The band Seen project was to do an EP containing for four to six songs and to do videos for them. At the start of the project, we had three songs ready to go. Unfortunately, personal circumstances stopped us from starting the project immediately. I had to take charge of the project splitting the songs in half so Sophie could do My Heart Is A Rose and I took two as I felt like I could achieve them within the time limit we had. I took My Mind Never Sleeps and Spirits.
While doing the research I came upon remixes of other songs which gave me an idea which changed the projects path. Using my skills in Logic Pro to create two backing tracks doing this I was able to complete the backing track before the deadlines on the Gantt chart. I tried a couple of loops alongside bass and drums session players: these were used in both songs creating two electronic dance songs (which was the goal). My strength here was knowing the genre and what the songs were about. This led me to rewrite both songs. This was also showing my songwriting skills. After this it made recording my vocals in the studio better as I was ready being prepared for the tasks in hand as evidenced on my portfolio.
Then there were the videos. I had completed them in half term; this was to optimize my time wisely. This was to give me more time on the songs themselves and not rushing. Doing so led me to be able to write another song for our project using my son’s voice extracted from a video. I the used Quick Sampler to manipulate and sequence Tony’s voice (tony is my son) into the track. Doing electronic dance music, we did not need to wait for the anyone in the studio for backing track optimizing our time keeping.
Each song was mixed and mastered on the Tuesday and Wednesday they were out as vocals were done on Fridays this was very good time management making the deadline less daunting.
Our weakness for this project was concentrating on the problem at hand being very easily distracted which caused delays. My personal weakness was not asking for help in the studio when I needed it. I did miss days off the project - for personal reasons - but even with this time off and other unforeseen circumstances we were still able to finish our four songs. Three of them are on YouTube and in a playlist. On SoundCloud I was able to put up the backing tracks showing the growth in my work from this experience. I have learned I work better on my own accomplishing more.
The next project I do I will be using the Gantt chart as I found this a very good tool to have. To have more confidence to ask for help. To be able to grow as an artist, stepping out of my comfort zone.
In week one I have made a start of writing my proposal either Wednesday of Friday my band will sit down and talk about what we want to do and when we want to do it. Which will help with the aims of this unit. We will also be using all our originals songs which saves us time, so we wont have to write anymore songs
This is my first draft of the proposal:
tomorrow i will be going through my proposal again to improve such as section 3 evaluation as over the next coming months well be having group discussing to go through what we have achieved so far and what needs to be improved such as a reflection of what needs to be done and what has been done.
First activity which we did was to write a song and how we did this we made a list of words and how we were feeling with this we used a spider diagram which every word had more descriptive around it and this is howe chose what the song was going to be about and the we wrote a song around it. We chose the mind i did not get a picture of the spider diagram. however over the next two weeks we wrote about the mind never sleeping.
rehearsing my mind never sleeps
we have rehearsed this song however we changed the song a couple of times to make is flow smoother. we also practice it with piano, guitar and drums to see what the song went with to get people to feel more emotion. as when music plucks at your emotional string there will be more people to listen to as they can relate to more likely to come find the song.
recording it in the studio
The 26th January and the Friday's onwards we have been in the studio the first task we did in the studio was work out what melody we could use and who could give us the intended melody for the song. we asked from help from star she recorded the guitar but we recorded this twice as the first time we recorded it we didn't use the right microphone so we recorded it a couple of time to get the right track then we did the same with the vocals as me and Sophie was in each Friday so we could get the vocals done and we did this over the course of three to four weeks as we recorded the smae verses over and over then we picked which one went well even some mistakes which were made we have kept in as it just sounds so right to be where they are
i have included pictures of the process and a videos
after we had recorded the song in the studio which took five Fridays to perfect. we exported it.
from then we had our own personal video and sound to which for my video I used capcut and pexel . the video was the eaisest part of the process
Unit 5 and 6 this was a process which was fun the first thing my band seen had done was we used our rehearsal day Friday and Wednesdays to write lyrics for the song it was a whole group activity as it was so we could chose something that we could all relate to.
The topic which we went to was mental health that why the song is called my mind never sleeps. And this is a subject which is big for everyone. The next task we did was we borrowed star from another band, and she did the back in track which was guitar and piano which we started to sing it to the music.
