By Any Means Necessary by DAVID LOTHIAN

The start of my FMP

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 10:17:43 UTC

Today we started our final major project (FMP). At first i was thinking of doing it alone and having people like Donny and Junior feature as rappers on it. however everyone in my class said they wanted to do it alone, so i decided to be different and teamed up with Donny and Kareem to do our collabritive project.

Concept part 1:

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 10:37:54 UTC

Today we thought of our concept of the project, which will be the story of a young boy who got peer pressured into drugs and how that has ruined his life. We decided to use AI for help on structuring the concept so that we can save time. We stored everything onto a word document which we will add more to in the future.

Primary Research:

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 10:56:44 UTC

This is the research i gathered from the survey i did on what genres i should be using.

Each scenario is a different track of the EP. this is going to help me narrow down my productions.

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Scenario 1:

Old School Hip-Hop 66.7%

New School Hip-Hop 22.2%

Boom Bap 11.1%

Scenario 2:

Neo-Soul HipHop 50%

RNB 44.4

Smooth / Sexy Drill 5.6

Scenario 3:

Boom Bap 50%

Hip-Hop 27.8

Drill 22.2

Scenario 4:

RNB 66.7%

Emotional Hip-Hop 11.8%

slow sad melody with minimal drums 17.6%

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this information shows me what genres are most popular therefor giving me a guide to how i should be creating the beats.

Song References

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 11:03:40 UTC

Me, Donny, and Kareem looked at our plan for the project and for each song we found reference songs. Here is a link to all of those reference songs.

Concept 2:

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:21:27 UTC

Today we added more onto our concept by adding links for reference songs. also we realised 9 songs was much to long so we shortened it down into 4. We still need to add reference songs for the last 2 songs.

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:43:16 UTC

I watched this video on flipping samples. It was helpful as i only just got a sp 404.

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:44:04 UTC

I got insperation from this song

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:45:32 UTC

This is another video which showed me similar things about the sp 404. It helped stick the information into my brain

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:46:00 UTC

Inspiration

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:47:32 UTC

The production on this song inspired me because how its not strictly on beat, and how it starts 1 bar early but it still works.

Drums To Sample

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:49:10 UTC

I like these drums. I later use this drum loop on track 3 (Fading Colors)

Effects on the SP 404

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:50:51 UTC

i watched some of this because i didn't understand how the effects work. I now have a better understanding but i might need to re-watch or watch more since i still don't fully understand

Effects on the SP 404 Part 2

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:52:46 UTC

This is another video i watched since i didn't fully understand

Primary Research (Survey)

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:57:57 UTC

Today i started and finished my survey. I wanted to know what genre other people think would suit each song best. I will use this information to help me choose the correct genre for each production.

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:59:11 UTC

This helped me add more variation into my beats

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:59:24 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 14:59:40 UTC

I watched this in case i wanted to make a beat without samples.

Inspiration

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:00:13 UTC

Inspiration

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:00:34 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:00:49 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:01:04 UTC

This taught me how to use the busses and effects on my sampler. This will be usefull for the performance.

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:01:14 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:01:44 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:02:06 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:02:15 UTC

This was so i could learn to make a drum pattern like j dilla

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:02:24 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:02:38 UTC

Inspiration

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:02:57 UTC

Inspiration

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:03:13 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-02 15:08:57 UTC

Today we added more songs onto to the references, and we added more onto our concept plan.

Mixing And Mastering

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:36:59 UTC

Today I watched videos on how to mix and master vocals to sound like Kendrick Lamar. I found out that he uses minimal effects to get that raw old sound. I learnt what plugins to use like add a little reverb, and also not to use to much compression.

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:38:37 UTC

this tought me how to use the "mic mod" plugin which will be used to make the artist sound more like kendrick

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:38:49 UTC

This told me different ways to mix and master, and what each of these ways will do and how to use them

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:39:08 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:39:22 UTC

Minimalistic yet it works

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:39:48 UTC

this told me what mic kendrick uses which i can replicate

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:39:55 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:40:09 UTC

This told me what plugin chain i could use and what type of reverb and delay to use

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:40:25 UTC

This taught me how the melody should be like

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:40:37 UTC

This helped with how to layer instruments and how the drums could sound like

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:40:49 UTC

What effects are good to use and where. as well as the drum sounds he used and the bass he did

998446_4 — 2025-04-22 10:41:00 UTC

Production

998446_4 — 2025-04-23 14:19:29 UTC

i watched videos on how to create beats like good kid mad city by kendrick Lamar. this is because my reference for the ep is that album.

