would just follow what I did. We then went over the chorus section a few times in this way, and I made sure I was hitting the crash on the exact right beat, and I was much happier with the outcome. This particular scenario proves why I should always make sure I use my voice in bands and express my concerns, without just assuming someone else will hear it too.

Now that I've completed my Logic track I am able to reflect on the creative choices I made, my contribution to the track, what I feel I did well and what I would improve if I were to do it again.

I chose to write a song that had the playful pessimism of a Wombats song, remaining upbeat while actually singing about sad topics (much like their song 'Here Comes the Anxiety', for instance). I found the lyric writing process quite easy because it is always something that has come quite naturally to me, perhaps from writing so many poems as a child.

I wanted to create a song that had a wide variant of dynamics. I wanted it to start quietly, with just keys and vocals, then launch into an up-beat, catchy indie rock kind of track. I also knew I wanted a guitar solo, and as for drums, something relatively simple in 4/4, hi-hat for verses, ride for choruses, and a half time breakdown for the bridge (classic).

I pretty much ticked all of my own boxes in my final piece, and ended up merging the half time breakdown and solo into one, introduced by just a keyboard and vocals to echo of the start of the song, which builds with a bassline that I wrote, and a guitar build up to the solo.

I was aware upon writing the song that the general melody was quite repetitive, so this is why I included such a change of pace with the guitar solo.

My contribution to the performance of this piece was the drumming, firstly on an electric kit to establish the timing and structure, then on an acoustic kit in a studio to flesh it out more and give it a more real sound.
I also wrote, sung and produced the song myself, and booked the Small Pond studio sessions for recording. Doing all of this myself was such a great learning opportunity for me, and I will definitely be creating more songs in the coming summer months.

If I was to do the entire Summative again, I firstly would have booked more Black Dog rehearsals earlier on in the term so that by the time of the performance it was engrained into my muscle memory, and I also would've concentrated more on small parts that needed more attention. This would have made the performance smoother and I would have probably been a bit less nervous. I would have also put more work into the dynamics of the Black Dog piece, because I think there are some uses of dynamics that would have  improved the song, such as ghost notes on the snare to add dimention.

Also, upon watching my Summative performance I noticed that I still don't have the stage presence I know I'm capable of, so I will put more effort into the way I present myself on stage, such as band interaction and general enthusiasm.

As an artist, I have learnt how much pleasure I take in contributing many elements to a song, which makes me want to learn more instruments such as guitar so I can contribute even more, and get better at production so I can start to make my projects sound professional.

Overall, I am pleased with my Summative performance and my audio track, as I didn't expect to be able to write, mix, drum and sing on my own track this early on.

One thing I want to improve on for next term is my understanding of Logic Pro, as I seem to be finding out something new about it every time I use it, so I feel there must be a lot to learn.

Another goal I have for next term is to do more singing and start learning guitar.

And from a drumming standpoint, my goal for the summer and next term is to practice often, particularly different time signatures, ghost notes and dynamics.