The second task we did was book the studio so we could start to record this song live. First we got star to do the backing tracked recorded it so we could know exactly when to insert ourself and with this me and Sophie recorded two bits of the same part of track so we could one copy it so we could layer the song with the one that sounds better and we did this all the through the song until we came to the end in which we then tried to insert a saxophone bit however I had taken the saxophone out of mine as i didn't think this song was a saxophone song. Star had done a piano piece which was a good base in which I used this gave the song more depth.
The last bit of this unit which was the video and how i did the video was to i used cap cut and pexel which i could get videos which were copyright free as i wanted this video to be authentic as much as possible si i tried to get one person in all part of the video but i also used apart of the lyrics which made the song more to the point the reason for this song was so more people could relate to it which make people come back for more. I am really proud how it came out.
A podcast is on-demand audio content typically distributed through an RSS feed. This allows people to subscribe and listen on their Favorite app, such as Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
what is the most popular 'music based podcast in a) The Uk b) The world?(what are they called and how many followers / streams?)
The topic of this podcast is how Aurora wrote runaway and what was her inspiration was.
who did it feature?(presenter/guests)
The presenter of this podcast was Hrishikesh Hirway
The guest was AURORA
What did you enjoy about the podcast?
I enjoyed hearing auroras experience about herself and the music business and how she is just a normal person but a song that was her stepping stone. she also has such an angelic voice which is relaxing to listen to.
What did you not enjoy about the podcast?
I didnt enjoy when some music was play behind aurora especially as the music behind was a get up and dance piece and it did not suite the podcast.
What did you learn from the podcast?
I learned how she started it was really like getting to meet the artist herself and how she grabs inspiration from everyday thing.
were there any ideas in the podcast that you would consider using in your podcast?
yes there where a few that i would consider and that is to really open up really engage the listener want to hear more that what draws people in.
Podcast research 2
what was the podcast called?
Influence of Blues music Podcast
what was the topic?
The topic of this podcast was about the blues
who did it feature?(presenter/guests)
The presenter of this podcast was Abbie Brook
What did you enjoy about the podcast?
What i enjoyed about the vast history about blues which was very interesting and her voice is delicate and this make it more relaxing to listen to and most likely be listen to when you need a break
What did you not enjoy about the podcast?
ttThere need to be more examples of the song as it great for listening but after a while it would get more listeners as it may interest some to actually go on and listen to this podcast.
What did you learn from the podcast?
I learned that a lot of rock music also used blue keys in the songs and that i found interesting as i didnt know this
were there any ideas in the podcast that you would consider using in your podcast?
To make sure i do enough research on what i will be choosing to do and to really sound confident so you sound like you know what you are talking about as this is a make or break aspects.
The song which i have chosen for the analogue era is yellow brick road by Elton John
performer
The performer is Elton john
The instrumentation which was used was piano, vocals, drums, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitar, orchestral arrangements (strings), A mellotron and a ARP synthesiser.
This song was half of a autobiography with the writer Bernie Taupin not wanting fame to return to his roots a life without eyes on him. As fame is fake, its a fake reality which everyone put you on a pedestal and everyone wants to be you but its not all glamour its lonely and Elton John expresses this with his piano piece as it build up gradually creating that emotional pull on which is what they want.
it was released in 1973 as it was part of an album in which was called goodbye yellow brick road there was only one original that was recorded however over the years there has been different variations of the song.
The producer of this album was Gus dudgeon. he had produced other classic such as David bowies space oddity, the zombies she not there.
The engineer was David Hentschel. Hentschel also worked as the synthesizer engineer for the album and was responsible for engineering many other artists' records, including Genesis and Queen he was also the mixer for this song.
The studio itself used traditional analog recording technology.
music theory
The tempo which was used was approximately 121-122 bpm The key in which was used was f major steady with borrowed chords this was to create tension but a bittersweet feel. This song was a melodic pop. the song iteself has a soaring melody which went with the melody one of the key harmony's where the ah ah ah section which was deceptive to the chorus the is dissolved back into the song. this song was dramatic but thet was what elton john wanted as it was written about life in fame but it was an uplifting contrast to it
The time signature was 4/4 which meaned it was counted 4 beats in one measurement and the quarter notes gets one beat this allowed the song to be a relaxed Ballard.
the song structure was multi section in which it had intro, verses, a pre chorus and a chorus which made it complex but it was also repetitive to tell the story.