998446_4 — 2025-04-23 14:24:47 UTC

Today i finished my research

production 4

998446_4 — 2025-04-28 13:46:05 UTC

i wanted to start with the 4th and final song as i had a clear idea of where i wanted to go with it. i started and mostly finished it, however i want donny to do a bass solo on it at the end.

Studio

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:12:58 UTC

Today Donny and Kareem came to my studio and i recorded them over the 4th track. They haven't finished so i cant start mixing and mastering as it'll add delay onto the mic.

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:14:58 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:15:10 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:15:14 UTC

I later changed it to this as my last target was to vague

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:15:18 UTC

Richard told me that the second target didn't correlate with the people in my group, therefor i had to talk to them and tweak it a little bit.

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:15:21 UTC

adding a feature

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:25:13 UTC

Today Donny felt as if a female voice would fit better so we asked Leticia if she would and she said yes. i showed her the beat and she started writing. we all agreed to go studio on Friday.

Production 2

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:29:08 UTC

Today i started the 2nd production and finished the skeleton of it. i still have more ideas like a beat switch or something else to keep it interesting.

Production 2 v2

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:31:33 UTC

While at collage Donny told me i should speed up the song for the second verse to keep it interesting however it made the sample of beat. After that i added beat switches and other things to keep it interesting however i think i went to crazy and i need to remove them later.

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:35:07 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:35:46 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:35:49 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:36:50 UTC

Good kid, m.A.A.d city

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:42:56 UTC

i've listened to this album multiple times as it is my reference for the EP this has informed how i've done my production.

Production 4 v2

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:44:32 UTC

i added some minor tweaks. For example on the 1st verse I took out the guitar and let the drums and the bass. I did this so that I could add back the vocal harmonies done by Donny and Kareem to add variation in the song.

Production 4 v3

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 10:47:30 UTC

While Leticia was writing lyrics she had the idea of dropping some instruments out, and adding them in later to create impact. This lead me to leave only the guitar in, and took the drums and bass out. I then slowly add them back in later on in the verse.

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 13:25:15 UTC

This week was a success as i can now move onto production. Finishing my research and analysing my primary research is now complete.

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 13:28:12 UTC

This week was also a success as i have the 4th track pretty much finished (i might change it a little later). I also recorded some of the vocals for the 4th track and Donny and Kareem have started writing lyrics. I also started the 2nd track however it needs some work.

Samples

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 13:38:33 UTC

Today we found the samples for the 4th song we also found the samples for some of the other songs however the 4th one stood out the most to me and i might later change the other samples.

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 13:47:28 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-04-29 13:47:44 UTC

Studio

998446_4 — 2025-05-03 12:42:24 UTC

Today we went to my studio again. We wanted to finish track 4 as Leticia was supposed to come, however she didn't so we couldn't finish the track. We still did work on that track now all we need to do is re record Donny's part as he messed up a little and record Leticia's.

998446_4 — 2025-05-03 12:43:28 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-05-03 12:43:47 UTC

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-05-03 14:34:13 UTC

i havent gotten the skeleton track for all 4 tracks, however i have nearly fully recorded vocals for track 4. Also i have the skeleton track for tracks 2 and 4. Therefore i would say today was kind of a success.

Production 3

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:02:39 UTC

today i added to the 3rd production. i added the beat switch and i added vairiations

Track 4 mastering v1

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:04:15 UTC

Today i mixed and mastered the 4th track however i feel like it needs some more work which i will do later.

Track 3

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:06:52 UTC

Today i started track 3 however right now i only have the skeleton of the track.

Track 4 recording

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:08:16 UTC

Today we finally got the vocals fully recorded. This means i can move onto mixing and mastering this track.

Track 2

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:09:53 UTC

Last week i added changes to track 2 but i think i did to much. This week however i fixed those mistakes and kept the track interesting.

Production 1 maybe

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:12:18 UTC

i started something for track one however i dont know if it quite fits the brief so i might not use it and use a different beat.

Target

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:15:03 UTC

My target this week is to finish all of my skeleton tracks, this also means confirming if i need to re do track one. i also want to finish my mixing and mastering of track 4.

Target

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:15:53 UTC

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-05-13 14:17:16 UTC

I feel like this week was unsuccessful as i didn’t complete either of my targets. However this week was still very productive as i started track 3 and finished track 2 production as well as finishing the recording for track 4.

