Development Diary by Thomas Young https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer en-us 2022-02-20 11:14:19 UTC 2022-04-13 22:12:58 UTC hello@padlet.com Week 1 Outlining my goals for the formative assignment ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2057565542 This week I will review options for the formative assignment, I have decided to create an original track, as there will be more scope to highlight my individual musical tastes and display techniques within guitar playing that i have been working on. I will select reference tracks for inspiration and set myself the goal of working out a simple chord structure and possible melodies for which to build upon. ]]> 2022-02-20 18:45:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2057565542 References and chords ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059198945 I want to build on a simple idea slowly adding more parts and instrumentation taking inspiration for the song " Frames". by Oceansize. I love the way one simple pattern on the guitar lays the foundation for  almost the entire song and gradually new layers keep getting added. 

https://open.spotify.com/track/3KCxSrS63dCShdq42ZIgQG?si=8ac5299304a34e9e]]> 2022-02-21 18:15:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059198945 Loose timeline ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059221514 My goal for the end of week 2 is to have a guide track for the first section from which to work out more intricate guitar parts and perhaps some vocal melodies. This should included:
Programmed drums
Bass Line 
Guitar chords

I have also decided to set myself the challenge of submitting this demo with a main vocal line and some backing vocals. This is out of my comfort zone but Im hoping the experience or creating, performing and producing vocals will feed into my progress towards becoming a better function/session player. I have added a reference song 'Grounds for Divorce ' by Elbow  as i really like the processing on the vocals. I will try and replicate this slightly distorted sound within this demo.

https://open.spotify.com/track/27rgTetikreqkvedaxrF5N?si=8e4501f6be4f4fbb]]> 2022-02-21 18:34:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059221514 Week 2 progress ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059328041 My guide track is ready, and i have tried to set a timetable to structure my recording, 
Drums programed,
Bass recorded,
Guitars both chords and lead lines,
Vocals ,backing vocals

Once I have this i will try to structure the mixing process as follows:
Drum and bass EQ
Guitars overdubs and doubling takes where needed, 
overall track EQ
I will not attach date to this plan as Im not sure which days  I will be able to dedicate to recording.
 ]]> 2022-02-21 20:13:22 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059328041 Skills in hope to gain ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059330967 - Recording into a DAW
- Finding a range for my voice and hearing harmonies

]]> 2022-02-21 20:16:28 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2059330967 Challenges / Gaps in my knowledge ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065262234 My first challenge will be the limitations of gear i have at home to record with, I have plenty of equipment to record guitar with but no proper condenser mic. I have plans to invest soon however I will have to use a very cheap room mic for these first demos. So i hope to concentrate on how to process and EQ vocals to get the best out of what i have at my disposal. 

Secondly i have spent a long time writing as part of projects where i am able to bounce ideas off of other members. Im looking forward to find out how the freedom of creating entire tracks on my own changes both my process and end result.




]]> 2022-02-24 20:08:06 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065262234 Week 4 Gibbs reflective cycle ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065282285 - I set out to record a demo song to show my musical tastes and preferred playing styles.

- I was feeling excited about creating something.

-Good things about the experience included:
Writing a piece on my own as this has usually been a band activity in past projects.

-Bad things about this experience included:
Misjudging my time management. I had hoped to have more of a track prepared and a little more time to mix overall. 

-For my next assignment I will have a better understanding of how to balance my work life with my degree. I will set out a weekly timetable with goals to achieve, as i feel i it was a lack of structure that has led to me feeling i could have produced more in terms of musical content.


]]> 2022-02-24 20:24:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065282285 Production reference ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065358056
I will reference this song 'Foreclosure' by Textures when thinking about production. I love the lofi sounding kit in the intro, that adds so much impact to the full sounding kit when it comes in. I have also taken inspiration from the picking pattern . The guitarist on this album Jochem Jacobs applies a quick repeat delay to his lead line perfectly to lay a bed for for the song to build on.


https://open.spotify.com/track/0tYoHFgIYdrlw6uHM7cFif?si=58dcf667a4d04935]]> 2022-02-24 21:34:42 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065358056 Applying Technique ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065395501 This week in Guitar pre production we learned 'Cochise' By Audioslave. In this song Tom Morello, who Ive always found a pioneer of finding weird and wonderful sounds uses a slapback delay effect and dampens the strings of his guitar to create an almost helicopter like sound. 

I wondered if i could adopt this same technique and apply it to a picking pattern i have worked out to compliment the chords in my demo track. 

I first tried using a single 8th note repeat but found it was a bit jaring for the sound i wanted. I ended up using a slightly longer delay but it still had the same rythmic effect. Too which I have added arpeggiated patterns over the two main chords of the verses. 

I have added the end result.