The song structure was
intro,
verse 1,
pre chorus ,
chorus,
verse 2,
repeating structure
outro
the original song yellow brick road which was done by elton john was standard tuning using (\E\ \A\ \D\ \G\ \B\ \E\)
The rhythm of yellow brick road is pop rock song which it uses complex's chords this creates a memorable rhythm.
musical context
The genre of goodbye yellow brick road was glam rock, pop rock. glam rock was a style of rock music first popular in the early 1970s, characterised by male performers wearing exaggeratedly flamboyant clothes and make-up. which Elton John was known for being out of the box. music genre that combines the upbeat and accessible nature of pop with the guitar-driven instrumentation and energy of rock.
The lyrical themes and topic which where sang about and where brought up was the let down of fame and wanting a simpler life as fames was not what it was made out to b. Also the desire of image of a person and not the persona which is made by mangers.
Lyrics
The song yellow brick road was an autobiographical as Elton John was talking about his personal experience and you could feel this through the emotion of the song and when the song come too Oh,
"I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road"
saying he want to change his future he does not want to be part of the rich in society
goodbye yellow brick road has many lyrics which have been repeated and this was to create emotion for the listener as everyone want fame but we never knows what goes on behind closed door, here are examples from the song itself
(So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can't plant me in your penthouse
I'm goin' back to my plough
Back to the howlin' old owl in the woods
Huntin' the horny-back toad
Oh, I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road)
This is the chorus and this is the lyrics which are repeated which emphasises the want and need to just be a normal part of society and not someone who everyone looks up to.
goodbye yellow brick road was written in first person and second person as there "I" and "you" where used.
The words in which were used to symbolise the rejection to fame and to have more of authentic life this is show when the metaphor " Yellow brick road"which represents fame this is also indirect reference to wizard of oz which in the film oz is a rich powerful nation which shows the dissolution of fame and what comes with it.
which it definitely sends a message to the audience.
Another word which is used is lie which has been used as a localisation
and this is not used in the sense of position however which this is a push on the future and giving you hope.
"Dogs of society" which represents a tough world in which people are very quick to judge a book by it cover. This speaks to the audience which tells them yes i have the glitz and glam but no one told me the amount of pressure in which a celebrity is under and how they are alway must be on good behaviour. They must not be them self and this resonated with Elton john. As Elton John was changing the music scene back then he was politically incorrect doing drugs falling off thee band wagon and how he got back on track.
The rhyming scheme varys such as toad and road another example is vodka and tonic with the o's
the song is informal as some of the phases which are used.
The second song which i have chosen is Angel done by Robbie Williams
Performer
The song Angles was written by Guy Chambers and the lead vocalist was Robbie Williams the backing vocalists where Gary Nuttall, Andre Barreau and Nicole Patterson. the instruments that where used and who played them. the keyboard was played by Guy Chambers, Steve Power. The guaitar was played by Andre Barreau, Chester Kamen, Gary Nuttall. The drums were played by Chris Sharrock. Percussion was done by Andy Duncan. Bass was done by mark smith. Programming was also done by mark smith and steve power. There was also an orchestra which was used and the orchestra name is the London session orchestra and the concertmaster was Gavyn wright
The energy of this song is very driven by emotions and spiritual as angels are very spiritual. The emotion which is expressed through the instruments which where used and Robbie Williams himself as you can feel the heaviness. this has created a song which can be used any where such as hug life events. The whole aspect of thsi song is to give people something to believe in the dark time that there is someone who is always walking with you so create an uplifting tone.
The vocals were recored live in a studio. The studio in which it was recorded was matrix maison rouge which is based in london and some other big names have recorded there such as blur, oaisis and coldplay.
Angels by Robbie Williams the notes in this song is legatto which expresses the emotion It is also syllabic which emphasises the hope but pain at the same time.
the rythum of this song is slow even power ballad which Robbie willaims voice expresses the helplessness and defenceless.
Technology
The studio in which angels was recorded at was matrix studios the equipment which they used for angels the recording medium was a 48 analogue tape. Digital audio workstation which was used was pro tools emegics logic audio running on a mac which was used for programming. samplers which where used where akai 3000 which utilised sound and programming.
