| Week | Date Week Beginning | Activity / What you are intending to do – including independent study | Resources / What you will need to do it – including access to workshops |
| Three | 8th March | Start context work, for example, the history of lofi and hip-hop, and analysing songs that inspire me. Begin researching efficient ways to promote and create some ideas for artwork. I should also practice with my DAW, using tutorials throughout the week to get more to grips with it before I move onto the actual production. I will evaluate what I complete this week. I need to contact people who would be willing to collaborate with me. | Laptop, Photoshop, Canva, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface. |
| Four | 15th March | Continue with context work, for example, how this project and genre is relevant to today’s music industry, and the impact of COVID_19 on the songwriting and production industry. Begin to work on the practical side, like experimenting with musical ideas and researching production methods I might like to use later. I need to evaluate whatever practical work I do here. | Laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface. |
| Five | 22nd March | Finish any context work I might have left and continue with the practical side. I will be beginning to work on my first single, like producing a loop of an idea I have and working on the songwriting aspect more, then evaluate this progress. I also plant to use the recording studio this week as after this, I will not be able to use the studio for two weeks. Do some promotion work like working on social media to increase my audience growth. I will get into contact with local news sites or radio stations for publicity. | Laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface, guitar, drums, bass, social media, vocal microphone. Also access to the recording studio to record these instruments. |
| Six | 29th March (Easter Holidays) | Carry on researching production techniques and methods and progress my first single to a point where the song would preferably have a whole structure. I will have to do this from home because of the holidays. This will use more evaluations seeing as I will be doing a lot of practical work this week. At this point, I should research how to professionally release my singles onto streaming platforms and perhaps begin this process and work upon this like creating a Spotify for artists account. | Laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface, guitar, drums, bass. |
| Seven | 5th April (Easter Holidays) | Finalise the first single in terms of structure and elements, then mix and master it so it is ready for release. I should research mixing and mastering beforehand to gain more knowledge of this. This will use more evaluations because this field of production can be tricky and time-consuming. Keep on promoting and being active on social media. | Laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface, social media. |
| Eight | 12th April | Begin writing for the second song and produce some loop ideas to get the right sound I want before I start making full-blown drafts. I need to make sure I am researching new producing and recording techniques to get the ideas sounding good. I will then evaluate these ideas. | Laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface, guitar, drums, bass. |
| Nine | 19th April | Progress my first single to a point where the song would preferably have a whole structure, and all the instruments are on the track. Through this song, I should be looking at ways to improve the production and writing of the song by using the resources available to me. Because there is lots of practical work when in this stage of production, I will probably need more than one evaluation in a week. I also need to stay on top of promoting, like posting on social media. | Social media, laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface, guitar, drums, bass, vocal microphone. Also access to the recording studio to record the instruments. |
| Ten | 26th April | This week, I will finish the second song’s structure and elements, then work on the mixing and mastering. I will research new ways to mix and master, to make the track sound different from the first one in terms of these fields. I will need to write more evaluations this week as mixing and mastering involves many things and can take some time. I plan to work on the artwork this week to get some stronger images and feels for the covers. | Laptop, Ableton, midi keyboard, audio interface, social media, Photoshop, Canva. |
| Eleven | 3rd May | Contact Spotify and learn how to pitch a song to the playlist editors, in the hopes to get my singles onto a playlist on release. Finalise the artwork for both the singles and make sure I have a name for them both. Use promotion ideas to get people excited about the release. | Laptop, social media, Canva, Photoshop. |
| Twelve | 10th May | Make sure both singles are finalised and perfect for the showcase week. Ask peers and tutors for feedback on the songs and add any last-minute improvements if I need to. I should then evaluate both of the songs as complete pieces of work. Promote the releases lots this week and start a scheduled release on my chosen platforms. | Laptop, Ableton, audio interface, social media. |
| Thirteen | 17th May | Showcase week. Here, I plan to release both singles onto streaming platforms and do lots of promotion before this to gain lots of traction before they drop. | Laptop, social media. |
| Fourteen | 24th May | Summative assessment. Here, I will evaluate the project as a whole, including context, research, practicals and evaluations. I should realise what I achieved and what I could have improved on. I will then do a self-assessment, using the grade matrix. | Laptop. |