]]> 2022-02-24 22:15:42 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065395501 Recording setback ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065423763 A week from the hand in date of this formative assignment I had an issue with my current laptop and after 2 days of trying to save the device it breathed its last breath. Along with it went all the progress i had made with my demo. This meant I still had time to recreate it but I have ended up hading in less musical content then i would have like. 

Positives to take from this:
Repeating the process was good practice as recording myself is part of the musical process that I don't have as much experience with.

And to always back up projects and/or save the audio files to a separate hard drive. 

I hope to only have to learn this lesson once and that the experience helps me move on with my professional career.]]> 2022-02-24 22:46:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065423763 Week 3 Vocals /melodies ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065473761 With the extent of my singing experience stopping at the occasional backing vocal at a function gig I found this process very difficult. 

I set out a melody that i was happy with and then found that it was at the very top of my range, in hindsight a key change may have been just what the doctor ordered.

However the thing i found most difficult about this process was lyrical content. I feel this held me back and prevented me from finishing a second section to my track in time for the formative assignment. I have learned that writing lyrics for me personally requires a lot of inspiration and concentration.]]> 2022-02-24 23:41:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2065473761 Risk Assessment ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2131130366 2022-04-05 17:22:35 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2131130366 ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2131131338 2022-04-05 17:23:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2131131338 ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2131133303 2022-04-05 17:24:07 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2131133303 Week 6 ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2132288833 References and Bibliography.

I have begun to collate my references for this project so i can put together a bibliography for my final write up. I am not familiar with the Harvard referencing system so using tools like the Harvard referencing generator Have been very helpful, this was a resource we were told about in our WB01 webinar.]]> 2022-04-06 09:17:07 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2132288833 Week 7 Current progress ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2134272611 This week Im reflecting on my formative hand in. I was happy with the feedback I received and understand that i need to apply more critical thinking to my writing. I will make more conscience decisions to apply the Gibbs reflective cycle to my findings and reflection. 

In my original plans this was the week to turn my attention to the second version of the track. I had left this till the later part of the process as it was always my intention to produce a stripped back acoustic version of the song. 
I felt that this method would be both effective in allowing the songwriting to really be heard and displayed, and an achievable way to produce a video with the limited equipment i have at my disposal. 

]]> 2022-04-07 09:26:10 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2134272611 Writing Lyrics ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2134323575 Setting the goal of writing lyrics to a song was an exciting and new venture for me musically. I had chosen to write about the Russian-Ukraine conflict as the song was developing a sombre feel due to the chords, instrumentation and tempo that was feeling slow as it was 111 bpm in half time. I felt that there could be some emotional connection between the way the song was feeling and and how I was feeling about the subject matter. Also I could find lots of information to inform my writing as it was very current.

 Although I had the subject matter i was finding the process slow due to overthinking each line and keeping to a ridged rhyming structure. In chapter 3 of the Songwriting course George talks about a technique called conscience free writing, the idea of letting the words flow on to the page without much hesitation for 10 minuets focusing broadly on your subject matter. After applying this technique i found i had a much bigger arsenal off appropriate words and sentences from which to form the finished metaphors and similes i was after. I used this technique for the rest of the process because it was improving on my workflow for this process and i was no longer getting stuck or frustrated with this unfamiliar part of the songwriting process.]]> 2022-04-07 10:12:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2134323575 Developing on the chords ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142892339 In my initial ideas I was vamping 2 chords Dmaj9 and Bminor, keeping within the key D major. Originally I was playing a simple Dmajor to Bminor progression but found that I was not getting the right inspiration for a melody. So I began to embellish upon the chords to see if I could change the mood of the progression a little bit. After experimenting with intervals I found adding the 9th gave me the sound I was looking for. I referred to a short lesson from (Antoine Michaud . 2020.) on the differences between a major 9 chord and an add9 to be sure my theory was correct in how to build these chords and what exactly the difference was and learnt that in the case of a major 9 chord all of the intervals are present and the sound is very rich and full, so I was now happier with my starting progression and felt that I would have more scope with which to find melodies. ]]> 2022-04-13 19:18:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142892339 Bass Sounds ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142917889 I had a specific idea for the sound of the bass and used the track ‘Bonus Trigger’ (Town Portal. 2015) as a reference in which the bass player Morten Ogstrup Nielson finds a tone that is distorted without losing the clarity. 

I had tried to find some evidence on the gear used on this track but unfortunately there is little written about any endorsements fro this band as they are still developing a following in UK. all i had to go on was the gear i had seen onstage whilst watching them play live in Brighton 2 years prior to this assignment. I remember seeing a 'Microtubes' pedal from the company Darkglass in front of the bassists feet and was lucky enough to have a digital model of that very pedal on a multi effects unit i have at home. so spent some time tweaking and found something i was very happy with. 