The effects which where used by Robbie Williams for angels was minimal reverb and the backing vocalist used layered choir like effect
layered guitars were used they also used build up techniques
some of the instruments where recorded on neve 80-series console
The producers and mixers where guy chambers and steve power
Music theory
The tempo of angels was 75 BPM The note which was used was a E major and this made it impactful and used alot of time the harmony was B-C#m-A-E which goes with 5-6-4-1 which it creates emotional impact. The time signature is 4/4. the structure of the song is standard verse chorus structure which is intro , verses, choruses, instrumental break and Outro. this also combines with the with the keys
Musical context
The song angels is a powerful Ballard which was written by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers and the inspiration for this song is through personal loss and paranormal. this song represents resilience to heart break . giving people hope protection love and strength which sometime people need reminding they wanted to reach a very wide range of audience and they have done as this song is usually played at wedding ands funerals which are always a wide range of ages attend
lyrics
This song is an autobiographical
this shown in the lyrics such as
"I sit and wait"
" I feel that love is dead
I'm loving angels instead"
he uses alot of 'I' which makes it personal asking questions
The repeated lyrics in this song is "I'm loving angels instead" and that what this song is all about is having love from unforeseen being and when all else fail that love will be strong
"So when I'm lying in my bed
Thoughts running through my head
And I feel that love is dead
I'm loving angels instead
And through it all she offers me protection
A lot of love and affection, whether I'm right or wrong
And down the waterfall, wherever it may take me
I know that life won't break me
When I come to call, she won't forsake me
I'm loving angels instead"
The word choices in which is used is very sorrowful you can feel his pain in the song with these lyrics
When I'm feeling weak
And my pain walks down a one way street
I look above
And I know I'll always be blessed with love
the emotional tone in this bit is really pulling the listener in and even with the wording which is used such a when love is dead that is a very strong sentence and dead is sad and it final but he turn that around and say im loving angels instead saying there is hope
The way in which i created this song was using logic pro and what i did was first started by using a MIDI software instrument then I created a step sequencer and with this i changed the velocity but after this i used the the drummer instrument to start with a base and doing this to make it sound more real i used effects and reverbs and delay i did have to go over them a couple of times to get it right to make it sound right and doing this is used my skills to my advantage by listening to the song moving bits around. Then i used logic pro loops looked through and saw which one would be better and I tried a few. Then i went through and listened and sorted out so it did not sound so automated so it didn't sound like a robot going through and changing the the delay in the instrument so they all came in at different times and i used a lot of effect with a few being equalisers so i made it more structure so there was not a lot of thing going on and not to over whelm people as when you listening to something you don't want to be bombarded with sounds i have also included screenshots of all the different effect i used and how many i used to create a two minute song which i then bounced the track to sound could which creating my final product
the first effect which i used was the equaliser as it was a step sequencer and so with this affect it made the sound more balanced
the second affect was the one i used on the instrumental section to smooth all of the any in consistencies
the affects i used here was reverb and equaliser
these where all the effect i had used in the whole musical sequence
what affordance do today music technologies possess?
what affordance of daws?
what are the affordances shaping you own musical practices?
The cost of stuff you need to make music now is really affordable and what you need for out home making music such as logic pro is a good start and the cost of this is £199.99 which is affordable and with this you need the technology to do this such as a mac and a scarlet solo and headphone this is very affordable
this is better to get set as it keeps the cost down
even the iMac if you get it second hand it can be really cheap
This make it easier for musician to do musical personally and it cut out the middle man.
my own experiences is with buying a microphone which when your buying one you have to look at the the whole picture such as how good in the dynamic microphone where to get this because buying anything such as instrument and microphone you want to stand out you want you music to be great and if you have something cheap you not going to achieve this
in this image is an imac which will be used to use logic pro
This make it more assessable to anyone now once upon a time you could not do this you had to go to an actual studio which you can still go to a studio however this is more money in the long run where as if you do it at home you have paid that all you have all the tools you need. This is shaping my own future in music as this will be away to get my name out there and all I have had to do is pay for the equipment and not had to hire a place nor equipment
In 2023, 120,000 music tracks were uploaded to the streaming services every day. When we have such abundance, what outcomes might we expect?
The outcome to expect as it is very easy to upload music to and record music its makes it harder for new musician to be found as there are so many and it doesn't matter what streaming service you use there is just so many but not as many listeners. but the average music put out is still rising and the problem with that there may be copies of the song there may also be a hint of ai as this is being used now and with that there are no more originals as each person has there own taste in music but there is only so much you can make yourself and people will copy as there not enough sounds which is going to make it harder for future artist as that idea may have already been used and that when the legal battle start as people have right to their music The listeners are going to get bored and that when your own music career goes down the drain. This is all because it very easy to put out music but its just as easy to get lost in the amount of music coming out
What strategies do you think you might adopt to get your music noticed in such an environment?
