Since I began this course, my skills in music composition and production have developed rapidly. I now know how to produce a relatively high quality track, which two years ago wouldn’t have been possible at all. I have learnt how to use a DAW, as well as other software alongside it, to a good enough standard that I believe that I would be able to produce a high quality product that could compete with the other producers in my genre at my level. It has always been my goal to use my time at college to learn how to produce dance music at a professional quality, as well as the steps to releasing my music professionally as well. My final project at the end of last year was to produce and release an EP, this didn’t go as planned however. I want to use this project to improve upon that, I have the same goals in mind with some slight changes. My aim for this project is to professionally produce and release an EP that will allow me to expand my fan base and develop as an artist. I wish to produce four to five tracks, some of which are already complete, to a much more professional standard that I have been doing up until this point. I also wish to collaborate with one, if not two other artists on some of these tracks. The marketing and promotion leading up to the release are going to be a particular focus for me as I believe they are the key to successfully releasing an EP, and the release itself I want to do at a professional standard, getting my music onto as many of the large streaming and sales platforms as possible. This project is an opportunity for me to improve upon my previous work and prove myself, but more importantly I want to use this project to gain a real foothold in the music industry and begin my career as a producer and composer.
I wish to conduct several surveys amongst people that would fit into my target audience. I will ask people to review my songs at certain stages, as well as ask people about where they get most of their music, where they hear about new EP releases, how interested they are in my genre versus other genres of dance music, etc. I will also be conversing with other artists and professionals in the industry, such as DivKid and NLMT, for their guidance and to get reviews on some of my work. I will also be doing some of my own research, experimenting with different sounds, listening to different songs and evaluating how I might use aspects of them in my work, etc.
I intend to use several books and academic journals to research into production and mastering techniques, for example, Mike Senior’s ‘Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio’, or Andy Farnell’s ‘Designing Sound’. I will also be watching documentaries, such as ‘Pump Up the Volume’, scouring the internet for blogs and forums, like DivKid’s blog, and going to live events such as ‘Distortion’ and ‘Bass6ix’.
Time management is of a particular focus for me as this was one of the largest problems I had last year. To solve this I will need to follow a week by week plan, setting specific times throughout the week where I will work at home, or work at college outside of normal lessons, etc. In the early section of this final project, I will have a brainstorming session to think of many problems that I might face as I can, as well as the solutions I could use. This will allow me to be ready for problems when they arise, and to solve them before they become problems at all, future proofing my project. For example a problem that I may face is my potential lack of money to fund my project. To solve this, I will budget early in my project so that I know roughly how much money I will need to save up to ensure that I have the funds necessary.
During this project, I will be using many of the skills I have learnt throughout my time on this course. In terms of actually producing the music for my EP, I will be using synthesis, effects and plugins within a DAW to create music to a high standard, whilst also taking serious time to search and experiment with different samples to use within my work. When it comes to planning, I will be using my predetermined plan to follow my schedule and time manage myself efficiently. Whilst researching, I will be sourcing my research sources, primary and secondary, preparing material to use for my secondary research, and using analysis methods to ensure that I can find and evaluate the information I need. I will need to use online marketing strategies to create a strong online presence and engage with my target audience and build anticipation for my product. Finally, my evaluation and reflection will require me to use analysis methods and critical thinking to allow me to fully understand what goes well and what doesn’t, what I can do to improve upon my work and how this will affect me in the future.
Throughout my work, I intend to use the Gibbs reflection and analysis model at the end of each week to reflect upon the different tasks I have worked on or completed. I also intend to record myself speaking at the end of each individual task as a form of informal reflection. This will allow me to keep track of the work I am doing, and what I want to change or develop about my project. This should allow me to better manage my time and work, unlike last year, in which I found myself quickly overwhelmed by my own lack of knowledge about how I wanted my own project to go. I will be holding a pre-release event to showcase some of the tracks I have worked on, and surveying the people who I showcase the music to, to allow me to see how my EP may be improved before the final release and event, I will also be taking part in a showcase event on the day of release in which I will survey the audience as they leave to find out what they think and whether or not they would buy my music, etc. After both of these events, I will write, using the Gibbs model again, however in much more detail. At the end of the project I will also write a final evaluation using the same model, in which I will reflect upon all the work I have completed.
I will be using my college portfolio on my digital space to present my work, using tabs and menus to organise my work efficiently. For my week by week reflections, I intend to record myself speaking about notes I’ve taken whilst completing work, alongside a written evaluation using the Gibbs model. Both of which will be uploaded to my portfolio. Each of my aims and objectives will be separated into individual tasks, I will document my progress throughout each of these tasks through written work, audio files, videos and pictures/screenshots. I will also provide links to any of my work that is elsewhere to my portfolio, for example I plan to release my music on different platforms such as Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc.