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this is a collaborative project where we decided to do a 4 track EP consisting of indie/pop/rap as the genres. This will be released on soundcloud, youtube and spotify and will showcase what we can do as a group in a more professional setting by utilising administrative, musical and technical roles assigned to each member of the group to achieve the aim we set

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The aim of the project is to successfully record, release and promote a 4 track EP this would mean that we'd have to write, record,produce, and mix everything in accordance to the deadline that's set for this project. We would do this in indie/pop/rap so it would make the project easily accessible to everyone in the group meaning for more input since everyone is used to atleast one of these genres which is necessary for a successful project creatively ensuring everyone can use there strengths to our advantage.

With this all in mind, administrative and technical job roles will be given to ensure the projects success considering we'll be working against time constraints its important that jobs are handed out quickly so all responsibilities are fulfilled and helped with if needed. With this being said my role is graphics and design which means that i'll be in charge of creating artwork for the EP and anything that may be needed for social media in regards to promotion whether that be banners, announcement posts and ect.

My technical role is songwriting so when im not doing graphics and design i'll support in any way needed for the artistic part of the project, songwriting and performing if needed and adding musical input to the creation of different beats made for the project.

We document our group discussions as the project moves forward making note of any changes made and reflect on anything that has been said to make sure we stick to our short term goals set so we can hit the criteria on what needs to be done for this project to be finished, making sure the microphones we use make sense with what were trying to achieve and keeping a consistency in the mixing aswell.

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Project Preparations

• Generate project ideas

• Discuss ideas with the group

• Finalise project idea

• Assign Creative Job Roles

• Assign Technical Job Roles

• Create project timeline

Song Writing

• Produce ideas/demos

• Expand on those demos into new ideas

• Create a structure

• Have the tracks ready to record over/mix

Recording

• Produce a session log

• Plan out what equipment needs to be used

• Set up the equipment and delegate roles

• Record the ideas in the studio/using the audio interface

Producing, Mixing and Mastering

• Create sounds using synthesis

• Choose drum samples

• Create a rough mix

• Add effects (Reverb, delay, phasers)

• Use dynamic processes such as compression

• Automate things such as high cut frequencies, volume etc

• Create a mastering chain

• Use EQ to reduce or increase any frequencies that the song needs

• Bring the levels to the right amount of Lufs for the streaming platform

Branding

• Create a name

• Create a Logo

• Create all the different accounts

• Create the cover art

Promotion

• Upload the cover art as an announcement for the EP

• Record any promotional materials wanting to be uploaded

• Edit videos and the winter audio onto a music video compiling of several recordings of us

Distribution

• Create the Spotify account

• Using a distributer, upload the tracks onto each platform you have chosen

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When it came to presenting the project officially we used our Youtube channel to release each song from the EP as well as soundcloud using a glitch filter in everything we uploaded continuing the theme i pushed forward in each material i created for the group maintaining the theme.

we also made 3 different lyric videos to support the songs we released and show professionalism since lyric videos to go with a project release is mandatory in todays era, thus giving us more momentum to work with. The idea on these lyrics videos was to make it look like somebody was writing all of their thoughts down in a diary and how these thoughts can change with each season that passes by.

We also made a behind the scenes style music videos for 'time of my life' which we chose to upload a bit later after the inital release to continue the momentum we had with the release .

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Acoustic guitar- was listed on the equipment list to dsiplay authenticity and realism to the 'indie' part of the project since indie was listed as one of the genres on the project and indie usually has an acoustic guitar as the main instrument.

Midi keyboard- this was used since it made recording into logic very easy being able to play and record at the same time and also gave us the ability to better manipulate this sound into what we want it to sound like and a massive plus being that they're always available for use.

Logic- this was the main and only DAW used for the making of this project it made sense to use since we're all used to using it.

AKG 414 (guitar) - we chose this for the recording with the guitar as its a microphone were all comfortable with using and its a condensor mic which supports what we need providing a much more sensitive diaphram compared to dynamic headphones thus making it better for capturing more reverb from the room and sound from the guitar.