Target

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:30:57 UTC

finish track 1 and 3 production
record for tracks 2 and 3
re master track 4

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:32:38 UTC

this week went well as i mastered track 4 got the skeleton for track 3 and had an idea for track one. However there is still so much to do so i feel like next week we really have to do a lot

Track 1

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:34:27 UTC

Today i created another track one as i didn't feel like the last one fit well. I found the sample in track-lib in a sample crate based around mobb deeps production. This fit the brief nicely because, it has an evil feel to it.

Letica recording her verse on track 4

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:44:39 UTC

Me recording letica onto the 4th track

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:44:52 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:51:01 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:51:11 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:51:19 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 11:51:38 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 12:10:52 UTC

Sample Licensing.

998446_4 — 2025-05-19 14:10:30 UTC

Today i checked the licensing for if we ever wanted to release these songs. i found out that even though i pay for the samples i still need to apply to get the licensing. the licensing works by how much of the sample you took. if you took 1 second or less of any sample then its for free this works on anything, then if you take 2 seconds or less you have to give a share of what you get. 10 seconds or less has a larger share. And finally 60 seconds or more has the largest share. This means that if we want to release this music in the future i know how to get the licensing for all the samples i used.

performance

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:01:32 UTC

Productions complete

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:02:17 UTC

I finished every production

Recordings complete

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:04:26 UTC

Today we went to my studio and finished all of the recordings.

Production changes

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:05:46 UTC

I added a movie skit on the end of track 1, and i did other minor tweaks to the production to make them fully complete.

Mixing And Mastering

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:06:48 UTC

This week i was away so i could not go to the studio however i had my laptop so i want to complete the mixing and mastering.

Target

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:08:15 UTC

My target is to finish the mixing and mastering as well as making one track with all the songs and skits in order. my target wasn't big this week as it was half term.

skits

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:09:17 UTC

Today we also recorded all the skits and i put an appropriate beat as a backing track on them as well. This means that all the recording is 100% complete.

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:10:47 UTC

I feel like this week was very productive and successful as we finished the recordings and all of the productions which makes us nearly complete for the whole project.

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:12:06 UTC

This week was successful as i completed the mixing and mastering for all of the songs and skits, as well as putting all the songs in order in one track.

The whole ep in order

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:12:32 UTC

Target

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:13:30 UTC

Get ready for the performance and finish all my written work

Skit 1

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:19:38 UTC

Skit 2

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:20:02 UTC

Skit 3

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:20:14 UTC

Me in the studio recording track 3

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:30:34 UTC

me in the studio recording track 1

998446_4 — 2025-06-03 10:31:06 UTC

Practiced the performance

998446_4 — 2025-06-04 22:06:42 UTC

Today we had a full practice for the performance, in the hall. I think it went very well both Donny and Kareem remembered their lyrics with minimal mistakes; the only downside was their confidence. However i believe by time the performance comes we will be fully ready for it.

End Of Week Reflection

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 10:10:53 UTC

I feel like this week went well. The performance practise went well, and i feel my written work is complete.

Junior recording his verse onto track 3

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 10:21:08 UTC

Track 3

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 10:24:40 UTC

Today we recorded most of track 3 in collage. junior did his verse and kareem did his verse and the chorus. Donny did one of his verses but still has to do his chorus and another verse

Other reference's

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 10:43:56 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 11:13:52 UTC

EP: Cover By Any Means Necessary

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 11:17:55 UTC

This is a beautiful EP cover that our Visual Aspect manager, Kareem, has created from scratch with photos we took from the studio.

By Any Means Necessary

Don (Donny)

Raky (Kareem)

Electric Boii (David)

ft. Jc (Junior)

ft. Lechi (Leticia)

(Credits to Friends - Skits)

The whole EP in order v2

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 11:58:05 UTC

I got the 2nd skit and 2nd song the wrong way around

Give me a chance

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 11:59:11 UTC

No choice (Skit 3)

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 11:59:33 UTC

Fading colours

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 12:00:16 UTC

High (Skit 2)

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 12:00:52 UTC

Purple Haze / 7PM

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 12:01:26 UTC

What does it take

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 12:01:39 UTC

My choice (Skit 1)

998446_4 — 2025-06-05 12:02:13 UTC

998446_4 — 2025-06-12 13:08:13 UTC