I learnt that it is the blend between the overdriven signal and the cleaner signal is was gives this type of bass tone its fullness.]]> 2022-04-13 19:43:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142917889 Week 7 Experimenting ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142948519 I began experimenting with different instruments to add a new direction to the second version of my track. I wanted to expand on the idea but did not want to lose the mellow feel of the overall track, as it was this that was in contrast to the first version of the track and i hoped to show a scope of capability within my writing without stray to far from something that would fit my targeted audience.

i first began adding some very simplistic piano lines to the track. I was happy that this added a new interesting element that could sit nicely as a new layer, not at the forefront of the sound.

I tried to leave a reference but unfortunately the file was to big.]]> 2022-04-13 20:14:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142948519 Experimenting ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142954593 I introduced some slide guitar to the second version of my track. I did this as i felt the song was starting to labour a little with such minimal instrumentation. So far it was just acoustic guitars, vocal and piano. I was happy with the end result. Even thought it was just a simple line following the chords it gave the song the little bit of drive that i felt was needed.]]> 2022-04-13 20:20:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142954593 Target Audience ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142965624 My preferred style of music has always been heavily guitar influenced and falls in line with my passion for playing guitar. I used this as the starting point when I came to identifying my target audience. I researched related artists to the people I listen to both locally and globally and looked for networks. This was made easier by the community for guitarists that is developing now and has been for years on youtube. There are artists, teachers and bloggers who I  follow avidly as I find lots of uses for all the wonderful guitar based content. 
Through this research I believe I am trying to market music to the 25-45 years old alt rock scene which as a demographic is not just big but also broad stylistically. I have kept this recording quite straight in terms of time signatures whereas i usually enjoy implementing slightly odd timings in my writing with my projects. 

This genre seems to involve a lot of instrumental music also so I have made the choice to add a guitar solo to both versions of my track.



]]> 2022-04-13 20:32:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142965624 Mixing Guitars ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142973960 Another reason I am recording solos on both tracks is to apply my musical tastes to both contrasting versions of this song. I have always enjoyed instrumental music and the great guitar soloists of the classic rock, metal and want that to be heard in my work. 

Version 1 includes a heavy solo section with distorted guitars. I experimented with double tracking and quad tracking the guitars in this section. This is the process of putting different takes of the same riff or chords and panning them hard left and right. I did this to make the section have as much impact coming out of the chorus as possible. i found the difficulties with quad tracking is the final mix between all the guitars as the sound can be muddied with all those takes. however after some tweaking i found a 'sweet spot' where the solo could also be very defined and everything sat well together. 

Again the file was too big to share on Padlet but the end result is heard on my recording.]]> 2022-04-13 20:41:47 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142973960 Refelection ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142995370 I have thoroughly enjoyed the creative process during this assignment. Where I had previously struggled to take an idea and form a cohesive song from start to finish, I have now learnt a method of songwriting that suits me. I have learnt this method by following the workflow set out by how our learning has been structured during the assignment. I have now developed better understanding of how to breakdown the process and critically analyse my work. for instance building a track from basic chords and melody, to fine tuning exciting elements in a final mix.

The approach of a singer songwriter and individual performer is a skill I hope to continue growing and developing throughout this course with Waterbear. 
I have also started to question the theory behind the choices I make musically. This helps with repeating those same choices when the same musical affect is needed in the future, growing my ability to improvise which is important in a function band environment, and expanding my knowledge of not just my chosen instrument but music as a whole.

]]> 2022-04-13 21:07:15 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2142995370 Track Breakdown ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2143037116 Tempo:                    111 BPM (version 2 )
Key signiture:          D major
Time signiture:        4/4
Structure:                Bar  1-37 = Intro
                                 Bar 37-53=Verse
                                 Bar 53-61=Chorus
                                 Bar 61-71=Verse
                                 Bar 71-85=Chorus
                                 Bar 85-110=Solo section
                                 Bar 110-114=Re intro
                                 Bar 114-130=Verse
                                 Bar 130-138=Chorus  
                                 Bar 138-142=Outro
Chords:                   Dmaj9,Bmin
                                Gmaj,Dmaj7/F# (this chord is played with 
                                                             the F# in the bass to 
                                                            give chromatic tension)

Scales:                     The lead playing goes between                                                    arpeggiating the Dmaj 9 chord 
                                  and a B minor pentatonic.





]]> 2022-04-13 21:59:51 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2143037116 Key Performance ythomasamilton https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2143046140 I have contributed all the playing of all instruments on this track, with the exception of the drums that have been programmed via midi. 

I have tried to display knowledge of chords and harmony. and how to implement theory when developing musical ideas. ]]> 2022-04-13 22:12:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ythomasamilton/ksvok2cs9llfjeer/wish/2143046140