Shure sm57- this was chosen for the vocals as its a well proven microphone we've used as a class so we used this on the track 'wish you well'

AKG 414- this was also used for vocals aswell as the guitar since it provides a lot sensitivity which is great for vocal recording and gives a better sound compared to the sm57.

Neumann TLM 103(guitar and vocals)

this was put alongside the AKG 414 to get the best out of both microphones since this microphone is a condensor microphone

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Week 1

What we worked on-

The first week was about deciding on what the project should be, we decided on this being a 4 track Ep and roles were designated to each of the members with 1 role being a technical role and another being a musical role

the roles assigned to me ended up the role of graphics and design alongside the role of a lyricist.

We then started working straight away thinking of song ideas and since the genres we were debating on having was indie/pop/rap other members started coming up with chords to go with this meanwhilst i was doing some research on what makes a great cover art

the class held a small meeting presenting ideas that could be used but all of them ultimately got scraped because nobody felt like they really fit with what we were going for, but with that being re worked we made a start on the project proposal and GANTT chart so we had a clear understanding on when everything needed to be done by.

References of individual research-

https://youtu.be/EADjY4OYLdY?si=4FZXQfGKhX1OciJb

https://youtu.be/s8VxdUeOhME?si=wuoOXGcJAB7AjdeE

Summary of individual work-

i spent my time watching a couple videos on the qualities of a good album cover and messing around with photoshop to get back used to its features since i hadn't used it in a while, i had the draft idea of unity in my head and just spent time research different art work for a bit of inspiration.

Week 2

what we worked on-

Week 2 was more about trial and error, we got demos recorded with ethans guitar that was recorded with george and whilst that was going on me and jack were assigned to work on a song for the project and we did for most of that day writing lyrics for the sond and coming up with a melody using jacks guitar, initially we made a good start getting the chorus done and we even recorded it in the studio but this ended up getting scrapped after the class unanimously agreed that the song didn't fit with what we were going for with the project so instead we kept thinking about more ideas that could be used, whilst we were giving it thought james and george started developing 2 tracks that would be on the EP.

individual contribution -

since i was helping to write a song that would eventually end up being scrapped writing lyrics and writing melody's with jack i didn't spend much time on my other role.

Week 3

What we have worked on-

during this week more recordings were done and we began writing lyrics aswell, james and george were working on there tracks that would be on the EP and the rest of the class would work on getting some guitar chords for the remaining 2 songs of the EP, with the lyrics partially completed that was enough for demos to be recorded and reviewed by the class.

individual contribution-

made a start on making a mood board showcasing the 3 genres and their differences in album covers, i then showcased this to the class and discussed the 2 draft ideas i came up with and got them to pick one so i could make a start on the graphics.

Week 4

What we have worked on-

during this week ethan and george re recorded the vocals and the guitar because they felt ethan would be better at playing the guitar with his experience, meanwhilst that was going on james continued to work on the tracks in logic and come up with a chord progression worth using for the 3rd track and this was recorded before anything else was done, this was also the week we decided the EP should be seasonal based so each track would represent a season of the year.

individual contribution-

this week i spent most of my time in the library using photoshop testing out the draft idea i had of having the cover split into 4 and each bar featuring a season, i spent a lot of time trial and erroring but nothing really stuck and i didn't feel as though it would look good enough when i started working on it the idea of having a boarder around it was nice so i kept that and scrapped everything else and diverted my time to figuring out what else i could do.

Week 5

what we have worked on -

this week we decided on the official name as the wuppets

which meant that we could also begin marketing so a lot was betting on my getting the album cover done this week and profile picture alongside getting the website done and our social medias fully set up so thats what we dedicated this week to. Lyrics for aidens song was fully written and recorded for the first track of the EP meaning it was ready for mixing, ethan and kurt also began working on the interlude and we decided it would be as such rather than it being a proper track with vocals. Names were also decided on with the name of the EP being 'disconnected' and autumn(interlude), 'summer rendezvous' and 'time of my life'

individual contribution:

i spent the 3 days split with the first 2 days working on all branding for the group, getting the album cover done and presenting 2 different profile pictures for the group to use with promotion material, then after all this was done i spent the 3rd day helping out Ethan with interlude as much as i could.

