Overall in the project I am happy, I think the songs sound really lovely, and I completed the initial aim of my plan to create an EP showcasing mental health struggles, and a music video.
I have focused on improving multiple skills within this project, I have learnt how to record footage using my Go pro and Drone, how to record Professionally and plan a music video, I have also learnt how to use software such as iMovie in order to edit my music video, and serif affinity designer and photoshop for the album artwork.
I have built upon my compositional skills, my music production techniques and my music theory knowledge, I would say over the last few months of completing this project I have learnt so much that is going to help me in the future.
I have used a wide variety of sources to achieve this, for example, YouTube and reading books. i have found YouTube especially helpful as I am more of a visual learner, it is easier for me to see someone doing it, and to copy and work on it in a practical way, rather than just read about it. I have also found that reading my books has been really helpful, when I've read the books, i have found it useful tom have FL Studio open on my mac so i can follow though with what the book is saying on the actual software, this has helped as i am more of a visual learner.
I have learnt a lot about vocal processing, sound design, how to create rising effects, be proficient with tools such as automation panning, EQ, and compression. I have learnt a lot about mixing and mastering which is where I struggle the most so has been valuable learning about.
I have used lots of different software to design album artwork, edit my video, and produce music, I have explored lots of different VST's and really branched out on my knowledge on the subject, I have watched how my favourite artists produce tracks, and also how famous producers produce tracks, and what effects they use.
all this will come in handy with my future career aspiration.
I have developed skills in recording, basic acoustics and generally exploring a DAW, I have watched lots of tutorials, and read different books, which have all been helpful in learning.
I now have a better understanding of how to achieve the sound I want, as well as being able to follow a plan, and stick to deadlines within a project, this is something I will carry with me and continue to do throughout my life, as I found it really helpful to plan and stick to a plan to make an EP.
I would say I got a lot more done this way.
I have recorded footage at multiple locations, some whilst swimming, some whilst walking and all of nature, this is what I initially wanted as I wanted a music video that focuses on nature and sort of showcases someone who had been through a tough time now rising up and enjoying there time in nature, I feel like I did this very well and am happy with the final outcome I do believe there is room for improvement, but there is always room for improvement.
I have also researched and set up a microphone to record, I think throughout this project I have been watching tutorials whenever I have free time to learn more, I had a goal, and it was quite a hard to achieve goal, but I set out to achieve it and was successful in doing this.
I found YouTube worked really well for me to learn things, as I am a visual learner. although reading books also helped, I think using click up the project management app alongside the excel document really helped me as it enabled me to keep track of my progress, and keep up to date with my deadlines, to do this I uploaded each task and its deadline, and then I have access to a calendar which helps me keep track of how many days are left until has to be completed, what I need to do in order to stick to the deadlines and the next tasks. Then once I have completed a task I tick it off the list. It also has a notification pop-up on your phone to remind you that a task is due.
I found this extremely helpful and it worked well, it enabled me to stay on track, and keep up with the deadlines for this project.
I also found that sometimes it was hard to just work on a song in demand, but it might all just hit me at night and I receive a sudden surge of creativity, this is when I am properly in the zone to create a song. I found this the best way to achieve my goal and stick to deadlines is to work on it 24/7 whenever an idea strikes. , so I would work on my project anytime, all the time, not just when the deadline is, or just when we are in class. It was whenever creativity strikes, and when I'm relaxing, instead of watching tv I could watch tutorials, I found this worked really well.
What hasn't worked well?
My computer broke halfway through the completion of the project and I lost the original DAW file of "A Soul Rediscovered" but I managed to recover the orgignal backing track and work with this, it was a bit of a setback on the project, but i managed to bring it back.
I think the mixing stage of the project is where I struggled the most, so I will continue to work on mixing skills in the future.
I think working at a specific time, wasn't working very well, so I decided to work on the project 24/7 as long as I met the deadlines for the project.
I think I could have mixed and mastered the tracks better, to a better level. but this is something I will improve on gradually over time.