The strategies to get my music heard is to build a very strong online presence as it is important to find your specific audiences which this will help get your music heard. this is by using TikTok, Facebook, Instagram any where you can post snip bits of you music to pull the listener in and that what you you want to pull them into find more of what you do.
secondly would be to build a world around you music like what your genre is what you want your music videos to be and this can also be posted online to let the audience see what you do to get the music out to them and how much work goes into it and to show your passion for music. create mood board to see what ideas you have let the audience help[ you they are the ones who are going to listen.
but its not to posyt every day but to show fans you remember the tell the stories of what your up to so people can relate to you and show your just like a normal person working with a normal life and that music is you job is your hobby and that anyone can reach there goals. adapt to each platform as it is as they may be different type of audience on each.
thirdly will be getting creative with ads as I said earlier show them snip bits draw them in with some album covers its all about what you can hear and what you can see
and lastly it will be about structuring you page to make it easier to find your music to put them in playlist as we all like to make playlist for everything this will make people want to come back to save your song its all about putting the audience first.
yes traditional music skills are still relevant the reason for this is because this is what the foundation is to be a good musician to have self discipline, to be able to listen to a song and improvise so you can recreate the song. To be able to memory train. to be able to time keep. to be able to work as a group. if you use an instrument to have good eye hand coordination you have to have self discipline and to learn about different cultural history as if your writing a song about a specific cultural you have to know about them so it is politically corrects otherwise this can make or break a song. To be able to make cues for those who don't have a common languages that's not a barrier for music as we just prepare and understand where we want to go in music again it working as a team which is crucial. sight and reading is another crucial skill to have to be able to read chords and to be able to relay this on to your own instrument. to master you instrument that can what you play personally I use my voice so it is training my voice to go with the song. to understand the genre you are playing.
As a musician what are you bringing to the table? What should you be bringing to the table? And, artistically, what have you got to say?
As a musician what I will be bringing to the table is my voice and with my voice I am relied on a lot as each person needs to know when and where they come in know with a vocalist they know the lyrics and they are the cues in which to come in it is very important for me to show up as this will work with timing and how loud each person play and why i have to get the lyrics right and even better to not have the lyrics in the hands as it very unprofessional. What I should be bringing to the table is my reliability if your unreliable the band will eventually get tired of it and get rid of you, so time management is important communication is another one which is important. I should also bring my stage presence as vocalist are usually front and stage my song writing ability as this will be a way to write songs ourselves which will make us more successful. To take owner ship in what you do to be confident in what io do as this will be more likely to succeed and being anxious on stage is when thing don't go right
The device I will be talking about is microphones. The many microphones which have been and that have influenced microphones to this day and how they have become better. Microphones are important part of music as without them vocalist would not have been able to be heard.
The first recorded microphone was Alexander graham bell liquid transmitter in 1976. How this microphone worked was through sound waves creating vibration which transferred to a needle which was attached and in the water which then turned electrical current into sound. This was invented in the US
I have included an image of this microphone
During 1876-1877 there was two other microphone which were also invented. The carbon microphone/ carbon button microphone was invented by Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner. How this microphone works is by transmitting sound to electrical audio signal and how this was done was two metal plates which were separated by carbon granules: one plate is thin and this is facing who is talking and this act as a dome in which sound is hitting the dome and this causes vibrations and this causes pressure on granules and this changes the electrical resistance and creates a varied current which changes the sound. The second microphone was made in 1870s the name of this microphone was the moving coil microphone. How this microphone worked was compared to a miniature sound electrical generator. And this was by the coil vibrating within the magnetic field creating soundwaves which varied depending on the pressure.
I have included images of both microphones
We made a big jump in time with the next microphone which was called the condenser microphone this was made in 1916 this microphone was invented by E.C Wente at bell lab it was used at first for acoustic research. What is acoustic research you may ask? Acoustic research is the study of sound to improve sound systems and improve quality. this device was not commercially available until 1922. The next microphone which i will be talking about is the bottle.which the rightful name for this microphone is Neumann CMV3 this was the first mass produced condenser microphone it was a go to product as the capsule was able to be changed to pick up different patterns the very well known use of this microphone was from world war two for the broadcast that where made especially by Hitler.
I have included a picture of these microphones
The next microphone we will be discussing is one that was made in 1957, and this was after the war life is just getting back to normal and people wanted a pickup so many bands and singers where out such as Elvis, chuck berry, Bo didley. That's just some examples. But the microphone which came was the wireless microphone also known as a radio microphone which was made by Raymond. A. Litke. What made this microphone so big was because it lack of cables which made it easier to move with singers and not forcing the person to stay put.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