Week 6-

what we have worked on-

lyrics were completed for 'time of my life' and 'summer rendezvous' and vocals were complted aswell by me and george, the first draft of the autumn track was presented by kurt and ethan but the group didn't think it sounded right so they began tweaking the chords and finishing the last part which i helped with during the last section of creation.

the marketing team began creating accounts and posted and announcement of who we are aswell as an EP announcement with an album cover to go with it.

individual contribution-

this week i worked on the lyrics for my track with george getting it ready for recording the day after which all went smoothly, i created the tiktok and youtube accounts for the group with jack creating the others completing all tasks during the week.

Week 7-

What we have worked-

all lyrics have been completed meaning that james could begin mixing every track ready for release which left the rest of the class focusing on marketing . A trailer was made for the album short teasers were also made and behind the scenes footage was captured for the music video we had planned to create and lyric videos were also made.

individual contribution:

i was asked to help with the lyric videos but was then later asked to do a youtube channel banner for the group so i did that instead whilst the other tasks was re delegated so after the banner was done i just helped double checking the lyrics videos and making sure it was ready for release.

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The role i've been given is Graphics and design and with this i'll be making sure the project has Great artwork to use for the EP and for the promotional material, to be able to do this i can't just create something that I think will look good, i need to present a couple ideas to the group and think about the best plan to take forward.

The cover needs to have meaning like a theme that links with the content within the project and i understand the promotional value it brings considering i've made cover art in the past for my own previous releases with this being the first group project, it needs to be memorable and eye catching and i'll take all of this into consideration using photoshop to produce professional work that can be used and if i can incorporate musical elements and or link to the theme of the EP then that's good progression.

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The first demo idea i had in mind was to book a photography room and get everybody to wear white and take a group photo, i would then take this and edit each outfit in a way that showcases they're genres and identity for example Rap would equal black and red so i would edit this shade of colour onto my outfit then if a single were to be released and would involve 2 artists i would get both colours together and link them to demonstrate collaboration between the 2 artists and how they collide.

for example Rap(black and red) and edm (blue) side by side in a picture will then have both these colours colliding against their white outfits since the outfits would have acted as a white canvas.

pros- its very creative with the use of effects and real faces and demonstrates both individuality between each style and and collaboration.

Cons- graphics student may make it hard for us to book studio space, and some members would prefer not to show there face which isn't ideal since it's necessary to have everyone for the album cover

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This mood board was done to show the group different types of album covers a different set for each genre (indie, pop, rap)

this would allow the group to have a better understanding of how different covers are done which would in turn tell me what the group wants me to create with all the different examples on display.

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The second idea i had was a Font text cover this is a lot more basic as i can use any background and put a cool font and then just call it a day but obviously that isn't what were going to do here, if we proceed with this idea that then the background behind the text needs to be linking well with the concept of the EP, it can still be creative if done right and it's less time consuming which leads to my next point.

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After holding a short meeting where i also showcased a mood board to the class of different genres to give us a better idea of what type of cover we'd be creating, we decided to go forward with demo idea 2 and that the EP was going to be about love and heartbreak alongside seasons and nostalgia, the group name was also decided on being 'The Wuppets' with this being said i was told to create something with static and glitch and so i followed through with that making the album cover that would be used as the main promotional material for the project moving forward.

as you can see i was able to demonstrate the effects that was asked for, using the drop shadow and colour gradient alongside other features to achieve the look i wanted, it also showcases rejection and argument pictures linking with the EP concept, bright mixed colours were used with some of the boxes to make it more eye catching and the glitch font on the text gave it the finishing touch it needed.

After its completion it was checked with the group to see if it was up to standard and if any change was needed but everything was fine so i continued on with making a logo for the group.