In regard to my project aims and objectives stated in my initial project plan.
which are as follows:
(Read project overview for my objectives)
These skills will be broken down into objectives."
· To produce mix and master 3 – 4 songs for an EP with album artwork
· Record and edit a music video for one of the songs titled “ A Soul Rediscovered”
· I want to learn different production, mixing and mastering techniques and apply these to my project I will be able to do this by watching YouTube tutorials and reading books on techniques
· I want to improve my video creation and editing skills I will do this by watching tutorials and learning how to use my drone and Go pro to get the video footage I want.
· I want to learn and improve on writing poetic lyrics that get the meaning across concisely and are relatable to others.
I would say I have met every aim and objective that I set out in my initial plan. I have produced mixed and mastered 4 songs and an intro. I have recorded and edited a music video for "A Soul Rediscovered" I have learnt lots of different recording techniques.
I have built on and learned lots of different production, mixing and mastering techniques, I have learnt lots of recording skills, and camera techniques, and watched tutorials on editing the footage, I have improved on my drone and Go Pro recording, and I have built upon my lyric writing skills, I feel the lyrics for Roads, and A Soul Rediscovered both match what I aimed for, which is being able to write concisely and poetically about a situation, but also vague enough that someone can apply it to their own situation.
I can see from reading through my initial aims and objectives and reading through my blogs, that I have met my aims and objectives for this project, also I put each aim and objective as a task in click up, and ticked them off once I thought I had achieved them so I could guarantee that I met each aim and objective within the required time.
I have completed my initial project plan, and I'm feeling very happy about it, it is nice to see it all complete and ready, and looking back at my project plan, and reflecting. I think it will be nice to look back at this in the future.
overall in the project I made sure everything was done on time, and successfully delivered what i intended to, I think bearing this in mind I did really well, and am happy with the final outcome, and the progress I have made throughout the whole project.
I have learnt that it is a very good way of planning an EP as if I were to not plan it and make tracks whenever I felt like it, I might not have an EP right now, but I am definitely going to use these skills in the future and continue planning my future EP's like this. And not just EP's but if you make plans for anything in life, you end up being more productive and get a lot more done, so this is a good life skill, as well as a skill that will help me achieve my goal of becoming a freelance music producer.
This assignment has helped me progress into my future job role as a freelance music producer/ freelance in all areas of the music industry. I have learnt how to process and chop up vocals, how to mix, and master tracks, new production techniques, I've learnt new composition skills, video editing and recording skills, project management skills, and basic acoustics all of which will come in handy in my future career. I have watched lots of helpful tutorials to gain more knowledge on the subject, and have learnt a lot over the last few months.
For my future career aspiration, I will need to know how to use and set up studio equipment, practice sound design, and produce a track, I will also need to be able to mix and master and write lyrics as competently as the artists I aspire to be.
after completing the project I can now say I have kept up with all my deadlines, and successfully completed my project with what I aimed to achieve and my initial goal. And am one step closer to my future career aspiration.
Looking back at the project it has been beneficial to set deadlines and be strict at completing them, I now have an EP that I can start promoting.
I will always plan a project like this from now on, and I am going to continue learning new skills, to enhance my music, and take me even closer to my career.
I have found YouTube to be the most helpful and also reading. I am going to continue reading my book on music theory for computer musicians, and the physics of music which is really interesting and goes into music in even more detail, like how to create your own instrument, and the science behind sound waves.
I am also learning guitar now, as well as playing the drums in two bands, I will continue to build on my drumming skills, and learn how to play the guitar, I am also planning to watch as many tutorials as I can as I found this really fun, learning different production techniques. and seeing the improvement in my tracks along the way.
I am always learning more techniques all of which will help me in my future career. whether I am watching YouTube in the studio, exploring a DAW , playing in my bands, doing sound engineering for other bands, or helping other bands in the studio. I am always learning and finding different techniques that work, and finding ones that don't.
