Overall, I enjoyed this project as it was a challenging yet rewarding experience. As this is the first time that we have made original songs as well as there being a lot of challenges it wasn’t easy. However it was a good experience and I am happy with the end product.
Our plan at the start of the project was to write, record and produce an EP with 3-4 tracks in it. With one of them songs being a cover. However we didn’t really sick to this, as we only ended up recording 2 songs. We had 4 songs in the works, as we had the two songs we recorded, Last Days of Our Lives and let Go. As well as the first original we wrote which was called You, as well as the cover which was 11 Minutes by Yungblud and Halsey. Due to time restraints and we got told that we wouldn’t have time to do four songs, we were only able to record two of them. This was a shame as we could’ve stuck to the original plan. Another thing that drastically changed was the production aspect of the project. As me and Ben H were meant to produce the songs. As there was only two songs to mix, we were going to do one each. However we weren’t able to do this, as it took a week from the recording to get the tracks back to us, which meant we only had a week to do it. We had the filming on the same week as well. In the end, the tutors decided to mix it as they wanted the best mix they could. This is a shame as this was something me and Ben were looking forward to, as it would be a good reason to learn more about mixing and mastering. As well it would be entirely our songs.
I also did an action plan/timetable for this project, which was sort of stuck to. As I said we would be done with the practical side on the week commencing the 10th of May, which we recorded the tracks on the 10th. However we filmed the video on the 18th. The overall plan was stuck to, however when we finished songs weren’t stuck to as it was a difficult process.
The research that I did wasn’t as useful to my project as I thought it would’ve been. This is because I did two documents on production, one on Ableton and one on mixing tools. These would’ve been very useful if I got the chance to mix and master the tracks, however that wasn’t possible. Doing the research was useful though as I learned about different effects and tools and tips and tricks on Ableton, which will help me in the future and I can refer back to it if I mix again. At the start of the project I thought we would be setting up and doing the recording ourselves, so I did a document about that. However as we couldn’t learn about recording in project 3, as it was online, the tutors did it for us. So that document also didn’t help me in the project, but could in the future. The other two documents I did helped though, as researching about other bands debut music helped me have a better idea and mindset going into it. The other document helped me write nice sounding drum parts.
I improved in a lot of practical skills this project, such as working with a band. Making original music is a difficult task, and something that requires patience and teamwork. This is something that I learned during the project as with the difficulties we had, such as band members not turning up and finding it difficult to come up with new ideas. At times it seemed easy to stop working and give up, however we kept working. The biggest issue I had with the process was fleshing out the drum parts that I made. For the songs, I could come up with a beat that fit the song, however fleshing it out and making it more developed and interesting was difficult. Such as the bridge in Last Days of Our Lives, making that interesting as well as making it sound clean was something I struggled with. I didn’t spend enough time on it so in the final mix it sounds a little bit messy. As well as during the songs the beat just goes on and there isn’t much differentiation, which I should’ve done.
All in all I would call this project a success, all the work I have done has helped me and my band create a final product that we are happy with. There are areas to improve, such as if we did this again recording and mixing is something we could do ourselves; sticking to our original plan; I can make the drum beats more developed and interesting and make my research more linked to my project. In general this is a project I am glad I have done as I have enjoyed it and learnt a lot.