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Next i was instructed to do a profile picture this was more of a freeform task since there was no theme i really needed to go for with it, it just needed to be professional enough to use and so i decided to make 2 covers and hold a small vote for the class to pick, I wanted to make one with a more lighter shade compared to the next one which would be a lot darker and this took me about 30 minutes to an hour to make each

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This was the first design i made i tried to make something with a plastic overlay over the top but it couldn't be possible due to college restrictions so i ended up using a more rough overlay instead whilst sticking to the same font from the album cover forming a trademark people can recognise us with.

Usually when it comes to making album covers i'll make 2 to help me decide better on what to use, i always end up doing a better cover than the last one because of my need to do better than my previous work, so i tried this tactic with my content creation this time since i knew it would work in my favour which leads to my second version.

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There was a lot better quality in this one in my opinion, making the boarder made a difference in its overall quality the use in effects was better noticed in this one aswell using similar effects, gradients and overlays to make the outsides pop more and more intriguing to the public eye.

after putting it to a vote majority voted for this profile picture so it ended up being used on all social media platforms. Only thing left that was required of me was a banner which only took about 15 minutes since all that was needed was a black background and decent looking font.

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during the making of the interlude one of my group members asked me for some help with an idea for the last section of the interlude so i came up with some chords to help the project, this put the interlude in the right direction to finish everything off when we was struggling for time.

the idea was to come up with something nostalgic, something lighthearted and a send off to the project so i just thought of the sound i wanted in my head and replicated that in my work.

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With some help from my classmate and teacher i was able to create the exact sound i wanted with the echo and automation, i wanted the ending of the last section to echo and get stronger as the chords i made come into play, this was done to mark a proper conclusion with the idea being executed well but still coming full circle with the original chords overpowering the very last section by the very end, this made things a lot more interesting rather than keeping the interlude the same all the way through with little progression which is typical.

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this was during the starting point of creating the interlude it was an idea i came up with to serve as a beginning to something that would progress into something more, i didn't think it would be kept in but it was, i spent a lot of time humming different melodies in my head till i came up with this one and presented it to my classmate that helped replicate it on logic pro before i forgot about the idea.

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im familiar with making trap beats which require you to be good with drums so i brought that experience to assisting the making of the drum pattern for the interlude.

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In finishing the interlude the last thing that was needed was for me to write a verse for the track and also have it recorded i needed to bring more of a heartbreak side to the song and rap on a beat that im not very used too but after a class discussion where i was told the type of speed and lyrical progression needed for the track with kanye west as a reference, i was able to write the lyrics in 40 minutes and record it all the following day showing input on the interlude with both the creation process and recording process i was able to bring what i've learned artistically to the interlude and also lyricism so i can't complain with the input i've had.

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I stayed consistent using the same effects in each promotional material created, each box started off with different colours and by using the gradient overlay, i was able to manipulate these colours into whatever i want, this supported the idea i had of having a static based album cover, each idea was well thought of and communication with my class was great so i never struggled with getting anything done as i always knew what i had to do.

Since i had prior experience with photoshop there was no need to use youtube for tutorials or anything that could bring the time constraint into reality, i knew exactly what i was doing at all times, the only thing i struggled with a little was making everything i made at college since i had no photoshop at home.

This wasn't a difficulty with time it was more so a struggle trying to create material with college restrictions not allowing me to download certain overlays and other professional items that i could use to my advantage to improve the quality of my work, this felt like learning how to make things from the beginning all over again, using old preset settings and creating everything from complete scratch without the ability of downloading a quick template to speed up the process.

my experience made this very accessible and still easy to accomplish nevertheless so i can still say that i fulfilled this role to the best of my ability with no stress,setbacks or any need for contingencies.

I will admit that even though i had musical input in this project i definitely could've had a lot more i was so focused on doing my graphics role to the best of my ability that meanwhilst that was going on i disregarded the music creation process since i was on a seperate floor to my classmates because of the fact that i couldn't access photoshop on the computers.

By the time i was done with everything majority of the writing was done apart from the interlude so i did what i could with that track working on a melody early on and developing that, helping with the drum pattern, the flute and the echo idea near the end.