I am going to continue building on all these skills and more, in hopes to be a freelancer in the music industry.
The tracklist to my EP "Carpe Diem" is
Track 1: Intro/Prelude
Track 2: Roads
Track 3: A soul Rediscovered
Track 4: Carpe Diem
Track 5: Time
I have chosen this order as roads is about exploring old memories. but looking towards the future in the near distance. whilst memories are coming and going. Like walking down a road full of memories, and seeing them for what they are. A soul rediscovered is about rediscovering oneself and having all these memories back.(almost a continuation of roads) Carpe Diem is a happy track, in the style of future bass, and puts across that you are living in the present, and everything is good. And time showcases how time is the biggest healer.
So the whole EP tells a story, a story which could be taken differently depending on who is listening, so a variety of people can relate to this. it has a lot of meaning to me, and hopefully, it will to others too and I am really happy with it and how it all turned out. The music video also showcases someone going through a rough time, but exploring nature, and finally living.
here is the whole EP in one track.
Overall I am happy with the project as a whole, the music video looks professional and fits well with my initial project plan.
With the intro prelude
The prelude sounds nice but could use extra elements, and I would have liked to make it fit into roads smoother, but it does work, and I think it is similar to how artists such as NERO and Pendulum have done it.
With Track 1: Roads I think I have used too much reverb and added too many effects, in general, making it over-processed, the vocal stand out nicely. If I were to make this song again I would use fewer effects and not put reverb on so heavily as I feel it muddy's up the mix. I could also have made the mix sound less competitive, the drop comes in loud and dominant, and there is a big difference between the verse and the drop, you can tell where you are in the song. In some of my songs, it's difficult to tell the difference. I also think the vocal chops could stand out better.
I could have added more variation to the drop, but that may have overcomplicated it and it does sound good and is a vocal dominant song so this doesn't really matter.
I have learnt lot's of techniques through the process though and in the future, i will take these notes on board and learn from my mistakes.
But overall the song is sounding great and I'm probably being a bit of a perfectionist.
With track 2 "A Soul Rediscovered" I think the vocals are mixed really well, I would have added more elements o the track but my computer broke, I have learnt to always back up data.
The chorus comes in and hits hard, it is nice sounding, overall I think it turned out great. this track is more about the vocals/lyrics, so the backing track was supposed to be fairly simple, so the vocals stood out. I could have added more effects on the vocals, and made some vocal chops. I don't think it sounds as professionally mixed as time, but this is something i am going to learn and build on along the way.
Track 3: Carpe Diem
I think I needed to add something else at the start to fill in the frequencies, even white noise used correctly would help fill the space. Although it does sound good, I am impressed seeing as it was my first future bass song. I used elements from Illenium and Eckle to make this track, the breakdown part is my favourite as it uses acoustic drums, and just kind of goes off unexpectedly, you wouldn't expect it to but it fits nicely overall think the mix and master sounds really good, there is always room for improvement though, it doesn't sound as good as some professionally made songs, and songs like Illenium makes, but it is a good attempt. This song is the third as it showcases the act of being in the present, and looking at the future, after a struggle which the two precious songs are about.
Track 4: Time. I am very happy with "Time", I think out of all of them this sounds the best, is mixed and mastered the best, and just sounds professional. I could see it being played on the radio in the summer. I struggle with mixing so I am impressed with how this turned out.
The automation and effects and when everything comes in is perfectly crafted with precision and sound great, I went for a sort of tropical house low drop, rather than a heavy in-your-face kind of drop.
The build-up is great and reminds me of a Calvin harris track, or a typical club song. I used a spectrograph to make sure all the frequencies are being used up.
I think why this song is the best I have mixed, is that although it's busy and has a lot going on, it is also very simple, everything typically has its own place in the mix, and nothing is competing, whereas roads has so much going on.
This is the album artwork for the EP titled "Carpie Diem"
And here is a link to the album on Soundcloud
Here is the music video for "A Soul Rediscovered"
and the link to YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rlNWrR-Njo
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