This is my creative music portfolio evaluation. What went well with this project was the fact that I created three songs from scratch. I have tried to make music before this project however, it has never gone well until this point. I have improved certain skills throughout this project, such as music theory, being able to use a DAW comfortably, graphic design skills, and songwriting skills. All of these skills will help me in my music career and this project has helped me improve all of them.
The research that I did was quite useful to this project, as it helped me understand the conventions of both indie music and easy listening music. However, I did find it quite difficult to make indie music. This was due to the nature of how indie music is normally made. As indie music is usually made by a singer-songwriter, on a guitar. But my creative process was on Ableton, using a MIDI keyboard and electronic instruments. I also didn’t write any lyrics, that is a big part of indie music. Therefore, the music didn’t turn out quite like indie music. However, the “jangly” guitar did remain and was a big part of all three of my songs. The music did have the relaxing feel that I researched, as my music was quite smooth and wasn’t too fast, as well as some ambient sounds. The three songs that I analysed helped me understand that the genre of music I’m making doesn’t have to be complicated, even if there aren’t many similarities between the three songs and mine.
During this project, I came to a realisation that a different music genre aligned more with my creative process. Instead of making “chill indie” music, an easier genre to make on a DAW, is Lo-Fi music. It is quite similar to the chill music that I researched, however it is usually made on a DAW only using software instruments and samples. If I made this genre of music, it would’ve sounded more natural, as making indie music without a guitar and lyrics does sound a bit jarring. If I were to make music solely on a DAW again, I would lean more towards making Lo-Fi music as it would sound better, is another genre that usually has simple songs and is a genre of music I like so I think I would do a good job of making it.
When I next make songs, there are certain things to improve upon. Mastering is a big thing I missed out on in this project, as it is a big part of the sound of the song. I will research mastering to fully understand and utilise it. I will also use research to improve my EQ skills and general mixing skills. I will also look into different software instruments and audio effects. A lot of the instruments and effects I used were standard issue Ableton, if I did some research into this area I would be able to find some nice sounding instruments and effects.
Collaboration is an important part of this project, as well as making music. To have another set of ears, or another musical mind helping you is always going to help you. I could’ve collaborated to do the mastering, and I could’ve gotten a professional to do it for me so it would have sounded the best that it could, the same goes for mixing however, I enjoyed mixing and have learned a lot from doing it this project, and I could’ve collaborated with someone in the college and have a song featuring them, or I could’ve got an instrumentalist to write and record a solo in the third song or just record any of the parts in with real instruments. All of this would’ve not only been fun to do, it would’ve made the songs a higher quality.
The songs I made have a lot of similarities between them, this is a good thing as EPs or albums will have similarities to distinguish them as part of that EP. I think there is enough difference in these tracks to separate them all from each other, but the structure and instrumentation are similar enough to recognise that they are made by the same person on the same project.
As I mentioned in my evaluation of my third song, the room where I had my work was unavailable for certain points. This meant I had to get an extension as I wasn’t able to get to two of my nearly complete songs. This didn’t create as many issues as it could have. It meant my evaluation for the third song was harder to complete, as I didn’t have the track or any screenshots in front of me. It also affected me as I mentioned in my evaluation of song 3. I handled it quite well, I did what I could do before the deadline, and as soon as the room was available I got my work and started working from there.
I could potentially use the branding that I have created in the future. The logo is good and the general idea is good. I need to do more things like this project to figure out where my strengths lie, I can then edit my branding kit accordingly.