If there's one thing i'd like to improve on for the next group project we work on it would definitely be to contribute a lot more in the writing process in 2 out of the 4 songs we did instead of just 1 to better showcase my ability to work with others in that regard but other than that i'm happy with how my role contributed towards the project

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As we had more meetings are plans started to change a lot as we were trying to come up with song ideas and focused a lot less on branding and since i didn't have an official group name set i couldn't get started on any promotional material yet i didn't start on any practical work till after about 3 weeks which meant even though i knew what i was doing i was still working in a bit of a rush given how long it took to come up with ideas and how tasks were delegated, i was asked to do a song with a classmate very early into the project which we spent time working on, writing down the chorus lyrically and doing a melody on guitar, even recording all this in the studio but all the work we had done for that ended up being scrapped which meant that a lot of time got wasted.

I would say that it was easy to tell that we were still working on working together as a group and delegating tasks properly which meant that some things stayed but most things that i was apart of musically got scrapped which was frustrating since i put time and effort into tasks delegated to me being told to help with lyrics, or to write a new song, or to help with promotion only for it to be re assigned whilst it was being worked on.

other than this i tried to input whenever i felt it was necessary and to help set the record straight when others were confused with roles or in disagreement with something.

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23rd April Meeting

Link - https://padlet.com/claireherbert/newcastle-production-the-big-sonic-showdown-i7ks4coaeilm4pr5/wish/2966443042

Summary-

We talked about sharing logic files on one drive or computer to make it easier for people to edit these files when the time comes

we wanna be more collaborative when we write and not have it lead to it being too one dimensional and stale when its a group project.

this will be done by showcasing the demos each week and seeing how much it progresses, giving out feedback and comments that can help with the track.

4th track progression was deleted, we need to focus more on producing tracks as we write so promotion and branding is pushed back a little.

1st name idea was octarchy - too hard to pronounce

we needed something more original but an idea that stuck was unity.

individual contribution - i was very vocal about my dislike towards the group name octarchy and i wanted the group name to be unity since i felt as though it represented the group properly since this is the first time we've collaborated for a project of this scale, its simple, easy to pronounce and its overused but that wouldn't matter when you can just search up the group name and song on spotify.

action points-

Re record james guitar

share files somehow

better communication and involvement with demos

4th track needs new chord progression

lyrics should be ready for next week

need demos- ready to record

logo needs ideas and or draft

7th May Meeting

link-https://padlet.com/claireherbert/newcastle-production-the-big-sonic-showdown-i7ks4coaeilm4pr5/wish/2997274954

summary-

Group name ideas narrowed down to Le huit and and The Wuppets ( right after the meeting we changed to the wuppets because we had a lot of disaggrements with the pronunciation of the name and the fact that people may think we're french with that name.

i showcased my drafts of the logo and we talked about the theme being old fashioned (static, cassette tapes) i suggested my first idea of dressing in white and booking the photography room but it was brought to my attention that it would be too difficult to do because of how close it is to exam season.

discussed a mini idea of if the cover being split into 4 bars with each bar representing a seasons and the class was content with this idea.

decided which track is delegated to each person.

spring-George, Taylor, Aiden's track

summer- Ethan, James, John's track

Winter- James, Jack, Ethan's track (created since last meeting and will have vocals

(contingency plan - no vocals will be recorded if we run out of time)

Action points:

Logo and artwork should be completed

all songs finished

me and george on lyric writing

start setting up email and social media.

individual contribution- during the meeting i was able to present some ideas and get some opinions i hosted the meeting a little bit at one point for the graphics part and i was still bringing up that we should use unity but i ended up settling for the wuppets since it was the second best choice for me.

