Working on this EP has been the most stressful and rewarding things I have ever completed in my music career so far, and I expect that there is much more of this to come as I pursue my career in music further.
Timescale:
The major problem I have had with this project in particular is the timescale. There simply wasn’t enough time for me to get the absolute best out of myself, although I feel as though I gave this project as much determination and focus as I possibly could. I believe that should this project have started a month prior to it’s actual start date, so much more could have been achieved by not only myself, but every other student taking part on this course as well. Despite this, I realised quickly from my proposal feedback that this timescale was immensely short, and that I would have to straight away disregard many of my original ideas and hopes for this project.
I was successful in completing and releasing my EP within the set time frame however, and that I feel is something to be proud of. I really am pleased with the result of this project; I have managed to create three original instrumental compositions from scratch, arrange them, and record them all off of my own back. I enlisted help from Ben Wilson, who is an industry professional when it comes to studio work and mixing tracks, to help produce a final professional mix of my EP before I released it online.
Professional Feedback:
This is some of the feedback I was given by my contact Darren Oddy, who is a local professional Metal guitarist who is part of the band ‘Stellar Converters’
“I’ve known Dan now for about 5 years or so and have watched him grow / mature as a guitarist over the years, largely through his performances at ‘Live at the Lounge’ in Baildon”
“This growth / maturity is certainly shining through on his EP ‘Covenant’.”
“There’s undoubted influence in these tracks from Metallica with use of the minor scale with a flattened 2nd, a regular feature particularly in the rhythm sections.”
“And the 3rd song ‘Ricochet’ has undertones of Enter Sandman.”
“The foundations of each each track are solid, although I’d Like to see Dan explore more with some of his riffs which occasionally feel as though he is simply running up and down the scale.”
“Perhaps also consider writing in a different key. Whilst E is popular in Metal / Rock music, more modern interpretations see strong use of Drop D or even B Standard and give a different dynamic to the track.”
“That said this is a minor critique as I have to say that these are great tracks….even more impressive with Dan playing all instruments.”
I am really pleased with the feedback I have received here, and Darren has raised some really good points for improvement.
Overall, I am really pleased that not only does a professional musician actually like the work I have done, but also that this confirms that I have achieved the ‘early Metallica’ Metal sound I was hoping to produce.
The two main points for improvement that were made are:
– “I’d like to hear Dan explore more with some of his riffs which occasionally feel as though he’s simply running up and down the scale.”
After listening back to my tracks once this point had been raised, I too realised that many of the riffs that I had written did feel very ‘scaly’ with little variety in the interval between notes, particularly in the song ‘In Flames,’ during the main riff and descending rhythm sections.
I am glad that this has been brought to attention, as I didn’t actually realise myself. This is something that I will definitely be taking on board when writing future compositions, as now when I listen to bands such as ‘Iron Maiden’ for example, their riffs aren’t just simple ascending and descending patterns, but rather complex and often making use of arpeggios rather than scales.
– “also consider writing in a different key, whilst E is popular in Metal / Rock Music, more modern interpretations see strong use of Drop D or even B Standard and give a different dynamic to the track.”
This point is one that I had actually already thought about prior to recording my EP. I deliberately chose to remain in E standard tuning as it is the key and tuning that I am most comfortable writing in, and this was essential to help me keep with in the limited timescale of this project.
Not only this, but the two guitars that I was using to record with both have locking tuners, therefore they are both stuck tuned to E standard.
I did however plan on trying to write a song in drop D tuning as I felt that this would be a good, heavy addition to my repertoire. I did decide against this though when it came to recording, as I didn’t feel comfortable writing in a new tuning in such a short amount of time.
I do plan on using different keys and tunings in future personal projects, and I am already beginning to become accustomed to writing for drop tunings outside of my college works.
One more point that Darren addressed in regards to my EP when I last saw him in person, is the opportunity to have two rhythm guitars playing different things, and by that he explained the possibility of playing the chords in multiple positions or adding inversions to the backing instead of having two rhythm guitars playing the same thing.
I thought that this was a really good idea and it had never struck my mind. This opens up the opportunity to make simple rhythm sections sound really full and powerful, while there still only being two guitars. This would also add to the actual sound of the sections, in some cases maybe even making them sound vastly different to the original concept.
Peer feedback:
The feedback I received from my peers is obviously not nearly as in depth as my feedback from Darren, who is a professional in Metal guitar, but here are a couple of the main points that I was given:
– “Each song has a good use of harmonies”
While I do agree with this point, I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of dual guitar lines when I compare my work to that of Metal bands such as ‘Iron Maiden’ for example.
I did manage to get harmony lines in each track though, and I am pleased with how they sound.
– “The playing sounds very confident in this style.”
I fully agree with this point as I have been raised around this genre, and have been learning to play in this style since I began playing guitar in early 2011.
The one thing that I did feel needed work was the occasional slipping of timing on some more fast paced solo licks, however I think this was more due to a lack of time than my lack of ability.
Final EP Evaluation/Conclusion:
Personally I couldn’t agree more with the feedback I have received, I think the main issue I had (as I have mentioned) was the timescale. I feel as though this held me back with regards to the level of work I could have produced on a larger time frame.
Ultimately though, I am incredibly happy with my EP. This is my debut project and my initial mark in the music world. All of my songs were to a professional standard and fit the genre perfectly.
My EP launch performance was a huge success and absolutely grabbed the audience. I was receiving countless positive comments from people all night, and managed to get people listening to my finished work on Soundcloud.
The EP itself was received phenomenally well by listeners and I have been given countless comments praising my work and reached out to a couple of hundred listeners, so I would say that this project has been a big success, and my outreach far exceeded my expectations.