Development Stages:
Throughout this project, I have worked in my home studio, and on the Macs at college, to produce ideas and create a song with Lea that we called ‘Saviour’.
When we first started working on the project, we began by creating little ideas and working through them to see if it would be worth continuing to work on the ideas and produce them into songs. Unfortunately, we were aiming to create an EP with at least three songs, however, due to time constraints and the fact that we both over estimated how much work we would be able to do, we only finished one song. However, we believe that the one song we did create was of a high quality, bearing in mind the resources that we had.
We also weren’t very prepared for the project either. We hadn’t followed a good production plan, and we hadn’t decided when everything was supposed to happen. In future projects, I will aim to be much more prepared and thorough in my planning to ensure that I get all the work I had intended on doing, done.
Collaboration:
During this project, I worked very closely with Lea to produce and create saviour. She was always there when i was producing on the track so that could give feedback and have a creative input into how the track sounds. She also wrote and sang all the vocals for the song as she was the singer and songwriter for the project. I believe that we worked at the best of out abilities to create a full EP, however we over estimated our skills and how much work we could get done. I also believe that the final product we produced was of a high quality, but if wed have planned better, we could have gotten more work done and created an EP of the same high quality.
I also worked with my sister robyn, who has a lot of experience with photography and photoshop, to create our EP cover. I told her exactly what we wanted for the cover, and within a day, she sent the final picture back to us. This was a small collaboration, however, it was very effectively and smoothly done, as the final product of the collaboration was exactly what we wanted, and it took less than a day to do.
We also worked with the photography department to have a professional photoshoot done. The final pictures looked amazing and we were only in the department for around half an hour, this collaboration was also incredibly successful as the final product was exactly what we wanted, and it didn’t take too long at all.
My Own Performance:
Throughout this project, I have been consistently producing and creating ideas to use and work with, I also helped Lea throughout her songwriting process. I believe that I worked hard and committed myself as much as I could when it came to producing, but I didn’t commit as much as I could have done when it came to promoting the EP and releasing it. I believe that if we would have planned better in the beginning of the project, then I would have been able to commit my self more as I would have a plan to work alongside, but I didn’t and so my performance lagged behind.
Throughout this project, I have shown many professional qualities when it came to producing. I showed great care in my work, I didn’t rush putting it together but I worked slowly to ensure that the track sounded perfect and worked to both what me and Lea wanted. I also helped Lea through her songwriting process, and allowed Lea to have more creative input on the track, as its just as much my song as it is hers.
Changes for the Future:
If I was to do this project again, I would plan more thoroughly, and either increase the amount of time I have to work on the project, or decrease the amount of work I have to do for the project by making less songs, or only creating a single.
I would also take more opportunities to collaborate than I did throughout this project, as the help of others would have greatly helped both me and Lea to create a high quality final product.
After this project, I am very confident that I will still be striving to be a producer in the future. I really enjoy producing and recently I’ve had a lot of good feedback on my work which is encouraging me to continue to work on my skills and learn more about producing. Next year for my final project, I will, most definitely, be doing a similar project to this one, producing my own EP or single and promoting it myself. I will also remember to prepare much more and plan out what I will be doing in the lead up to the launch of the EP. Im also going to learn how perform live as a DJ, as its a great way for me to get my name out as an artist, and the art of being a DJ also links incredibly closely to producing, and so it will help me to be the skilled producer and performer that I want to be.