21st Meeting

link - https://padlet.com/claireherbert/newcastle-production-the-big-sonic-showdown-i7ks4coaeilm4pr5/wish/3019011032

summary -

(I was absent for this meeting)

marketing needs to start

finish the lyrics today.

then after this is done have another meeting towards marketing

spring track has been finished and sent to james for mixing and production.

all songs have been finished apart from the summer which needs lyrics doing in the morning so this can be recorded in the afternoon.

we talked about distribution and decided on the songs getting released on youtube and soundcloud but spotify later since it needs time getting approved.

we discussed a trailer for the EP with fading seasons during each track that plays.

Action points -

get lyrics done in the morning

record in the afternoon

focus on marketing after this is completed.

Marketing meeting - 21st may

link - https://padlet.com/claireherbert/newcastle-production-the-big-sonic-showdown-i7ks4coaeilm4pr5/wish/3019011324

summary-

during this we discussed ideas for social media, this included

videos for spring

.main melody for the winter track

.lyric videos for each song around 30 seconds or a bit longer which can be used for all social media platforms

.videos that explain reasoning behind the track

.music video compilation idea

.photos of the studio

poster with QR codes linking to the linktree that has our social medias.

Action points-

Get teaser done today

get the trailer done by friday

john and kurt creating videos

aim for everyday teasers

Individual contribution -

i've mentioned my experience with capcut and marketing success i've seen from my methods and mentioned to the group that we should make lyrics videos with a nice font to go with it for tiktok which should bring in some decent firsthand attention, and brought clarification asking more about the distribution side of the project,mostly spotfiy since we need atleast 2 weeks beforehand to upload on there.

22nd May

link -https://padlet.com/claireherbert/newcastle-production-the-big-sonic-showdown-i7ks4coaeilm4pr5/wish/3019011644

summary-

Mixing isn't done yet however all tracks are done apart from the interlude are finished.

summer track needs a rap verse which i will do and the contingency plan for this not being ready in time is that we release on friday.

studio should no longer be needed after the vocal recording, it will only be needed for promotion and 4 of the teaser videos have been made already.

Action point-

final mix for the interlude should be finished

do my vocal recording for the summer track

make a post on social media announcing release date

and post the poster

edit the 4 teaser videos(jack)

james john and ethan to work on the interlude

john,george,taylor in the studio aswell

and everyone else works on promotion (kurt working on the video)

not much contribution made in this meeting i was just double checking on what needed to be done.

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I've already done a roles evaluation so i'll evaluate everything else.

How successful was the project-

We'd all agree that the project turned out very well overall, all task were completed to an exceptional standard and we were able to reach our aim by the end of the project even though we had the minor setback of changing genres to a more edm styled EP, we were still able to work around this and get the work done without much struggle or major setbacks, we were able to blden are different styles and come together to make something new the main example being the mixture of edm and rap being very well done. Promotion was great aswell craeting most of the ideas we had for marketing and doing well delegating tasks to the right people.

As a group we gradually got better at working together, starting off a little bit poorly struggling to agree on various tasks and creative ideas but we still came out the other end compromising with eachother to make something successful out of it, being more set on one genre made it a lot easier to work together using other styles and lyricism to the genre rather than trying to mix everything together, the group was very open minded and styles complimented each other well meaning for a lot less disagreements and more stability in the creative process, we really did listen to each other and worked very hard together with different ideas being very vocal about what worked and what didn't, this was probably the best thing about us as a group we learned to communicate our opinions and no one was shy with this which meant that coming to a conclusion with project was easier than we thought it would be even though we had different tracks developed further and others fully scrapped and you could tell which songs had to go as some songs were getting a lot more attention than others because there was no direction to some demos we presented, identifying the weakest link and changing it till it was perfect is another strength that did a lot in making sure we gave this project the best of our ability.We very well proved that we could work together helping with other roles if needs be and communicating well in meetings so i would say that this project was a success as a group.

Individually i was able to complete all tasks without much struggle or hastle from other factors that could get in the way like not having photoshop at home, nothing hindered my ability to get everything done and i was able to help the group musically aswell which i was worried i might not be able to do. I did a bit of everything, songwriting, helping with beat creation, recording lyrics in the studio, and creating material to use for promotion so individually i'm happy with how i performed, only thing i would say is to contribute more musically in the next project.